There is something classically American about the summertime beer festival. These large, outdoor, events are the grown-up equivalent of the weekend camping excursions or long road-trips I used to take as a youth and then throughout college. This time, however, you are taking that trip with a few hundred of your best, new-found, beer friends. Held annually at Ommegang Brewery, Belgium Comes to Cooperstown is pinacle of the east-coast’s summer beer festivals.

Now in it’s eleventh year, the 2011 Belgium Comes to Cooperstown event was part camp-out, part beer festival, and part live concert. It kicks off with a few hundred people camped out on the 140 acre Ommegang property… an old hop farm that now produces some of the finest Belgian-style beers in America. Then, of course, there is beer… over 75 breweries from around the world came and shared some of their finest, and rarest libations. Standouts included rare bottles of both Rosso e Marrone and Cuvee de Castleton from New York’s Captain Lawrence Brewery, Chardonay-Barrel-aged Stateside Saison from Stillwater Ales, a hoppy-session ale from Vermont nanobrewery Lawsons Finest Liquids and Scratch #44, a massive Belgian quad brewed with Black Currants from the Tröeg’s Brewery, and many, many more.

Vermont’s rising-star nanobrewery, Lawson’s Finest Liquids, proves a favorite of the festival with their citra-infused Session in the Rye Ale

But beyond the beer, the festival also featured a full on music stage with live blue and rock bands throught the day and well into the night. After sundown, the brewery sparked up a giant fire pit for festival-goers to gather around, and there was even a midnight screening of Spinal Tap projected on three screen on the side of the barn. Top that off with a rousing fireworks display and you have one jam-packed 24hr festival.

Early attendees made short work of one of the festival’s highlights… rare bottles of Chardonay-barrel aged Stateside Saison from gypsy brewery Stillwater Ales.

But one of the more enjoyable aspects of the festival was in the people. Often times, festivals of this magnitude and with beer of this caliber are either (a) overcrowded or (b) overly chaotic. But Belgium Comes to Cooperstown was neither of these. The beers flowed freely, the festival was not oversold, and the whole crowd was both friendly and inviting… of course, four hours of strong Belgian beer will put just about anyone in the right mood! Overall, however, we walked away from BCTC 2011 with great memories and more than a few new friends. Mark this one down on you calendar as on of the great not-to-be-missed festivals and we’ll see you there in 2012!

Click here to see the full gallery!

A group of revelers celebrate Gnommegang, the collaborative brew between Ommegang and La Chouffe

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 2011, bctc, belgium comes to cooperstown, camping, Captain Lawrence, cooperstown, Duvel, festival, Ommegang, Stillwater, summer 2011.

So there it was… a Captain Lawrence Smoke from the Oak Gift Pack just sitting in the corner of my apartment. It wascooingly calling to me while I type away on my laptop… tugging at my tastebuds. Thus far, I have been a fan of all the Captain Lawrence limited releases… Golden Delicious, Rosso e Marone, Cuvee de Castleton… so I could not wait to rip into these 75 ounces of smokey goodness. But then I got to thinking… 75 ounces of 10% ABV beer… that’s like drinking half a case of Brooklyn Lager which is a bit much – even for me – on a weeknight. And on an empty stomach? That’s madness.

There was only one solution… call up a bunch of foodies and beer geeks (aka my friends over at Serious Eats), order up a giant pot of Barbeque goodness, and dive in to the smokiest culinary Royal Rumble yet on IDrunkThat… Captain Lawrence Smoke From the Oak vs. Hill Country Barbeque.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: bbq, Captain Lawrence, Event, imperial porter, Photography, smoked beer.

Style: Wild Ale, Barrel Aged Brown Ale
Brewery: Captain Lawrence (Pleasentville, NY)
ABV: 7.5%
IBUs: unknown
Availability: single brew, limited release

---

Summer has descended upon New York with full force at that means it’s time to feverishly drink through my winter storage of brews before the heat takes a toll on them. The result is early summer nights filled with rare brews, obscure barley-wines and delicate Saison’s that just won’t last the heat in a Brooklyn apartment without air conditioning. It’s the perfect excuse for me to snap a few new bottle photos and get back to writing reviews! First up in this series is the Captain Lawrence Barrel Select Batch #1, an aggressively sour American Brown Ale blended from a 6 barrels ranging from two to three years old.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: brown ale, Captain Lawrence, sour beer, wild ale.

Date: Friday, January 22nd – 23rd
Time: 4:20pm – close
Location: The Pony Bar, New York City, NY – map
Click here for official site

---

The Pony Bar & Southampton Brewery host Pri-Moe., the official pre-show meet up for the band Moe. as they play two nights at the Roseland Ballroom.

All 20 draft lines will be dedicated to New York State brewed beer, with Southern Tier, Empire, Keegan, Great Adirondack, Lake Placid, Saranac, C.H. Evans, Captain Lawrence, Blue Point, Chatham and, of course, Southampton.

Our “finest kind” happy hour starts at 4:20pm with $1 off all draft beers for one hour. Good beers, good tunes and good times

Tags: Blue Point, Captain Lawrence, Keegan, pony bar, Southampton, southern tier.