It’s that time again folks.
Time for the annual pilgrimage to Patchogue.
Time to sip from the casks, alongside our kilted brethren.
This was my (counts on fingers) seventh visit to Blue Point Brewing for their legendary cask ale festival, on the occasion of their (counts on fingers, toes and other extremities) 22nd occurrence of said cask fest.
Yeah, I admit to being a little slow on the uptake, but have made up for my initial tardiness in a big way in recent years.
I always look forward to it, and I always have a good time there.
Where else can you have your pick from a hundred different cask ales and ciders (other than NERAX)?
Where else can you find cask on Long Island (except maybe Po’boy if you are lucky)?
Seriously folks, if you know of any cask ale outlets on Long Island, please leave a comment below; I and many others would be most interested.
Where else can you sample the wares of the “lost” generation of breweries from the 80s and 90s; those captured and ultimately released again by Anheuser-Busch and then vacuumed up rescued by Tilray Brands?
Where else can you enjoy the casky products of not one but three separate home-brew clubs?
And where else can you dilute the effects of a 13.5% Scottish Ale with the 0.9% Sorrel Shandy sitting right next to it?
This festival has it all.
And it also has the Demon Pipers, although they have been penned in a little since the party moved from the parking lot circus tent to the beer garden.
As usual, I had a plan to tackle the sheer number of offerings, in order to trim down the potential intake from 100 to a more modest (ha!) 20-25 5oz (or smaller) pours.
Not a defined order, more of a checklist.
- Identify the newcomers.
- See if the old vanguard had anything interesting.
- Hang out with the home-brewers.
- Check out any Blue Point collaborations with local concerns.
- Focus on traditional European styles and lower ABV beers.
- Grab some ciders and/or meads.
- Do some silly stuff, but only a little.
There was plenty of silly stuff to be done, and I missed out on the silliest, a blue beverage named Windex which was the first to kick; oh well, my loss.
I checked off the first item on my list with my very first pour.
I had researched the three new breweries as soon as the official list was published to Instagram a week or so ago, and set off to track them down immediately after we were let loose in the garden.
Only to find that two of the three had bailed, leaving just Six Harbors Brewing from Huntington Village to make their cask debut.
The beer they brought along was essentially a snakebite (a lager/cider hybrid), and was very decent.
And at just 4.1% it hit three of my checkpoints, and was an excellent beer with which to kick off the afternoon’s festivities.
And then I wandered over to the home-brewers’ compound and it all went downhill shortly after that.
I started sensibly with a Kellerbier Pilsner (Top-5 beer), followed up with a Leichtbier, both well within my lower ABV criteria, but then continued on to the fruited ciders; three of them, all delicious, all dangerous.
Next stop was the Tilray brands on the opposite, windy and noisy side of the beer garden, aka the dance floor.
While I was still in the high-ABV way of thinking, I went for Brewdog first; I admit I was also curious to see what they would bring, and wasn’t surprised to see a 9% Blonde Ale on offer.
It was potent but decent, but I was very happy to see that on the other end of the line of casks were two Altbiers from Widmer, both sitting at a reasonable 4.9%.
One was subtly “enhanced” with Bourbon staves and the other brewed with historic Widmer yeast originating from 1984.
Both were exceptional, and the unadulterated, historic version turned out to be my favorite beer at the festival; I would go on to recommend it to anybody who would listen me, and several other folks with blank stares wondering “who the hell is this bloke?”.
This is not the first time that an Altbier has come out on top of my festival list, I really love the style.
I also have a fondness for Baltic Porters, and the version brought along by Hop Valley, a Tilray stablemate, nearly made my top-5 list too (an honorable mention) despite the 7% ABV (very reasonable for a Baltic) and addition of Cognac staves.
It was beaten out by three low-impact German and British inspired beers, and two curiosities that I ignored at first glance but were brilliantly executed.
My top-5:
- Smoked Ham Sandwich from Barrier Brewing of Oceanside, a 4.9% Rauchbier embellished with caraway and dill; it just worked.
- Mama’s Lil Helper, the aforementioned Kellerbier, brewed by homebrewer Cynthia Lindner; proving once again that the homebrewers can brew some of the most technically perfect beers in underappreciated styles.
- Tea by Sand City from Northport; take a purely American style of beer, the California Common (so-called Steam Beer), add some English Breakfast Tea, and end up with the best of Best Bitters at the event.
