Well, very little cask …
So I tried to be good this past week by cranking up the walking and dialing back the beers.
Let me tell you that it wasn’t easy, and it will make for a very short report this week.
It wasn’t easy because, I don’t know if you noticed, but it was bloody cold outside all week long.
So, all of the walking had to be conducted whilst encumbered by multiple layers of bulky clothing, which took forever to get into and even longer to get out of.
We did get to spend some quality time in several different sections of Central Park over three separate walks:
- From the southeast corner at Grand Army Plaza, to the northwest and Strawberry Fields via the Mall, then on to W 77th Street to try to get a look at the balloons being inflated (no such luck, the cops had all of the west side entrances closed off up to W 84th Street), before heading back to the northeast, past the Swedish Cottage, around the Great Lawn and finally up the east side of the Reservoir and out through the E 90th Street exit and home.
- A short (three mile) counterclockwise loop around the Reservoir and through the Pinetum.
- A clockwise loop around the North Meadow, with a long detour up to the Pool and following the Loch through the Ravine in the North Woods to check on the status of the new rink/pool, before circling Harlem Meer and the Conservatory Garden and the East Meadow, and finally exiting through the E 90th Street gate.
Phew!
We chalked up eighteen miles on those three days alone, all dressed up as Nanook of the North, with nary a beer, bar, or brewery in sight, although we did come dangerously close to Jones Wood on the first of those strolls, which began with a three mile jaunt down to midtown to get some financial transactions executed.
We were accompanied on the first two of those walks by one of our favorite guest dogs, who soldiered through without complaint (unlike us), and he only has little legs.
He also got to accompany us to our daughter’s apartment for Thanksgiving dinner, where he got to hang out and play with our grandsons and grand-dog, and I got to sample some of the farmhouse cider that we had brought back from the Finger Lakes; and that was it for drink last week although I did start this week off properly.
We really tested the limits of our walking on Sunday though.
My wife had the great idea of going over to IKEA in Red Hook to check out some furniture that we were looking at online, and I had the even smarter idea of walking there.
No, not all of the way, just the bit through downtown Brooklyn from the Navy Yard; a little urban exploration along or close to the waterfront, the cold windy waterfront; it was only 3.6 miles according to Google Maps … Ha!
It was going to take us from Transmitter Brewing to Strong Rope, and go close to Randolph Beer, Sound and Fury, Sixpoint, Talea, and Keg & Lantern breweries, and we were not planning on dropping into any of those wonderful places; such willpower.
It was grueling.
And then we had to add on the two mandatory loops around the inside of the IKEA warehouse; like two camels looking for a straw.
We were totally wiped out by the time we were done, and waiting for the free ferry to take us back to Manhattan; nice views though.
I finally got to the casks yesterday after the long dry week.
They were a short walk away from home, a painfully stiff short walk away at JWF.
Leo Neverlenny from Fifth Hammer, a juicy but proper beer, and the Old Glenham Session Bitter.
Delicious, and well worth the wait.
Scorecard w/e 12/03/24
In the past week the Cask Whisperer has enjoyed the following casks:
- Old Glenham Session Bitter @ Jones Wood Foundry
- Fifth Hammer Leo Neverlenny Pale Ale @ Jones Wood Foundry
Upcoming Cask Events (Festivals and Otherwise)
12/7/24: 6th Annual Indie Cask Fest @ TBC Beer Co. Bay Shore NY
4/2/25 – 4/5/25: 26th Annual NERAX will be held in Boston MA. Save the dates!
Upcoming Random NYC Casks
- It is the first Friday of December this week and Brouwerij Lane will have a cask from Wild East.
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)
- The Owl Farm
