My new obsession is untappd, the foursquare for drunks. I'm not sure how long this love affair is going to last though...looking at my "tab" for the past 2 days (13 unique beers consumed) makes me feel like a total booze-hound, and gives profound insight to the question of why my pants don't fit. Although it's fun to see my trail'o'suds, it's way more comforting to have selective memory so I can act surprised that all my money is gone and elastic waistbands feel good.
Let's follow the trail and recap this weekend...
(DISCLAIMER #2: I had beer-obsessed friends visiting this weekend and that's why these activities were so...let's call it "focused.")
First on my untappd tab is Restoration Pale Ale/Abita (#1). I imbibed this, as well as Southern Tier IPA/Southern Tier (#2), Wachusett Blueberry Ale/Wachusett (#3) and Dead Horse IPA/McNeils (#4) at Hop Devil Grill (all before 2PM mind you). Hop Devil has great brunch deal from 11-4PM on Saturdays & Sundays: for $20 you get an entrée and all you can drink domestic craft beer for up to 90 minutes. Luckily, the food is also great-- I had a pulled chicken sandwich that was freakin' awesome. My favorite of the suds was the Restoration Pale Ale, it's citrusy and a little sweet. I generally enjoyed all of the brews, except I will say that while interesting the the Wachusett Blueberry was a little too intense for me.
Next on the tab was a Simcoe Spring Ale/Peak Organic (#5) at Idle Hands, which was good and hoppy. This place is fun and chill, with tons of craft beer (as well as bourbons) to choose from. It's definitely a dangerous place for day drinking because it's below ground and dark, so you can lose track of time easily...especially since you can add a shot of Maker's to any beer for $5.
After that we tried to swing by NYC's oldest saloon, McSorley's, but it was jam-packed. We opted instead to hop boroughs and go on a tour of the Brooklyn Brewery in Williamsburg. I'm not a huge fan of lines (because they make me want to throw a tantrum and scream "don't you know who I am?!" at people), but my friends really wanted to go so I acquiesced. We spent about 30 minutes waiting outside of the brewery to get in for the last tour at 5PM. After the tour wave was admitted, it got easier to gain entry, so if you don't care about being educated and just want to taste definitely go later to avoid the line. the brewery is undergoing renovations right now, so the mediocre tour is an abbreviated jaunt through their works. The guide shared some cool historical information, and it lasted about 30 minutes including Q&A and an opportunity to take photos.
One thing I did find helpful is a realization about my temperament I had during his talk. I've been noticing within the last few years that I tend to get severely congested after drinking certain beers, usually Belgians. Those (as well as some other types like cask ales) are unfiltered, which means they are served with yeast remaining in the cask, keg, or bottle. While he was talking about this process it dawned on me: I'm pretty sure the culprit of my bouts of congestion can be chalked up to elevated amounts of yeast present in certain beers. Although I must not be allergic to it in small amounts, a bender of hefeweizens can basically shut down my ability to breath. Knowledge being power, I'm going to avoid that from now on by skipping the unfiltereds. That makes me sad, but I'll choose breathing over Belgians any day.
So, after the tour you're turned loose into the warehouse-y consumption area. The beer is doled out via a chip system, one beer per chip and $20 will get you 6 chips. The line for that is long too but moves quickly. I added the Brooklyn Pennant '55 Ale (#6) and the Brooklyn Winter Ale (#7) (both filtered and delicious) to my virtual tab.
After we'd spent our chips, we strolled over to the thrift store across the street. There were some groovy things there, it felt a bit like an Urban Outfitters on steroids though. I found a kick**s bracelet made out of a fork but didn't love it enough to shell out the $25 they were asking.
To finish up our Brooklyn shenanigans, I brought my friends over to d.b.a. Although not quite as happenin' as the one in New Orleans, this bar has a great selection and one of my favorite deals: pretzel & a pint for $8. They'll warm up a freshly baked pretzel for you, then serve it with spicy yellow mustard and your tap selection. YUM! I had a Pietra Winter Ale/Brasserie Pietra (#8) here to complement my twisty snack. They went together like peas and carrots.
Rounding out Saturday (yep, all of this was one day) we met more friends for family-style dinner at Tony's DiNapoli. One of my visiting peeps was running the NYC 1/2 marathon the next day and needed to to carb up, so we figured this was a perfect place to do it. It's also a great restaurant to tab-up with a Peroni Nastro Azzuro/Birra Pieroni (#9). The salad, spaghetti and meatballs, veal parm, and rigatoni in vodka w/ mushrooms were just what I needed too after a long day of soaking my insides in beer. After a few photos of the super moon on the way home,
I was sufficiently worn out from all the excitement and slept like a beer...I mean baby.
Sunday was more low key, I made chili at home and drank Coors Light (#10). For dinner I met friends out at the Brother Jimmy's Bait Shack location for the all you can eat/drink ribs/beer special. The Northern, wet style ribs are my favorite. On Sundays, for $23, you get all the ribs you can house (alternating between styles is permitted), 2 sides, cornbread, and all the Bud/Anheuser-Busch (#12) or Bud Light you can guzzle. I showed up early so I pre-gamed with a #9/Magic Hat Brewing Company (#11) at the bar before my peeps arrived.
After all this, I was going to be able to incite a heart attack simply by looking at any more food or beer...so I just had one more. My nightcap was a Pacific Clara/La Cerveza del Pacifico (#13). After that last tab addition, I went home and fell into a food/hops coma on my couch (have I mentioned that I have a couch now ?!!).
Thanks to untappd, I was able to remember my weekend long happy hour around the city. Pretty impressive (that I'm still alive). And if we count balmy Friday-- I had a pint & split a pitcher at the Studio Square beer garden, then followed it up w/ sliders and 2 more pints at Sunswick. OY! Now you see why this app may have had the opposite of its intended use though. Rather than want to drink more, reflecting on this is enough to inspire me to get on the wagon for a few days...or at least until I get thirsty again.
Cheers! Nom nom nom!
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