Calling All NYC Women in Beer

Love beer? Have double X chromosomes? Then join a room full of estrogen and beer at the first New York City Women in Beer event on Monday, February 27th! It’s difficult enough for some to take our craft beer guzzling ways seriously, so let’s get together with like-minded individuals. The event will take place at Taproom 307 (you remember that awesome little joint, right?). The event is meant to be a way to not only network with other women in the beer industry, but to socialize with some chicks who appreciate a good beer. All women who work or are involved in the industry are encouraged to attend, including: bar & restaurant staff, beer store & homebrew store staff, brewery staff, distributors & importers, writers & bloggers, PR & marketing professionals, and event planners. But I’m sure no one will look down upon you if you just want to support our cause.

The event is free but it is asked that you RSVP. Feel free to stop by any time between 6:30-8:30pm that evening and grab a draft for only $5. For more information and to reserve a spot, click here.

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Tame Peculiarity at Peculier Pub

This past weekend I ventured to my new favorite bar Peculier Pub. Located in a mecca of bars down on Bleecker, the safe haven for twenty-something-year-olds and college students, rests Peculier Pub. It’s up for some steep competition with The Bitter End next door and the allure of the pirate bar Wicked Willy’s. But how could either really compete with a bar boasting over 300 beers? Yeah that menu was a good 4-5 pages long of beer alone, plus another few dedicated for mixed drinks, beer cocktails, and food.

Do I even need to divulge into this epic beer menu of epicness? Let’s! You’ve got your classics from Belgium like Chimay and Saison Dupont, Samuel Smiths from England, and plenty of Hefeweizens from Germany. The U.S. beers are broken down by state and it’s everything you would expect like Harpoon, Rogue, and Southampton. But we have some beer from Hawaii like Fire Rock, Lobster Red Ale from Maine, and Voodoo Vator from Michigan. Did you ever think you’d have beer from Vietnam or Korea? Well now you can. Along with beer from Latvia, Peru, Israel, Turkey, and New Zealand. I could literally go to this bar every week and always try something new –I think I’m up for that challenge.

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I’m Not Dead, I’m Just in Queens

Greetings beloved readers! I know it’s been a ridiculously long time since I’ve made a post and I sincerely apologize. I literally spent the entire month of October searching for an apartment with my two friends. After nearly three weeks of searching, we landed a delightful place in Ridgewood, Queens. I then spent the remainder of the month packing up my entire life. Who would have thought a person could own so much crap in just one room?

It was an extremely stressful time and I’m glad it’s over. I’m about 80% unpacked. Every night has been exhausting as I slowly unpack my life, not to mention the stress and anxiety of so much change. I’ve never been on my own before. It’s been quite an experience so far. Sadly, I haven’t had much new beer. But do not fret! I am literally 15 minutes from Williamsburg and 20 minutes from Manhattan. You know what that means? Easy access to your mom! I mean…to awesome craft beer bars in the city. The major downside? Bye bye local beer distributor. I’m on the hunt for a new one.

Despite my life seeming briefly upside down, things will soon calm down and I’ll be drinking to my heart’s content. Stay tuned for more great posts because I promise they will be more consistent. Cheers beer lovers!

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A Successful Brooklyn Pour Craft Beer Festival

Yesterday marked the first Brooklyn Pour Craft Beer Festival in Fort Greene. The event was held in the absolutely beautiful Skylight One Hanson, a converted bank with 63-foot ceilings and 40-foot windows. The architecture alone is enough to distract you from the frothy beers. As you can see from the picture, it was an awesome place to throw a party. The beer tables were actually lined up behind the teller windows –complete with metal bars. Another two dozen tables were setup downstairs…in an actual vault! The vault would make for the perfect sweaty dance club night, but it did get rather claustrophobic after awhile.

But enough about the location, onto the beer! There were over 50 breweries pouring about twice as many beers. The breweries invited were, for the most part very good, but many were household names that I’m sure most of us have had like Blue Point, Captain Lawrence, Flying Dog, Harpoon, and Magic Hat. My goal was to go for the breweries I’d never sampled before, or at least to try a new pour from a familiar face.

Some of my favorites included St. Botolph’s Town by Pretty Things Beer, Messiah by He’Brew, Allagash Black by Allagash Brewing, and Black IPA by Otter Creek. I can easily say St. Botolphs Town had me at first sip. The festival also taught me that I loathe ginger beer. As I walked up to the table I heard several women exclaim, “Oh my god! I love ginger beer!,” as I nearly gagged on it.

