First off, I gotta say, if it weren’t for my Mom, you wouldn’t be reading the words on this page (or computer screen, iPhone, or Android device). So, without Mom, there’d be no Benedict Beer Blog! So, thanks, Mom!
Friday night, Holly Kay and I met up with Bradco (have you met Brad? He’s great.). and our dear friend Dave at Dave’s place of employ for a few tasty beverages (Dave just had a baby, and thankfully was still able to pencil us in to his busy baby schedule).
Brad picked me up at work, like a Big Boy should, and I tried to sneak some pictures of him coming down the escalator into Grand Central, but little did I know he had my number…
That Cheeky Lil’ Bugger was taking pictures of me! (To be fair, a few weeks back, I was also creepily taking photos of him as he walked in to meet me at Barcade, so, he was prepared this time).
Brad and I walked over to Whole Foods to pick up some tasty tasties for our friend gathering, and we each picked up a 6-pack of Threes Brewing Categorical Error, a Whole Foods Exclusive Hoppy Pale Lager.
What I love about this beer is that it’s low ABV, packs a beautiful, bright, citrus hop punch, with a dry finish, to leave you yearning for another sip. This is the perfect summer beer, and pretty easy to get if you’re in New York and have a Whole Foods near ya. So go get it, ya sillies!
Brad picked up a 4 pack of Mikkeller Brewing Fruit Face Berliner Weisse, this one brewed with Green Tea, Tangerine, and Lemongrass. Another low ABV, tart, refreshing beer with candied fruit and citrus notes, another beer that’s great for a hot summer afternoon. Don’t sleep on this one, either!
The following day, I met up with Brad and Nathan (you know Nathan? He’s great!) at LIC Beer Project for their Pile of Crowns release party, as Holly was performing in two shows, one at 3pm, and one at 8pm. Nathan and I had tickets to the 8pm show, and decided to make a day of it. I completely miscalculated the LIC release, though, as usually, I can pick up cans of their latest beer for about a week or so after they’re released…
They opened at noon, we arrived at around 2:45pm, and they were sold out of three out of four beers they released that day. I heard later that there was a tour bus of folks from Upstate NY, who arrived just after noon, and visited a number of NYC Breweries, annihilating any chance for us to pick up that sweet, sweet nectar with amazing can art…
Thankfully, they still had it on draft, and we were all happy to snag a glass of it at the (extremely packed) bar.
Nathan and I with Pile of Crowns, an unbelievably juicy, sticky sweet IPA with notes of pineapple, grapefruit, and dank pine resin that sits up there with all the heavy-hitter NE-style IPAs, in my opinion. It was lovely on draft, although it was sad we couldn’t pick up a 4-pack, as the can art was absolutely stunning.
We did, however, pick up this delightful collaboration from LIC Beer Project and Mikkeller Brewing, Platinum Plus. Clocking in at 5.5% ABV, with lovely, bright stone fruit flavors, dry, cracker-like malt, I’d love to see this all summer long. Great stuff!
Also, DJ Stretch Armstrong is the truth.
Of course, we ended up at Big Alice Brewing, because When in Rome… *AHEM* Long Island City… One always visit’s one’s favorite haunt…
I enjoyed one of my favorite brews, the spicy Jalapeño Rye IPA, with the heat from the jalapeño peppers balancing nicely with citrus and floral notes from the hops, with a sweet malt base to balance everything out. Nathan enjoyed his first visit here as well.
Annie, our wonderful friend and bartender, was kind enough to share her homebrew with us, a mixed fermentation beer with brettanomyces, making for a dry, tart, complex brew that’s again, good for summer (noticing a theme here?)
Brad had to leave us to host a Murder Mystery Dinner Party (have I mentioned how great Brad is?) so Nathan and I decided on dinner at John Brown Smokehouse in LIC before seeing Holly in her awesome one-act play! The burnt ends are my smoked meat of choice, and you can’t go wrong with any of their side dishes… Also…
Uhhhh they had a bottle of Jester King Brewery Noble King Saison, blending bright citrus notes with grass, sweet banana, and a little funk to kick things into full gear. Perfectly paired with them burnt ends, boi!
I can’t praise Holly Kay enough, (if you’ve read any of my other posts, I’m absolutely head over heels for her), and she was absolutely wonderful in her show, Love in the Time of Layoffs, a one-act written by our friend Diana, and directed by the one and only Tanya! It was fantastic!
Mothers Day was a beautiful celebration as well, I bought this Grimm Mango Pop! to share with my brother, Chris, and I’d love to tell you how it was, except…
The top of the bottle broke as I attempted to open it, and thought it wasn’t worth a stomach full of eeny-weeny shards of glass. Hopefully, I can snag another bottle and write about it later on, because I’m sure it’s a delight.
This can of Barrier Brewing Co. Kapow got in the way of my brother, Chris! This wasn’t my favorite of their IPAs, but it’s a nicely balanced IPA that was the perfect beer to accompany our game of KanJam, which, by the way, is much harder playing one-handed. Not sure why we made that rule, but I at least had this can to cry into when we lost.
Hashtag Squad Goals. My cousins were super excited to make it into the blog, so here ya go, all you handsome fellas!
We’ve gotta begin and end with Mom! We had a weekend filled with friends, family, and love. Thanks Mom, for making it all possible!
Until next time!
Cheers!