Wednesday May 22nd at 3:00pm

As you may know, we're coming to the end of American Craft Beer Week, the annual celebration of just how far we've come over the past 30 plus years, and how much our favorite beverage has reasserted itself as an important part of American culture. What you might not know is that this week the Brewer's Association also chose the top ten craft beer cities in the United States. Unfortunately, this year's winner - Beer City USA - wasn't New York. We didn't even make the top ten. Or the top twenty. No, the winner, going away, was Grand Rapids, Michigan. Why? Probably because it's the home of Founders, which will be joining us at the Tiger next week for their annual pilgrimage to the east coast. New York may not be Beer City USA, but it's still the go to place for a celebration.

One reason Founders is so popular is that instead of brewing beers they think we might like, they brew beers they want to drink, as part of their constant quest for new and interesting flavor profiles. I guess we have pretty similar taste buds. The Backstage Series personifies this passion for new and different experiences, when they take a favorite experiment from their Taproom, and produce it on a slightly larger scale, for those of us who don't happen to live in Beer City. Their latest offering is Doom, which is Double Trouble - one of the better Double IPA's out there - aged in bourbon barrels for four months. They filled very few kegs of this rare concoction, but one of them will be on hand this Weds, at 3 pm, at the Blind Tiger. Come join us as we show Founders how we party in the City that Never Sleeps USA...

-Dave

The List:

Founders Woking List:
Founders Doom (Barrel Aged Double Trouble)
Founders Double Trouble
Founders All Day IPA
Founders Breakfast Stout
Founders Old Curmudgeon (from our stash)
Founders Backwoods Bastard 2011
Founders Imperial Stout
Founders Reds Rye
Founders Centennial IPA
Founders Dirty Bastard
Founders Blushing Monk
Founders Oatmeal Stout (Nitro)
Founders BA Habañero Spite

Pacific Northwest Beer and Oyster Fest

Wedesday May 8th at 12:00 pm and Thursday May 9th

I think part of what makes the Pacific Northwest Oyster Fest so special is spring. It is a time of rebirth and the oyster as a symbol (think Venus) fits perfectly. People react similarly. Often people who have shied away all winter will show up helping to make the room feel like an ongoing party of the best sort. The kind of party that ebbs and flows and all the expected people show up eventually with a few surprises sprinkled in making the occasion especially joyous. I know of more than one person who schedules an early departure from work every year to enjoy an afternoon filled with oysters and beer and friends.

These deep-cupped, sweet, and melony oysters come from Yaquina Bay in Oregon, the same bay that you can gaze upon while visiting Rogue in Newport. It’s no coincidence. Along with the oysters (oysters by plane, beer by truck) Rogue is sending us some delicious beer, including some of the Rogue Farms Beers. 

To make this a truly Pacific Northwest event, we will also be enjoying some beers from Elysian in Washington, including the Superfuzz Blood Orange Pale Ale, and from Midnight Sun in Alaska. We don’t get a lot of beer from them, but what we do get is good. See if you can taste their “ inspiration in the untamed spirit and rugged beauty of the Last Frontier.” Just watch out for that Arctic Devil.

For a special treat we will be offering bottle pours of Hair of the Dog Doggie Claws, for those of you who want a little barleywine with this crisp spring.

Please come in on Wednesday and Thursday to get your Pacific Northwest Oysters and Beer and let’s make a party of it.

Cheers,

-Katherine

The List:

Rogue Double Chocolate Stout/Imperial Stout/OR/8.7% ABV

Rogue Brutal Bitter/IPA/OR/5.8% ABV

Rogue Morimoto/Imperial Pilsner/OR/8.8% ABV

Rogue Vintage Old Crusty/Barleywine/OR/11.5% ABV 

Rogue Younger’s Special Bitter/ESB/OR/4.8% ABV

Rouge Shakespeare Stout/Stout/OR/6% ABV (Nitro)

Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar/Brown/OR/6% ABV 

Rogue Farms Dirtoir Black Lager/Schwarzbier/OR/5.0%ABV

Rogue Captain Sig’s Deadliest Ale/India Red Ale/OR/6.2% ABV

Rogue Farms Good Chit Pilsner/Pilsner/OR/5.2%

Midnight Sun Arctic Devil/Double Barleywine/AK/13.2 % ABV

Midnight Sun Obliteration /Double IPA/AK/8% ABV

Midnight Sun Sockeye/IPA/AK/5.7%ABV

Midnight Sun Fallen Angel / Belgian Golden Strong/AK/8.5% ABV

Midnight Sun Triple X /Imp Black IPA/AK/8.5% ABV

Midnight Sun Panty Peeler/Abbey Triple/AK/8.5%ABV

Elysian Superfuzz Blood Orange/Pale Ale/WA/5.4 % ABV

Elysian Peste Chocolate Chili Ale/Chili Beer/WA/ 7.5% ABV

Elysian Perseus Porter/Porter/WA/5.4%ABV

Hair of the Dog Doggie Claws/Barleywine/OR/11.5% ABV (Bottle Pours)

Upcoming Events:

Wednesday, May 12th at 3pm-  Flying Dog Brewer's Choice

Wednesday, May 22nd at 3pm- Founders

Dieu Du Diel!

Wednesday April 24th 3pm

If you have ever spent time with the Dieu du Ciel! team, you know how much they love life - good food, good drink, good people, and a good sunrise mean it was a day, and a night, well spent. Whenever they come to town, I know it's going to be a long one, because they will not rest until the day is done, and there is nothing left but bones. And like the great chefs that they are, they use those bones to produce the stock for the next day and night, and the one after that. This otherworldly stamina is another thing that sets them, and their city, apart.

They are also famous for the crowd that always follows them. Whenever I see Stephane or JF, whether it be in New York, or at the Craft Brewers Conference, or Beer Mondial, they are always surrounded by a heavenly host of people. When I'm feeling up to it, and I join that merry band, it isn't long before I'm part of some Medieval traveling show, one that never stops but only pauses, before it begins again. A swirl of revelry that gets the most out of everything it touches.

On Weds, April the 24th, starting at 3 pm, and pausing at some distant point in the future, come down to the Tiger and join Dieu du Ciel! as we all say Amen to that...

-Katherine

The List!

 Grande Noirceur 9.0% Imperial stout

Fortunella        7.20%  Kumquat IPA
Pionnière         9.50%  Imperial Black IPA
Chaman           9.0%    Imperial Pale Ale
Basse Messe    5.00%  Kolsch
Péché Bourbon 9.50% Imperial Coffee stout aged in Bourbon barrel
Solstice d'Hiver 10.2% Barley wine
Neuvaine         8.0%    Absinth beer
Pénombre        6.5%    Black IPA
Mea Culpa       6.00%  India Cream ale
Purgatoire/Archeo 10.20% Old style porter aged in oak barrel / Collaboration with Trou du Diable
Isseki Nicho    9.5%    Imperial Dark Saison
Cornemuse      8.00%  Scotch ale
Péché Mortel   9.5%    Imperial coffee stout

Cask
Equinoxe du printemps
Grande Noirceur

Lovullopalozza: Part Deux

Wednesday, April 17, 2013 3pm

For those of you who don’t know Mike Lovullo and those that already know as much as they care to, skip to the beer list. No, really, the list makes for compelling reading.

For the rest of you continue at your own risk. Lovullo is one of the most distinct characters in the beer scene in New York. Maybe you saw him on stage at Brewer’s Choice where he accepted an award making a barely comprehensible but very enthusiastic speech. Maybe you’ve seen him at many of the best beer events in the New York area. He was probably there. In fact he probably had a hand in getting the beer to the event. He works for Union Beer Distributors, but to quote him loosely he doesn’t have a clear line between work and play. 

Many of us have seen this line-blurring in action. There are often rumors involving his shenanigans. Did he rip his shirt off after accepting the award at Brewer’s Choice? What was that thing with Ben Wood at Alewife? Texts at 2AM? Sock puppets as wedding gifts? What did the doorman write after his name on the list for New Year’s Eve? With so much hazy lore surrounding Mike I decided to ask some direct questions.

He says his favorite song is ‘All the Single Ladies’ by Beyonce, but it really is ‘Everyone Chooses Sides’ by the wrens. He says his favorite movie is ‘She’s All That’, but it really is ‘No Country for Old Men’. He says his favorite book is ‘Captain Underpants Vol. 1’, but it really is ‘Player Piano’ by Kurt Vonnegut. His favorite word is ‘word’, though he’s trying to get palooza into usage as an adjective meaning great or outstanding, as in, “That beer is so palooza.”

When I asked him what his favorite beer memory was he said it was the first time he walked into the Blind Tiger. Louise was behind the bar and it was right after a Southampton Event. He had an aged Old Herb and he felt like he had found his home.