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Now Accepting The Oxford Companion to Beer as a Gift

In case you weren’t aware, it’s only 3 months and 18 days until my birthday. Christmas is only 2 months and 20 days away if you can’t wait that long to shower me with gifts. Racking your brain for ideas? Here’s a big giant hint, *wink wink nudge nudge* The Oxford Companion to Beer (as if you couldn’t guess by the blog title alone). I’d like to thank the hard working people at Urban Daddy who obviously do far more research for their jobs than I do in finding this little gem. Well, it’s not really so little. It’s 960 pages, nearly 4 pounds. I could definitely kill someone will this book…

If ever you were in need of knowing every single fact there is to know about beer, this is apparently where to find it. Maybe I shouldn’t tell you about this book. It would render by blog useless. Oh, who am I kidding? My readers don’t read books. They’re too clunky. They come here for the concise, sometimes accurate, posts and witty humor. Yeah, that’s what I’ll keep telling myself.

But I digress…the book is literally an encyclopedia of beer knowledge. Editor Garrett Oliver gathered up the experts on thousands of different subjects –everything from Belgium brewing to the dark days of Prohibition to beer museums around the world. It’s received some terrific reviews and there is no doubt in my mind I need this book. What more can I say? It’s the encyclopedia of all things beer.

And I almost forgot! I’m moving out in less than a month so…housewarming present? *insert cheesy grin here*

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Not Enjoying NYC Craft Beer Week

Oh what a sad day it is for me to be a beer lover. You would think this would have been an exciting week for me with it being NYC craft beer week and all. But it’s not so much fun when you have no one to celebrate it with. I was originally planning on going to another craft beer festival offered by Get Real NY but due to problems with the venue holder, they had to cancel –twice! Instead I’ll be partaking in the Brooklyn Pour event next month, although I don’t think it will quite compare.

I received numerous discounts to pub crawls and restaurants through Thrillist but just never got around to actually planning something with my friends. Shame on me. It’s hard to spring a last minute invite on most of them when they’ve already had plans for weeks. Not to mention some view a trip into the city as a “trek.” How silly! Lastly, there is always the broke excuse, which is understandable considering none of us have well paying jobs.

Sadly, craft beer is expensive and I got “berated” yesterday when I teased someone about drinking cheap PBR. Granted I’m not paying rent at the moment, but it’s called you learn to save money to spend on the things you enjoy. While other people spend their money on clothing or going out to eat, I save my money for beer. So I don’t appreciate being called spoiled. Just because my family lives on Long Island does not equate automatic wealth. No, I was the girl who went to private school and listened to how everyone else’s families were going on weekend trips to the Caribbean or spending time in their summer house in the Hamptons. Hmm…can you tell that hit a nerve?

Sorry this turned into a giant rant/venting blog…but it did have to do with beer! So I hope everyone else enjoys the festivities going on this weekend. I’m just glad I finally got to imbibe a pumpkin ale and Oktoberfest the other night. Did I mention I love fall beers?

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How to Be a Beer Snob

I’ve been deemed a beer snob by several of my closest friends and at first I was slightly offended. Then I realized it’s 100% true and because I am a snob, I don’t care. I’m superior to everyone else when it comes to beer. (No, I swear I’m joking…or am I?) But I must admit it certainly is amusing to make fun of people who think they’re being worldly when they drink a Stella Artois because it’s from Belgium. So I thought it kind of me to teach you all the ways of beer snobbery or at least reveal the warning signs that you might in fact be a beer snob.

First, let’s clear up the difference between a beer geek and a beer snob. The former is more of a compliment than the latter. Although geeks admit they know more about beer than most, they’re not elitist about it. Instead, they’d rather educate all the common folk and enlighten them (See what I did there? Reference to my blog title…) about the delicious world of craft beer. There is also a new phenomenon of beer hipsters who mainly live in Williamsburg and only go to bars in Williamsburg. Unlike geeks and snobs, they know little to nothing about craft beer and are only drinking beer because it’s seen as cool. They’re not in it for the love man! There is also the phony beer hipster who drinks PBR. (He’s just a loser.) But like all hipsters, they should die a slow, painful death. Beer hipsters are neither geeks nor snobs. They’re posers, plain and simple.

