It was repeated, sort of.
I am talking about that ten-minute cask crawl in Gowanus/Park Slope.
In a very short break between dog-sitting duties and grandpa duties, I managed to get out to Park Slope last Friday evening, just in time to get myself a couple of cask pours of Strong Rope Good Job Burton Ale; brilliant and dangerous as usual!
And then while I was there anyway, I checked to see what was happening at Wild East (Standard Deviation stout, too dangerous) and Beer Witch (new English Cask).
Of course I stopped by Beer Witch on the way home, for a couple of pints of Bluebird XB and a Kato Yuzu Sake to wash them down.
But that is not what I came here to talk about today.
More dog duty had me on lockdown all day Saturday and also Sunday morning, but once I was done with all that, I decided that it was time for an epic voyage of discovery.
Talking about NJ Transit here folks; that as-yet untapped resource that enables the discerning cask drinker to venture out into the untamed wilds of northern New Jersey.
Specifically, in this case, Red Bank; fifty miles as the car drives and under an hour and a half by train from Penn via the North Jersey Coast Line (NJCL).
If it wasn’t for my remaining doggie duties, I would have left early on Sunday morning to scope out all that the town offers, but as it was, I ended up with a more targeted approach due to the compressed time schedule, and limited my visit to a five minute walk from the railroad station to Triumph Restaurant and Brewery.
That is probably all you folks are interested in anyway.
Although I am sure that some of you may be interested in my two earlier visits to Red Bank many years ago; both times to accompany my neighbor and her anglophile mum to see Peter Noone and his Herman’s Hermits in concert.
I have a couple of signed tee shirts somewhere …
Triumph wasn’t on my last visit, not in Red Bank anyway, but they did have, and still do have, locations in Princeton NJ (cask/not visited) and New Hope PA (no cask/visited).
They originated in the mid-nineties and are one of those massive old-school brewpubs with good bar food and, thankfully, an up-to-date beer menu (think lagers and IPAs).
I have a soft spot for these kind of places; I used to seek them out whenever I was on the road, and you would find them in the most obscure places, all over the country.
I am very happy that they can still be found.
Even in Red Bank.
This one has been around for about six years.
You get no sense of the size of the place from the outside, but once inside the single taproom/bar you can’t help but be impressed.
It is essentially a cavernous L-shaped room wrapped around a long, similarly L-shaped bar with a mezzanine above and a stage area at the far end away from the entrance; the brewing tanks can be seen up above and behind the bar paneling.
There is an outside patio which was pretty quiet, probably because it was cold and damp outside, yep another false Spring.
The beer engine sits proudly on the very corner at the center of the bar, and has an unusual sleek industrial (phallic?) design; it appears to be well utilized.
Indeed, it saw a lot of activity while I was there, with three other patrons as well as myself drinking the cask ale, always a good sign.
One of the punters appeared to be a regular customer, matching me pint for pint, and the others asked for samples before settling on the cask, which the bar staff were very well trained, and enthusiastic, in describing; the beer itself, the dispense method, the history/origin, and the characteristics of a real ale.
It appears that these folks are serious about their cask ale; I asked and was told that it has been there since they opened, it is always on, and the owner likes it.
I cannot argue with that, I liked it too.
A 5.5% ESB, deep clear amber and nice foamy white head, leaving good lacings in the glass; it was quite bitter but also malty, with none of the usual ESB sweetness, it actually reminded me of an 80/- Scottish Ale, such as Belhaven.
I spent a little under two hours in the brewpub, slowly nursing my way through three pints, before I had to rush out to catch a train back to NYC and get home in time to feed the cat; you don’t keep Mr. Bagel waiting if you know what is good for you.
All in all it was a good day-trip and as it meets my sub-two-hour-train-accessible criteria, I have added it to the destination list in the scorecard section below.
Although next time I visit, I am toying with the idea of taking one of the seastreak ferries over from midtown Manhattan, swinging by Carton Brewing to check out the status of their beer engine, and either walking or busing from there to Red Bank.
We shall see; I just have to figure out the timing first.
And coming up, we have not very much.
No events on the list, and just one (very important) tapping this Friday.
Looking forward to Eckhart opening their taproom sometime this summer, hopefully.
Other than that, it looks like I will just be doing my usual rounds.
See you out there folks, I am the guy wearing the Herman’s Hermits tee shirt.
Scorecard w/e 6/10/25
In the past week the Cask Whisperer has enjoyed the following casks:
- Strong Rope Seeds of Love and Outrage @ Jones Wood Foundry
- Old Glenham Bobbin Red Ale @ Jones Wood Foundry
- Strong Rope Good Job Burton Ale @ Brewers Row
- Coniston Bluebird XB Bitter @ Beer Witch
- Triumph ESB ‘95 @ Triumph Restaurant and Brewery: Red Bank NJ
Upcoming Cask Events (Festivals and Otherwise)
Zippo – ‘tis not the season.
Upcoming Random NYC Casks
- Friday June 13 4-5pm, at The Hoptimist in the UWS, (on Amsterdam btw 80th and 81st), Strong Rope will be tapping a pin of their Pride Month beer, Aurora, a Honey Blonde Ale conditioned with orange peels and coriander in the cask.
- Friday June 13, 7pm, at The Baroness in Long Island City, Eckhart will be tapping a gravity cask of their Kolsch.
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
- Beer Witch
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 or NJ Transit Train in Under two Hours
Metro-North Hudson Line
- Draught Industries, Beacon NY (one handpump, Old Glenham beer range).
- Coopers, Beacon NY (one handpump, Old Glenham beer range).
- Happy Valley Arcade Bar, 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, Marlowe beer range)
- Nod Hill Brewing, Ridgefield CT (two handpumps, Nod Hill beer range).
NJ Transit NJCL Line
- Triumph Restaurant and Brewery, Red Bank NJ (one handpump, Triumph beer range)