- Poppycock from Vue Brewing of Southington CT, a no-nonsense English Pub Ale; at 4.6% it was malt-forward and I would probably consider it to be more of an ESB than an Ordinary Bitter.
- And at the top of my picks, the 1984 Altbier from Widmer Brothers of Portland OR; just brilliant.
Other honorable mentions go out to the El Nahual (Tequila Barrel) Dark Mexican Lager and Prodigal Son Returns American Amber Ale from two of the Handgrenade homebrewers, and both beers from the reliable Transmitter Brewing, an S4 Saison variant and the W3 Imperial Witbier.
Twenty-five brews tasted overall at probably an average 4oz per taster, so about five imperial pints over the four hours that I was there.
Not a bad haul.
The average ABV comes out to about 6.4%, a little higher than I would have preferred, but several return visits to the Empanada truck kept things (and me) in balance.
It was another very enjoyable event, well worth the long commute to get to Patchogue and home again.
And to top it all off, the weather was beautiful again, for the seventh time in a row.
The next two months are quiet in terms of Cask Ale Festivals, but the 2027 season begins with RIF-RAF in Pawtucket RI in mid-January.
Not too far away.
Time to get tickets and plan another rail trip.
Scorecard w/e 11/10/26
In the past week the Cask Whisperer enjoyed the following casks at the 22nd Annual Blue Point Cask Ale Festival:
Brew | Brewed by | Style |
Vacation Money | NEIPA | |
Smoked Ham Sandwich | Barrier Brewing Company | Rauchbier w/Caraway & Dill |
On Air Ale | Pale Ale w/Passion Fruit, Citra & Anchovy | |
Revella Golden Hour | Blue Point & Revella on Main | Pale Lager w/Wildflower Honey & Orange Peel |
Elvis Ain’t Dead | Blonde Ale w/Blood Orange | |
Chill Out (John Huber) | German Leichtbier | |
Gelato Terps (Frank Lindner) | Brewers East End Revival B.E.E.R. | Cider – Cherry Vanilla w/Terpenes |
Mama’s Lil Helper (Cynthia Lindner) | Brewers East End Revival B.E.E.R. | Kellerbier Pilsner |
Straitjacket (Rick & Brianna Delzel) | Brewers East End Revival B.E.E.R. | Cider – Blackberry, Nutmeg & Moonshine |
Uno Mas (Brendan & Kelli McCann) | Brewers East End Revival B.E.E.R. | Cider – Imperial Red Sangria |
Sorrel Shandy | Sorrel Shandy | |
Friggin HUGE! | Wee Heavy (90/-) | |
El Nahual (K Mack) | Tequila Barrel Aged Dark Mexican Lager | |
Prodigal Son Returns | Handgrenades Homebrew Club | American Amber Ale |
Trev & Pat’s Excellent Adventure | Baltic Porter: Cognac Wood Chips | |
Old Faithful | Hop Valley Brewing | West Coast IPA w/Pepper |
Coffee | Café Romano Coffee Stout w/Lemon | |
Tea | Sand City | California Common w/English Breakfast Tea |
Mason’s Apple Light Lager | Light Lager w/Apple Cider | |
S4 Classic Saison w/Mango | Saison w/Mango | |
W3 Belgian Wit w/Coriander & Orange Peel | Transmitter | Belgian Wit |
Abyssal w/Mango | Double NEIPA | |
Poppycock | Vue Brewing | English Pub Beer |
1984 | Altbier: 1984 house yeast | |
Bourbon Belly | Widmer Brothers | Altbier: Bourbon Stave Extract |
I also found time to enjoy the following casks around town (pre-game and post-game)
- Eckhart Czech Amber Lager @ City Swiggers
- Wild East Moderance ESB @ Wild East Brewing
- Climax Pumpkin Ale @ Rough Draft Harlem
Upcoming Cask Events (Festivals and Otherwise)
- 11/12/26: Rumors of Wayward Lane casks @ Rough Draft, Harlem, tapping at 6pm.
- 1/15/27-1/16/27: RIF-RAF (Rhode Island’s Finest Real Ale Festival) returns to the Guild Brewing Co. in Pawtucket RI.
- 4/7/27-4/10/27: Dates have been set for NERAX
Upcoming Random NYC Casks
- Nothing as 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).
