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Expired Beer at Frank's Beverage

Glen Cove, NY-

On my trips out to visit Long Island over the past few years I found Frank's Beverage Center to have the best selection in the Glen Cove area. In fact, the sign out front advertises that this distributor has "the largest selection of beer on Long Island." Unfortunately, I recently found that a large selection may not actually be beneficial.

After the Unibroue event where I tasted Trois Pistoles and Maudite, I was on Long Island and found myself wanting to introduce my family to the brewery that had, for the time being, captivated me. After a five minute drive I found the large but curiously tucked away section of Unibroue. My first look through the section raised some red flags:

1. The bottles were covered in a thick layer of dust.
2. The caps that cover the corked bottles were gold colored and larger than the usual silver color that was sitting in our cap collection.
3. The pricing seemed completely out of the ordinary. For example, bottles of La Fin Du Monde were labelled at $18.

On closer inspection, almost all of the beers were past their "best by" date by over a year. Some dates ranged back to 2008. I returned just recently and found that yet again, the Unibroue selection was expired, most in 2009. Though it saddens me that I can no longer select beer on a whim at Frank's I am glad that I learned to check all the beer I buy closely. Previously, I assumed that my beer stores kept a close eye over the craft beer that they stock. At the same time, they are businesses with large inventories and they could either have little close oversight or just be trying to move some old beer that was sitting in the back. Either way, check the beer before you buy it.

-Giancarlo

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KBS ... the White Whale

Sea Cliff, NY

Since we sampled it at the Long Island Craft Beer Festival, Giancarlo and I have been seriously craving some Kentucky Breakfast Stout (KBS). Little did we know that we would have such a difficult time finding it.

Several times we've come so close, but haven't been able to taste it. When we were at the cask beer festival at Rattle N' Hum, KBS was on the menu. We asked the server, she went into the back, but alas! they had run out. One of Giancarlo's grad school friends bought a few bottles, didn't like it and offered to sell it, but the deal didn't pan out. When he was in the Whole Foods Beer Room one day, they only had kegs in the back. When we were in Philly, Eulogy had it, but they were sitting on it.

We began calling KBS the White Whale as an homage to Moby Dick. It was unattainable.

Then, two weeks ago, Robin called Giancarlo with exciting news: he found the White Whale! He got a half gallon growler and four bottles of KBS! The next day the three of us tackled the growler (we're aging the bottles for a year, if we can wait that long), and it was just as good as we remembered: the hot bourbon flavor, the chocolate, coffee and vanilla undertones. It was peaty and earthy. It was glorious.

- Sarah

Eulogy Belgian Tavern

Philadelphia, PA-

Across the street from Triumph Brewing Company is Eulogy Belgian Tavern. We stopped by for a quick beer after spending the majority of the night at Triumph. The beer list was simply overwhelming. Pages upon pages made making a decision difficult (I asked about the possibility of KBS and was informed that they would have it at some upcoming events). I went with the Bells Expedition Stout since we don't get Bells in New York. There was very little head retention. There was a lot of sweetness that was followed with a bit of roasted flavor. There was the bitterness of coffee along with a bit of a hot alcohol flavor in the finish.

Definitely worth stopping by if you are in Philadelphia, hopefully for more than just one beer. The selection is amazing and the staff is very helpful.

-Giancarlo

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City Tavern

Philadelphia, PA-

During our recent trip to Philly, we decided to have a relaxing end to a day filled with historical sites by going to City Tavern. The tavern and its staff are decked out in revolutionary era garb. The tavern is a reincarnation of the original City Tavern, destroyed in a fire in 1834, which was apparently a popular hang out for the founding fathers when they wanted a few brews.

In keeping with the theme, the tavern features the "Ales of the Revolution" line from Yards Brewing Company. I began with the General Washington's Tavern Porter (left) which was based on a recipe written by George Washington himself and was recently found in the archives of the New York Public Library (who knew George was making his own recipes?). The porter was actually quite good. The description focuses on a "deep garnet hue...and a a molasses base." There is definitely a noticeable sweetness to the porter but it is not over bearing. Some coffee and chocolate flavors seemed to balance out the sweetness. The mouthfeel was a little bit on the full side but not too much. We again saw molasses in the Poor Richard's Tavern Spruce Ale. The taste of spruce essence was noticeable and enjoyable but was eventually a little unpleasant as time went on and as the beer warmed slightly.

If you are making a historical visit to Philly, City Tavern is definitely worth the visit.

-Giancarlo

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Triumph Brewing Company

Philadelphia, PA

A couple of weeks ago, Giancarlo and I went to Philadelphia to visit Giancarlo's cousin (and BeerUnion contributor) Katie. After a day of touring the historical sites, we went to Triumph Brewery on Chestnut Street for dinner and brews. The atmosphere was hip and trendy; the food was excellent.

As for the beers, I had the Munich Dunkel (pictured here), which was smooth and delicious with a roasted flavor. Others we sampled were the Honey Blonde, the Double IPA, the Nuit de Folie (Night of Madness) and the Oatmeal Stout. While the dunkel was my favorite, the Honey Blonde was light and malty and "the madness" was thick and fruity. The only one I wasn't too thrilled about was the IPA.

Overall a fun way to start the evening!

-Sarah

Rattle 'N' Hum Cask Festival

Manhattan NY,

Late on Friday afternoon Sarah and I headed down to Rattle 'N' Hum on 33rd Street for its cask ale festival. The festival began on Wednesday, April 14 and will end on Sunday, April 18. It was our first time at Rattle 'N' Hum and we were impressed. First we were struck by the huge lineup of cask ales that were displayed immediately inside the door. Besides the many casks available for the festival and the varied beers on tap, there was an enormous bottle list on one wall. It took us a good fifteen to twenty minutes to get through the list.

Our first cask beer was Brooklyn Brewery Black Ops. Wow. The color was inky black with some dark redness on the edges. The aroma was mostly vanilla and oak with some bourbon. It was only a little boozy which surprised me as a beer at 11.6% ABV. In the sweetness you could taste some chocolate along with the vanilla, oak and bourbon.

Our next beer was Fuller's London Pride. London Pride was almost a default after finding out that my next pick, Blue Point Oatmeal Stout, and even my back up, Jolly Pumpkin Bam Noire, were not available. Still having never tried it I thought cask would be the perfect way to have London Pride. Still it turned out to be less flavorful than I had hoped.

-Giancarlo

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