friends

Mikkeller NYC, Dumplings, UMAMI, or, How Two Grown Men Look Insane Saying the Same Word Over and Over Again in Public

For some reason, friend of the Blog and fellow Christmas Boy Brad and I love the word “Umami”.

Umami

noun

a category of taste in food (besides sweet, sour, salt, and bitter), corresponding to the flavor of glutamates, especially monosodium glutamate.

It’s a great f*cking word. And really hilarious to say out loud. Hence why, even to the chagrin of our significant others, we say it out loud to each other ALL THE TIME.

Brad and I went to Flushing last week, had some amazing dumplings 🥟 at Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao, and followed them up with a few beers at one of our favorite new breweries, Mikkeller NYC.

Ok, you’re ready for the video of two fully grown insane men out on the town together. Please enjoy.

Xiao Long Bao, Mikkeller NYC, and UMAMI, with Patrick and Brad

Click that link to watch the video on YouTube, and please LIKE and SUBSCRIBE (that’s what the kids say, right?).

See you on the flippity dip.

Until next time,

Cheers!

Thanksgiving Day, or It’s Time For Turkey, Family, Beer… AND KOOZIES!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope your Turkey 🦃 Day was filled with so much love and joy!

I love Thanksgiving, but as a man who works retail and usually has to work early the next morning, Holly Kay and I try and maximize our time off by heading to our destination the night before Thanksgiving, so we can have all day with our family. (Holly Kay has the whole weekend off, so she’s blessed with spending the whole weekend at my parents’ house out on Long Island.)

Wednesday evening, when we got out to LI, we were invited by my Aunt Cathy to do (one of our favorite things ever) an Escape Room! 4 adults, 3 whip smart children, and a room called “The Show Must Go On”, where an actress, Veronica Lakes, has been kidnapped 😱 an hour before she’s supposed to go on stage, and we must find out who the kidnapper is and escape the room before time runs out! We made it out in 40 minutes (like I said, those kids are whip smart, Holly’s a natural born puzzle guru, and my Aunt Cathy and Uncle Dave are also amazing. Me? I paraded around in Veronica’s feathered robe and solved a puzzle or two myself. And I looked FABULOUS). It was so much fun.

The next morning, Holly and I had breakfast at my Parents’ house before heading over to my Brother Chris and Sister-in-law Lauren’s house (about 10 minutes away) so Holly could bake her two cornbreads (one with Jalapeño and Cheddar and one with Creamed Corn) and a super delicious Pound Cake.

I was so excited as we all prepared for the rest of our family to arrive (by the way, we were expecting 40 people), as I’d just recently received my first shipment of Benedict Beer Blog branded Koozies from Express Imprint!

The items I got were their Premium Collapsable Cooler (available on their website linked above) with the Benedict Beer Blog logo imprinted on one side. They’re easy to carry around, as they fold pretty flat when not snug around a beautiful craft beer can.

Two Premium Collapsable Coolers and a can of Root & Branch Brewing All Tomorrow’s Parties IPA.

As I handed them out to my beer drinking relatives, they all loved it. The feel of the Koozie is almost like a memory foam, it’s like you’re holding a comfy little cloud, taken on a journey through the heavens on the back of a magical foam unicorn 🦄 .

As a man with poor circulation, my hands and fingers get cold really quickly (the coldest Thanksgiving on record in NY didn’t help), so this helps me out a lot because my fingies don’t get chilly!

A hand model with a blue Premium Collapsable Cooler.

Billy with a teal Premium Collapsable Cooler.

Billy loved that the seam was on the inside, so the outside was (pun very much intended) seamless. These don’t feel cheap. They’re super comfy to hold, and feel like they can hold up to some stretching and condensation without falling apart.

The imprint of the Benedict Beer Blog logo was also beautiful. Etched in white, it stood out against the multitude of colors available on the Express Imprint Website!

James with an orange Premium Collapsable Cooler.

Some guy that looks like my brother Chris and a green Premium Collapsable Cooler!

“Make sure you get the cornbread in the picture before it goes in the oven!” (Cornbread courtesy of the lovely and talented Holly Kay!)

Andrew with a black Premium Collapsable Cooler.

I definitely didn’t bring enough Koozies for the whole family, so some of my relatives and family friends got jealous and I had to pass them around…

The moustache is a perfect companion to the Blue Collapsable Cooler, wouldn’t you say?

It’s the perfect item to bring to your Fighting Irish tailgate! You just need some craft beer for it to hug 🤗!

The Premium Collapsable Cooler is the perfect vessel to hold my Moustache Brewing Co. collab Beer, You Lucky People, You!

Thank you, Express Imprint, for these amazing Koozies, they were a hit at our Thanksgiving Celebration, and I’ll definitely be getting more to distribute to family, friends, and fans of Benedict Beer Blog! I love them so much!

If you want to create your own Koozies for your blog, website, or your next event, head over to Express Imprint and tell them Benedict Beer Blog sent you!

