I took a few days off work last week to help out with family stuff, and as such I found myself at the bar at Jones Wood on Thursday afternoon at the bright early time of 2pm, instead of my usual after work 4pm (-ish) arrival.
John from Strong Rope happened to be there as well, finishing off his rounds and doing some quality control on the two Strong Rope pins that had just been tapped, the Decapitator doppelbock and the Ripe & Ruin West Coast style IPA.
I signed up on the spot to assist him with his quality control efforts.
Strong, but mighty fine beers both.
Whilst supping, talk got round to discussing the 2025 NYC Beer Week Opening Bash, and the possibility that there would be no casks present this year; certainly none from Strong Rope themselves, although John did confirm that they would be tapping a Pub Ale for the 2025 Metal event at BierWax on Monday, Feb 24th.
But my spidey sense was tingling and, stubborn bastard that I am, I purchased my ticket anyway, on the off-chance that Grimm or Transmitter or even Finback would come through with a cask.
None of them did this time, but thankfully Cuzme brought along a pin of Fifth Hammer Hollace NeverHolly pale ale dry hopped with Waimea; what a hero!
It was a little hazy when first tapped but tasted great nevertheless, and by the end of the evening it had settled down nicely, looking as good as it tasted.
Plus, our NYC newcomers Eckhart Beer turned up with a gravity keg of their Czech Pale Lager, which was cool and foamy and just plain delicious.
I am excited that they embrace the stichfaß, having also sampled their Foeder Hell out of the wood a couple of weeks ago at Strong Rope.
They are taking it out on the road this NYC Beer Week, with it scheduled to make appearances at City Swiggers and New York Beer Dispensary and an unconfirmed mention at the Wild East + Eckhart + Underberg event at Beer Culture in Hell’s Kitchen on Wednesday.
I asked them about their upcoming taproom, and they confirmed that they would be regularly offering their beers served in this manner.
There is a distinct possibility that the Cask Whisperer will be making more frequent exploratory raids into Bushwick in the near future.
As for the Opening Bash itself, I really enjoyed the format and content this year.
In the past, we have seen the two NYC sake brewers Kato Sake Works and Brooklyn Kura in attendance, but this year the event was thrown open to all manner of NYC producers, so alongside the beers I got to sample:
- Empirical Cilantro, a sort of eau de vie with an intense exploding cilantro taste.
- Barrows Intense Ginger liqueur; my missus would love that one.
- Hana Makgeolli Omija, a mildly tart berry and hibiscus makgeolli.
- Kato Sake Works Junmai sake.
- Kings County Distillery straight bourbon.
- Mighty Oak Roasters cold brew coffee.
- Fort Hamilton Distillery cucumber gin; perfect with the Gangs of Industry City (lager with amaro) from their neighbors Gun Hill Publick House.
- Finally, and best of all IMHO, from Brewminary Ted, I got to sample three variants of sweet mead that differed only in the type of honey used; I love the homebrewers!
No ciders represented, we need to bring cider back to the city.
The non-cask beers that I sampled were pretty great too; I had a couple from Transmitter, and one each from Endless Life, Gun Hill, KCBC and Brooklyn Brewery.
Is that all?
I practically behaved myself.
Even with the pre-game hazy IPA in the Gun Hill taproom across the courtyard.
It is going to be a long Beer Week with dozens of events throughout the city.
And you have to pace yourself sometimes.
Scorecard w/e 2/25/25
In the past week the Cask Whisperer has enjoyed the following casks:
- Strong Rope Decapitator doppelbock @ Jones Wood Foundry
- Strong Rope Ripe & Ruin IPA @ Jones Wood Foundry
- Fifth Hammer Hollace NeverHolly Pale Ale w/Waimea @ Industry City (NYC Beer Week Opening Bash)
- Eckhart Czech Pale Lager (stichfaß) @ Industry City (NYC Beer Week Opening Bash)
Upcoming Cask Events (Festivals and Otherwise)
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
3/23/25: Cask-On @ Cask & Vine, Derry NH
Oh dear, I am going to miss it again.
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
NYC Beer Week:
- 2/24/25 – Strong Rope Pub Ale to be tapped at BierWax sometime mid-afternoon (2pm – 3pm); come early and grab a cask or two, then stick around for the Annual NYC Beer Week Metal Night
- 2/26/25 maybe – Eckhart cask (stichfaß) at Beer Culture on West 45th Street (6pm – 10pm).
- 2/27/25 – Eckhart cask (stichfaß) of their Foeder Hell at City Swiggers (5pm – 8pm).
- 2/28/25 – Eckhart cask (stichfaß) at New York Beer Dispensary (5pm – 8pm).
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).
This Post Has 4 Comments
Hi was hoping to see you at Bierwax last night, the pub ale did not disappoint. What was the place 60 miles east of Albany that you mentioned as having cask at Caskaversary? Was it Red Shed in Cherry Valley?
Thanks,
Spanish J
Hi Johnny, Metal Night was a little after my bedtime, I am always knackered on a workday evening.
The brewery that we were discussing was probably Wayward Lane at Schoharie, but Red Shed is a good candidate as well; it looks like they have a cask program at their Cherry Valley Ale House.
I have had several of their beers on cask at events in Utica and Seneca Lake.
Their Geordie Boy is a pretty good Newkie Brown clone as I remember.
Cheers
Gracias. If you make it to the NY Beer Dispensary today for the cask, I will buy you a mliko pour.
You may just see me there Johnny. I swung by City Swiggers yesterday and am up for a walk today to the Dispensary, for a quick one.