5th Williamsburg Cask Festival

Our pal Alex Hall will be holding one of his excellent cask ale festivals at dba Brooklyn (113 N. 7th St.) this weekend.  From Friday the 22nd to Sunday the 24th, 1pm onwards, enjoy real cask ale that is unfiltered, unpasteurized, and served at cellar temperature.  In particular, we're looking forward to 2 beers which are, appropriately enough for an Easter weekend, religiously-themed:

- Dieu du Ciel! Corne du Diable - an American-style IPA from Montreal's award-winning brewery whose name, roughly translated, means "God in Heaven!"

- Wadworth Bishop's Tipple - from Wiltshire, England. This 5% full-flavored strong bitter is hopped with Saaz and Styrian Goldings and was originally brewed to commemorate George Reindorp's appointment as Bishop of Salisbury in 1973.  He said of the beer, "this blessed beer will be my undoing" and praised its "divine drinkability.  This is the only place in all of New York City that has firkins of this beer. Unfortunately, they weren't delivered by the brewery's shire horses but we love the fact that their beers are still delivered that way to local pubs.

Mikkeller Drafts at Double Windsor

When: Wednesday, 20 April, 7 pm
Where:  Double Windsor, 210 Prospect Park West, Brooklyn

Hop on over to the Double Windsor when they feature a selection of beers from Danish gypsy-brewer Mikkeller.

The drafts:
Beer Geek Brunch, aka Weasel - imperial oatmeal coffee stout brewed with civet coffee, 10.9% abv
Cream Ale - brewed in collaboration with Italy's Revelation Cat. Fermented at a lower temperature, providing the body of an ale with the cleanness of a lager, 5% abv
The American Dream - a crisp lager with lots of American hops, just the way Mikkel likes it.Known as "Danish Dream" in the US, 4.6% abv
USAlive - new version of "It's Alive!", a tribute to Orval with Brettanomyces yeast. The difference between the two is that USAlive is brewed with American hops, 7.5% abv
East Kent Golding - one of the single-hop IPAs (same base recipe but different hop varietal), hopped with this classic English hop, 6.9% abv
Hoppy Easter - no bunnies were used in the brewing process of this American-style IPA but rather German aroma hops were used, 6.6% abv 

Lambics & Sour Beers

We've heard through the grapevine (hop bine?) that sour beers are the "in" things these days.  Popularity be damned:  some of our brewers have been making these old-style beers for generations.  Others are intrigued and challenged by the intricate and complex flavors derived from wild yeasts, spontaneous fermentation, and barrel-aging and want to brew beers they like, regardless of what the market clamors for. 


This Saturday, 16 April, Jimmy's No. 43, in conjunction with Beer Menus, is putting on a sour beer showcase to welcome the spring and wake up your taste buds.  We've been so busy sourcing a case here and a case there for this event that we're a bit late letting the world know about it but apparently someone else did our footwork because pre-sale tickets sold out.  But if you're feeling flush, we're told that a few tickets will still be available at the door for $80.  The ticket price includes all beer and food pairings from 12-5pm. 


Brother Joel and B.R. will be pouring a selection of our true lambics and other sour beers from Cantillon (including Cuvée des Champions), Drie Fonteinen (Schaerbeekse Kriek, anyone?), De Ranke (did you know they brew a Kriek?), Panil, and Jolly Pumpkin.  Fellow importers 12% and B. United will also be pouring sour beers from their portfolio.


Jimmy's No. 43 is located at 43 E. 7th Street.

 

Hadley says, "My blanket does NOT smell like beer." 

And if you miss the Saturday event, the Tuesday $10 Tasting on 19 April at Jimmy's No. 43 will have a selection of 6 sour beers from the weekend's festivities.  We can't promise that any of our breweries will be represented but it's sure to be a tasty and educational event nonetheless. And you'll learn why the peasants in the Bruegel paintings look so happy.  The tasting starts at 7:30pm; no reservations required.

Tripels on Tuesday

Almost every Tuesday at 7:30pm, our pal and Union Beer rep Mike Lovullo (also known as "the guy with the Allagash tattoo") hosts a $10 tasting event at Jimmy's No. 43. For $10 you get to sample 6 different beers and learn about the breweries, the stories behind the beers, and the history of beer styles. Sometimes all 6 beers are in the same style, other times they are from the same region or country, or perhaps they just fit into a specific theme.  Regardless, it's an excellent bargain and a great way to sample a variety of beers.  Plus, Jimmy's regular beer selection is not too shabby.  And the food is tasty, too.

This Tuesday, 12 April, Mike will be presenting 6 different tripels from the US, Belgium, and Norway.  We've got one of the Belgian selections (Géants Goliath Tripel) and the Norwegian entry (Nøgne Ø Tiger Tripel).  You didn't know that there was a Norwegian tripel, did you?  Well, there is and brewer Kjetil makes a great one. Goliath is also one of our favorite tripels because it is the only one from Belgium brewed with 100% malt.  Other breweries use sugar to thin out the beer, boosting up the alcohol while thinning out the body, but Goliath packs a solid malt punch, just like a giant should.

Jimmy's No. 43 is located at 43 E. 3rd Street (between 2nd and 3rd Avenues).