Kulmbacher Brauerei Events

Come meet Thomas Wölfel of Kulmbacher this Thursday, 20 February and Sunday, 23 February.

NYC Beer Week is coming up? Tell that to Kulmbacher, our venerable Franconian brewer. Just as Gotham prepares to confront the latest batch of super-amped Yank quadruple mint IPAs and Moccaccino Espresso Lemon Peanut Pale Porters, those lederhosen-loving Teutons are sending over worldwide export manager Thomas Wölfel to America to talk up pilsners, weizens, schwarzes, kellers, and eisbocks! Who says the Shelton Brothers are contrarian?

This Thursday, fresh off the plane, the globe-trotting Thomas will be whisked away to Jimmy’s No. 43 for a rare Kulmbacher Industry Tap Night, highlighting the extremeties of the brewery’s impressive range - including the  deliciously sessionable EKU Pils and Mönchshof Kellerbier, the classic “Kulmbacher-Style” Mönchshof Schwarz, and the wintery, warming Kulmbacher Eisbock - the original ice beer.  As an added bonus (and one to be more appreciated perhaps after an eisbock or two) various Shelton staff will/may appear in traditional Franconian garb!

If you absolutely can’t get to Jimmy’s on Thursday (or even if you can), Thomas and Brother Joel will also host an informal tasting session Sunday, 5:30-8, at UES bottle-shop/café City Swiggers.  Eisbock will be featured on the draft board and your hosts will pour free samples from the wide selection of Kulmbacher bottles on offer in the shop. Don’t miss this event if you want to see how a real live Franconian wears his lederhosen....Prost!

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

City Swiggers is at 320 E. 86th Street.

German Christmas Beers at Spuyten Duyvil

Frohe Weihnachten, New York!

The Monarchy is the experimental-revivalist offshoot of Freigeist which itself is the experimental offshoot of Cologne's small brewery, Braustelle. Brewer Sebastian Sauer and his colleagues are rediscovering and updating Europe's lost beer styles as well as creating new ones along the way. Where will the offshoots end??

This Thursday, December 19th, at Spuyten Duyvil, come try some truly unique beers that The Monarchy has brewed for the Christmas season. Taking inspiration from Christmas cookies and cakes from around German, the brewery has brewed rich beers with traditional spices. Santa doesn't need milk AND cookies; all he needs is a glass of The Monarchy! We'll be providing samples of the inspirational cookies as well. In addition, there will be other German Christmas beers. 

• The Monarchy Happy Christmas from Aachen - In the 15th century, copper workers from Dinant, Belgium emigrated to the German city of Aachen, bringing with them the centuries-old tradition of engraved pastries and cakes. Today, the term Aachener Printen is a Protected Designation of Origin and all manufacturers of the special Christmas delicacies are found in or near the town. Brewed in collaboration with local traditional bakeries and based on the traditional Printen cakes of Aachen, this beer is made with “Gingerbread Man” spices - cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, ginger, cardamom, and coriander seed.
• The Monarchy Happy Christmas from Dresden - Stollen, a moist, heavy German cake filled with fruit, was first mentioned in an official document in 1474, and the most famous Stollen is still the Dresdner Stollen. The official stollen is produced exclusively in Dresden, and usually contains a mix of nuts and spices in addition to the dried fruit. This beer replicates Stollen flavors with with candied peels of orange & lemon, and raisins. 
• The Monarchy Happy Christmas from Nürnberg - Lebkuchen were invented by medieval monks in Franconia, Germany in the 13th century, and the earliest recorded mention of local Nürnberg Lebkuchen dates to at least 1395. Historically known as honey cake (Honigkuchen ) or pepper cake (Pfefferkuchen), Lebkuchen comes in many configurations, the most famous being the heart-shaped souvenier version found in German Christmas markets. Happy Christmas from Nürnberg is made with a plethora of spices and fruits, including cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, ginger, cardamom, coriander seed, and candied peels of orange and lemon.  
• Mahr's Christmas Bock - A rich yet unusually hoppy & drinkable winter bock from a classic Bamberg family brewery.
• Kulmbacher Eisbock - The original. The story goes that a wooden barrel of bockbier was inadvertently left in the brewery yard in the middle of winter. By the time it was found, the contents were mostly frozen so the ice was chipped away, leaving behind a much richer, more concentrated, but exceptionally clean tasting brew with a deceptive 9.2% abv. 
• Weissenohe Monk's Christkindl - A classic dark Franconian winter lager, dry-hopped and double-decoction brewed at Germany’s second-oldest Klosterbrauerei (gravity keg)  
• The Monarchy Year of the Dragon - Happy New Year! A strong ale brewed with rice. Each year, a new version will be brewed.

Spuyten Duyvil is located at 359 Metropolitan Avenue in Brooklyn. The beers will be on at 5pm and the cookies will arrive shortly thereafter.

No Love for the Outer Boroughs?

It's not that we don't love you Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island. You think that we beer lovers favor Manhattan. Not true. But biking to Blind Tiger? Piece of cake. Walk to Jimmy's No. 43? No problem. Even a sunny-day jaunt or bike ride over the Williamsburg Bridge isn't too painful (although the return can be problematic). But those late night N/R/F/7 trains (let's not even mention the Staten Island Ferry) can be harsh. But we love what you do and we encourage others to be adventurous every now and then. And locals: support your bars.

Good Beer Seal bar Sunswick is turning 6 tomorrow! They're located at 35-02 35th Street in Astoria and, given the time of the year, will have a draft list heavy on the holiday beers including:

• Géants Noël des Géants
• Kulmbacher Eisbock
• Ridgeway Seriously Bad Elf
• Ridgeway Reindeer Droppings
• Ridgeway Santa's Butt Porter
• Jenlain Noël

If you're not headed to the Blind Tiger for the Toys for Tots event, why not head to Sunswick? Or do both? It's a quick trip on the N/Q train. Happy birthday, Sunswick!

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.