On tap at Shepherd & Knucklehead, strong Belgian-styled golden ale emits raw-honeyed yeast spicing for sour lemon-rotted orange entry, ascending banana bubblegum tartness and ancillary cane-sugared peach tones. Fluctuant white-peppered clove and coriander seasoning pervades resinous floral-dusted hop rusticity. Chamomile tea hints waver. Not as richly flavored or alluringly aromatic as advertised, yet far from superficial.
BROOKLYN THERE WILL BE BLACK
On tap at Shepherd & Knucklehead, transient 2012 limited edition black ale (with amber highlights) drapes soft-toned mocha malting atop tart orange spicing, earthen pine resin and soft peach-pear fruiting. Black-breaded dark chocolate finish seems a bit murky.
SMUTTYNOSE HERBACEOUS
On tap at Shepherd & Knucklehead, somewhat unassuming hybridized amber ale attaches wet Citra-hopped fruiting to musky lemon murk, leafy earthen graining and dried floral nuances. Slim mango-pineapple remnant and minor herbal tinge round out 2012 limited edition medium body.
ROGUE PUMPKIN PATCH
Rambunctious pumpkin pie spicing prevails for limited edition autumnal medium body in eye-catching orange bottle. Brown-sugared cinnamon, gingerbread, nutmeg and allspice nuances partially relinquished by sweet potato pie vibe. Vegetal gourd, squash, yam and zucchini astringency rides shotgun.
PORTERHOUSE OYSTER STOUT
Enjoyable dry Irish Stout brings unanticipated dark floral peculiarity and spicy perfumed backend to soft soy-sauced dark chocolate creaming. Subtle oyster-shelled brininess affects baking chocolate powdering, blackened grain minerality and bittersweet cocoa beaning. Light cola, hazelnut and macadamia nuttiness hangs in the balance.
PERONI BIRRA
Crisply sessionable clear-yellowed light body layers salted lemon zesting atop buttered Italian breading grazing soft barley-maize-rice bed. Brisk carbolic nature from spritzy citrus spicing gains gentle herbal hop musk.
(HORNY GOAT) BERRY HORNY SUMMER BERRY ALE
Precarious tart raspberry entry fades as shrill hop coarsening and washed-out soapiness outdo ancillary cranberry, cherry, strawberry and green grape souring to blandly astringent fruit finish.
HORNY GOAT HOPPED UP ‘N HORNY INDIA PALE ALE
Starting as a strong pale ale in its original formulation, newly tweaked 2012 IPA version gets a dry-hopped uplift and bitterer citric presence. Crisply floral herbaceous fruiting given less inviting cardboard-like biscuit malting. Bitter Cascade-hopped grapefruit peel and orange rind astringency contrasts tangy tangerine, peach, pear and pineapple supplement. Slight iodine-like alcohol burn and pungent metallic char singe the bright citric finish.
HORNY GOAT BROWNIE PORTER
Surprisingly amber-toned for mocha porter. Like Saranac, most Horny Goat beers seem slick and blue collar in approach. However, the efficient chocolate brownie-like entrance, brown-sugared cinnamon sweetness and cocoa-puffed toffee dollop of this dusky moderate body make a convincing pair. Nevertheless, disturbing diacetyl buttering gets in the way of less effective cacao-nibbed vanilla, gingerbread and honey nut dalliances.
HORNY GOAT STACKED MILK STOUT
Laidback soy-milked brown chocolate chalking given wavered oats-charred bittering and slick dark toffee sweetening. Stove-burnt coffee souring outlasts maple molasses meander as oily hop residue becomes way too astringent for slack moderate-medium body.
HORNY GOAT CHOCOLATE CHERRY STOUT
Ambiguous fruited stout lacks creamy dark chocolate malting and advertised (black or red) cherry tartness. Instead, minor astringency affects barren oats-charred mocha roast as well as coffee-stained cacao nibs niche.
THE PONY BAR
MANHATTAN, NEW YORK
Packed to the gills on a Friday evening in late November 2012, Upper East Side Manhattan watering hole, THE PONY BAR, is a diminutive one-room saloon on the corner of 75th and 1st (with a second site in Hell’s Kitchen). Three rounded orange-colored Pony Bar insignias welcome the large contingent of post-collegiate minions to the front entrance as the Pac-10 football championship between Stanford and UCLA plays on the two TV’s sidling the left bar this cold winter’s eve.
Hanging growler lamps dimly light the 20-stool bar area where dozens of local denizens find space to get one of the limited edition or hard-to-find American indie brews served from 20 rotating draught lines. Two illuminating boards above the bar list tonight’s featured beers. Though failing to get the collaborative Bruery/ Elysian/ Stone Citrueilli Amber Ale one-shot, two tartly fruited libations were imbibed for the first time during my one-hour stopover.
A Latino waiter with a ‘Fuck Imports” t-shirt (celebrating this establishments’ commitment to American ales) clears the community table at the front window where I’ll be sipping some suds. Some pro-pot enthusiasts must run the operation since Happy Hour begins at the inauspicious time of 4:20 PM. Burgers, chicken, pulled pork, ribs and deep-fried pickles are available for the dinner crowd but at this witching hour all customers onhand are strictly drinking.
Though the tentative Lakefront Rendezvous Biere De Garde seemed a bit underwhelming with its murky fruit esters and tart IPA-like citric-peeled bittering, serviceable Bear Republic Wine Country Wheat co-mingled hefeweizen (tart banana), Berliner Weiss (salty coriander) and American wheat ale (lemon-rotted apricot and orange) stylings quite effectively. (Full reviews are in Beer Index)
Within walking distance of the larger David Copperfield’s House Of Beer, The Pony Bar’s one of the coziest pubs in New York City. Connoisseurs will appreciate the swiftly revolving draught choices and enjoy the friendly young-at-heart atmosphere.
During two-hour stopover with wife, Karen, March 2013, had soft pretzels with spicy farmhouse mustard alongside Goose Island’s Naughty Goose English Brown Ale and Bourbon County Coffee Stout as well as Chelsea Bourbon Barrel Blackhole Stout and Green Flash East Village Pils. Hung out with Stuart, host of
On a rainy April ’14 springtime jaunt, shared mouthwatering Tartine (honeyed pizza bianca with black-peppered ricotta and dried fig) with wife while quaffing three ‘big’ Uinta brews and 21st Amendment/ Elysian He Said Pumpkin Porter (a rich hybridized Baltic porter placing dried-fruited mocha malts above pumpkin pie-spiced anise, stewed prune, fig, caraway and cinnamon).
As for the Uinta triage, Detour Double IPA boasted orange-peeled grapefruit and pineapple bittering as well as sticky pine resinous pungency to contrast sweet pear-peach-apple tang. Similarly styled Anniversary Barleywine tossed tangy dry-hopped IPA fruiting at syrupy piney spruce sapping. And approachable beechwood-smoked Tinder Rauchbier brought Band-Aid astringency and black-peppered peat malt to apple-candied glazed ham sweetness. (All fully reviewed in Beer Index)
ues.theponybar.com