For over 10 years, the Blind Tiger has been celebrating Christmas in July with some carefully selected kegs that they've laid down since the past winter. And this Wednesday, July 24, is when they'll be cracking them open. Starting at 3pm, come on by the Tiger for some hearty winter ales. The temperatures have cooled slightly so one can almost (almost!) think of drinking something other than a crsip pilsner or refreshing saison.

Among others, they'll have Nøgne Ø Winter Ale, Dieu du Ciel! Solstice d'Hiver, and Mikkeller From Via To.

Here's what Dave Brodrick of the Blind Tiger has to say about Christmas in July:

"At some point in the last month and a half, just about every Tigerite has felt, and looked, like a well basted holiday turkey, which is why we need Christmas in July more than ever this year. And in the nick of time, here it comes, pulling into Bleecker Street just like that ice cold Silver Bullet train of yore, but different. Let's face it, there's something coolly refreshing about cracking open a bunch of Christmas kegs in the middle of a New York City summer. And maybe it's dumb luck, but the weatherman is calling for cooler temperatures.

We've collected some of our winter favorites, including Sierra Celebration, and Avery Old Jubilation '11, along with 14 others, all originally designed to warm you when it's cold (and numb you when it's hot). Then again, this event wasn't founded on the idea of bringing you some Christmas cheer in the middle of summer. We started it back in '97 because, to us, most winter beers seem a bit young when they first come out, and benefit from an extra six months of aging. Plus we had a large cured ham we didn't know what to do with.

But now that our summers are becoming more furnace-like, it seems like we need some of that winter cheer to help us survive until fall. So next Weds, on July the 24th, at 3pm, please join us as we celebrate the Yule Tide and fire up that Christmas spirit. Which means you've only got three days of holiday shopping left..."

Dieu du Ciel! at Blind Tiger and Spuyten Duyvil

Every year, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the brewers from Dieu du Ciel! in Montréal roll into town for a big event at Blind Tiger and a smaller one at Spuyten Duyvil. It's the beer highlight of the holiday season. But they weren't able to make it in 2012 so there was a void in the beer universe. Now, to rectify that, J-F, Stéphane, and company will be here this week with special beers and brewpub exclusives. The list for each night is different so I highly recommend hitting up both nights.

When:  Wednesday, 24 April, 3pm onwards
Where:  Blind Tiger, 281 Bleecker St.

The beers:

• Grande Noirceur - imperial stout, 9% 
• Fortunella - kumquat ipa, 7.2% 
• Pionnière - imperial black ipa, 9.5% 
• Chaman - imperial pale ale, 9% 
• Basse Messe - kölsch, 5% 
• Péché Mortel - imperial coffee stout, 9.5% 
• Péché Mortel Bourbon - aged in bourbon barrels, 9.5% 
• Solstice d'Hiver - barleywine, 10.2% 
• Neuvaine - amber ale brewed with and wormwood and fennel, 8%  
• Pénombre - black ipa, 6.5% 
• Mea Culpa - india cream ale, 6% 
• Purgatoire - old-style porter aged in red wine barrels, a collaboration with Trou du Diable, 10.2% 
• Isseki Nicho - imperial dark saison, 9.5% 
• Cornemuse - scotch ale, 8% 
• Equinoxe du Printemps cask - scotch ale with maple syrup, 8% 
• Grande Noirceur cask

When:  Thursday, 25 April, 5pm onwards
Where:  Spuyten Duyvil, 359 Metropolitan Avenue, Brooklyn

 

Les bieres:

• Morality - American-style IPA, 7.2%
• Péché Mortel 11th Anniversary - imperial coffee stout brewed with special coffees, 9.5%
• Symbiose 4 - sour beer aged in oak barrels, 6%
• Solstice d'Hiver Bourbon - barleywine aged in bourbon barrels, 10.2%
• Revenante - smoked porter, 6%
• Wallonade - Belgian blonde, 4.2%  

 

VSK at Blind Tiger

We hope you still have room in your beer belly post-Thanksgiving because it's going to be a beery week!

This Wednesday, starting at 3pm, drop by Blind Tiger Ale House for the annual VSK (Very Special Keg) event. Each year, they hoard kegs and then pull them all out at once for the adult version of "kid-in-a-candy-shop" experience.

The full list is awfully impressive and can be found here but to save time and avoid anxiety-inducing decision-making, we're going straight for glasses of Cantillon Fou'foune (apricot lambic), Dieu du Ciel! Sieben Hugel (rauchbier only available at the Montreal brewpub), and the De Struise/Stillwater collaboration Outblack (Belgian strong dark ale combined with a hoppy black ale).

