My granddaughter went home last Thursday.
I only had the one dog, my granddog, to watch over.
I had jury duty to deal with.
I have wall-to-wall dogs for the next two weeks.
So what did I do with myself over the four days that I actually had a little time to myself?
Four dangerously hot and humid days.
Yep, you guessed it, I snuck out.
I got out and about, and managed to track down three new casks in three separate boroughs.
Starting with that jury duty on Thursday, or to be more accurate, starting at 2:30am on jury duty day helping my darling wife and granddaughter get up and out to JFK for a flight to pastures unknown.
I had to get to the NYS Supreme Court at 60 Center Street by 9:00am so I didn’t bother trying to get back to sleep, I just dunked my head in a bucket of water and drank plenty of coffee; it was going to be a long day.
It was a long day.
I got selected for the first jury panel that they called, but managed to talk myself out of it, citing financial burden, as did the other 40-odd folks selected for the pool; the case was expected to go on for a month or two and nobody was signing up for that kind of commitment.
And that was it, other than having to sit around until 3:30pm when they sent us all home … in 97F heat.
It was so hot that I didn’t even bother going outside for the designated lunch break.
But it wasn’t too hot to keep me away from an after-jury hike to the East Village/Alphabets for a refreshing pint or two.
Yeah, I did the mad dogs thing and submitted myself to a two-mile walk, just to sample the beer from an elusive New Jersey brewery.
I might have been a bit of a sweaty mess when I arrived.
The ice water that I had alongside the cask didn’t help much, it just condensed all of that sweat.
The Ramstein Spin IPA cask worked wonders though, even at 6.7%.
It worked so well that I had another, sandwiching an Alewife gose (practically extinct in the wild) in between.
Let’s talk about that cask though.
It was one of those old school mid-Atlantic IPAs that were all the rage 10-15 years ago, full-bodied, bitter and floral.
Pretty much as I had anticipated, but very drinkable, dangerously so.
They get some interesting beers in Drop Off Service.
They are the main reason that I still keep the Beer Menus app on my phone.
After three beers I was suitably refreshed and dragged myself back out to the stinking hot streets for a short but non-trivial walk to the subway.
Friday was rest and recovery day.
But come Saturday morning, I was ready to pick up another mad dog for a ferry/hike into deepest Gowanus.
For our latest Walkies with Amos, we were going to visit Wild East.
It was always going to be a tough walk, and Amos was probably the least mad of us dogs, stopping for water and carries when he needed a break.
But there were three of us with him this time, and we eventually managed to drag ourselves to the brewery.
Where I was happy to see that they had a coffee-infused variant of their L’Ultima Moda Italian Pilsner on the beer engine.
I may have had three.
Interspersed with a couple of tasters of Berliner Weiss and a milktube.
It was a good session; Mike and Chris kept us hydrated and the kitties (Patience and Fortitude) kept us entertained.
The walkies back was much easier on all of us, but due to bad great ferry timing we were forced happy to spend half an hour in Transmitter at Brooklyn Navy Yard; just enough time to sample their ESB and Steam beers.
And then there was Sunday.
My missus was on her way back from distant shores and was due to arrive late in the evening, and I was all set for a short stroll around the neighborhood just to get some exercise in.
I don’t know what made me check the Fifth Hammer web site; it was only a couple of weeks ago that they ran out of cask ale, and it usually takes 3-4 weeks before a new batch appears.
But my Casky Sense told me to check anyway, and sure enough they had a new cask ale on their beer menu.
A quick look at the ferry schedule, one due in twenty minutes, and I was in my boots and heading out the door.
And what a fine brew the new Paddy Neverpat is.
A 5.2% Pale Ale with distinct Kentish notes; I had them check, and they confirmed that this particular cask was indeed Fuggled.
Full bodied, beautiful creamy head (Okay, that may not be so Kentish) with an earthy aroma and bite.
If I closed my eyes, I could have been back in Strood.
Well, apart from the 90+ temperature.
Three pints seemed about right.
Three nasty days.
Three delightful sessions.
I am glad that I dragged myself (and others) out into the oppressive heat this past week, as I now have a very dog-heavy calendar until the end of the month.
I will probably find a way to sneak out though.
At least once.
Scorecard w/e 08/11/26
In the past week the Cask Whisperer enjoyed the following casks:
- High Point Ramstein Spin IPA @ Drop Off Service
- Wild East L’Ultima Moda w/Coffee @ Wild East Brewing
- Fifth Hammer Paddy Neverpat @ Fifth Hammer Brewing
Upcoming Cask Events (Festivals and Otherwise)
- 9/12/26: Real Ale Harvest Festival @ Noah Webster House, West Hartford CT. It looks like I will be missing it this year, seeing as it falls on Rosh Hoshana and I have picked up several dog walks during the holiday.
- 9/19/26: Ecktoberfest @ Eckhart Beer. No tickets required, just show up 12pm-close.
- 9/26/26: Blocktoberfest returns, this time it will be held at The Lot @ LIC Culture Lab, right across the street from Rockaway Brewery, between 1pm and 5pm. Will there be any casks? I am willing to chance it.
Upcoming Random NYC Casks
- Nothing on the radar yet.
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).
