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CASK ALE WHISPERER

Blog by Nigel Walsh

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‘da Simmer Dim

No, not the one celebrated by countless Shetlanders, where the sun barely dips below the horizon for several months.

Nope, I am referring to the lack of cask ale in these here parts after summer ceremoniously, if not astrologically, begins.

Just check out the scorecard below: no upcoming cask events, no Friday firkins, and very few randoms.

It is all probably reasonable: the weather is not conducive to supping pints of warm cool beer, the population has all fled the city and the burbs to head for the hills, and let’s face it, we are all just a little bit rundown this year.

It is tough out there folks.

Although I did manage a couple of quick (he means long) visits to Jones Wood this past week, and I did manage to scoop up the two random casks that popped up on the same day in different boroughs; rolling the dice on which one was going to last beyond its Friday tapping to my Saturday sipping.

The first of those that I got to was a rerun (sort of) from last year, as Strong Rope once again supplied a pin of its Aurora Honey Blonde Ale to The Hoptimist bar/beer shop on the Upper West Side for their annual Pride celebration.

I arrived some time before the tapping and had to make myself comfortable with a couple of ciders (and a sour and a hazy double) before the main event, poor me.

Fortunately the natives were friendly and their noble beasts even friendlier; they take their doggie companions very seriously here.

I stuck around for a couple of pints of the delicious fruity cask brew once it was let loose; after all of the aperitifs, I was only going to have the one, but I somehow managed to twist my own arm.

I then very briefly considered heading over to Long Island City for the second random tapping before common sense took hold, and I opted instead for a hot sticky walk back across the park to home.

For a while there though, I was starting to go through all of the options for getting from A to B, but as they all involved either a crosstown bus to the civilized side of town first, or a West Side subway that would intersect the 7-train somewhere, or a walk (no, not with my bladder) or even a cab or Uber (not happening, I am on limited income these days), it became obvious to me that this was going to be a two-part exercise.

Part two began with doubts.

Friday’s brief sunshine had disappeared again, to be replaced with the same cold drizzly weather that we have seen on and off for the past couple of weeks, well the weekends anyway.

I had to remind myself that this would be considered pub-crawling weather back in the old days and back in the old country.

So, sometime late on Saturday morning the sensible folks of the Upper East Side, with their sensible rainwear and sensible umbrellas, got to watch an absolute idiot in a black tee-shirt and bush hat hurry along to the ferry terminal on the East River; I am a firm believer in the concept that the less you wear in the rain, the less you have to get wet, and who needs an umbrella when you have a bush hat?

Hey, it worked out okay.

I was only slightly damp when I pushed through the doors of The Baroness bar on Vernon Avenue in Long Island City.

My first time there, a cool place with old school Queens Irish vibes; the Friday tapping would have been a blast.

But my gamble had paid off, as sitting proud at the near corner of the bar was the still productive remains of the wooden gravity keg of Kolsch that Eckhart had tapped the night before.

And it was tasty, cool, clear and chewy.

Pale gold, grainy but not floral nose, floral and quite bitter taste.

I had two before venturing back out into the murk, for a short stroll back to the ferry via Fifth Hammer (unfortunately between casks), passing the Gelled Tumbler himself, who for some obscure reason was celebrating atop the back of a pickup truck on the street.

The sun never made it out of the clouds all weekend, but at least I made it out of the house a couple of times.

I was fortunate once to experience ‘da Simmer Dim, when I worked in a fish factory in Lerwick over a summer break from University, many years ago.

Here’s hoping that some casks manage to peek above the horizon this summer.

I think we are going to need them.

Scorecard w/e 6/17/25

In the past week the Cask Whisperer has enjoyed the following casks:

Upcoming Cask Events (Festivals and Otherwise)

Zippo – ‘tis not the season.

Upcoming Random NYC Casks

Nope – nothing here either.

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).
ASK NIGEL

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