Until next time!

Cheers!

Industry Meet and Greet at Mikkeller NYC, or, Bulgogi Empanadas Are Life, Fam.

A few weeks ago, I got a Facebook Message from Matt Rowsell, a gentleman I’ve been Facebook Friends with for a while, also an Insurance Agent at James F. Sutton Insurance Agency, asking if I wanted to come to an Industry Meet and Greet at Mikkeller NYC (Y’all know my love for this brewery already, so there’s no need for me to gush again…) followed by a Mets game at Citifield (you know, that place that’s attached to Mikkeller NYC?). He said he had ONE TICKET free.

The Taproom at Mikkeller NYC

I messaged him back, saying I didn’t want to leave Holly Kay behind, but thanks anyway for the offer. He wrote back “I’ll let you know if another ticket shakes free.” Not thinking about it, I walked away from my momentary excitement and went back to work. About 30 minutes later, he messages again “Another ticket shook free!” Whoever was shaking all these Mets tickets free, thank you, Magical Ticket Shaker, for shaking your magical tickets upon my sweet Holly Kay and I.

I texted Holly, as we hadn’t yet made plans for the evening, and she of course said YES, she’d love to join me! The fun thing about impromptu date nights is it can break the monotony of the work week. Especially on Monday, arguably the worst day of the week.

How can we get rid of Mondays? Aside from a shrink-ray that will diminish Mondays until we can just step over them directly into Tuesday, the only other thing I can think of is to get offered tickets to a Mets game and an evening at Mikkeller NYC EVERY MONDAY. It’s foolproof.

Anyway, to make a long story short, the game got rained out. My Mets-loving coworker Justin sent me a tweet from the Mets, stating the game had been postponed to another day. “Manic Monday” by The Bangles slowly crept into my head, which, by the way, is literally a song about having a dream about making out with a hot Italian dude and then having to go about your regular Monday business. “Have to catch an early train / Got to be to work by nine.” That sounds more like a REGULAR MONDAY. There’s nothing manic about this! Come on, Angela Bangle, if that is your real name (it isn’t).

The line for the restroom at Mikkeller NYC

I messaged Matt again, who said that the Mikkeller Meet and Greet was still on! Hooray hoorah! Beer and Food! New friends! Food! Beer! Regular Monday faded out of my head, and some other song took its place (probably It’s a Small World or Tiki Room because I’ve got a Disney trip coming up).

Matt is awesome, by the way. If you’re a brewery, you should use him as your Insurance Agent. He explained that he grew up with Matt and Lauri Spitz, co-owners of Moustache Brewing Co. (who, as you already know, I collaborated with on You Lucky People, You, a Dole Whip inspired Double IPA, did I mention I have a Disney trio coming up?). And It’s a Small World crept into my head again. Shut up, head, I’m trying to talk!

We got to mingle with some of the co-sponsors of the event, Dave Oksenhorn and John Ahern, of @nybeercpas, who were all lovely, and about an hour in, Richie, Head Brewer at Mikkeller NYC, offered to give us a tour of their massive brewhouse.

It’s kind of like a beer nerd’s dream in there. As a non-brewer, it was cool to see the complex system of tanks and pipes to pump the beer from vessel to vessel. A ton of science goes into the beer that’s in that glass in front of you, Insert Your Name Here.

The brew house is absolutely gorgeous, the stainless steel shines like the top of the Chrysler Building (oh, a reference to the musical theater masterpiece Annie? Cool!)

Miss Hannigan. Cruel or just misunderstood?

We spent the rest of the evening enjoying some fantastic Mikkeller Brews with the crew from Big aLICe Brewing, Allie Breitfeller from Pratt Industries, who provide all the cardboard boxes for Mikkeller NYC, and other NYC Breweries. The menu at Mikkeller NYC is extensive, featuring local restaurants like our neighborhood favorite Unidentified Flying Chickens. The beef bulgogi empanadas are a must. You like buttery, flaky crust surrounding salty meat with Korean spices? Welp, this is right up your alley, and you should probably eat it NOW.

All in all, it was an evening of community, friendship, and beer! I love being a part of the NYC Craft Beer community! Come hang out with us BECAUSE WE’RE FUN!

See? We’re fun!

Make sure you follow me over on Instagram for more silliness!

Until next time!

Cheers!

You Lucky People, You, or How to Turn Pineapple Ice Cream into a Beer Even a Hazebro Would Love!

About a year ago, when Benedict Beer Blog was just in its infancy (little one year old Benedict Beer Blog, so CUTE 😊!), our friend Matt Spitz, a former coworker and now Co-owner of Moustache Brewing Co. (with his amazing wife, Lauri) called me up to talk about doing a collaboration beer.

As we discussed what would be a good fit for both brands, we landed on the flavor profile of Dole Whip, a pineapple ice cream one can only find in a few places around the world, including Adventureland in Disney Parks, the Dole Plantation in Hawaii, and, in fact, a Poke restaurant across from Grand Central Terminal (which I didn’t find out until very recently!)

