I knew it was going to be an interesting evening when the first beer to fill my sample glass was pale blue.
The information card placed in front of the pin said Stardrop Wine (Inspired by Stardew Valley), but I knew immediately that it was really a Greater Mana Potion (Inspired by Terraria); somebody had switched the pins, or maybe just the cards.
You need to know these things if you want to live long and prosper in the world of computer games.
Welcome to the alternate universe in which the Two Roads Cask Fest manifests itself.
This was my third crawl into the Two Roads cask dungeon, which this year had an electronic gaming theme, with separate cask stations set up throughout the brewing floor and mezzanine tap room, each paying homage to a distinct technology: Nintendo, Xbox, Playstation and finally Computer Games.
Scattered throughout the ground floor brewery space and barrel room, were a dozen or so vintage game consoles, available for all attendees to play.
Twenty five beers (and I use that term loosely) in all, with the majority of the concoctions being based on one of their standard range of brews including hard seltzers, and a couple of one-offs that you are unlikely to see in your local supermarket.
That pale blue Greater Mana Potion turned out to be their TwoConn Easy Ale (a 4.3% golden ale collaboration with UConn), with some blueberries tossed into the mix, and a handful of butterfly pea powder for color; it did its job, and I was considerably energized after quaffing it.
Sixteen different base beers made an appearance, all heavily disguised with theme appropriate and occasionally flavor appropriate additives.
None survived unscathed, and a few came with multiple guises including the H2Roads Hard Seltzer, found lurking around the facility in three different forms, each incarnation scarier than the one before.
As a general observation, all of the seltzers seemed a lot stronger than I remember from past events, almost like vodka-based cocktails.
But I must admit that I actually got a kick (several different kicks) out of the Fruit of Dao (Inspired by Black Myth Wukong), a hard seltzer brewed with tea, grapefruit, passionfruit, lime, and mint, and (reading from the handout) dyed black, not an all-consuming opaque blackness, but a shimmer, like a slick dark oily patch swirling in the vaguely greenish liquid; after consuming the potion I felt increasingly invincible.
I felt that I could go on forever, or at least until 9:20pm, when I would have to dash out to make the train back to Grand Central.
They brewed a Wee Heavy, exclusively for the event, and served it up in two forms, one was completely unadulterated and the other sensitively infused with scotch-soaked chips and black peppercorns; both made my top five list.
My other favorite for the event was the Italian Pilsner which also featured twice, the Dr. Mario variant gently “dry-hopped” with oregano and rosemary, and a very refreshing Lich King Lager (Inspired by World of Warcraft) with wintergreen and vanilla; after tasting all of the casks at the event, I went back for a full pour of this for the road.
Rounding out my top five was the Belmont’s Flask (Inspired by Castlevania), which was the other one-off brew at the event.
Not so much a beer as a proto-whiskey.
A Single-malt Whiskey “wash” made with maple-smoked malt and brewed without any hops to 8% instead of being distilled.
A proper malt liquor.
Some honorable mentions:
- Wumpa Juice (Inspired by Crash Bandicoot), the base is a No Limits Hefeweizen and it was adorned by all manner of exotic juicy fruits: pineapple, guava, mango, and passionfruit. Capri Sun for hyperactive grownups.
- Special Snake Oil (Inspired by Red Dead Redemption), Vibe Catcher Hazy IPA with terpenes. There was a line for this one for much of the event.
- Argonian Ale (Inspired by Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim), an Expressway Coffee Stout with juniper, orange, oregano, and clove. The clove worked very well, and something in the mix added some anchovy notes; which also worked very well, strangely.
- Golden Mushroom (Inspired by Mario Kart), Route of All Evil Black IPA with candy cap mushrooms. My second mushroom ale this year, and once-again this was quite fruity, but this time with a funky undernote.
- Pikachu Thundershock (Inspired by Pokemon), a Lushee Lime Tart Ale with mango. The perfect palate cleanser, especially as all of the hard seltzers were quite boozy.
I thoroughly enjoyed the event again this year, as did everybody else in attendance.