Upcoming weekend events:  Zwanze Day at Spuyten Duyvil, Belgium2Brooklyn at Mugs Ale House, and Battle of the Belgians at Jimmy's No. 43. Details to follow shortly.

It's Bastille Day - Let Them Drink Beer!

Like we ever need an excuse to drink beer...


The 4th of July has passed which means that it's time to celebrate Bastille Day and all things French. And by all things French, we mean beer.


Many people, even many in France, don't realize that France - particularly in the north, along the border with Belgium - has a long-standing brewing tradition. Unfortunately, the brewing industry was almost completely decimated by the two World Wars while the tradition of farmhouse ales was also adversely affected by the rise in popularity of clean lagers. Fortunately, some of the brewers were able to hold out or returned after a hiatus while other new breweries have been popping up all around the country.

There are several opportunities to drink French beer this weekend. Come out to Café d'Alsace or Blind Tiger this weekend or pick up a few bottles at your local good beer shop.


Roast Pig Dinner
When:  Saturday, 14 July - Monday, 16 July, 6-10 pm
Where:  Café d'Alsace, 1695 2nd Avenue (at E. 88th St.)
What:  $49.95 for a 3-course dinner paired with French beers

All weekend long, Café d'Alsace will be celebrating Bastille Day with French beer. They're offering a 3-course roast suckling pig dinner available each night and paired with 3 different French beers. Come see why we think that the varied flavors and styles of beer can hold up to the robust character of the meal better than wine can. 

In addition to the beer dinner, Café d'Alsace will also be offering flights of 4 different French beers for $12.

The choice of breweries includes: 

• Au Baron - tiny family-run brewery near Belgium making refreshing saison/bière de garde hybrids 
• Bourganel - located in the Ardèche, in southeast France, they use local products like chestnuts and honey to flavor their beers 
• Bretagne - from Brittany, Brasserie de Bretagne takes inspiration from both Belgian and Anglo-Saxon styles but puts their own unique twist on them 
• Castelain - traditional bière de garde brewery in the north of France. Their Ch'ti line of beers are the ones you'll find in France and are named for the local dialect and nickname for the inhabitants of French Flanders. Hé, Biloute!  
• La Choulette - another bière de garde brewery. Monsieur Dhaussy comes from a long line of brewers and is an expert on French brewing history 
• Mont Blanc - their beers are brewed with pure glacier water from Mont Blanc in the Alps  
• St.Germain/Page 24 - new bière de garde brewery making modern versions that are hoppier than their traditional malty counterparts 
• Theillier - the Theillier brewery has been making 100% malt bière de garde at their small brewery in Bavay since the 1850s 
• Thiriez - Daniel Thiriez brews earthy farmhouse ales with a Belgian inspiration 

Liberty Leading the People (to a glass of good French beer)

Beer Brunch

When:  Sunday, 15 July, 11:30 am onwards
Where:  Blind Tiger Ale House, 281 Bleecker Street
What:  pay-as-you-go 

On Sunday, the Blind Tiger will be putting up 4 French drafts in honor of Bastille Day. Come for a special French-ified brunch menu created by Chef Tommy (crêpes!) and enjoy the following beers:

Brasserie de Bretagne Gwiniz Du - dark ale brewed with Brittany's famous buckwheat (known as "gwiniz du" in the Breton language).

Brasserie Castelain Ch'ti Ambrée - a malty amber bière de garde, conditioned - or "guarded" - for 6 weeks before being bottled. Full of roast and caramel flavors.

Brasserie Castelain Ch'ti Triple - a stronger version of their blonde bière de garde, hopped with French-grown hops:  Magnum, Strisselspalt, Spater Select, and Saaz.
Brasserie du Mont Blanc La Rousse - the low mineral content of the water from a glacial spring gives a clean taste to this amber ale brewed with hibiscus and elderberry.

Night of the Imperials - Wednesday, 7 March

It's back! Blind Tiger's Night of the Imperials event. It was on hiatus for a year or so to give your livers a chance to recover but they decided that it was time to challenge you again.