For us here at Benedict Beer Blog, Holly Kay and I went on our first vacation together at Walt Disney World, and about a year and a half later, got engaged at WDW, at Narcoossee’s Restaurant in the Grand Floridian Hotel.

Two cutiez in Diznee Whirled

Lauri once told us a story about her experience in Walt Disney World. Typically, you walk around the parks in 90+ degree heat and Disney employees (called Cast Members) shout “HAVE A MAGICAL DAY” after you, with the intonation of Snow White on cocaine. Lauri, after just arriving to run her first half marathon in the snow (in Florida? WTF?), was greeted by a Cast Member who muttered, think like Eeyore on cat tranquilizers “Have a Magical daaaaay.” Lauri said she could relate to her lack of enthusiasm.

Here’s a cute lil’ picture of Matt and Lauri from 2014. Babies!

Initially, we were talking about brewing a Kolsch with pineapple and vanilla, but life, as it does, just gets in the way, and the idea fell by the wayside until about 2 months ago, when Matt contacted us saying that he had a batch of Idaho 7 hops that were bursting with the essence of pineapple, and Rob Raffa, Head Brewer at Moustache Brewing Co. had been wanting to do a Milkshake IPA for a while, so why not bring up the Dole Whip idea again and get Benedict Beer Blog involved!

The name You Lucky People, You was picked by the wonderful Holly Kay Benedict (My Ex-Girlfriend Who I Married), as it’s the second line of the theme song to The Tiki Room, the popular singing birds attraction in Adventureland in the Disney Parks. “Welcome to my tropical hideaway / You Lucky People, You!” It was unanimous, when she said that name, we all loved it.

Schedules worked out perfectly this time, so I headed out to the brewery in Riverhead with Brad Gesaman (@itsbradco on Instagram, go check out his adventures!) homebrewer and friend of the Blog. You know Brad? He’s great!

As the traffic getting out of NYC is about as fun as being swallowed whole by a 23 Foot Long Reticulated Python 🐍 and being shat out the other end, we ended up in Riverhead a bit later than we wanted, so we missed Mash In (when they put all the grains into the mash tun with water and steep them to extract all the sugary goodness from them).

Brad and I got to spend time with Matt, Lauri, and Rob during the lautering process, where the mash is separated into the liquid wort and leftover grain. This is when I got to have fun and add the 55lb bag of lactose, which gives Milkshake IPAs their signature creamy mouthfeel. Haha, mouthfeel.

Speaking of Mouthfeel…

After a lovely lunch of fried chicken and sides (brain food) and after the beer was brought to a boil, it was time to add the aforementioned Idaho 7 hops. I’ve said it before on the blog, but I’d live in a house made of hops. They smell like tropical fruit (dominantly pineapple, but also a bit of grapefruit and tangerine) and a bit grassy and earthy. Yum.

Hops on Hops on Hops. Also, a patchy beard.

Now for the real work, we began mashing out. That’s where you take all the leftover grain, also called spent grain, and remove it from the tank so you can clean it and have it ready for your next batch of beer. Moustache sends their spent grain to local farms to use as feed…

This is what the inside of a mash tun looks like after nearly finishing mashing out. Also Spitzy’s head and face are looking sexy AF…

It’s necessary to spit shine the Mash Tun once all the grain has been removed.

#beerneighborsmakethebestneighbors

I’ll say it once and I’ll say it again. Having a brewery is good for the neighborhood! They’re also surrounded by farmland out in Riverhead, so the farms are happy to have the grains! You know the old phrase, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rdrink Rcraft Rbeer.

The beer is then transferred from the boil kettle to the fermenter, where the yeast, vanilla Beans and 210lbs of pineapple purée are added, and allowed to sit for as long as is needed for all the sugar to be fermented out (the yeast eats the sugar, converts it into alcohol and farts out carbon dioxide, basically). The beer is also dry hopped with EVEN MORE Idaho 7 and Mosaic hops.

Collab friendz!

SMASH CUT TO ONE MONTH LATER!

Is that how a smash cut works? Also, these can labels are fire emoji and were designed by the unlimitedly talented Lauri Spitz.

Release day was great. I brought my dear friend Ryan Keogh (you can read about him in one of my first ever blog posts HERE), we met my Mom for lunch after our drive out to Riverhead from NYC (this time with less traffic!). Moustache opened at 3pm, and they had a decent sized crowd by about 3:15. I thought about asking for selfies with the first two dudes who came in and bought 4 packs, but figured they wouldn’t want to be accosted by some redhead wearing a pineapple hat.

I got my first taste of the beer, and it exceeded my expectations. Loads of pineapple on the nose, but the beer is so damn balanced, and dangerously drinkable. It’s sweet without being cloying (go watch that video of me adding the lactose again 🤗), creamy, with notes of pineapple and citrus, and right as you swallow, the vanilla hits, and it’s just like that sweet Dole Whip treat we all know and love. I couldn’t have been happier.

