Goose Island Night at Blind Tiger Ale House

New York’s Craft Beer community was at it again this week as brewmaster Greg Hall took over 30+ lines at Bleecker St’s Blind Tiger Ale House for a very impressive Goose Island night. Greg brought a collection of rare brews, seasonal offerings and brew pub exclusives to the event, showcasing both the breath of his operation as well as a glimpse into the future of the Brewery.

While Blind Tiger Events can be a tight squeeze, we managed to find a good spot near the bar and run through a bevy of petite half-pours. From lambics to wheats to an array of IPAs and imperial stouts, each beer showed a unique complexity. Personal standouts for the night included the Pepe Nero, a black saison that combined the hearty body and drinkability of a black IPA but backed with more caramel hints and peppercorn spice rather than hoppiness. It’s Fulton Wood polar opposite, the White City was also quite nice. An imperial white, the White City held a strong even body along with lots of herbal hints of rosemary and time and a bit of citrus. This is an awesome beer for food pairing.

And finally, the night capped off with the much hyped Goose Island Night Stalker, in incredibly complex Imperial Stout based on their famed Bourbon County Stout. Here, however, the oak aging is traded for a massive amount of dry hopping which results in a complicated mixture of earthy bitterness, chocolate and heavy malt notes. This beer is best to be hunted down, sipped and savored.

Also noted by our crew was the Goose Island IPA served on Nitro which gave it a delicious smooth, creamy appeal as well as their biscuit-y Brew 4000 (described as tasting like the scent of a brewery) and the Midway IPA, a halfway point between an Imperial IPA and a traditional IPA. The only noted miss of the night was the Lex, a sweet lambic which – to me – aligned more with a Lindeman’s Framboise than a traditional lambic and I missed some of the complex funk and tartness.

Barry Wasser (@BitzyBrew) - http://craftbrewadvocate.com

Patrick Devine - http://pscookingfortwo.blogspot.com/

TUESDAY 2/23 – SIXPOINT  5TH ANNIVERSARY TASTING

Why you should go
Sixpoint will be running all 10 taps at this Park Slope beer-haven with pints at $5-$7. This is a great chance to taste the breath of their brewing skills while munching on one of Bierkraft’s awesome sandwiches.

Where
Bierkraft – 191 Fifth Ave between Berkeley Pl and Union St, Park Slope

Tap List
Gorilla Warfare 2010
Bengali Tiger
Sweet Action
Righteous
Otis
Brownstone
Mason’s Black Wheat
Diesel Stout
Double Sweet Action
Whiskey barrel-aged Diesel Stout

ALSO TUESDAY - SOUTHERN TIER NIGHT

Why you should go
New York brewery South Tier makes some top notch, high octane ales. Bar Great Harry do some of the friendliest tastings in the city with $4 beers early and free cheese and meat. Plus you can bring in your own food to counter the effects of these delicious brews

What you should drink
Choklat Imperial Stout is one of my favorite chocolate stouts and worth a try. Also, this is the first time I have seen Oak-aged Unearthly Imperial IPA on tap so grab a glass!

Also

Where
Bar Great Harry – Smith Street and Sackett, Carrol Gardens

Tap List
Choklat Imperial Stout
Backburner Imperial Barley Wine
IPA
Unearthly Imperial IPA
Oak-aged Unearthly Imperial IPA
Gemini Double IPA
Phin and Matt’s Ale

WEDNESDAY, 2/24 – GOOSE ISLAND INVADES THE TIGER

Why you should go
Goose Island is making some of the best, and most diverse beers in America right now. Tonight they invade one of the city’s creme de la creme bars, Blind Tiger, and take over a commanding 33 lines. This is a great chance to taste some Goose Island brews that you’ve never even heard of and will probably never make it to NYC again

Where
Blind Tiger Ale House – 281 Bleecker St at Jones St.

