NERAX (2019)

Seriously. Drinking that now. Delicious.

 

I'll keep my eyes open for Polonia,.
My problem is that I really want something to eat afterwards before I drive home. That's a big reason I miss the old Dilboy (possibly the only reason...) is going to Anna's afterwards for a big ol' messy burrito.
Looking for something quick, within walking distance of the Lith. Club.

 

Depending on which session you go to, Worden Hall should be quick if you just head up to the bar. For example tomorrow's day session ends at 4 pm, it's usually empty at that time.

I really like the food there, and the tap list is excellent.

 

I hear you. Now we've got four burrito shops within two blocks of each other in Davis Sq! I wish one of them would move to Southie!

I've stopped in at Potato Freaks right next door to the Lithuanian Club for a preNERAX bite before. The service wasn't great, but the stuffed potato Rosties are belly-filling and delicious. And you can't beat the name of the place!

 

Off topic, but do you have a favorite?

I haven't tried Los Amigos yet, and I've only had the torta at Tenoch (phenomenal).

Amsterdam Falafel closed last weekend, now we have room for a fifth!

We also have a billion pizza places too now.

 

That’s the thing; i’ll Be there tonight, and most of the places around seem to be closed early. I don’t want to go to Burger King or Subway, and I don’t want a full sit-down restaurant meal.

 

Well, Southie, especially over there is rapidly gentrifying/changing - there's a lot better food to eat over there now. If there isn't a Sweetgreens or other fast-casual bowl place there now, I would wager a fair bit that there will be one by NERAX 2020.

 

Tenoch is my favorite. I love those tortas and also the carnitas burrito. I've only been to Los Amigos once. It was good enough to give them another try. I noticed they have a few different options for fish tacos.

 

Really digging the UK-brewed APAs today for some reason. Hitting the spot.

 

I've got two tickets to the Saturday evening session at NERAX that I'm not able to use. If anyone can use them, let me know. I'm happy to email them to you free of charge.

 

12-4 Saturday session was very well attended. Seemed busier than past years’ Saturday sessions. Really enjoyed Baxter Stowaway (DH with Galaxy)... much more than I thought i would. Lady friend started with Connecticut Valley Strawberry Lemonade Sour that was surprisingly good. Schilling Modernism was a great Czech style dark lager, and the ciders were all fun for sure, especially the Woodford Reserve barrel one from North Country. Kudos to Stoneface for the peanut butter chocolate stout that had a great dark chocolate component... very good stuff!

 

I was there yesterday, Friday.
Seemed pretty similar turnout as usual - there was about a 15 minute wait to get in around halfway through.
I was surprised how few British beers were on, probably 2 to 1 American, with a few ciders on as well.
Standouts to me were the Medusa Moffett 80/ - I love that beer on standard carbonation, cask brings out even more. The Black Dragon cider was as good as always, as was the Bantam Cider, aged on Woodford barrels.The Tilton Brothers Best Bitter was very good, as was the Democracy ESB - also on Bourbon barrel.
A major surprise was the Hill Farmstead going on at about 9:15. Wasn't expecting that - I don't think I've seen anything going on mid-session before, with the exception of a listed tapping. (Dogfish Head Johnny Cask, about 6 years ago, listed tapping at something like 8PM. )

 

I unfortunately missed "Dave" but Great Heck had a dark mild on Saturday night that I really enjoyed. The other standouts for me were Yub Nub by Remnant which was a porter that drank a bit like a dark mild, and a dark Czech lager by Schilling that was just fantastic.

I'm normally not as big of a fan of lighter (colored) beers on cask, but I think I enjoyed Jack's Abby's "Maibock Hurts like Helles" more on cask than I did in the can. At 7% though it wasn't a very typical light cask beer so that might have factored into things for me.

On the food front I really liked the addition of the perogie stand. Redbones is great obviously but it's a bit heavy and hard to eat if you don't snag a table. Oh, and for those speculating about business, I stuck around at the end for the staff party and one of the organizers said that they were up around 25% over last year so they seemed very pleased. They also said that they have both a location and a backup location all setup for Nerax North so things are looking good for the fall.

 

Yup, they did the same thing for the Saturday day session. HF Amarillo Pale Ale went on at the end.

I was going to grab another quarter pint of one of the dark milds, but I had this. It was good, but I might have preferred another pour of the dark mild instead. I let the "hype" get the best of me.

Any idea where?

 

No, sorry. I didn't get a chance to dig into details. He just said that they have a decent sized space lined up and a smaller, but still workable, backup. I took it as a given that they were still in Salem because he didn't mention otherwise, but I can't even say that for sure.

 

I love it in Salem because I can go to Notch too.

 

Question for the cask afficianados here.

Last night we had to move a bunch of the firkins around and as I was handling those little steel barrels I wondered whether anyone still uses the wooden ones and, if so, whether there's an argument that those are better in some way.

Given the oxidization concerns it occurred to me that this might be a situation where the new technology is unequivocally better than the old. But maybe the wood brings its own benefits to the equation even though the beer isn't in contact with it all that long?

Anyone know?

 

I'm sure lots of people just got this email, but for those who might not be on the email list, sad news about Nerax North 2019. At least Spring 2020 sounds already locked in!

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NERAX North, we miss you!
We regret to say that NERAX North will not be taking place this year due to our inability to find a suitable venue. We will work extra hard to bring you a NERAX North 2020, though!
Our main fest will be here again before you know it! NERAX 2020 will be at the South Boston Lithuanian Club on April 1-4, 2020. Save the dates now!

April 1 to 4, 2020

South Boston Lithuanian Club

368 W. Broadway

South Boston.