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CASK ALE WHISPERER

Blog by Nigel Walsh

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Slipping Away for a Pint

This is going to sound very familiar, but I had lots of dogs to take care of last week.

Maybe even more than the prior week.

But thanks to Strong Rope and City Swiggers, I managed to summon up enough energy to get outside by myself and enjoy a few pints.

Last Wednesday was one of my quieter doggie days last week, with just one dog and two walks to occupy my time, and more importantly, those dog walking duties finished a little after 3:30pm giving me enough time to sneak out to Jones Wood for a couple before doubling back to Swiggers for the Strong Rope tasting and cask event.

It was IPAs all around for me, starting with a couple of pints of Old Glenham Baggins Wood English IPA in JWF, and finishing (really finishing, well they were 7%) with a couple of pints of Strong Rope’s pale West Coast IPA at City Swiggers.

No food, I had to forage for myself when I got home, but it was good to just get out for a few quiet hours of social beer drinking.

It was so good that I repeated the exercise on Friday afternoon as well; I had just one dog walk to handle at 5:30pm so I figured it would give me time to take the ferry over to Long Island City for a couple of beers in Fifth Hammer.

I ended up with just the one pint of Kelan NeverKelly pale ale from the beer engine, as I spotted that they had two bottled conditioned beers that I had not tasted before.

Both bretty, one strong and dangerously drinkable, and the other a gentler delicate farmhouse ale, both brilliant.

I didn’t stay long, but it was long enough for some more socialization before rushing back to the ferry, and home for the dog.

And then there was Sunday.

No dogs to watch, walk, or feed, but I got to hang out in deepest industrial Bushwick for a few hours, slipping away just long enough to swing by Eckhart for a Goze and an Adambier, and to pick up a couple of bottles of the Adambier for my wine fridge.

I have said it before, and I will say it again, industrial Bushwick is pretty cool, even more cool than the “civilized” side of Flushing Avenue.

But I did eventually wander over to the other side to check out the Troutman Open Streets, and sat outside KCBC and Kato sipping a sake, before taking the L train back home.

KCBC, I owe you a proper visit.

It was a long, busy, tiring week, but it looks like I may have found a happy balance between the joys of dog sitting and the joys of day drinking.

Now I just have to figure out how to get in some occasional evening socializing after the 5:30pm dog walk …

Scorecard w/e 05/05/26

In the past week the Cask Whisperer has enjoyed the following cask ales, and bottled-conditioned sours:

  • Old Glenham Baggins Wood IPA @ Jones Wood Foundry
  • Strong Rope Seeds of Love and Outrage w/Vista West Coast IPA @ City Swiggers
  • Fifth Hammer Kelan NeverKelly Pale Ale @ Fifth Hammer Brewing
  • Fifth Hammer Cuvee 2025 (Bottled Sep. 2024) Strong Belgian Ale w/Brett @ Fifth Hammer Brewing
  • Fifth Hammer Extremophile (Bottled Jan 2025) Solera Farmhouse Ale w/Brett @ Fifth Hammer Brewing

Upcoming Cask Events (Festivals and Otherwise)

Upcoming Random NYC Casks

  • 5/6/26: Eckhart Beer will be tapping a cask of their Svetle Special at City Swiggers, at or around 5:30pm.
  • 5/16/26: Das Bock returns to Plattduetsche Biergarten. Again, no promises of a cask but there were several stichfaß and a surprise cask at last year’s festivities. I really enjoyed it last year and just bought my ticket for this year!

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
  • City Swiggers

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).
ASK NIGEL

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