De Struise Tap Takeover at The Jeffrey

Join us on Tuesday, 17 March, at The Jeffrey for the second installment of our Tuesday residency. They'll be pouring 12 drafts from Belgium's De Struise Brouwers. Enjoy these sturdy brews:

• Elliot - imperial IPA
• Roste Jeanne - amber
• Rosse - amber 
• Witte
• XXX Rye Triple
• Rye Triple Reserva - Bourbon barrel
• Motuecha - blonde ale with Motueka hops
• Riporter - porter, collaboration with Rio, Japan
• Yairo Eight Colors - wheat beer, collaboration with Rio)
• Hopverdomme - double IPA
• Imperialist Lager - hopped with Galaxy
• Pannepeut - dark ale

The Jeffrey is located at 311 E. 60th St.

De Struise at DeCicco's

When:  Friday 24 May, 5-10 pm
Where: DeCicco's, 50 Independent Way, Brewster

What:  pay-as-you-go

I am very glad that there are no DeCicco's supermarkets in my neighborhood or there would be lots of impulse shopping after having a few pints at the in-store bar. But it's always a treat to visit them in Brewster (among other locations) and revel in the ample aisles of a suburban-sized store WITH bar, and maybe get some grocery shopping done. This Friday, they'll be pouring beers from Belgium's De Struise brewery and the list is worth the trip. Some of these kegs from "The Sturdy Brewers" are making their debut appearance in the NYC metro area. 

The beers:

• Pannepot Grand Reserva - barrel-aged Pannepot 
• Black Albert - imperial stout 
• Cuvée Delphine - Black Albert aged in Four Roses bourbon barrels 
• Rio Reserva - barrel-aged quadrupel 
• Pannepøt - originally brewed for a Danish beer festival but it proved so popular that they've made it a regular release

Belgian Beers at Alewife Queens

When:  Monday, 20 May - Friday, 24 May
Where:  Alewife Queens, 5-14 51st Avenue, Long Island City 

What: pay-as-you-go

Alewife will be featuring Belgian beers all week long. They understand that just because a beer is from Belgium doesn't mean that it's good. But their selection is amazing and reflects the small breweries that are putting out some truly unique and interesting beers.

Here is a list of just some of the beers being poured this week:

• Blaugies Saison d'Epeautre - spelt saison  
• Blaugies La Moneuse - earthy saison 
• De Ranke Saison de Dottignies - hoppy saison  
• De Ranke Noir de Dottignies - stout  
• De Ranke XX Bitter - hoppy ale with pleasant brett funkiness  
• De Ranke Guldenberg - strong blonde ale  
• Drie Fonteinen Zwet.be - dark ale fermented with Beersel Blond yeast and brettanomyces
• Kerkom Bink Bloesem - brewed with local pears and honey
• Kerkom Bink Blond - sessionable and dry-hopped 
• De Struise Pannepot -  subtly spiced strong dark ale
• De Struise X - blonde ale  
• De Struise XX - dubbel
• De la Senne Jambe de Bois - tripel 
• De la Senne Band of Brothers - collaboration with Brussels bar Moeder Lambic   
• De la Senne Taras Boulba - hoppy blonde ale 
• De la Senne Zinnebir - refreshing blonde ale with yeasty complexity 
• Geants Saison Voisin - rustic saison

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.

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.