It also definitely helped that Lauri created a Tiki Music playlist to blast through the Taproom for the evening!

I met some great people throughout the evening, thanks to Sofia from Beer Fit Club and Katarina from Lineup Brewing for stopping by, and got to see some old friends from the Long Island Beer and Malt Enthusiasts, Andrew and Kathy.

The blurb on the back of the can! Oh man this would be so meta if this can brought you here and now you’re reading the can again OH MY GOD.

Matt and Lauri dressed the part for the release party!

A sweaty mess and Ryan

Mattitaco brought their food truck to the party as well, and even created a Chorizo and potato taco to pair with You Lucky People, You! So I had to!

The crew after a successful release!

Thanks to all who came out to taste the beer, there are still cans left at the brewery, at beer stores around Long Island, and at Covenhoven in Brooklyn, and The Baroness Bar in Long Island City.

Make sure to go follow @moustachebrewing and @benedictbeerblog over on Instagram to stay tuned to our latest antics and Moustache can and bottle releases.

Until next time…

Cheers!

I’m Still Here, I’m Just Over There… Or, “Hey Everyone, Come and See How Good I Look!”

As Aaron Lewis from Staind once said, “It’s been awhile…”

You don’t even know how many hours and how many cigarettes it took this dude to come up with the title of this song…

Fret not, dear reader! I’m still here, I’m just… over there?

“But where is there?” You ask yourself.

Over there?

“Where is anywhere?” I respond to your question with another question. It gets really existential. We both stare into each other’s eyes. We cry, we both cry, we all cry, there is nothing but tears… And laughter. All is fun and happiness. And sadness. Life is beautiful!

Confused yet? Me too! Hello!

Anyway, I’ve been busy! If you’re not yet, head over to my Instagram Page for daily doses of Craft Beer fun!

Like this! HK Benny with a collab between The Bruery and NOLA Brewing!

Last month, I was a guest star with my friends over at Black & Tan TV, so if you wanna see my pretty lil’ face, you can see my episodes HERE and HERE!

You’ll get to see tender moments like this…

Also, I’ve written a few articles over at Tigerlyfe Times, you can check those out HERE, HERE, and HERE!

You can view my archive of articles on TigerLyfe Times HERE! (I love that they refer to me as AUTHOR! Hey Mom, I’m an author!!

I was also featured as a guest blogger for Beer Today, Beer Tomorrow, you can check out my blog post for them right over HERE! Please also be on the lookout for an interview I did with them, coming soon!

I’ve got some cool beer-related stuff coming soon! Keep an eye on Instagram next week for more info! I’m very excited!

See you soon! Very soon!

Until next time…

Cheers!

Ivan Ramen’s 4th Birthday Party, or, How Holly Kay and Brad Got to Watch Bonito Flakes Dance For the Very First Time!

A few months ago, I wrote an article for TigerLyfe Times for their Hops and Harvest section, about my first ever experience at the wonderful Ivan Ramen. You can read that article HERE!

My friend Chris and I went at his suggestion, after Holly Kay and I had seen the Chef’s Table episode about Ivan Orkin, and his aptly named Ivan Ramen, located at 25 Clinton Street, NYC.

Holly was traveling for work at the time, so I’ve been telling her that we would go together, and when Cat, who runs the amazing beer program at Ivan Ramen, told me their Fourth Birthday was coming up, I figured this was the perfect opportunity to go.

I met up with Holly after work, we hopped on the M train, and headed down to the Essex St. stop (the last stop before Brooklyn). Holly asked, “Are you sure this place is in Manhattan?” So we played the “Who on This Train is Going to Brooklyn?” Game, and when we saw the gentleman with a sleeveless tee, sweat shorts, a tote bag that said “Art Saves Lives”, and sporting a handlebar moustache, we both won the game.

We exited the train, and walked up Clinton St., past vintage clothing shop after vintage clothing shop (I say these things like they’re a bad thing, but Holly Kay and I are secretly, or not so secretly, hipsters, so really, we love every second of it.), to the unassuming storefront with the chalkboard out front emblazoned with IVAN RAMEN. Mecca, basically.

We walked through the door and were greeted by many friendly faces asking if we had a reservation. We took our spot at the bar, and met our amazing bartender, Zach, who rested, ever so gently in front of us, the most unholy, yet godlike, Beer menu. Cantillon Vigneronne? 1.5L bottles of 3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze Cuvée Armand & Gaston? Crooked Stave/Omnipollo collab? COME ON! That ain’t fair, you guys!

I’ll be the first to tell you that huge beer lists overwhelm me. The hard part is that I want to try it all! But, if there was any hope of me walking out of Ivan Ramen upright, I had to choose wisely.

Holly’s first choice was one I mentioned above, a glass of the 3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze Cuvée Armand & Gaston, a blended Lambic, released in 2016, that contains Lambics brewed in 2013, 2014, and 2015. Yeah, Cat was not f*cking around with this list.