Please join us to wish him Happy Birthday and enjoy this incredible list.

-Katherine

The List!

1. Allagash Interlude '11
2. Cantillon Vignerone 
3. Allagash Midnight Brett 
4. Bruery Smoking Wood 
5. Ballast Point Victory at Sea 
6. Allagash FV 13 
7. Bruery Sour in the Rye 
8. Youngs Double Chocolate Stout Nitro 
9. Sierra Nevada Barrel Bigfoot 
10. Maine Beer Company Lunch 
11. Stoudt's Pilsner 
12. Lagunitas Maximus 
13. Stillwater/508 Hamber 
14. Ommegang Witte 
15. Thornbridge Hall/Terrapin Coalition 
16. Harviestoun Ola Dubh 21 Year Old 
17. Firestone Walker Wookey Jack
18. Hitachino Mandarin Fukure Mikan 
19. Shmaltz Rejewvenator 
20. Oskar Blues Deuce 
21. Peekskill Higher Standard 
22. Sixpoint Mad Scientist Gruit 
23. Tool Sans Frontiere 
24. Blue Mountain Dirty Belgian Unfiltered 
25. Stillwater Saison Darkly
26. Evil Twin Yang 
27. Empire Liv & Let Rye 
28. Dieu Du Ciel! Pénombre

Cask:
1. Greenport Harbor Black IPA
2. Bronx Belgian Pale
3. Flying Dog Imperial IPA w/ Citra pin

Brooklyn Brewery

Wednesday April 3, 2013 3pm

Like so many genesis moments, it all began in the Middle East. That's where Brooklyn Brewery co-founder Steve Hindy found himself in the early 80's, a foreign correspondent in a dry land. Literally. Steve loved a good beer, but found his favorite beverage was illegal in the Muslim world, so he began home brewing. When you're dodging bullets, and surviving kidnappings - Steve was held hostage once and was lucky to survive - you need a beer once in a while, probably a strong one.

You also get used to taking risks, which might explain why he and Tom Potter decided to start a brewery in NYC upon his return to the States. This was in 1984, at the dawn of craft beer, or micro-beer as it was known then. They hired Bill Moeller - a German- American brewmaster who's grandfather had once brewed beer in Brooklyn - to create their first recipe, a full flavored amber lager. Milton Glaser designed the now famous logo, and Steve and Tom eventually hit the streets with bottles of Brooklyn Lager, contract brewed up in Utica.

Oz and I were working at the Riverrun back then (serving pints to Carl and Johnny Brilliant and Jay), and I got to know Steve pretty well, always enjoying his stories of being on the front lines in the Middle East. Like Steve, l had fallen hard for these new fangled beers, and soon I was heading up to the Manhattan Brewing Co. to check out a brewing prodigy everyone was talking about. As I tasted brown ales, IPA's, and Imperial Stouts that blew my mind, I wondered who the hell this guy was. The answer, it turned out, was Garrett Oliver.

Shortly thereafter, Steve and Tom brought Garrett on as Brooklyn's brewmaster, and things really got going. In 1996, just after the Blind Tiger opened its doors for the first time (with 5 Brooklyn Beers on tap), Rudy Giuliani cut the ribbon on the new Brooklyn Brewery facility, in a neighborhood people hadn't really heard of yet - Williamsburg. For many of us finding our way in the craft beer world in the 90's, Brooklyn Brewery was our clubhouse. They distributed their own beer, as well as many other artisanal brands available back then, and to help get the word out, they threw lots and lots of beer
festivals right out in front of the brewery.

Thanks to so much shared experience, Brooklyn Brewery has always had a special place in my heart, and we're really glad that we get to be part of their Silver Anniversary celebration. Garrett, just back from Hong Kong via the Craft Brewer's Conference, will be in the house, pouring his new Anniversary beer, a double bock, as well as some other rare offerings. So come down and join us on Weds, April 3rd, starting at 3pm, as
we relive the memories, and drink some very special brews...

-Dave

The List!

Silver Anniversary Lager
Blast!
Sorachi Ace
Fiat Lux
Dry Irish Stout
Weisse
Ama Bionda
There Will Be Black
Mary's Maple Porter
Companion
Monster Ale 2010

Cask- Blast!

Ghost Bottles:
Black Ops 2007 (Original)
Cuvee Elijah
Crochet Rouge

Firestone Walker

Sunday March 3, 2013 3 pm

We couldn’t be more excited to be hosting Firestone Walker this Sunday at 3PM. You probably already know and love this brewery as much as we do, but an event gives us the chance to dig deeper, find out a little more, and drink a few tasty treats not always available.

