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CASK ALE WHISPERER

Blog by Nigel Walsh

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A Gathering of Greys

If you were anywhere near Jones Wood Foundry last Wednesday, you may have noticed a muffled cacophony of Scottish and English voices coming from the depths of the back dining room.

You would have also probably observed the seemingly endless procession of distinguished gentlemen, and equally gentle ladies, passing through the bar in the early evening.

And if you were hardy, or unfortunate, enough to still be there around closing time, you would have been subjected to another endless stream of wobbly gentlemen and not-so-wobbly gentle ladies heading out the other direction to destinations unknown.

Some of you may have even been curious as to who these sprightly folks were; they didn’t act and look like the usual gathering of teachers or medical professionals that have been known to haunt the darker spaces of JWF “en masse”.

And most had strange foreign accents, and a propensity for drinking large quantities of beer, and demolishing plate after plate of shepherd’s pie.

I sat near the center of the group and counted myself as one of their number.

Let me fill you in.

Forty odd years ago my darling wife referred to us all as the Lads, and she still does on occasion.

The Lads in return would sometimes call my wife Brenda (not her name).

Thankfully that is no longer a thing.

We (almost) all worked for the same IT company back in the UK in the seventies, and arrived here in the US in dribs and drabs over the early eighties, in the same manner that we arrived at JWF last Wednesday.

Most of us hit these shores on inter-company visas, legal in those enlightened times, and originally came on generous expense accounts for two-year assignments.

Many of us fell in love with NYC and took the opportunity to forgo the expenses and apply for green cards, when the company offered to make the stay permanent and sponsor us (also legal); some of us ultimately applying for citizenship (yep, legal).

There were also local hires, such as my missus who was the original office manager for the NYC office, and there were a couple of folks who were already here from the UK and were recruited directly.

For many years we all lived locally, either in NYC or within a fifteen-mile circle centered on Westport CT.

And we hung out together whenever we could; softball games in Prospect Park and at Compo Beach in CT, beers in the city, parties in CT, more beers on the 6:07 bar car heading home after the end of the workday, Mets games, Jets games, Hartford Whaler games for gawd sake, and darts teams in NYC.

Eventually we (well most of us) moved out of the area, as jobs and family responsibilities scattered many of us to the four winds, both temporarily and permanently.

Some of us ultimately returned to the old country.

But even then, there were occasions when we got back together again in person, or virtually, post-covid.

We gathered together this past week to celebrate the life of one of our own, who passed away earlier this year after suffering the ravages of diabetes over too long a period of time.

We came from all over the City; three from Brooklyn, one from Queens, one from the West Side, and my wife and myself locally.

We came from all over the States; Northern Virginia, Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, and California.

One dear friend even came over from Ireland for the occasion.

We drank pilsner and Pride and Peculier (well, I had my secret stash of Old Glenham) and we ate copiously.

We reminisced about old times, and remembered our lost friend.

We embarrassed ourselves and each other with old photos.

We compared illnesses and surgeries.

We spoke of our kids and grandkids.

Some of us had over thirty years to catch up on.

We had a boisterous time.

You may have heard us.

 

Beer Engines of Olde New York (An Occasional Status Report)

Blind Tiger Ale House

Two days after the gathering described above, the last three standing met up again to prowl around the West Village, killing some time before heading out to Citi Field to watch the Mets vs. Marlins game.

As the Lads were getting the munchies, I led them into the Blind Tiger for beer and nachos; several good beers, and good nachos and good quesadillas and good empanadas.

Of course I noticed the two black handpumps looking forlorn at the far end of the bar, and as I did the previous week, I asked the bar staff about the beer engines which I knew hadn’t been operational for some time (post covid?).

It was pretty much the same story as the Minetta Tavern; they were broken, and it would probably take a lot of effort to repair them.

I shot off a quick text to Ian Hatton to see if he was interested in looking at them; he was very interested as, like me, he had been a regular Tiger customer back in the day.

So again, contact information was exchanged and fingers will be crossed for the future.

Just doing my schtick.

Gotta keep whispering.

Scorecard w/e 9/2/25

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

Upcoming Cask Events (Festivals and Otherwise)

Upcoming Oktoberfest Events (With Confirmed/Potential Cask Sightings)

Upcoming Random NYC Casks

  • This upcoming Friday, September 5th, is the first Friday of the month, and it seems like Brouwerij Lane may be tapping a cask from Wayward Lane; tappings are usually at 4pm.

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 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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