Another Trip to NY

(because that is the only time we're exciting)

So once again we have ventured to that magical land of New York, for another weekend of beer-fueled debauchery. This particular weekend, though, we had a special event in mind: a delicious lunch of fantastic dishes paired with excellent beers.

The lunch was hosted at Sapsuckers in Huntington, and featured beers from the Great South Bay Brewery. The courses were as follows:

• Spicy Shrimp Gumbo & Blond Ambition Ale

 The Blond Ambition, a wonderful traditional ale, had a very light body. The flavor was a very slight sourness which was balanced by the light hop aroma. There was a rather fruity note to it (apricot, as we were told by the brewery's founder/owner), and the beer left very little aftertaste.

• Berkshire Pulled Pork & Massive IPA

This IPA was made with 4 different hops and 8 different hop additives (again, told to us by the founder). It was very very hoppy, but the bitter flavor was fairly isolated, by which I mean it didn't persist through the course of one swig. It was very nicely balanced for an IPA, very drinkable, and I am generally less fond of IPAs, but this was quite tasty.

• French Toast w/ Nutella, bananas & Snaggletooth Stout

This stout had a deliciously dark flavor, but a wonderfully light body. Its smoky, roasted flavor was mellowed by a somewhat sweet (molasses?) flavor, and a little coffee-like bitterness. I must admit that this was my favorite, but I am very partial to darker stouts or porters, and think that beers like this, with a light drinkable body but dark smoky flavor really put together the best of both worlds.

All of these beers paired excellently with their courses, which were in their own turns delicious. Definitely something a person could get used to. And it was wonderful to have a number of guys from the Great South Bay Brewery there to talk to us about the beers and their operation. They're a local Long Island brewer and have only been brewing for about six months, which was somewhat surprising as the beers we tasted were very well crafted. But that's what happens when you have dedicated people at the wort tank.

So while this lunch was the impetus for our trip, it was not our only beer-themed event. We also went to Patchogue (also on the south side of the island) to visit the Blue Point Brewery, another fairly small local brewery. We were able to get a "very informal" tour from the brewery's founder. It was very interesting to see a mid-level operation, the 8 huge fermentation vats, and to hear about how the company got to where it is. Inspiring stuff. We went to visit their adjacent tasting room, but unfortunately, since they were essentially providing free beer, the place was very crowded and noisy, so we did not stick around.

We visited a nearby restaurant as well, the Brickhouse Brewery and Restaurant, and had some of their beers. I had their Nitro Boom Stout, which was delicious, and rather similar to the Snaggletooth Stout, in that it has the great mix of light body and smoky flavor. Finally, we again visited the fantastic Shoreline Beverage, and Eric and I split a grrrrrrrowler of Blind Bat's Hellsmoke Porter, which was nicely dark and smoky, with a bit of a heavier body to it.

So those was the beer-related activities of this weekend. Other activities are not appropriate for polite company.