No, not the name of a Dickensian firm of money-lenders, but two area breweries that, on the face of it, have little in common except for the brewing of fine artisanal ales (it’s in their full names).
But they both got speculative visits from the Cask Whisperer this past week.
This was my first visit to the Marlowe brewery/taproom, which took over the old Decadent Ales spot in the Halftime Beverages center in Mamaroneck in 2023.
Instagram drew me here, when Marlowe posted that they had installed a beer engine and would be tapping a fresh cask every Thursday evening.
I had alerted Jason about his “local” but when he turned up on a Saturday a couple of weeks ago, the cask had already kicked for the week, always a good sign!
So we made plans to drive up together last Thursday, after a couple at JWF, with me taking the train back home at the end of the session; it helps that the Metro-North station is just half a block away.
We had barely even parked ourselves at the bar when we were approached by respectable beer writer Kevin Kain, author of the Casket Beer blog and instigator of the NYC Cask Crew, who welcomed us warmly to his patch.
I honestly cannot tell you what beers were available, as I was wearing my cask blinkers and totally focused on the cask ale of the day, Eager to Share, which was absolutely brilliant.
It was listed as an American Pale Ale, but was probably the best interpretation of a Bass Ale that I have had in decades; alright 5.4% instead of 4.4% but it had the flavor profile down pat.
It was a glorious amber with a big foamy head and deep earthy bitterness, and appeared to be popular with the other patrons at the bar, another good sign.
Speaking with the brewer, he confirmed that it was brewed with Fuggle and EKG.
We tried it both sparkled and unsparkled (side-by-side … oy!), and the differences were subtle in both appearance and flavor.
We were also treated to a “test-tube” of their upcoming cask ale, a pale gold “IPA” which was very reminiscent of an English Summer Ale; I suspect that we may be returning this upcoming Thursday for a proper pint of it.
Marlowe is most definitely a venue that will be added to my regular rotation.
Grimm have had their own taproom on Metropolitan Avenue in East Williamsburg (is that really a neighborhood or even geographically correct?) for about six years now, after gypsy brewing for several more.
I typically get to visit maybe once or twice a year, usually when I am passing by on my walk between Fifth Hammer and KCBC, or as part of an extended Bushwick brewery crawl; I really miss Interboro, who used to be right around the corner.
Grimm had also posted on IG about a cask, a special cask of Double Negative that they had tapped earlier last week, so I didn’t expect it to be on, and it wasn’t.
But it did lure me in, and I decided last Saturday to actually make Grimm my destination for a change, and I am so glad that I did.
They have been known to send out the (very) occasional cask for offsite consumption; I had this year’s Festooning at Blocktoberfest in Brooklyn Brewery a couple of month’s back, and another one at As Is NYC in Chelsea a couple of years ago.
I once even managed to get my hands on a cask pour of Double Negative way back when Bondurants had a working beer engine; folks, how about reconnecting it, I am sure that you will be able to get casks for it.
But for this visit I had to make do with draft and bottle.
Double Negative on draft and Brulot Diabolique from the bottle, both getting the red-hot poker (bierstacheln) treatment, which worked perfectly for the Double Negative, but the delicious bittersweet burnt marshmallow result actually overpowered the boozy holiday flavors of the Brulot Diabolique; I am going to have to go back to get that one straight up next time.
What did work though, was the malted chocolate chip cookie that I indulged in to go with the Brulot; perfect for dunking, which of course I did.
I was happy to see that they had La Pompa! from Blackduck Cidery in bottle as well, which I had to try; I can never resist a Finger Lakes cider.
Tack on a Super Spruce gose and I was done for the day.
Scorecard w/e 12/17/24
In the past week the Cask Whisperer has enjoyed the following casks:
- Old Glenham Special Bitter @ Jones Wood Foundry
- Fifth Hammer Leo Neverlenny Pale Ale @ Jones Wood Foundry
- Marlowe Artisan Ales Eager to Share Pale Ale @ Marlowe Artisan Ales, Mamaroneck NY
Upcoming Cask Events (Festivals and Otherwise)
1/17/25: RIF-RAF Rhode Island’s Finest Real Ale Festival (session 1) @ The Guild Pawtucket RI
1/18/25: RIF-RAF Rhode Island’s Finest Real Ale Festival (session 2) @ The Guild Pawtucket RI
4/2/25 – 4/5/25: 26th Annual NERAX will be held in Boston MA. Save the dates!
Upcoming Random NYC Casks
- A little late with this one folks, but KCBC announced a Los Muertos (Mexican dark lager) cask tapped 12/18; you never know there may still be some left.
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
