What are you drinking right now?

Ithaca used to be the shit back in the day. Fresh Flower Power and their Excelsior! series (LeBleu and Brute, specifically) were fantastic. Then the top two brewers left in a dispute with ownership and it's now average at best.

The pair from there are now at Peekskill Brewing.

 

Just like IPAs, stouts, porters, hefes - some sour beer sucks and some is downright glorious. My absolute favorite styles are either lambics, American Wild Ales or funky saisons. Kettled sours like most goses and berliner weisses are very hit-and-miss.

 

Seems to be a trend that guys who brew are starting their own breweries. The guy who started Rushing Duck, in Chester Orange Cty NY, brewed at Weyerbacher. In NJ, there's a new brewery Czig Meister, haven't tried but few buddies have said it's good. That guy came from Kane, which is NJ's best. Ithaca I think is pretty good, but in that region nothing stands out. IMHO Ommegang is better than all from that area, although there are several I haven't tried. Would think the market becomes saturated soon, but breweries seem to keep opening. Like to support the little guy and love trying new beers. Still drink a Bud or Miller if it's all that's available, but prefer craft beer and Bud and Miller have enough money.

 

Ranger IPA

 

Tuscan 2% milk

 

Itinerary for my Bay Area limo beer tour on Saturday:
-- Beer Revolution (near Jack London Square in Oakland). Seedy little dive with several dozen taps. Most jam-packed brewpub chalkboard I've ever seen.
-- 21st Amendment (San Leandro). Giant facility has been open just over year to complement its sister facility in San Francisco near AT&T. Brew Free or Die is a 7.0 IPA that blows away their heralded Hell Or High Watermelon, which is a waste of time.
-- Cleophus Quealy (San Leandro) Batch 70 - Brett Tripel 8.8%
-- Alameda Island Brewing (Alameda) Cavanaugh Kolsch, my favorite of the day
-- Faction Brewing (Alameda) Funnest place on the tour, driving through abandoned warehouses and navy barracks until you get to a giant warehouse overlooking the bay. There were hundreds of people there and the first time I've ever had to wait in line more than a minute at a brewpub. But the line moved fast. Great spot.
-- Linden Street Brewing (Oakland) Black Lager is terrific.
-- Triple Rock (Berkeley) On a previous visit, Pinnacle Pale Ale was my favorite of the day. It's one of their standards and it wasn't on their chalkboard with the rotating selections. Didn't try it this time.

We were nearing our six-hour limo limit so we didn't make it to Temescal Brewing (Oakland) or Fieldwork Brewing Co. (Berkeley). I'm sure they'll be there next year. Seems bocci ball and Sandbag (aka Cornhole) are hot commodities in the Bay Area. Several of these places had bocci ball courts (?) and just about all of them had Sandbag games going on.

 

That's some great fucking hustle. You do not fuck around. You'll always be on my call list every time I visit NYC.

 

Folgers.

 

Coming from you, that means a lot. Seriously. #Respect

 

I feel like you're right at home at a place like Rudy's. I miss that place. A lot.

 

It's only an Amtrak ride away.

FYI, this is my new favorite pre-Yankees game place. You get off a stop ahead of Yankee Stadium and it's about a block away in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx. Ridiculous pours, zero pretense. Two friends blacked out by the third inning after going here one Saturday. We got them up for the seventh-inning stretch.

Glacken's Bar & Grill celebrates 75 years in Bronx

 

It's been a year since my last NYC trip. Loooooooong overdue.