We are also going to be offering a beer and cheese pairing flight. There will be two cheeses from California as well as one from England to represent the English influence in the brewing process adapted by Firestone. They drew from a great tradition and made it their own. In their own words:

“Our Firestone Union was inspired by the old Burton Union system, once a staple of British beer making. The Burton Union was developed around 1840 as English tastes shifted from London porters to pale ales crafted in Burton-Upon-Trent. The Burton beers were bright and clear with a firm, satisfying bite: a taste unique in its time-and still unique today. We believe we are still the only brewery in the United States to currently employ the union brewing method.

Our patented union of barrels uniquely incorporates 60-gallon heavy or medium toast American oak barrels into a brewing process that yields beers of extraordinary character and complexity. This system improves the fullness of the palate, enhances hop maturity and lends a clean briskness to the finish. The influence of the toasted oak also imparts unique hints of smokiness and vanilla, as well as a subtle fruitiness to the flavor profile.

Historically, brewers using union systems experienced different ambient temperatures that produced inconsistent flavors. Scaling the Firestone Union to smaller vessels meant that the barm-back did not require open air for cooling, thus eliminating ambient temperature fluctuations and preventing contamination. 

The technical advantages of the Firestone Union are bright beer, stable fermentations, good attenuation and healthy pitching yeast. Equally important, the Firestone Union resurrects a time-honored brewing tradition, one that embraces handcrafted quality and ensures regional character.

Our oak barrels are used for a set period of time (usually about 20 weeks) before being retired for use in our barrel aging program. The wort spends 6 days in the barrels before being racked into stainless for secondary fermentation lasting about a week. From this point the wood fermented beer follows a similar path to stainless steel fermented beers. In the case of DBA, 20% of the oak fermented beer is blended with beer fermented in stainless steel, filtered and force carbonated then sent to a 550 barrel (17325 gallon) bright tank until the beer is ready to be kegged or bottled.”

Come by on Sunday and try the DBA, we are lucky to have it along with all of their stellar beer.

Cheers!
Katherine

The List:

Firestone Walker DBA 
Firestone Walker Velvet Merlin
Firestone Walker Double Jack, 
Firestone Walker Union Jack, 
Firestone Walker Pale 31
Firestone Walker Walkers Reserve
Firestone Walker Double DBA
Firestone Walker Sucaba
Firestone Walker Wookey Jack

Upcoming Events:

Wednesday 3/13/13 Night of the Imperials

Sunday 3/31/13 Peekskill Brewery

Wednesday 4/3/13 Brooklyn 

Bill and Dave's Cheesy Adventure

Saturday, February 9th 12PM - 3PM

Ommegang

Wednesday, February 13th 3PM

Right about now, I usually start thinking about the Vermont Beer & Cheese Festival, when I get to drive all over the state collecting special kegs, to be paired up with some great Green Mountain cheeses. Whether the event is in February, March, or April, I always manage to choose the weekend with the worst possible driving conditions. I'm like a magnet for freezing rain and knee deep mud. Well, I'm raising the white flag this year. Instead of VT B & C, we're doing something a little different - and less harrowing, at least for me.

On Saturday, Feb 9th, we'll be hosting Bill & Dave's Cheesy Adventure. It was Bill Covaleski's idea - he's the co-founder of Victory Beer of course, and he'll be in town for a James Beard Dinner with some Pennsylvania cheese makers. Bill thought it might be fun if I brought down 3 Vermont beers and cheeses, to go up against 3 of his beers and and cheese from his Pennsylvania posse. We've been talking some trash on Twitter: Bill said how I thought you'd probably like my beer and cheese better than his. I tweeted that PA cheese makers were better at cutting cheese than making it.

In any case, we'll be featuring some of my favorites from my new home state, along with some great Victory beers and PA cheese. It should be a pretty special weekend, with Bill and I duking it out under the TV. The event runs from noon to 3pm, and you can purchase a PA flight or VT flight, each consisting of three eight ounce beers with the three paired cheeses, for $10.00.

