Six way awesome large-format Belgians, one Danish beer, now at City Swiggers: Dupont Monk’s Stout; La Rulles Tripel; Panil Barriquée Oak-aged Sour Red Ale, triple-fermented; Fantôme Boo! (a strong ale); Brouwerij Kerkom, Bink Grand Cru; and To Øl Mochaccino Messiah (a brown ale from Denmark).Find all six at City Swiggers, 320 East 86th St., btwn 1st and 2nd avenues. Click image for larger view.
Five interesting German beers: Pinkus Ur-Pils, Kulmbacher Mönchshof Schwarzbier (a very dark beer), Kulbacher Eisbock, Bayerischer Bahnhof Berliner Style Weisse, and Bayerischer Bahnhof Original Leipziger Gose. Find all five at City Swiggers, 320 East 86th St., btwn 1st and 2nd avenues. Click image for larger view.
Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel! is represented at City Swiggers with the following most righteous brews: Dieu du Ciel Solstice d’Hiver (a barleywine), Dieu du Ciel Péché Mortel (an imperial stout), Dieu du Ciel Équinoxe du Printemps (a Scotch ale), Dieu du Ciel Dernière Volonté (a Belgian ale). Find all four at City Swiggers, 320 East 86th St., btwn 1st and 2nd avenues. Click image for larger view.
Two from Lebanon, sprung from the war years: 961 Red Ale and 961 Beer/Kissmeyer (Brewmaster’s Select 01) Lebanese Pale Ale. Posted at RateBeer.com: "961 Beer began during the dark days of the July 2006 siege on Lebanon. Tired with the lack of quality beer in Lebanon, Mazen Hajjar and his friends started to brew beer in his very own kitchen. The first batches were brewed in 20 liter kettles. Granted that war and blockades are not the ideal conditions to start a company, alongside everyone telling them they were mad to even consider it, they went ahead with it anyway. They decided that brewing a good beer for a great country was what they wanted to do the most. When 961 Beer officially began brewing they were one of the smallest breweries in the world, and the only microbrewery in the Middle East (and still are). Although 961 Beer now brews nearly 2 million liters per year, they still insist upon making beer using the very same principles: traditional techniques, quality ingredients and love." Find both at City Swiggers, 320 East 86th St., btwn 1st and 2nd avenues. Click image for larger view.
New for City Swiggers, three imports: (1) San Miguel Cerveza Negra (from the Philippines, made with roasted malt); (2) Orkney Skull Splitter (a Scotch ale from Scotland); and Carib Brewery Mackeson XXX Stout (a sweet stout from England). Find all three at City Swiggers, 320 East 86th St., btwn 1st and 2nd avenues. Click image for larger view.
Beers for winter daze...and nights, select & sundry: Blue Point Imperial Cherry Kriek, Hoppin Frog Mean Manalishi Imperial/Double IPA, Ommegang XV (15th Anniversary) Ale (a Belgian-style dark Trappist ale), New Holland Cabin Fever (an amber ale), and River Horse Oatmeal Milk Stout. Find all five at City Swiggers, 320 East 86th St., btwn 1st and 2nd avenues. Click image for larger view.
Three Belgian beers from Twelve Percent Imports: (1) The Perfect Crime American Blonde, (2) The Perfect Crime Hollow Point (described as the closest thing to the Westvleteren XII, a quad), and (3) Scheldebrouwerij De Zeezuiper (a Belgian Tripel). Find all three at City Swiggers, 320 East 86th St., btwn 1st and 2nd avenues. Click image for larger view.
Don't be scared away by these highly rated imports, please! Left: Brouwerij Huyghe La Guillotine (a Belgian strong ale) and, right: Beer Here Dead Cat (amber ale from Denmark). Find both at City Swiggers, 320 East 86th St., btwn 1st and 2nd avenues. Click image for larger view.
Jolly Pumpkin Sobrehumano Palena ’Ole (a sour/wild ale) & Jolly Pumpkin E.S. Bam (a bitter ale), now at City Swiggers Find all both at City Swiggers, 320 East 86th St., btwn 1st and 2nd avenues. Click image for larger view.
Four large format beers, more light than not, now at City Swiggers: RJ Rockers Fish Paralyzer (a Belgian-style strong ale); Alesmith X, Extra Pale Ale, Victory Helios (a saison), and Midnight Sun Sockeye Red IPA. Find all four at City Swiggers, 320 East 86th St., btwn 1st and 2nd avenues. Click image for larger view.