When: Wednesday, 7 March, 3pm onwards
Where:  Blind Tiger Ale House, 281 Bleecker St.
What:  pay-as-you-go

You can find the full beer list here:  http://www.facebook.com/events/383671154994808/ but what we'd like you to know is that of the 3 imported beers, 2 of the imperials are from the Shelton Brother's kingdom. While we often espouse lower abv beers that don't knock you upside the head, or off your bar stool, that's not to say that we can't appreciate a big beer. The name of the game is Balance, my friends. Give us a complex brew with a range of supporting characters that evolve in the glass instead of a snifter of fusel alcohol or a pint of hop juice and we'll camp out on that bar stool.

Come on by the Blind Tiger and try the multi-country Mikkeller/Three Floyds collaboration, Boogoop, a buckwheat wine, conceived in the US and Denmark and brewed in Belgium, or Xbeeriment Black Force One, a Danish smoked imperial stout.

Toys for Tots Pints for Presents

When:  Thursday, 22 December, 6-10pm
Where:  Blind Tiger Ale House, 281 Bleecker St.

The fine folks at Lagunitas Brewing Company have gathered a few breweries together and organized a toy drive for Toys for Tots at the Blind Tiger. Bring a new, unwrapped present and you will get $2 off a draft of your choice from the participating breweries plus free entries into a special brewery raffle. We'll be participating with a keg of Jolly Pumpkin Noel de Calabaza; you can see the full list of beers here. Come out for a good cause - and good beer - and share some happiness with less fortunate kids this season.

Holiday Beers at Blind Tiger

When:  Wednesday, 7 December, 3 pm onwards
Where:  Blind Tiger Ale House, 281 Bleecker Street
What:  pay-as-you-go

If St. Nicholas didn't leave any gifts in your shoes today, or if he left you coal, dry your tears over a festive holiday beer tomorrow. There will be plenty of Shelton Brothers' drafts to choose from.

doesn't everyone have a Bavarian weissebier ornament?

To the list! 

• Mahr's Christmas Bock  
• De Ranke Père Noël  
• Nøgne Ø Winter Ale   
• Mikkeller Santa's Little Helper
• Mikkeller Ris a la M'ale
• Mikkeller From Via To
• Mikkeller Red/White Christmas  
• Dieu du Ciel! Solstice d'Hiver  

Meet the Brewers - Dieu du Ciel! at Blind Tiger

When:  Wednesday, 30 November, 3 pm onwards
Where:  Blind Tiger Ale House, 281 Bleecker Street
What:  pay-as-you-go

It's becoming a post-(American) Thanksgiving tradition!  Jean-François Gravel, Luc "Bim" Lafontaine, and Stéphane Ostiguy from Montréal's Dieu du Ciel! come to town along with an insane number of rare kegs.  You might want to think about taking the next day off from work.

Les bières: 

• Revenante - smoked porter 
• Aphrodite Méchante - cocoa & vanilla stout with smoked hot peppers 
• Solstice Mangues - sour wheat with mangos 
• Mea Culpa - India cream ale
• Libre Echange - foreign export stout 
• Vaisseau des Songes - British IPA 
• Equinoxe Automne - rauchbock 
• Voyageur des Brumes - ESB 
• Pénombre - black IPA 
• 13e Etage - porter with yuzu and peppers  
• Rigor Mortis de Table - abbey-style blonde table beer   
• Péché Mortel - imperial coffee stout
• Péché Mortel Bourbon - aged in bourbon barrels
• Libre Echange cask
• Solstice d'Hiver cask - barleywine 

The Pilsner Event at Blind Tiger

Each month, Blind Tiger has been featuring a specific style and they kick off the month with a style event. This month, the featured style is pilsner and we've got a bunch of tasty offerings on tap. Don't turn your nose up thinking you don't like lager; instead, come to explore the range of flavors found in this style which is very unforgiving to any brewer making mistakes. The clean profile that make pilsners so refreshing also offers nowhere to hide any off flavors.

When:  Wednesday, 3 August, 3pm onwards
Where:  Blind Tiger Ale House, 281 Bleecker Street

We find that pilsners often tend to get lost next to quadruple-hopped, barrel-aged, imperial beers. Not that those beers don't have their time and place - sipping a glass while parked on a couch, perhaps - but when it's hot out and you want something thirst-quenching yet flavorful that you can drink several of in one sitting, true pilsners brewed with 100% malt are hard to beat.

Originating in Pilsen, in Bohemia (now the Czech Republic), in the 1800s, the light color and delicate flavor of this new style were quite novel at the time and its popularity quickly spread to Germany and beyond.

