Hmmmm Beer....
The Times has a good article on cask-conditioned ale. Base10 has had some very good experiences with cask-conditioned ale--well, what I can remember of them. For the uninitiated, cask-conditioned ale is finished in the cask. The brewer adds finishing sugar which causes the carbonation in the beer. It is not pasteurized and is served using gravity taps since it is not pressurized. Best places to try it, in this order:

Blind Tiger Ale House
In my opinion, the best beer bar in New York. Their new location is on Bleeker Street and they apparently can only serve beer and wine. That's okay though, because the beer is awesome and the staff is very knowledgeable. Well worth a visit.

dba's
In years past I would have given the best beer bar award to dba's, a craft beer bar on 1st Avenue. It's not a bad place, but it's changed over the years. I remember going there on a Sunday afternoon and having a bagel nosh with the manager before settling down to a pint. It's still a pretty good place and usually has two or three cask-conditioned offerings. They also have an extremely extensive bottled beer and scotch collection. The website has the tap list as well as the date it was tapped.

Mugs
Mugs is in Williamsburg and like dba's, I liked it better years ago. (Maybe I've become more of a curmudgeon with age). It's also a little out of the way from Base10's digs in Queens. The strong point about Mugs is that their food menu is quite good. They also have cask conditioned ale, but I think it's offered a little more sporadically. Also, IMHO, they tend to have a bit more of an eclectic selection than the other two.

UPDATE: I thought I'd add this. If you're thirsty and in Queens, one of the best beer distributors in the borough that specializes in craft beers is Community Beverage located on Grand Avenue and 80th Street. (Sorry, no business website that I could find). The place has an outstanding selection of craft brews as well as serving growlers for four taps. (Right now, Base10 is finishing off some Blue Point Octoberfest. Delicious, but I'm still a little partial to the toasted lager). BTW, for the interesting history of the "growler," click here.

UPDATE: Link added for the original Times article. Also, the picture accompanying the article shows The Ginger Man, a beer bar on 36th Street off of Madison. Good bar, but the beer list is definitely an exercis in information overload. Plus, they have 66 draft lines so you have to wonder how fresh any given brand is. Last time I was there, they didn't have any cask-conditioned ale, so maybe I need to investigate....

Labels: beer

- posted by Base10 @ 6:07 PM