It may not be the cask event for the purists, but it is a whole bunch of fun, for the brewers and the punters alike.
By the time that this is posted, I will have attended a second cask ale festival in Connecticut, the fourth edition of the Nod Hill Brewing Afternoon of Casks.
More on that next week.
Scorecard w/e 3/25/25
In the past week the Cask Whisperer has enjoyed the following cask cocktails, all at the Two Roads Brewing 2025 Cask Fest:
Brew | Style |
Italian Pils: Lich King Lager | Italian Pilsner – Wintergreen Vanilla |
Honeyspot Road: Night Elf Nectar | Wheat IPA – Chamomile Rose |
TwoConn Easy Ale: Greater Mana Potion | American Blonde Ale – Blueberries & Butterfly Pea Powder |
Cherry Quad: Get in Loser, We’re Travelling Back in Time to Kill Albert Einstein | Cherry Quad – Tarragon |
H2Roads: Stardrop Wine | Hard Seltzer – Lemon, Lavender, Rose |
Expressway: Argonian Ale | Coffee Stout – Juniper Orange |
H2Roads: Fruit of DOA | Hard Seltzer – Tea, Citrus & Black Dye |
Rye 95: Potion of Harming | Belgian Tripel – Cherry |
Coast Rider: Critical Hit | American IPA – NZ Cascade |
Lushee: Pikachu Thundershock | American Fruited Sour – Lime Mango |
Cruise Control: Golden Mushroom | Helles – Candy Cap Mushroom |
Expressway: Empire Coffee | Coffee Stout – Chipotle |
Wee Heavy: Cosmoem | Wee Heavy 90/- Ale |
Honeyspot Road: Kong’s Jungle Juice | Wheat IPA – Coconut Cherry Nutmeg |
Wee Heavy: Lower Norfair | Wee Heavy 90/- Ale – Scotch & Black Pepper |
Holiday Ale: Exile in Omaha | Biere de Garde – Cinnamon Bun |
Italian Pils: Dr. Mario’s Italian Pils | Italian Pilsner – Oregano Rosemary |
Whiskey Mash: Belmont’s Flask | Single Malt Wash – Brewed not Distilled |
Worker’s Comp: Sticky Elixir | Saison – Cranberry Lime Tequila Chips |
Two Juicy: Cosmo Candle | Double IPA – Pineapple Juice & Agave Chips |
Two Juicy: Special Snake Oil | Hazy IPA – Terpenes |
Cruise Control: Sprunk | Helles – Lemon Lime |
Cruise Control: Mule Kick | Helles – Pineapple & Midori |
No Limits: Wumpa Juice | Hefeweizen – Pineapple Guava Mango |
H2Roads: Pale Extract | Hard Seltzer – Ginger & Lime Juice |
Upcoming Cask Events (Festivals and Otherwise)
3/29/25: Gowanus Cask Crawl with the NYC Cask Crew
4/2/25 – 4/5/25: 26th Annual NERAX will be held in the South Boston Lithuanian Club, Boston MA.
4/27/25: 2025 Yards Invitational at Yards Brewing Company in Philadelphia PA.
5/4/25: 7th Annual Cask Ales FUNdraiser @ Po’Boy Brewery, Port Jefferson Station NY
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
- I have it on good advice that there will be a pin of the Strong Rope collaboration Red IPA with Nemo’s Beer Shop at Nemo’s in Forest Hills this Friday, March 28th. Cask Tapping at 4pm.
- This just in: Wayward Lane dark and pale milds at The Owl Farm on Thursday, March 27th. The Habitude Dark Mild will be in gravity cask.
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 3 Comments
It’s shaping up to be a great weekend for cask! In addition to the Gowanus cask crawl on Saturday, we’re tapping a cask in Forest Hills this Friday at Nemo’s Beer Shop. It’s a pin of our collab with them, Full Circle Red IPA. Owner is a friend of Daniel’s too I think, so he might make an appearance. See you there if you can make it!
Cheers John, I will update the scorecard with the relevant details. I hope to make it but feeling kind of crappy right now. We shall see.
John, when do you expect to tap the cask?