Or is it ravings?
Those lights at the ends of the tunnels last weekend did unfortunately turn out to be oncoming trains, making last week one of the most troublesome (I believe the correct word is horrendous ed.) that I have experienced in my long whispering life.
So I am happy that I decided to do the Caskiversary write-up last Sunday instead of leaving it for Monday night as is my usual practice.
Between the ongoing family concerns at Whispering Pines South (no, not that one and not that one either), and the stupid cruelty that passes for “work” these days, I found myself crawling into my bed exhausted before 9pm every night last week, hoping that I wouldn’t be getting any more calls or texts from colleagues or kin.
Well, that was until Friday afternoon, when faced with crappy weather over the weekend, I forced myself to wander down to the ferry to go off in search of a random cask in Greenpoint.
It was a little too cold to walk all the way to Brouwerij Lane from the LIC ferry pier, what with the Pulaski Bridge to deal with and me being underdressed and all, so I had the bright idea to walk through the Gantry Plaza State Park to the Hunters Point ferry pier to switch to the East River line.
The end result being a bit of a ricochet on the river; Manhattan – Queens – Roosevelt Island – Queens – Manhattan – Brooklyn, all in six stops.
Yeah, that wasn’t going to work for the return trip, but I was happy to see an already tapped pin sitting on the counter when I got to Brouwerij Lane.
I was even happier when I found out it was from Fifth Hammer, and it was a new pale ale; they were brewing and casking again!
On all other occasions when I have gone in search of the First Firkin Friday cask (say that fast), I have turned up on a Saturday with fingers crossed that it would still be around, so arriving after dark on a freezing evening was a break from the routine.
At 12pm on a Saturday, you don’t really get to appreciate just how cozy the place is, but at 6pm on a cold winter’s evening it was almost Dickensian; stuffed full of all manner of Brooklynites, a roaring fire, and a fine wee cask.
It doesn’t get much better, and I was really happy that I made the effort to drag myself out of the house.
I only stayed for a couple as I wanted to make sure that there was plenty of ale to go around, mustn’t be greedy folks, and I had also formed a plan for getting back home via the source, Fifth Hammer itself, to see if the new pale ale wasn’t just an illusion.
Still leery of the Newtown Creek crossing, I jumped onto a Queens bound G train and one stop later I was right around the corner from Fifth Hammer.
Hmm, I must remember that.
Fifth Hammer was buzzing, as is typical for a Friday evening, and I spotted the label adorning the handpump clip before I had even closed the door behind me, and knew immediately that they were back in the cask business.
The beer is a pale ale named Hollace Neverholly and reminds me of those original non-hazy APAs that were all around the mid-Atlantic states 10-15 years ago, except at a more reasonable 4.5% instead of 5.5% – 6%.
A very pale, almost golden, ale with a noticeable bitterness and the body to back it up.
I lucked out by getting to taste it with two different dry-hop treatments; Idaho 7 at Brouwerij Lane and Waimea at Fifth Hammer, both were great.
Again, I didn’t stay too long, I had a ferry to catch and wasn’t comfortable chancing it with the winter ferry schedule.
Come Saturday, I had a more substantial session at Jones Wood Foundry; I knew that the Six Nations tournament was on and decided to head there for the England-France game.
Unsurprisingly, I found Jason at the bar along with his French friend Francois, and some lively banter ensued.
The game was brilliant as was the beer, Old Glenham Loom Cornish Ale tasting a little nuttier than usual, which was fine by me, reminding me of Fremlins bitter.
After the rugby was over, I was all set to leave when the Brighton-Chelsea game came on, so I stuck it out for another couple of hours, only escaping once I had witnessed Brighton’s go-ahead goal.
I had originally hoped to make a trip up to Beacon this weekend but was scared off by the threat of a significant snowstorm, so I wussied out.
I had also considered making a return visit to JWF on Sunday to watch the Scotland-Ireland game, or even the Superbowl, but decided to stay home and write my memoirs instead.
Lord knows, I am probably not going to get a chance during the upcoming “work” week.
Scorecard w/e 2/11/25
In the past week the Cask Whisperer has enjoyed the following casks:
- Old Glenham Loom Cornish Ale @ Jones Wood Foundry
- Fifth Hammer Hollace Neverholly Pale Ale w/Idaho 7 @ Brouwerij Lane
- Fifth Hammer Hollace Neverholly Pale Ale w/Waimea @ Fifth Hammer
Upcoming Cask Events (Festivals and Otherwise)
2/22/25: NYC Beer Week Opening Bash @ Industry City, Brooklyn NY
2/22/25: 6th Winter Cask Classic @ Denizens Brewing, Riverdale Park MD
3/1/25: Cask Fest 2025 @ River Horse (& Du Claw), Ewing NJ
3/21/25: Two Roads Cask Fest @ Two Roads Brewing, Stratford CT
3/23/25: An Afternoon of Casks IV @ Nod Hill Brewery, Ridgefield CT
4/2/25 – 4/5/25: 26th Annual NERAX will be held in Boston MA. Save the dates!
5/24/25: New York State British Real Ale Festival @ Seneca Lake Brewing, Rock Stream NY
6/7/2025: Log Jammin’ V @ Human Robot Beer, Philadelphia PA
Upcoming Random NYC Casks
- No erratic casks identified yet this week.
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
Cask Venues Reachable from NYC by MTA Train
Metro-North Hudson Line
- Draught Industries, Beacon NY (one handpump, Old Glenham beer range).
- Coopers, Beacon NY (one handpump, Old Glenham beer range).
Metro-North Harlem Line
- The Ambleside Pub, Mt. Kisco NY (four handpumps, Old Glenham beer range).
Metro-North New Haven Line
- Marlowe Artisanal Ales, Mamaroneck NY (one handpump tapped Thursdays, Marlowe beer range)
- Nod Hill Brewing, Ridgefield CT (two handpumps, Nod Hill beer range).