Tap List
Goose Island Hopped Honkers (Cask) – English Bitter
Goose Island Oatmeal Stout (Nitro) – Oatmeal Stout
Goose Island IPA (Nitro) – IPA
Goose Island Honkers – English Bitter
Goose Island IPA
Goose Island 312 – Summer Ale
Goose Island Matilda – Belgian Ale
Goose Island Pere Jacques – Belgian Abbey Ale
Goose Island Bourbon County Brandy Stout – Imp. Stout
Goose Island Mild Winter – American Mild
Goose Island Extra Pale Ale – Pale Ale
Goose Island Robert Burns – Scottish Ale
Goose Island Liquid Inspiration Stout – American Stout
Goose Island Lake Effect Winter Ale – Imp. Red
Goose Island Golden Goose Pilsner
Goose Island Aviator Dopplebock
Goose Island Crop to Cup Rind Grind Stout – Uh, Coffee Stout
Goose Island Lincoln Park Lager – Vienna Lager
Goose Island Midway IPA – IPA
Goose Island Vanilla BCS – Imp. Stout
Goose Island Lolita – Raspberry Belgian Ale
Goose Island Lil’ Smokey – Rauch Bock
Goose Island White City – Imperial Witbier
Goose Island Brew 4000 – Belgian Imperial IPA
Goose Island Night Stalker – Imp. Stout
Goose Island Pepe Nero – Black Saison
Goose Island Blonde Rascal – Belgian Golden Ale
Goose Island Rye County Stout – Imp. Stout
Goose Island Bourbon Lolita – Raspberry Belgian Ale
Goose Island Lex – Raspberry Saison
Goose Island Belgian Double (Cask) – Dubbel
Goose Island Sgt. Peppercorn – Stout



ALSO WEDNESDAY – SIXPOINT  5TH ANNIVERSARY CONTINUES

Why you should go
For one, you get to play Tapper while drinking and how cool is that. For two, Sixpoint will be raiding the taps with 17 lines and casks for you two try. There will be lots of rare and one-off stuff to try so if you are a Sixpoint fan than this is not to be missed

Where
Barcade – Union St. and Powers St

Tap List
Gorilla Warfare 2008
Gorilla Warfare 2010
Gorilla Warfare Cask conditioned with coffee
Bengali Tiger
Sweet Action
Righteous
Otis
Brownstone
Mason’s Black Wheat
Diesel Stout
Double Sweet Action
Hops of Love
Express
Experimental Beer #1
Experimental Beer #2
Experimental Beer #3

SATURDAY & SUNDAY 2/27 & 2/28 – THE TRAPPIST SESSIONS

Why you should go
Get a fast-tracked course in Belgian beers tonight as Swift brings a tasting of all the true Trappist (aka made by the monks, not commissioned by them) Belgian ales. You may have had a lot of these before but it is amazing to taste them side by side and notice the subtle differences (note, this is $50 but you get a lot of bang for your buck including crazy tastings, Murray’s cheeses, cured meats and lots of knowledge)

What you should drink
Everything is absolutely amazing but Rochefort 8 and Koningshoeven La Trappe Isid’or are some favorites

Where
Swift Hiberian Lounge – 34 East 4th St bet Lafayette and Bowery

Tasting List
Chimay (Première, Cinq Cents and Grande Réserve)
Orval
Westmalle (Dubbel and Tripel)
Rochefort (6, 8 and 10)
Achel (Bruin and Blond)
Koningshoeven (Quadrupel and La Trappe Isid’or)
Vertical Tasting of Chimay Grande Réserve Vintages (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009)

I spend a lot of time at Rattle n Hum (a lot of time). Often the home of my weekly @boozeytuesday outing, within a year they have quickly gained respect as one of the best craft beer bars in New York City and – yeah, I’ll say it – the best beer bar in midtown Manhattan. As the year wraps up, 2010 is looking like a big year for the crew over on 33rd Stree. Here’s an abridged update to their update. Look for lots of these events on our NYC beer events calendar soon and check their blog for more details:

R’N'H Beer Clubs
Simply drink through 40 different types of beer in a month to get into Rattle n Hum’s new Mug Club. You’ll get a mug with your name engraved on it, $1 off beers for the rest of the year, and access to special brews throughout the year. My mug club adventure is set to start January 5th. If anyone wants to get down with a group Mug Club adventure then let me know.

Beer Miles Program Update
New Beer Miles cards are in (hopefully including mine) and these work just like frequent flyers. Get 50 miles for each beer you drink and then redeem them for free stuff throughout the year. Sign up with a waitress or bartender and get something back for growing that winter beer belly.

New Food Menu
The mythical new food menu will be up in a week or two. Hopefully those battered shrimp will finally make an appearance I can finally get chili and cheese on my fries!

Upcoming Events
Here’s what’s happening over the next few months at Rattle N Hum

December 31st – New Years Eve bash
January 5th – Bluepoint Night
January 12th – Goose Island Night (meet Greg on the 13th)
January 19th – King Of Kings County (Brooklyn v Kelso v Sixpoint)
January 26th – Weyerbacher Night
February 2nd – Otter Creek & Wolavers Relaunch Party
February 9th – A very special Brewery arrives!!
February 16th – Start of Sour week!
February 23rd – Magic Hat Night
March 1st – Belgian Week Starts
March 9th – Erie Brewery Week
March 17th – St. Paddy’s Day!
March 23rd – Dick’s Brewery Week