Blind Tiger will be pouring 12 pilsners, both imported and domestic (I must profess a fondness for Victory's Braumeister Pils), including 6 Shelton Brothers beers (see the full draft list here):

- Kulmbacher Edelherb Pils - voted the #1 pils in 2 blind tastings in Germany sponsored by the newspaper "Die Zeit"
- EKU Pils - a little maltier than northern German pils but with more hops than a southern Bavarian pils - the perfect balance between the two
- Mahr's Pilsner - unpasteurized pilsner from Franconia in northern Bavaria
- Christoffel Blond - robust, dry-hopped pilsner-style lager from the Netherlands
- Mikkeller Dream Pils - originally known as "The American Dream" in Denmark, this is Mikkeller's version of a Danish pils brewed with American hops.
- Mikkeller Draft Bear - an 8%, hop-charged, imperial pilsner? Why not! Just make sure you're comfortably seated on your bar stool.

Christmas in July

Every year, Blind Tiger saves up some special holiday kegs from the winter and puts them on in the middle of the summer because you know that there's nothing you want more on a humid, 90º day than a strong winter warmer. But as strange as this logic may be, it's an extremely popular event and we've dug deep into our ice cave in the Arctic to provide a few stocking stuffers such as Slaapmutske Kerstmutske ("Christmas Nightcap"), Géants Noël des Géants, Serafijn Christmas Angel, Weissenohe Monk's Christmas, and Jolly Pumpkin Noël de Calabaza.

I'll let Dave Brodrick of the Blind Tiger say a few more words about the event and where the inspiration came from:

Christmas in July & Happy Hanukkah
Weds July 20th
@ 3pm

Back in 1997, when we began doing beer events to drum up interest in craft beer and its breweries, we came up with the idea of saving barrels of holiday ales and putting them on in the middle of summer. When I say we came up with the idea for Christmas in July, I mean we actually borrowed the concept from Ray and Dennis over at dba. It was kind of hard not to copy a lot of the things they were up to over in the East Village: Ray and Dennis basically invented the New York City beer bar when they opened dba in 1994. Blind Tiger and Gingerman, both of which opened in early 1996, were simply our own variations on a theme they pioneered.

I bring this up because we had a memorial service for Ray Deter this past Wednesday, following his tragic death on July 3rd. He was only 53 years old, and seemed to be loving life more than ever, if that was possible. Ray was a true connoisseur, a person who enjoyed the finer things with incredible joy. Over the past year, I got to see that first hand when I joined Beer Sessions Radio as the roving reporter, which Ray and Jimmy Carbone co-hosted. I can’t think of a person more qualified to talk about good beer, and good stuff in general, than Raymond James Deter III.

Working with Ray was fun, but I especially enjoyed our dinners at Roberta’s after the show. Ignoring the brick oven pizza Roberta’s was famous for, Ray always ordered the dry aged steak for all of us. It came with a marrow bone and Ray liked to slather the stuff on his bread and munch it down until his lips were shiny. The perfect metaphor for a guy who sucked the essence out of everything that interested him, often with that infectious smile on his face. A smile that always made me think, “Man, I’ll have what he’s having...”

Here’s to you, Ray.

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There will be a benefit for Ray at dba Brooklyn on August 1st and once we have more details, we'll post the information here.

Beer for the 4th of July Weekend

At first glance, this might seem like an unpatriotic suggestion: this July 3rd why not try some beer from France? Well, while we're celebrating our Independence this weekend, why not give a tip of the chapeau to nos amis across the ocean who helped us during the Revolution. Merci, Général Lafayette! I'm sure that the Marquis enjoyed some of George Washington's Porter while he was at Mount Vernon so let's return the favor and drink a few beers from his home country. Then, on the 4th, go ahead and celebrate with an American brew!

Martha Washington Pours Tea Whilst Generals Lafayette and Washington Debate Which Fine Ale to Drink

When:  Sunday, 3 July, 3pm onwards
Where:  Blind Tiger Ale House, 281 Bleecker St.
What:  pay-as-you-go

Blind Tiger will be holding one of their Sunday afternoon Beer Exhibitions, featuring the following 4 drafts from France:

Brasserie St-Germain Page 24 Réserve Hildegarde Ambrée - an amber bière de garde, the traditional farmhouse style from the north of France. The young brewers at St-Germain find many modern bières de garde to be too sweet so, inspired by the hop fields that surround the brewery, they brewed a hoppier version, generously hopped with the local Brewers Gold and Strisselspalt varieties and brewed with locally-sourced malt.

