Scandinavian Beers at Rattle n Hum Tuesday

When:  Tuesday, 29 November, 4 pm onwards until the kegs kick
Where: Rattle n Hum, 14 East 33rd Street
What:  pay-as-you-go

The people of the Scandinavian countries know a little bit about keeping warm during the cold, dark months of winter so even though the current weather feels more like September you should still drop by for some of these tasty beers.  They span a range of styles and the list provides a great overview of the new crop of breweries and their creativeness.


The beers: 

• Beer Here Nordic Rye   
• Haandbryggeriet Odin's Tipple    
• Kissmeyer Pale Ale    
• Kissmeyer Honey Porter
• Kissmeyer PilNZer
• Kissmeyer Stockholm Syndrome DIPA 
• Kissmeyer/Witter Saison de Fleur 
• Mikkeller Monk's Brew  
• Mikkeller Cream Ale
• Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast
• Mikkeller I Beat yoU
• Mikkeller Jackie Brown
• Mikkeller Koppi IPA 
• Nøgne Ø Tiger Tripel 
• Nøgne Ø #100
• Xbeeriment Black Force One   

The French Connection

The French are known for their very civilized vacation policies. Pretty much the entire country shuts down for the whole month of August while everyone heads to the countryside, the beaches, or the mountains for les vacances. Assuming that you are not so lucky and are stuck in a hot New York City, why not pretend for a few hours that you are seated in charming café surrounded by hop fields, sipping a cool glass of beer. As we keep saying, the French do make very good beer which is sadly underappreciated in this country. Rattle n Hum will be putting on 10 kegs of some of the finest beers that France has to offer and cooking up some French-inspired food.

There is a reason that Manet did not title this painting The Wine Drinkers

When: Tuesday, 16 August, 4 pm-onwards
Where: Rattle n Hum, 14 E. 33rd St.
What: pay-as-you-go

Les bières:

Brasserie St-Germain Page 24 Réserve Hildegarde Ambrée - an amber bière de garde, the traditional style from the north of France, generously hopped with the local Brewers Gold and Strisselspalt varieties and brewed with locally-sourced malt, 6.9% abv

Brasserie St-Germain Page 24 Réserve Hildegarde Blonde - the blonde version of their bière de garde, 6.9% abv

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. This 7-grain, 7% abv blonde ale made with barley, wheat, buckwheat, oats, rye, spelt, and millet is brewed in his honor.

Brasserie de Bretagne Celtika - golden triple, 8.8% abv

Brasserie de Bretagne Gwiniz Du - Gwiniz Du means "black wheat" in Breton and this amber ale is brewed with roasted wheat, giving the beer a hint of spice, 5.4% abv

Jenlain Ambrée - Brasserie Duyck, brewer of Jenlain, is credited with reviving the bière de garde style, a malty farmhouse ale brewed in the cooler months and then stored for consumption in the summer in the days before refrigeration. Their amber version is full of malt sweetness, with notes of caramel and dried fruits, 7.5% abv

Jenlain St-Druon - a blonde bière de garde brewed with a little bit of wheat and 3 varieties of Alsatian hops, 6% abv

Pietra - an amber ale brewed with chestnut flour, from the island of Corsica, 6% abv

Pietra Colomba - 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, 5% abv

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

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