Captain Lawrence Smoked Porter, Blue Point Old Howling Bastard Barleywine, Elysian Dragonstooth Stout, Maine Beer King Titus (porter), Heavy Seas Mutiny Fleet Below Decks Bourbon Oak (barleywine), and Smuttynose Zinneke Imperial Stout. Find all six at City Swiggers, 320 East 86th St., btwn 1st and 2nd avenues. Click image for larger view.
Five from Horseheads, now at City Swiggers. (1) Horseheads Hot-Jala-Heim a spicy lager (Ale brewed with jalapeno and anaheim peppers). (2) Horseheads IPA. (3) Horseheads Newtown Brown Ale. (4) Horseheads Chemung Canal Towpath Ale (cream ale). And (5) Horseheads Sullivan's Stout. All in large format. All five at City Swiggers, 320 East 86th St., btwn 1st and 2nd avenues. Click image for larger view.
Three large-format beers stroke the taste buds: Clown Shoes Eagle Claw, HeBrew Origin, and Speakeasy Betrayal Imperial Red Ale. Find all three at City Swiggers, 320 East 86th St., btwn 1st and 2nd avenues. Click image for larger view.
Awesome beers in cans, now at City Swiggers. First, top row: Abita Amber, Two Brothers Outlaw IPA, Atwater Grand Circus IPA, 21st Amendment Marooned on Hog Island Stout. Bottom row: Blue Point Toxic Sludge Black IPA, Narragansett Bock Lager, Sixpoint 3 Bean (chocolate/coffee+), Snake River Vienna Style Lager, Snake River Zonker Stout, and Sly Fox Odyssey Imperial IPA. Find all ten at City Swiggers, 320 East 86th St., btwn 1st and 2nd avenues. Click image for larger view.
Perennial Peach Berliner Weisse & Perennial Barrel Aged Abraxas, now at City Swiggers. Find both at City Swiggers, 320 East 86th St., btwn 1st and 2nd avenues. Click image for larger view.
Here are just 4 of many special beers you can find at City Swiggers right now: (1) Firestone Walker 16 (XVI Sixteenth Anniversary Ale), a top rated American strong ale. The brewers tell us they blended together 226 oak barrels and 8 different beers creating something truly complex and exceptional. (2) Goose Island Big John Imperial Stout. (3) Stone Vertical Epic (last in the series that started 02.02.02). From RateBeer.com: "Now is the time to enjoy this Belgian strong ale in a “vertical” tasting side-by-side with its ten Stone Vertical Epic Ale brethren!" (4) Founders 15th Anniversary Bolt Cutter, a strong, sweet and malt-forward barley wine with a spicy complexity. Find all four at City Swiggers, 320 East 86th St., btwn 1st and 2nd avenues. Click image for larger view.
Dogfish Head Birra Etrusca Bronze Ale, now at City Swiggers. City Swiggers is at 320 East 86th St., btwn 1st & 2nd avenues. Click image for larger view.
A test batch for DFH's newest Ancient Ale, Etrusca is based on a beverage that may have been enjoyed by the Etruscans of Ancient Italy around 800 BC. For this one Sam, DFH's head, traveled to Italy with Dr. Pat McGovern where they met up with Teo and Leo (Sam’s buddies from Baladin Brewery and Birra Del Borgo respectively) and researched ingredients from various Etruscan dig sites. The result of their research is a strong ale containing an Italian heirloom grain called Cappelli Senatore, along with pomegranate juice, raisins, and hazelnut flour, together with 3 types of honey: chestnut, wildflower, and clover. The brew was then spiced with several hop flowers, Gentian root and tree resin (think Myrrh) in the kettle. To simulate fermentation in a bronze vessel (which possibly would have been what the Etruscans used), they actually tied a bronze plate inside modern stainless fermenter which was suspended in the wort as it fermented. The aroma is dominated by pomegranate and spice from the yeast. The flavor is an intriguing interplay between the tangy pomegranate fruit and nuttiness from the hazelnut flower. One can definitely envision sipping this unique brew while relaxing on the Mediterranean coast.
Here are just 4 of many special beers you can find at City Swiggers right now: (1) Firestone Walker 16 (XVI Sixteenth Anniversary Ale), a top rated American strong ale. The brewers tell us they blended together 226 oak barrels and 8 different beers creating something truly complex and exceptional. (2) Goose Island Big John Imperial Stout. (3) Stone Vertical Epic (last in the series that started 02.02.02). From RateBeer.com: "Now is the time to enjoy this Belgian strong ale in a “vertical” tasting side-by-side with its ten Stone Vertical Epic Ale brethren!" (4) Founders 15th Anniversary Bolt Cutter, a strong, sweet and malt-forward barley wine with a spicy complexity. Find all four at City Swiggers, 320 East 86th St., btwn 1st and 2nd avenues. Click image for larger view.