Yeah I know, they all look like rough drafts.
But I am not here today to deride my own compositional efforts.
I am here to give thanks to the cask gods for delivering a shiny new cask ale venue to us impoverished folks in NYC.
Rough Draft has been open for just over a week, and is located in the Hamilton Heights neighborhood of West Harlem in Manhattan, barely blocks from the campus of City College and Hamilton Grange, the last home of Alexander Hamilton, after whom the area got it name.
I was clued-in last week via an Instagram post on the NYC Cask Crew account (cheers Kevin!), and immediately set about exploring my transportation options from Whispering Grange.
Oh my, look at that, I can walk just a handful of blocks up Third Avenue and grab a M101 bus right to the door.
But we will save that information for other later occasions, there was only one way that I was going to conduct my initial visit, and that was to walk it.
That gave me so many choices: follow the bus route up to 125th before heading west, go northwest through the park and then deal with the hill at Cathedral Parkway, cut diagonally through Harlem all the way on St. Nicholas Avenue, or avoid all of the hills by going west through the park to Amsterdam Avenue and then heading north.
I took the lazy route and was going great on Amsterdam until I passed through Columbia University and found myself going down into the canyon that is West 125th Street, before looking up to see an even steeper and longer climb ahead with no way to avoid it.
Note to self: if the neighborhood is named Hill or Heights, take a bus.
I did take a one-block detour as I got within a couple of blocks of the hilltop; I walked east to Convent Avenue so that I could check out the college buildings, which I was informed were quite distinctive.
I also wanted to verify that the National Park Service had physically moved Hamilton Grange since I had last visited over twenty years ago.
Yep, they hid it, but I found it.
I briefly considered going inside now that it was open to the public again, like the rest of the government (little “g”), but it was getting close to opening time and I still had a few blocks to walk to get to Rough Draft.
When I did arrive outside, I was a little intimidated by the line of twenty something twenty somethings, but fortunately they were facing away from the pub entrance and towards the breakfast place next door, so I narrowly avoided becoming the world’s oldest TikToker.
Fortunately for me, but not for them, because they missed out on experiencing a genuine welcome in what may be destined to become the most stylish cask bar in the city … hold on, do TikTokers even drink?
Stylish and friendly, and tiny.
Possibly even friendlier than my destination down the shore last week.
Possibly even tinier than my destination down the shore last week.
An elegant triangular shaped room in shades of blue with a lovely, hammered copper ceiling, turquoise banquettes along the left wall, the bar occupying the right, and small round tables in the center, with a drumkit hidden in plain sight in the immediate right corner; they aim to be an art and literature and music space as well as a bar.
The shiny beer engine sits right on the near corner of the bar.
The bar was empty when I first arrived, but that may have been because I was there at the crack of noon, and practically followed bartender Allie into the establishment.
I was greeted warmly by owner Ryan and the aforementioned Allie, and got straight down to business.
“I come in search of cask”
The cask happened to be off, but for a good reason, demand.
They had procured a barrel of King of the North red ale from Wild East to kick off their opening day festivities, and practically finished it off during the event, so I was a week too late.
I asked them about ongoing suppliers, and Ryan told me that they were in touch with Fifth Hammer as well as Wild East.
I directed them to Strong Rope as well but did not need to point them at Old Glenham as someone else had already linked them up, and Ian was scheduled to drop off some casks shortly.
They are also looking at Eckhart and the travelling stichfaß as an occasional, additional offering.
So, it all looks very promising.
And even though I did not get to taste any cask ale on this visit, they have an small but excellent craft/draft beer list, so I had to make do with a Sierra Nevada Celebration, my first of 2025.
Poor me.
Another couple came and sat at the bar while I was there, and were greeted with the same warmth as I was; we also had another local poke their head in the door to check that they were open for business, so it seems the neighborhood is ready to engage.
I wish them all the best.
Ryan is very enthusiastic about cask ales and is rightly proud of his beer engine, so I hope that the locals are equally accepting, and that the small NYC cask ale community is willing to make the pilgrimage to support him, in what is a very interesting part of our city.
We need to take care of our limited number of cask ale providers and purveyors.
I know that I will be coming back regularly … probably by the M101 bus!
I stayed for a very pleasant hour and a half before heading out to find the subway stop at 145th and St. Nicholas Avenue.
There are several lines that run through there, but I was looking for the D train, which appeared to pretty much run express down the west side of Manhattan and all the way out to Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn.
Perfect for a run out to Gowanus and the cask source at Wild East.
Wild East did not disappoint, they had one of their seasonal exotics on the handpump, a blueberry pancake enhanced version of their Standard Deviation stout; not as weird as it sounds, it is subtly flavored with the brilliant chocolate roastiness of the base stout shining through.
They have more seasonal specials lined up.
Keep an eye out folks!
And keep an eye out for Rough Draft while you are at it.
Scorecard w/e 11/25/25
In the past week the Cask Whisperer has enjoyed the following casks:
- Wild East Standard Deviation Stout: Blueberry Pancake @ Wild East Brewing
Upcoming Cask Events (Festivals and Otherwise)
- Save the dates! The 2026 edition of NERAX will be from March 25th to 28th next year. Tickets will be available in early 2006.
Upcoming Random NYC Casks
Nothing noticed so far.
NYC Cask Venues
Known Operational/Active Beer Engines
- Jones Wood Foundry (x2)
- Fifth Hammer
- Wild East
- The Shakespeare (x3)
- Drop-off Service
- Rough Draft
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).
- Little Dog Brewing, Bradley Beach NJ (one handpump, Little Dog beer range).