I went for the OEC Brewing Oudilis Cerasus Oryza Blend #1, which is a blend of a Kreik (a cherry fermented Lambic), a Sour Saison, and a sake called Kiuchi Yamaha! Holy moly. Poured out dark red, with lovely tart cherries, earthiness and citrus. Loved.

As soon as I took one sip of my first beer, Cat came over to say hello (she was hobnobbing with Ivan himself), and said “you guys want some more beer?” and basically magically reappeared with a bottle of Hudson Valley Brewery Peregrine, a Sour Farmhouse ale conditioned on Peaches and aged for 8 months in oak barrels. I could have lived inside the glass, it smelled like peach juice. Tart, funky, and delicious.

And like that, the evening took off, the restaurant got really busy, our dear friend Brad (you know Brad? He’s great!) joined us, we had some of the most amazing food we’ve ever eaten, and met some very cool beer people.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Miso Roasted Cauliflower with Fresno chilis and Bonito Flakes. Bonito is a cured whitefish that’s Smokey and delicious, but they shave it on top of the dish, and the heat from the cauliflower causes the flakes to “dance”…

http://www.benedictbeerblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/img_1521.mov

Hello, Bonito! This freaked Holly and Brad out a little bit, but they’re brave and the dish tastes amazing (the chilis give it this lovely heat to contrast the smokiness of the Bonito and earthiness of the miso).

The pork buns with a soy mushroom glaze and pickled daikon are damn near the tastiest things I’ve ever tasted in my life. Brad said it was like eating a “pulled pork pillow”, which is both accurate and alliterative. (We ate them so damn fast I forgot to take a picture because I’m a terrible journalist, also I was very hungry.)

Every single sip of beer we had was divine, and there’s too many to name here, so I’ll post some pictures and you’ll just have to deal with all the drool that’s all over your face and clothing. Sorry!

This Interboro x Run the Jewels collab Kellerbier was magnificent. Crisp, lemon citrus and then immediately dries the palate. Perfect cleanser for all the sours we were drinking!

Tired Hands Ourison, farmhouse ale.

Cantillon Vigneronne. What else could I say?

King Jeppe and his Evil Twin/Omnipollo collab Rainbownade with grapefruit, mango, raspberry, passionfruit and blueberry.

There were so many awesome beer people we met, too. Ben, who works at KCBC, and his wife Helen, came to have some beer at the bar and we had a lovely time sharing stories and drinking more amazing beer. It was nice to finally meet Kat Martinez, owner and head brewer from Lineup Brewing, and Travis from Hopculture Magazine!

Three happy campers!

We left there full, buzzed, tired, and really happy. So happy, in fact, the traffic on the BQE on the way home didn’t even bother us.

Thanks Cat for all the special beers, thanks Zach for being so hospitable, and thanks Ivan Ramen for being 4 and being awesome!

Until next time,

Cheers!

Mikkeller NYC Opens at Citifield, or, How to Cope With a Mets Loss (Spoiler Alert, The Answer is More Beer at Mikkeller NYC)

So if we step into the way-back machine, you’ll remember the article I wrote about when Holly Kay and I found out that Mikkeller was going to be brewing two stadium beers for the New York Metropolitans at Citifield. At the time, I was excited to see more Craft Beer in my favorite stadium, which also happens to be 15 minutes from our apartment (too bad), and I should have known that something bigger was coming, but I’m not very good at math, so I didn’t, as the kids say, “put two and two together.”

A few months later, the news broke that Mikkeller was going to open a brewery AT CITIFIELD and call themselves Mikkeller NYC. Thanks to my buddy Justin Mendes, member of the 7 Line Army (the group of absolute madmen who go to every game possible, including away games), I found out a little bit sooner than I would have, and, being the hard-hitting journalist that I am (I’m tooting my own horn. Beep beep!), wrote this article about the announcement! HARD HITTING JOURNALISM.

That was July of last year, and here we are today. Mikkeller NYC on March 25, just a few weeks before Opening Day at Citifield. Almost 3 months before that, they released their first beer under the Mikkeller NYC monicker, a collaboration with Thin Man Brewing in Buffalo, called Filthy Flow. This was a super tropical Northeast Style IPA (#hazebros #juicebomb and you know, all those other #hashtags) that was brewed to be released in conjunction with the Winter Classic at Citifield, an outdoor hockey game between the NY Rangers and the Buffalo Sabres. Through Beer, all things are united. Even hockey rivalries.

Mikkeller NYC x Thin Man Brewery Filthy Flow, with amazing can art by Keith Shore, Mikkeller’s resident artist.

