Last weekend I missed out on the 9th Annual NYS Cask Ale Festival at Woodland Farm Brewery in Utica NY, due to being over 500 miles, and eight hours away, attending a (very happy) family event in Northern Virginia.
That eight hour drive was a little too much even for me, especially with the family in tow.
However, fortune tends to favor the favorable (or something like that) and with just one week to go, another smaller scale event popped up on my radar, at my old stomping grounds in DC.
I was able to persuade my wife, daughter and grandsons that they would love spending a couple of hours at the National Zoo on the way back to NYC, even without the new pandas on display yet.
And so, I was dropped off on the street in Eckington and left to my own devices, as the family doubled-back to the NW to spend some quality time with the assorted national critters.
The Real-ly Local Ale Festival was held outdoors at Quincy Lane, which is one of those oddities of street-craft that DC does very well; a single block pedestrian canyon between two new/converted industrial type buildings, in a previously non-trendy (but becoming so) neighborhood, with apartments sitting on top of stores and other public spaces (indoor and outdoor) at street level.
After checking in, I was given another a sampling glass for my collection (sorry sweetheart) and a wrist band that clearly stated that I was over 21; I was hoping that they would have one that read “under 70”, but no such luck.
The event showcased about a dozen DC and DC-area breweries, of which half brought along cask ales, seven in total.
Four of the casks were from some “old hand” breweries that were around when I lived in the District: DC Brau, Atlas, Bluejacket, and Right Proper.
The other three were from new (to me at least) breweries; one from City State which is located pretty much right around the corner from the event, if you take the rail-trail, and two from Dynasty who came all the way in from Ashburn VA, where I happen to have been staying the prior two nights (should have done better research on that).
The beer styles were very seasonal, with two porters, a stout, an English brown ale, English pale ale, a California common, and an old-school imperial west-coast IPA.
The two-hour zoo break gave me enough time to sample all seven and start a second round with my two “sensible” favorites; although, I was lining up another round of the imperial.
It was a very low-key laidback event, with the locals drifting in steadily over the two hours that I was present.
I only found out by talking with the Bluejacket folks that Churchkey was also celebrating its 15-year anniversary on the same day; another planning miss for me, oh well.
Not complaining though.
I had a very enjoyable break after all the emotion and excitement of the previous day, and the dreaded drive back into NYC and across the Hudson River; no fun getting in from NJ to NYC these days, not that it ever was.
So how were the beers?
All were brilliant, and five of the seven were completely unadulterated.
I started with the Dead End Street English brown ale from Bluejacket, a beautiful beer and a new one on me, although (checks the log book) I have had well over 200 different Bluejacket cask variants during my years in DC; along with Churchkey, Bluejacket was where you were most likely to find me between 2012-2018.
I went back for a second pour before leaving.
The next three were old favorites:
- Haxan – A robust porter from Right Proper Brewing, who had opened up their Shaw brewpub just before Bluejacket opened their doors back in 2012. I have had this particular beer on cask on two other occasions and had always assumed that it was a coffee stout/porter, probably because it had always had coffee beans added to the cask (not that there is anything wrong with that). Here it was in its glorious unadulterated form and was absolutely brilliant. I went back for this one too.
- On the Wings of Armageddon – One of the original brews from one of the original DC breweries; well, since the 2000s rebirth of the DC brewing industry. This is an awesome, delicious, palate-wrecking Imperial IPA (West Coast naturally). Really intense and 9.5%, yet still very drinkable in cask form, and usually, sensibly, sensitively adulterated with something complementary to the bittersweet, piney, citrusy aroma and taste (I have previously tasted twelve different variants). Here it was blood orange. Incredible beer, and if I had another twenty minutes on-site, I would have gone back and finished off with another pour.
- District Common – A California Common (Steam Beer) from Atlas Brew Works, another of the original DC brewers. This version was gently dry-hopped with Mt. Hood which added a nice bitter bite to the finish. I have always loved the style; the original Anchor Steam beer was one of those brews that helped sustain me in NYC back in the eighties. This may be the definitive version now available, on the East Coast at least.
On to the “new” breweries:
- City State Brewing were established in DC in 2020, after my time living there, so this was my first chance to enjoy a cask ale from them. They brought along a good one, the Kingman Extra Stout, a 7.5% roasty, toasty, yet surprisingly easy drinking beer. Their taproom is in an “interesting” part of town and looks very inclusive. I will be checking it out, should I have the need or pleasure to spend more time back in the District.
- Dynasty Brewing are located out in Loudon County, some thirty miles west of DC and barely three miles from where I happened to be staying last week; we even passed by it when we got lost driving back from a local farm run with the grandkids. One of the founders is Favio Garcia of Old Dominion and Lost Rhino brewing fame, so you know that there would be somewhat of a focus on historic beers. They brought two casks along to the event, one of which, the Rules of Civility #99 (Wales Pale Ale) was served from a beer engine, and the other, a historically inspired Mount Vernon’s Virginia Porter straight from the cask. At 7.5% the English strong pale ale was surprisingly well balanced, a proper pale ale and not sweet like a barley wine or winter warmer. The porter was creamy and bittersweet. Both were brilliant.
All in all, it was a cool and fun event, and I hope that it is the first of many; I would love for DC to re-establish its prior passion for cask ales.
I am still sad to have missed the NYS Cask Ale event at Woodland Farm, especially as it may have been the final episode.
Spoiled for choice this upcoming week though; we have the Fifth Hammer Halloween cask festival running from Thursday evening until Sunday (if the beer holds out), and on Saturday it is the 20th iteration of the Blue Point Cask Ale Festival out in Patchogue.
I will be attending both.
I am the guy with the “under 70” wristband …
Scorecard w/e 10/29/24
In the past week the Cask Whisperer has enjoyed the following casks:
- Right Proper Brewing Haxan Robust Porter @ The Real-ly Local Ale Festival
- Bluejacket Dead End Street English Brown Ale @ The Real-ly Local Ale Festival
- DC Brau On The Wings Of Armageddon (Blood Orange) @ The Real-ly Local Ale Festival
- Atlas Brew Works District Common (Mt. Hood) @ The Real-ly Local Ale Festival
- Dynasty Brewing Rules Of Civility #99 – Wales Pale Ale @ The Real-ly Local Ale Festival
- Dynasty Brewing Mount Vernon’s Virginia Porter @ The Real-ly Local Ale Festival
- City State Brewing Kingman Export Stout @ The Real-ly Local Ale Festival
Upcoming Cask Events (Festivals and Otherwise)
10/31/24 – 11/3/24: Cask-O-Ween at Fifth Hammer.
11/2/24: 20th Annual Blue Point Cask Ale Festival, Patchogue NY
11/8/24: Two Roads Cask Fest at Area 2, Stratford CT
Still not seeing any details of this event yet.
It looks like this one may have been scratched.
4/2/25 – 4/5/25: 26th Annual NERAX will be held in Boston MA. Save the dates!
Upcoming Random NYC Casks
- On Thursday, November 14th City Swiggers will be celebrating their anniversary with a cask of Sierra Nevada Celebration.
NYC Cask Venues
Known Operational/Active Beer Engines
- Jones Wood Foundry (x2)
- Fifth Hammer
- Wild East
- The Shakespeare (x3)
- Cask Bar & Kitchen
- Drop-off Service
Occasional Pins (worth a follow on Instagram)
- Strong Rope
- KCBC
- Tørst
- Blind Tiger Ale House
- Threes Brewing
- Brouwerij Lane (First Friday Firkins)
