Hey folks. My wife and I are headed to NYC for a long weekend to celebrate my 40th bday. No real game plan, just want to walk around Manhattan eating and drinking. High on my list of priorities is finding some solid cask beer. Cask ale is painfully ignored in my neck of the woods (Rhode Island). I'm hoping to scratch my itch (multiple times if possible) while on our visit to NYC. Who in the city does right by cask beer? Thanks in advance.
The Grand Delancey often if not usually has something on cask, and in general it's one of the best beer bars in the city.
Just checked out the site. Reading this, "OEC HIDALGO Best Bier / Connecticut / 4.5% / 48° / Nonic Pint 20 oz." brought a tear to my eye. Thank you for the recommendation!
If looking to stay close to the Grand Delancey then Drop Off Service might tie in nicely. However, Jones Wood Foundry is a shoo-in for doing "right by cask beer" …would monitor their accounts, or even call to see what’s being run through the engine (i.e. constantly rotating)
Drop off Service looks perfect. And damn, looking at Jones Wood Foundry has given me a craving for fish and chips. Thanks for the recommendations.
I'm going to echo some responses of others. Ginger Man was my go-to, but they closed. A bunch of other NYC spots that had beer engines are closed too. Now I only have cask ale at The Grand Delancey. They have two beer engines. I think they might use sparklers if that matters (I can't be too picky one way or the other). The Grand Delancey always has a fantastic beer list. Check their Untappd page to see what they have on the beer engines before you make the trek there. This place is your best bet for a nice imported cask beer (as opposed to a local brewer's beer or a not-so-good import). They don't go through their cask beer quickly though. If you still liked Belgian beer, you'd be in heaven there. Their full-sized cask pours are usually big. It's also a great place to eat. They bring you food from other vendors in the marketplace where they are located - so there is nice variety. Jones Wood Foundry has been on my mind lately. I can't recall if I've ever been. As a restaurant, it'll be a good dinner option. Call ahead to see what the cask beer is because it could be a crapshoot. They might not even have one the night you are there. The owners also have a less upscale (I imagine) place called The Shakespeare. Call ahead as well - the same thinking applies. Avoid Beer Authority. Blind Tiger is a famous old-school craft beer bar. They used to have cask beer, but I couldn't tell you if they still do regularly. Ditto for Spuyten Duyvil in Brooklyn. I couldn't tell you what they are doing these days... I think they might have transformed a bit. If you want to travel to another borough (which isn't hard if you haven't been to NYC before) and go to a brewery, Fifth Hammer has a beer engine. Their website claims they currently have a "cask conditioned oak aged Kellerbier." I've never been there.
This is great, thanks so much Zid. I don't know if you have a killer memory or just lucked out with the wording of the sentence, but indeed, I no longer have a taste for Belgian beers. Fifth Hammer is intriguing. Thanks so much.
Fifth Hammer's beer is mostly pretty solid, and the taproom is spacey but is jam packed basically every conceivably peak time. But it's also pretty easy to get to from Manhattan, being less than 10 minute walk from 1 stop away from Grand Central, and you can also easily get to Greenpoint via the G or walking the Pulaski bridge, so for somebody determined to try different cask beers it's got some possibilities.
Conversations about music from 20 years ago... my mind will never forget them. Remembering my neighbor's names... I'm hopeless. Stuff people post on BA is more like the former... as long as they don't change their avatar image.
At Jones Wood Foundry (staying at my in laws round the corner). Haven’t been in ages. I either didn’t know, or forgot, that they have the cask marque designation. They have a threes ESB on cask. Definitely one of the better cask beers I’ve had stateside.
I’m late to this post but their ESB is pretty fantastic to begin with, one of my favorite beers of theirs, but on cask?? Would love to try that.