Speaking of special weekends, every summer, a bunch of us head north for one of our favorite beer festivals, where we get to play Daniel Boone for a couple of days. The schedule is fairly easy to follow: set up camp, drink, fire up the grill, drink, play bocce, drink, taste a lot of home brew, drink, sit around the camp fire, drink, smoke a whole pig, drink, smoke some other things, drink, watch fireworks, drink, visit other camp sites, drink, look at the stars, drink, run tents over with golf carts, drink, sleep where we fall, drink, then get up and do it all over again. Yes, I'm talking about the Woodstock of beer, when Ommegang Brewery opens its fields so us city folk can live like hobos for a brief period of time.

The team from Ommegang are incredible hosts, so we like to return the favor, and have them down during the winter. That way we can get our fix, Belgian-style, and they can have a little urban time. Head brewer Phil Leinhart, along with his team - Ken, AJ, et al, will be at the Tiger on Weds Feb 13, and we've saved a number of the special beers Phil brewed up over the past year. So come on down and join us - we'll be tapping the kegs around 3 pm.

-Dave

The List:

Ommegang Aphrodite 2011

Ommegang Art of Darkness

Ommegang Bier D'Hougoumont

Ommegang Gnomegang

Ommengang Seduction 2011

Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence

Ommegang BID Tripel

Ommegang Rustica

Ommegang 3 Philosophers

Ommegang Hennepin

Ommegang Abbey

Ommegang BPA

Ommegang Barrier Relief

Upcoming Events:

Wednesday 3/13/13 Night of the Imperials

Sunday 3/31/13 Peekskill Brewery

Wednesday 4/3/13 Brooklyn

We can’t wait to try the beer brought in by a new craft beer importer, Iberian Beer United. IBU is the dream of longtime regulars John and Jessica who spend a considerable amount of time on the Iberian Peninsula (and at the Blind Tiger, lucky for us). Realizing that there were the beginnings of a craft beer revolution in Spain and Portugal, they longed to create a way to support these brewers and bring the liquid to a wider audience.

We are sharing a major milestone of their dream this Wednesday when we will be pouring beer from three Spanish breweries, L’Anjub, Gisberga, and Sagra. Chef Tommy will be preparing a delicious Tapas Trio to go with the beer. We will have bottles of funky cider from Spain on hand along with an escanciador, a contraption that pours the cider directly at the correct angle into the glass.

This promises to be a delicious evening with Spanish flair. Come and see what’s been brewing on the Iberian Peninsula!

Katherine

The List:

Gisberga Porter 

Gisberga Trigo 

L'anjub 1907 

L'anjub LUG 

L'anjub Juliett 

Sagra Pils 

Sagra Bohío 

Val d’ Ornon Sidra Natural

“It does not matter whether it is a Craft Ale or a Crisp Lager – if itis a Sixpoint, it cannot be defined. The fountainhead of our creativity cannot be confined to the shackles of “style guidelines”because style simply has no guidelines. Style is boundless, amorphous, restless.

Take, for instance, Sweet Action. What is it? Is it a cream ale? Well not really, because it is brewed with elements of a Hefe-Weizen. So it is a Hefe-Weizen then, right? Well, no… because it has a hop profile similar to a Pale Ale. All right, well what is it then? It is Sweet Action. That’s what it is.

Ok how about the Diesel? It’s a Stout, right? Yes it has echoes of a stout… lots of roast barley, with a thicker and more robust body than a Porter. But it has the hop profile of a Cascadian Dark or “Black IPA.” So what is it then? It’s the DIESEL. Nuff said.

Trying to recreate a classical style is like an archer trying to hit the bull’s-eye on a stationary target. But Sixpoint does not ractice traditional archery – we practice orseback archery. This means we aim and elease while in motion, and we are aiming at a target that might be moving as well. Over time tastes change, and our knowledge and perception as brewers change too. So as we move through time galloping on horseback, we adjust for all of the variables to find the perfect trajectory…

We understand the role of taxonomy in organizing information. We get it. But it has no role in the creation of our beers. We don’t reverse-engineer our beers to conform to dictated style guidelines.Instead, we gather our inspiration from what a beer could be… then pull back and aim to hit the bull’s-eye of that potential.”

The list is exciting. We will be premiering their new Barleywine, Old Redhooker, featuring three Spice of Life’s, a Gose and an Oyster Stout. Also hops from Dave’s farm will be used to dry-hop one of the casks.

Chef Tommy wanted in on the action so we will be enjoying Seafood Chowder as a special while we have these beers from Red Hook on. In fact, with every order of the Oyster Stout you are entitled to a free ‘shot’ of the Seafood Chowder. Delicious and fun!

Katherine