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Beer Is All You Need for Hurricane Irene

I’m reporting to you live from Flushing, Queens where we’re less than a day away from Hurricane Irene. This ho had to go and ruin all my party plans…okay I didn’t have much in the way of plans this weekend but she still forced me to evacuate my home. For those who don’t know me, I live on the south shore of Long Island and was ordered to leave. Some brave souls on my block are choosing to stay. Honestly, I don’t think my home will really be damaged but I did move all my important electronics to the second floor and got rid of anything off the floor.

I don’t anticipate my home being destroyed but still one wants to be safe. How do you decide within 24 hours what’s most important to you? Besides clothing, I took my two external hard drives, this shitty laptop so I can feel “connected” to the world, my stuffed panda, and my limited edition Lady Gaga album. (Yeah I know I’m a loser. But heaven forbid my home really was destroyed, I’d be devastated if it was lost to the horrors of this wench of a storm.)

But I knew I couldn’t very well leave without beer. I’m a beer blogger damn it! I had a bottle of Chimay Blue for months in my fridge. I know, I know, how could I not drink that by now? It’s a large bottle and I can’t down it all myself. So now it’s here sitting in my Aunt and Uncle’s refrigerator waiting to be slowly sipped and enjoyed. I shall most likely partake in it tonight. What better way to distract from the storm and not think about my kitties left behind at home than to get drunk?

I hope everyone else on the East Coast managed to pick up a few bottles of their favorite ales and lagers before all hell breaks loose. Just like I said for the May apocalypse, there’s no right or wrong beer for times like these. But I do believe now is the time to imbibe your best beer. Might as well go out with a bang.

Stay classy San Francisco…er I mean stay safe East Coast and drink well!

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Preparing My Palate for Fall and Winter

I hate to be “that guy” that reminds everyone summer is dwindling down, but I can’t help but get excited for a new batch of seasonal ales. I have a love/hate relationship with summer anyway. I hate turning into a giant puddle of sweat but my body cannot handle temperatures below 40 degrees. Despite the heat, at least I can enjoy activities outdoors and I’m not afraid to wander the city for fear of frostbite. But I must admit that summer beers are not my particular forte.

When the season first starts, sure I could totally go for a beer that’s light and crisp and maybe has some nice citrus flavors mixed in, but my heart lies with the dark side. Give me pumpkin ales, chocolate stouts, and malty porters. As much as I don’t want winter to come, I am desperate for all my favorite bars to get in their fall and winter seasonal beers. Is there anything more delightful than sipping on an Oktoberfest or your favorite brewery’s pumpkin on a cool, crisp day (don’t forget to add pumpkin flavored sugar crystal on the rim of the glass! Yum!)? Just thinking about it makes me long for a hoodie and to hear the crunch of fall leaves under my feet.

Summer, you’ve been a blast but your beer just doesn’t wet my appetite quite as much as winter. Anyone else ready for some heavier beers? What is everyone looking forward to drinking next season? I’ve been dying to try Great Divide Hibernation Ale and Samichlaus Bier and I pray to the beer gods my beer distributor has it. Oh wait, I’ll most likely be living in Queens or Brooklyn by then…okay I hope my new local distributor has it!

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I Don’t Drink Pink Beer and Neither Should You

I’m a little late in the game for this one (only by 2 weeks) but it’s time for a rant. I am a woman and I drink craft beer. I do not need fruity, pink beer to entice me to pick up a six pack. The idea that women need something bright and shiny in order to make a purchase is just down right sexist. What is this pink beer I’m talking about? Molson Coors (the wretched people who own Coors, Keystone, and Blue Moon) have decided to use some “crafty” (get it!) ninja skills to increase beer sales among women by creating pink, clear, and yellow beer. Yes the yellow one looks like piss. (Really bad marketing move on their part.)

The beers will be “sparkling and crisp” with fruity flavors added to the batch. But that’s not all! They’re also low in calories for the weight conscious woman. I have to agree with The Beer Wench that this is an insult to women’s palates. I don’t need flavors of apples and pears to find something delicious. Not to mention I’m just sick of the fact that men don’t think women can “handle” beer. [expletive deleted] I’m sorry, did we time travel back to the 1950’s? Are steak and spicy foods too manly for my dainty taste buds as well? I will not be dragged into this category nor will I be put in the butch category either because I know what good beer tastes like.

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