How about stay indoors?
We seriously considered that option on Saturday morning when it looked grey and chilly outside.
We went for a second opinion.
“Alexa!”
“What is the weather going to be like today?”
“Good morning Nigel”
“It will be grey and cloudy with intermittent showers and a chance of snow flurries”
“You are going to freeze your butt off”
Well that settled it.
We would need to bundle up.
We had stuff planned for Sunday that was going to take up the whole day, so if I was going to get a beer, it would have to be Saturday, come rain or snow.
I knew where I wanted to go.
Rough Draft had posted an update during the week, to let folks know that their beer engine was up and running and pouring a Condzella fresh hop pale ale from Strong Rope.
So, no worries with the weather, I had the M101 bus to take me door to door.
When my wife agreed to tag along, we decided to make a day of it, and set off to the park to walk part way, or at least to the west side.
We soon formed a plan for the day.
We were going up to Hamilton Heights to visit a couple of local ex-dignitaries, Alexander Hamilton and Ed Koch.
We were barely in Central Park when the weather eased up, and the sun even tried to poke through the clouds.
So we just kept on walking.
And walking.
All the way up to 143rd and Amsterdam for refreshments, and ultimately up to 156th and Broadway.
Let me tell you folks, there is a lot of cool things to see and do in that part of NYC, especially if you are into history, or art, or literature, of if you just enjoy lively walks in the city, or peaceful walks in graveyards.
You can do what we did and start with some American history by visiting Hamilton Grange.
Open Wednesday through Sunday, administered by the National Park Service and free to enter.
You can browse a handful of small exhibits, watch some movies (the one that shows the entire house being rolled down the hill for a couple of blocks is pretty amazing), and sign up for free ranger-led tours of the house.
We basically just swung by for a bathroom visit and to rest our legs for a bit after the hike to the Heights, but we promise to do the tour next time we come.
And we will come back, because Rough Draft is just a couple of blocks away and is providing delicious cask ale to the weary traveler; in this case, the aforementioned Strong Rope wet hop pale ale.
Old Glenham will also be dropping off a few casks later this week.
We stayed just long enough for me to enjoy a couple of chewy cool pints of the Condzella, and then set off west and north again in search of a dead NYC mayor.
We didn’t actually find him this time, so another reason to return.
We did find the Trinity Church Cemetery but someone had got there before us and built this monstrous road named Broadway right through the middle of it, chopping it into two almost equal sections.
We decided to enter the western section because it appeared to be the older part, and it looked way more dramatic than the more formal-looking eastern half; winding down the steep hill from Broadway to Riverside Drive and the Hudson River beyond, with views of the George Washington Bridge and the Palisades about a mile to the north.
Hizzoner Ed Koch would of course get himself buried in the eastern section of the cemetery, along with John James Audubon amongst others, and would require us to return during the week (Tuesday-Thursday) for walk-in access and the privilege of viewing his gravesite.
There is a bunch of departed notables in the western half though, including many members of the Astor family, and also one of the sons of Charles Dickens, so some local interest for me.
It was surprisingly quiet and peaceful, given that it is just feet from bustling Broadway, and I highly recommend dropping by for those folks who enjoy walking among the departed.
The final stop on our self-guided tour of Hamilton Heights lies immediately to the north of the western section of the cemetery, and that would be Audubon Terrace Historic District.
Audubon Terrace is located within the grounds of Boricua College and incorporates the American Academy of Arts and Letters which we did not visit on this occasion, and also the Hispanic Society Museum and Library which we did.
Both are free to visit.
We stayed for a little over an hour in the museum, contenting ourselves with the artworks on the main floor, and joining a docent-guided tour of the Vision of Spain permanent exhibit.
There is so much more to see there, and it is worth setting aside an entire day next time, with a short detour to Rough Draft for a swift one.
Yet another reason to return to the Heights.
We could have stayed longer but it was getting late, it was getting colder outside, and we had a M101 bus to locate and catch.
The nearest stop was just a block away back on Amsterdam Avenue, and we lucked out and timed our arrival within two minutes of the next bus.
It didn’t drop us off at our door, but it was close, and it ran express from 125th Street to where we got off at 96th and Lex.
So we didn’t freeze our butts off.
As expected, Sunday was a cask-free day, but we managed to cram in some NYC nostalgia that almost made up for it.
We started underground at the 96th Street station on the Q line, where we joined hundreds of other “commuters” and a score of costumed “performers” all waiting to board the first downtown leg of the season, for the NYC Transit Museum Holiday Train Ride.
This is apparently an annual tradition, one that we didn’t know about until this year, where it is scheduled to run locally for us, between the Q line at East 96th Street to the 2nd Avenue stop on the F line; it follows the Q and F lines between those endpoints, stopping at all of the popular stops in between.
It runs every Sunday in December, four runs a day in each direction, starting at 10am at the southern terminus and 11am at our end in the UES.
All eight cars are R-1 rolling stock and would have been manufactured in 1930-31, with many still running until 1975; there are actually two different variants on the train, with different seating arrangements and fans.
For the cost of a subway fare you get to take a train ride back in time to the 1930s (no graffiti), especially if you manage to snag a seat or strap-handle in one of the cars occupied by the period-attired enthusiasts.
Running through the end of the month every Sunday, it is a cool way to get from point A to point B in Manhattan.
We had nowhere specifically to go in midtown or below (did I mention it was cold and grey outside?), so we just rode it to the end, and rode it back home again.
A nostalgic way to spend three hours.
We did some more seasonal nostalgia at 6:30pm on Sunday evening, with a two-block walk to Park Avenue and the Brick Church, where they hold a carol service in the street outside on the first Sunday in December, prior to turning on the lights on all of the “Christmas” trees in the medians from 97th Street down to 54th Street.
The Park Avenue Tree Lighting has been an annual tradition since 1945, when it was initially held in honor of those lost in WW2.
Through negligence we had missed the event the past couple of years, so we made sure to put it onto our calendars this year as soon as we saw the notices posted around the church.
It is a lovely family-oriented event, and this year, as always, the two closed-off blocks of Park Avenue were absolutely packed with locals, and their kids, and their dogs, all enjoying a good singalong.
Yeah, you may have missed the lighting, but the trees themselves will be lit throughout the season, and are well worth a visit and a photo opportunity.
Just make sure that you don’t freeze your butt off.
Scorecard w/e 12/9/25
In the past week the Cask Whisperer has enjoyed the following casks:
- Old Glenham Black Country Mild @ Jones Wood Foundry
- Strong Rope Condzella Wet Hop Pale Ale @ Rough Draft
Upcoming Cask Events (Festivals and Otherwise)
- 1/9/26: RIF-RAF Rhode Island’s Finest Real Ale Festival (session 1) @ The Guild Pawtucket RI
- 1/10/26: RIF-RAF Rhode Island’s Finest Real Ale Festival (session 2) @ The Guild Pawtucket RI
- 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
- 12/10/25: National Lager Day – Eckhart will tap a cask of their Czech Amber at the taproom at 4pm.
- 12/18/25: Strong Rope will be tapping a dry-hopped cask of Pub Ale at City Swiggers at 5:30pm.
- 12/21/25: Strong Rope will be tapping a holiday-spiced cask of Pub Ale at Whisk and Whiskey between 3-7pm for their holiday party.
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).