Brasserie de Bretagne Sant Erwann - Brittany's St. Yves (Sant Erwann in Breton) was a 13th century ecclesiastical judge who was a champion of the poor. He was glorified in the saying, "A lawyer and not a thief, a wonderful thing for the people" and the brewery decided to honor their local boy, the patron saint of Brittany's lawyers, with this 7-grain, 7% abv blonde ale brewed with barley, wheat, buckwheat, oats, rye, spelt, and millet.

Pietra Colomba - moving south, the Pietra brewery is located on the Mediterranean island of Corsica (birthplace of Napoleon). Colomba is a Belgian-style wheat beer, hazy and refreshing, but brewed with the local wild herbes du maquis which give the beer a more herbal note, rather than the typical citrus and spice.

Thiriez Extra - Daniel Thiriez brews farmhouse ales in the tiny town of Esquelbecq, close to the Belgian border, and his beers tend to blur the lines between French bières de garde and Belgian saisons. The Extra is a very hoppy, effervescent saison-like beer that is extremely refreshing and easy to drink at only 4.5% abv.

Blind Tiger will also be serving brunch and lunch and I've been told that they've just gotten in a killer maple syrup from Vermont that's been aged in bourbon barrels. Go ahead and pour some of that all-American sweetener on your French crêpes! And if you just can't bear to drink foreign beer on a patriotic holiday weekend, there will also be a rare keg of our friend Sean Hill's Hill Farmstead beer from Vermont.

July is Good Beer Month and French Beer Month!

Since 2009, Mayor Bloomberg has pronounced July to be "Good Beer Month" in New York and, not to be outdone, we've pronounced July to also be "French Beer Month" in honor of Bastille Day so that we can showcase the small but growing scene in France. It might come as a surprise to some, but the French not only brew beer, they brew great beer!

The north of France, close to the border with Belgium, has a long-standing brewing tradition which unfortunately was almost completely decimated by the two World Wars. Fortunately, some of the breweries were able to hold out or returned after a hiatus while other new breweries have been popping up like champignons around the rest of the country.

There will be a series of events around the city this month so stay tuned for details and if you're in town for this holiday weekend, why not drop by the Blind Tiger for une bière on Sunday for the kickoff event.

Liberty Leading the People to their Next Beer (apologies to Monsieur Delacroix)

The Week in Beer

If you can't make it to Philly Beer Week in Philadelphia or Mondial de la Biere in Montreal, there are still plenty of good beers to be had in NYC.

On Tuesday the 7th, Rattle n Hum will be putting up over 20 Shelton Brothers drafts and on Wednesday the 8th, Blind Tiger will feature all 19 varieties of this year's Single Hop Series from Mikkeller as part of IPA month.

Shelton Brothers Take Over the Taps

When:  Tuesday, 7 June, 5:30 pm onwards
Where:  Rattle n Hum, 14 E. 33rd Street
What:  pay-as-you-go

The selections will range from rare, limited-edition beers (De Struise, Baird, Oppigårds, De Molen, Haandbryggeriet) to some of our staple breweries (De Ranke, Mikkeller, Nøgne Ø, Christoffel, Kulmbacher, St. Germain/Page 24, Westons Cider).  I'm already feeling the effects of the hangover.

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Mikkeller Single Hop Event

When:  Wednesday, 8 June, 3 pm onwards
Where:  Blind Tiger Ale House, 281 Bleecker Street
What:  pay-as-you-go

If you need a little hair-of-the-dog after Tuesday night's extravaganza, come to Blind Tiger for what will certainly be an educational experience.  Last year, Danish brewer Mikkel Borg Bjergsø brewed his Single Hop Project to showcase the effects of different hops on the flavor and aroma of the same base beer.  This year, he's taken the project a step further - 9 steps to be exact.  There were 10 Mikkeller Single Hop varieties last year and this year he's gone all the way to 19.  There is also a slight change in the brewing procedure:  the same base recipe is used to create the 6.8% IPA but instead of aiming for the same IBU (bitterness) level in each beer as last year, them same amount by weight of each hop variety is used for bittering, flavor, aroma, and dry-hopping.  In addition, the malt comes from the same lot.  This is really a fantastic way to learn about the different flavors and aromas found in different hops.

To the list!

Amarillo

Bravo

Cascade

Centennial

Challenger

Citra

Cluster

Columbus (Tomahawk)

Galena

Magnum

Mt. Hood

Nugget

Palisade

Simcoe

Sorachi Ace

Super Galena

Tettnanger

Warrior

Willamette