Holly Kay and I met up with our dear friend Brad (you know Brad? He’s great!) on Opening Night at the Brewery! We were lucky enough to get there on our way home from Long Island on Opening Day, so we arrived to the Brewery around 8pm (they were open until 9pm). I read a number of complaints about people being there for hours and having to wait a long time for Beer, but I don’t know what people were expecting on the Opening Day of a brewery for one of the world’s most popular craft beer brands (oh yeah, Mikkeller has over a dozen bars around the country and two other breweries, one in Copenhagen, Denmark, and one in San Diego, California). What were they expecting? I’m glad they had such a successful opening day (and they’ve since changed their policy and now only offer full pours, no tastings, which makes sense because they’re at a baseball stadium and game days are always busy).

There were still quite a few people when we arrived, but there was no wait to be served. The staff was (and in my few visits there since opening day, has remained) friendly and knowledgeable. Working in retail, I’ve come to master the art of being firm-but-nice, and these folks behind the bar have that down to a T.

I’m pretty sure this is a Tired Hands Alien Church IIPA in the stemmed glass, and a Mikkeller SD Lilla Regn in the taster (which Holly Kay and I picked up a bottle of a few weeks back when we visited Mikkeller SD)

The absolutely gorgeous brewhouse and seating area.

I’m sure you’ve seen other articles about the tap and bottle list, so I won’t go on about that here (it included bottles from Cantillon, probably the most highly sought after Lambic brewery in Belgium, and guest drafts from the likes of Hill Farmstead, Tired Hands, Brouwerij Boon, and many more). They’ve got 60 taps, and I’ll admit, even as a craft beer connoisseur (and a HUMBLE one at that), even I was overwhelmed. Holly Kay, Brad and I all got about 5 different small pours (I’m sad they’re not doing them anymore, but again, totally understandable), and tasted and shared everything. There were plenty of beers from Mikkeller EU and Mikkeller SD as well.

Holly and Brad can attest, it’s been nothing but wonderful each time we’ve visited. We spoke with Mikkeller NYC’s Retail Shop Manager (I forget the gentleman’s name, so dude, if you read this, reach out to me on Instagram and give me a virtual smack), as they had been wiped out of all the merch they had available (again, bummer, but of course they did! And good for them!), but he said they learned from their opportunities on Opening Day (behind the bar, at the retail shop, etc.) and would be ordering more merchandise for the future.

I love Mikkeller NYC so much (can you tell?), and have been back a few times since then. The first time I went back was on a day off from my Big Boy job, and I was riding high from being recognized at the Queens Zoo (which is right across the LIE, BTW) for Benedict Beer Blog, when Jim Raras, Executive VP of Mikkeller NYC approached me and said “Hey, don’t you have a beer blog?” I was a bit flabbergasted, and flattered (again, aren’t I so #HUMBLE??), that he even recognized me in the first place, and that he took time out of his busy day to thank me for my support. It was above and beyond, in my opinion. Oh, I was also thrilled to see my favorite neighborhood restaurant, Unidentified Flying Chickens, on the menu! I had two Korean-style empanadas with my Beer, which were a delight.

Our next visit was after a Target run (wait, did I tell you that Mikkeller NYC is 15 minutes from our apartment? I did. But, did you also know, that Mikkeller NYC is also 5 minutes from our favorite Target? Yeah, yeah, it is. It’s really too bad.) and we had just bought a beer fridge, because Holly Kay loves me so much/was fed up with our fridge being filled up with Beer. Sorry Holly/I love you so much! We shared a Pat LaFrieda Burger and some tater tots. Oh yeah, they have tater tots. Too bad, huh?

Our next next visit was our first Mets game of the season, we had an outing with the fine folks from Big aLICe Brewing, and it was also the aforementioned Master Justin Roger Mendes’ birthday, so we all celebrated with a bottle of Side Project Brewing Saison Du Fermier, a Missouri Oak Foudre aged saison, which was outrageous, and you should be jealous about that.

Have I mentioned that the brewery is outrageously gorgeous? Imma stop gushing now, but I’ll end with a few more pictures for your eyeholes. Enjoy, drink them in with your EYES.

Until next time!

Cheers!

Hey, Where Have You Been? Or, Head Over to My Author Page At Tigerlyfe Times For Some Sexy Fun!

Hello all! It’s been a while, huh?

“Where have you been, sir? Your Mommy and Daddy have been very worried!” is probably what you’re thinking right now.

“I’ve been a neglectful boy! I’m sorry!” -Me

I’ve been a busy little beaver! If you don’t know already, I’ve been writing for TigerLyfe Times! I write for their Hops and Harvest column, which I’ve been doing since the end of August 2017. I’ve written a number of articles for them, most recently a multiple-part series about aging Beer! You can see my author page HERE, you won’t want to miss it, it’s just as fun as it is here (and over here’s pretty damn fun, isn’t it?)

I’ve also been rocking and rolling over on my Instagram page. I’ve got nearly 2500 followers, and I post pretty much twice a day over there, to give ya a little taste of fun on your way to work, and on your way home, or to Happy Hour, or wherever you’re headed. If you don’t follow me there, please do!

