Tap Takeover at Proletariat

On Tuesday, 26 February, Proletariat will be featuring all Shelton Brothers drafts plus some bottles. There will be a mix of classics and new beers and we guarantee that all will be delicious!

The list:

• Baird Red Rose Amber - inspired by steam beers but instead of being a lager fermented at ale temperatures, it's an ale fermented at lower temperatures (Japan)
• Beer Here Kama Citra - brown ale brewed with British malts and American Citra hops (Denmark)
• Blaugies Darbyste - a saison brewed with wheat and fermented with fig juice. Named for John Darby, a temperance preacher whose followers enjoyed a "soft drink" made from fig juice (Belgium)
• De la Senne Zwarte Piet - a dark, 8.2% Belgian ale, formerly known as Equinoxe (Belgium)
• De Struise Svea - IPA brewed with barley, wheat, oats, and rye. To Sweden with Love (Belgium)
• Dieu du Ciel! Aphrodite - cocoa and vanilla stout. Called "Aphodisiaque" in Canada but our government says that that name is misleading. Is it? (Québec)
• Haandbryggeriet Dark Force - imperial double wheat stout? Yes! (Norway)
• Jolly Pumpkin Maracaibo Especial - a brown ale inspired by the Trappist ales of Belgium. Brewed with cacao, cinnamon, and sweet orange peel (Dexter, Michigan)
• Mahr's Ungespundet - unfiltered lager/kellerbier. An all-time Shelton Brothers favorite (Germany)
• Mikkeller Yeast Series 2.0: Brettanomyces Lambicus - round 2 of the yeast series. All of the beers are 6.4% pale ale but fermented with a different yeast strain. This one uses the Lambicus (lambic) strain of Brettanomyces (Denmark)
• Thiriez Extra - extra hoppy saison brewed with Bramling Cross hops (France)
• Trou du Diable Schieve Tabarnak - golden ale brewed with rye and Nelson Sauvin hops. A collaboration with Yvan from De la Senne (Québec)

Proletariat is located at 102 St. Mark's Place in Manhattan. They open at 5pm and Joel and I will give a brief talk about the beers around 6pm. Special flights will be available for purchase.

Tasting at City Swiggers

On Wednesday, 20 February, we'll be sampling some of our beers at City Swiggers on the Upper East Side. If you're not familiar with City Swiggers, it's been a welcome edition to the uptown beer scene for just over a year. Alan and Pamela run a great little shop where you can pick up bottles, get your growler filled, and stay for a pint from one of their 14 taps.

Come by to try beers from Jolly Pumpkin, Mikkeller, 8 Wired, Adnams, Bretagne, De Ranke, Freigeist, plus cider from Henney's.

City Swiggers is located at 320 E. 86th Street. The tasting starts around 5:30pm and runs until 9pm.

Brett Weekend - Brouwerij Lane

This weekend, 25-27 January, Brouwerij Lane is celebrating funky beers fermented with our wild yeast friend, Brettanomyces.  They'll have 6 kegs pouring including the following:



Jolly Pumpkin Oro de Calabaza - an 8% strong golden ale. Spicy and peppery with a gentle hop bouquet. Like all Jolly Pumpkin beers, this one is aged in wood barrels. Rated the #1 Belgian Golden Ale by The New York Times.

To Øl Sans Frontière - from Denmark, the "Two Beers" brewery have created a "tart, picturesque and rural beer". This is a dry-hopped Belgian ale, refermented with brettanomyces.

Freigeist Brettokolong - this is an unfiltered kölsch beer from Cologne, Germany. This version was fermented with ale yeast and refermented with brett which accentuates the lemon and citrus notes.












Brouwerij Lane is located at 78 Greenpoint Avenue in Brooklyn.

The Harmony of Beer & Cheese Class at Murray's Cheese

When:  Wednesday, 3 October, 6:30-8 pm
Where:  the classroom at Murray's Cheese, 254 Bleecker Street
What:  $75 for 6 beers paired with 6 cheeses
These classes are always fun, informative, and delicious. I'll be discussing 6 of our beers, the history of the breweries, and the beer brewing process while the Murray's instructor will discuss the cheeses and the cheesemaking process.

These are the beers that will be poured:

• Freigeist Ottekolong
• Oppigårds Well-Hopped Lager
• De Ranke XX Bitter
• St. Somewhere Saison Athene
• Jolly Pumpkin Sobrehumano Palena 'ole
• Nøgne Ø Sunturnbrew

Class size is limited and you can purchase tickets on the Murray's website:  www.murrayscheese.com

Interview with Ron Jeffries of Jolly Pumpkin

During our Festival in Worcester, MA last month, brewmaster Ron Jeffries sat down with us to talk about his beers, brewing, and the Jolly Pumpkin ethos.

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.

Jolly Pumpkin La Parcela

It's Halloween and what better way to celebrate than with a pumpkin beer! And why not double up on pumpkins with Jolly Pumpkin pumpkin beer? The joke was that the Jolly Pumpkin brewery didn't brew a pumpkin beer. But now they do. Every October they release La Parcela, a 5.9% pumpkin ale packed with loads of real pumpkins, hints of spice, and a gentle kiss of cacao. Like all Jolly Pumpkin beers, La Parcela is fermented with wild yeast and aged in oak barrels, resulting in an earthy, complex beer with a subtle but pleasant lactic sourness.  Look for La Parcela in 750ml bottles or on tap. Or, if you're lucky, in your trick-or-treat bag.

Check out what the Wall Street Journal has to say about La Parcela!

Beer Dinner featuring Cantillon and Jolly Pumpkin

In June, Peter Hoffman's venerable restaurant Savoy closed (read Edible Manhattan's send-off here), to be reopened in the fall with a more casual bent. Chef Ryan Tate decided that he wanted do a dinner that pairs the seasonal dishes he is known for with intriguing beers that could give any fine wine a run for its money.

Join us on Wednesday at Jimmy's No. 43 for a dinner featuring beers from Michigan's Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales, brewers of oak-aged beers, and Belgium's traditional Cantillon Brewery, still making authentic lambic the traditional way, fermented with wild yeasts. There will be an informal discussion on each of the beers and the unique brewing process.

When:  Wednesday, 17 August, 7pm
Where: Jimmy's No. 43, 43 E. 7th Street
What:  $55 for 4 courses paired with 6 beers; purchase tickets at Brown Paper Tickets.

As a preview to the dinner, this Tuesday's $10 Tasting at Jimmy's will feature sour beers, including selections from Jolly Pumpkin and one Cantillon. The Tuesday Tastings start at 7:30 pm.

PS. It's Jimmy's birthday on Wednesday, too!