Check it out for more Triple B fun! (TRIPLE B MEAN BENEDICT BEER BLOG HELLO THAT’S ME! 👋🏻)

So yeah, I’m sorry I haven’t posted much here in the past few months, but I’m gonna make it a point to put up some fun content every so often here, so be on the lookout for that!

Peek-a-boo!

I love you all, thanks for reading! More to come soon from Benedict Beer Blog!

Until next time!

Cheers!

Hey Y’all, Check Out These Pictures, Or, Please Don’t Try to Drink This Blog Post…

It’s picture time! I realize I haven’t put up a picture-heavy blog post in a bit, so here’s one coming at’cha!

ALSO: I wrote an article for TigerLyfe Times about Sand City Brewing’s recent Oops! I _____ed My Pants! triple can release! Check that article out over HERE! Thanks for reading!

Radical One from the aforementioned Sand City Brewing. The hop hits keep coming and coming with these guys outta Northport!

#LGM! LIC Beer Project Dutch Kills Kölsch at Citifield! This is my kind of baseball beer! Crisp, malty, fruity and super refreshing!

From Salt House Bar in Galway Ireland! Brouwerij Boon Geuze Mariage Parfait, all the way from Belgium! This beer brought the house down. Tart, funky, dry, and delicious. Absolutely nothing wrong here!

Greenpoint Beer & Ale Co. Particle Pilsner. One of the more hoppy pils’ I’ve had. Bright, crisp citrus is balanced by sweet, cracker like malt. Love it!

A “candid” photograph at Samson’s Birthday party at Greenpoint! Cheers!

Greenpoint Beer & Ale Tremendous. Paired with an, *ahem*, appropriate movie (on VHS, no less!)

My favorite beer of summer, 2017. Carton Brewing Beach, a session Ale with (I believe) Citra hops and orange zest. Bright, beautiful grapefruit and bitter orange, a bit of dankness, but still clean and dry enough and low enough ABV to keep on drinkin’. So, keep on drinkin’!

Also, I’m getting a foot massage whilst I took this photo. So, your opinion is invalid.

Finback x Jacks Abby Spill The Tea IPL. The green tea is a cool addition to the citrus hops and citrus peel, adding a clean, grassy note that’s intriguing. And no need to boil water and risk burning your precious, precious skin. ?

Singlecut Beersmiths strikes again! Some Cat From Japan Session IPA, and Charlie’s Good Tonight IPA. Both phenomenal beers, and I’m hoping they’ll release them again in the future.

I know, I know, this isn’t beer. But when Holly Kay and I found the Dingle Whiskey Bar tucked away inside Fraunces Tavern down in the Financial District of NYC, we had to stop in and have some Irish Whiskey (at triple the price we paid for it on the Emerald Isle, of course). And it was worth every penny.

Bradco brought this beer back from Michigan. Old Nation Brewing Co. M-43 New England Style IPA. These cats from Williamston, MI have nailed this style, which surprised me. Watch out, New England, Michigan’s coming for you. HARD.

Enjoyed this collaboration by Other Half Brewing and Cloudwater Brewing, Tremendous Ideas. The simple can design also lends this can to take beautiful pictures even when an amateur photographer (me) is behind the camera (iPhone). Also my bed looks super comfy and as I’m writing this, I’m minutes away from hopping into it and drifting into a blissful slumber so, that’s also cool.

This was at Paulie Gee’s in Greenpoint. The Hellboy pizza with soppressata picante and Mike’s Hot Honey (yo, MIKE’S HOT HONEY. Who’s this Mike guy? I want to raid his house and take all of his hot honey for my own.). This hot-ass pizza was paired with a Greenpoint Beer & Ale Milk & Honey, a sweet, creamy ale that paired perfectly with the spicy ‘zza, bro.

Threes Brewing SFY (the artist formerly known as SuperF*ckingYawn) IPA, as we prepared for the magical wonder that is the Binky Griptite Orchestra at Threes Greenpoint Location. Binky plays guitar with the Dap Kings, and brought his musician friends to play some amazing 1940s Jazz and R&B and it was absolutely incredible. It was the opposite of SuperF*ckingYawn, but so was this beer, so…

Sometimes, it’s nice to go back to basics. Allagash White, my first Belgian white beer I fell in love with. Simple, refreshing, with notes of orange peel, clove, banana. Sometimes simple is beautiful.

Again, let the hate flow through you. I will combat that hate with Polar Seltzer’s Unicorn Kisses Seltzer. Is it Strawberry Kiwi? We’ll never know. Polar’s been keeping these flavors as mysterious as the mythical beasts on the cans. Damn you, Polar.

Fan favorites Moustache Brewing Co. made this delightful Saison brewed with Lavender, Honey, and Lemon Verbena. They knocked it out of the park, with floral, sweet, banana, and citrus dancing mischievously around the palate, this beer is simply a delight. Love you, Moustache Gang!

Thanks to my dear friend Will Russell, for asking me to be a part of his wedding party. As part of our Groomsmen’s gift, he got us these HEAVY DUTY USS Enterprise Bottle Openers. This is insanely dope and I will use it always. Make it so.

Treehouse Brewing Company, if you don’t know, now you know. Christopher Benedict, if you don’t know, now you know. Get with the times, y’all.

Interboro Spirits & Ales x Pipeworks Brewing Mad Fat! Unicorn. Thanks Bradco for sharing!! Mad Fat! Fluid plus Ninja Vs. Unicorn equals an amazing liquid combo. New York x Chicago, taking over the world.

If you’re not salivating by now, you need to let me know, and I’ll take you out and buy you a beer. So, if you’ve made it this far, and it’s had no effect on you, let me know. The next one’s on me.

Until next time!

Cheers!

Ireland Day 4, or How Hospitality Makes Galway Feel Like Home…

Hello folks! Sorry for the delay in posting!

So, back to our amazing trip to Galway and the surrounding areas.

So, in the evening on Day 3, we finally met Will Avery, head brewer and absolute lunatic over at Galway Bay Brewery. We had attempted to meet up with him last November when we were in Galway, but he was sick and we were unable to come tour the brewery.

This time around, Holly Kay and I were able to coordinate with Will, and we took my parents and Uncle Gerard to the brewery the next morning. (We were visiting Ireland with 16 relatives, so I asked Will the night before what a reasonable number of people would be, so that we wouldn't overwhelm them while they were, you know, working… He said "Give me six." We ended up with five.)

Will gave us a tour of the massive warehouse space that the brewhouse occupies, and it's filled with absolutely gorgeous stainless steel fermenters and mash tuns, and a large bottling line, churning out palates full of their incredible lineup of beers, including Full Sail IPA, Of Foam and Fury IIPA, and Buried At Sea Milk Stout.

That bottling line tho… Hi Dad!

After the tour of the brewhouse, Will took us over to another massive area of the brewery, occupied by large oak barrels, filled with what one can only imagine are magical elixirs to delight future imbibers at Galway Bay Brewery's flagship bars in Galway, Salt House and Oslo Bar (home of the original brewery, now home to Micil Poitin, run by the Mad Scientist Padraic O'Griallas).

Here's Will, standing next to a giant stack of magic barrels.

Will asked if we wanted to try some of the science experiment aging in those whiskey barrels, acquired from Teeling Irish Whiskey. And who are we to say no to that?

I won't tell you what was in those barrels, because we were sworn to secrecy, but I can tell you that it was unbelievably tasty. All 5 of us were able to have a small taste, and the response was overwhelmingly positive.

I love whiskey barrel aged beers because they take on flavors of oak, vanilla, and caramel (the same flavors I love in whiskey itself) and make an already great beer more complex and interesting. This brew was no exception. Super jealous of those folks who live in Galway and will be able to check out this beer once it comes out of those barrels.

These, I believe, were wine barrels, just another vessel to house Galway Bay's already amazing liquids, and to impart the flavors of the spirit that lived inside that barrel.

We had a wonderful time touring the brewery and watching Will and his team passionately working to create a labor of love. Thanks for letting us come by and share your passion for beer with us!

Later in the day, we booked a ride on the Corrib Princess, which is a 90 minute cruise on the River and Lake Corrib. The ride gives you access to historical ruins and gorgeous Irish landscape. It was a rainy afternoon, so we stayed inside the boat (mostly), but we had a wonderful time sipping Guinness, Irish Whiskey, and Award Winning (seriously) Irish Coffee with homemade cream. No complaints here.

Click HERE to see a video of me being silly on the Corrib Princess. YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS THIS.

The River Corrib!

Loading Dock at the head of the River Corrib…

Guinness x Jameson

Beautiful, rainy ride.

After our rainy, rocky ride down the River Corrib to Lough Corrib, we all went back to rest for a bit, and decided to do dinner at Oslo Bar, as we had yet to see our favorite wildman Alan O'Reilly (who you'll remember from our November Galway post!)

The brewing process, outlined on the wall at Oslo Bar

Family portrait at Oslo Bar (Alan was able to make his way into this photo, positioning himself ever-so-sneakily under Gerard, although he blends in so you'd never know he wasn't one of us.)

Alan was so hospitable (as always) and set us up with giant appetizers and flights of Galway Bay Brewery beer. This was one of my favorite meals of the trip, simply because Alan treated us like family. Thanks again, Alan!

After dinner, we ended up at Crane Bar for an unbelievable traditional music experience. We were surrounded by sound, as people from all over the small room began to sing and join in on the session.

A beautiful moment, as one of the regulars from the Crane Bar began to sing a cappella, it was contemplative and quiet, and yet, everyone was focused on this one man as he sang. It was true magic, and one of our favorite moments from the trip. Please click the link to check it out.

Thank you again to Will Avery and Alan O'Reilly for making us feel at home, and making Galway a place we can always come back to and feel comfortable and happy.

Cheers!