If I were a considerate creature, I would recommend that, following this season of holiday excess, you take a break from imbibing. Enroll in hot yoga! Take up knitting! Glug an antioxidant-rich açaí smoothie! Resolve to make a new you in the new year!!!
Pshaw. Your only necessary resolution is to stop swilling $1 Coors and lukewarm Bud longnecks. Spend this year—a leap year, creating an extra day for drinking—getting pie-eyed on top-tier beer. As luck and alcoholism would have it, I spent 2007 calcifying my liver so I could suggest the following American-crafted suds to dump down your throat.
Southern Tier Gemini
Quite quietly, Lakewood, New York’s Southern Tier Brewing has become a brewing force to be reckoned with, crafted drool-worthy extreme beers like the unfiltered, easy-sipping Hoppe pale ale and the Un*Earthly imperial IPA’s floral hop wallop. These two great tastes taste great together in Gemini, which combines 50-50 ratios of the tipples, resulting in a smooth, disturbingly drinkable masterpiece of intoxication. One caveat: Don’t drink the unfiltered dregs at the bottom of the bottle.
Find it: $7, New Beer Distributors, 167 Chrystie St., 212-473-8754
Captain Lawrence: Liquid Gold
You’d assume I have a man-crush on Scott Vaccaro, the youthful brewer behind Pleasantville, New York’s Captain Lawrence, given the ink I’ve spilled about his suds. That’s because they’re some of the finest quaffs this side of the Mississippi. Oh, I could suggest the coffee-tinged Smoked Porter, but my favorite addiction is the Liquid Gold. This Belgian-influenced ale reins back candy sweetness in return for a balanced, orange-scented beauty that you’ll guzzle until your legs go wobbly.
Check availability at: Bar Great Harry (280 Smith St., Brooklyn, 718-222-1103) or Blind Tiger Ale House (281 Bleecker St., 212-462-4682)
Jolly Pumpkin: La Roja
Ron Jeffries, the brainpower behind teensy Dexter, Michigan’s Jolly Pumpkin, is an alcohol artisan. His unpasteurized, unfiltered handiwork is aged in wine barrels, resulting in libations more nuanced than most rot-gut vino. For a scrumptious intro to Jolly Pumpkin, nab the La Roja amber ale, blended from barreled beer that’s been aged from two to 10 months. The tart, ruby-red bubble extravaganza is suffused with caramel and sour notes, creating a mouth-puckering, everyday indulgence.
Find it: $11.99, American Beer Distributors, 256 Court St., Brooklyn, 718-875-0226
Great Divide Oak-Aged Yeti Imperial Stout
The Yeti’s as black as a coal-miner’s lungs, but infinitely tastier. The geniuses at Denver’s Great Divide have taken their heady, hoppy imperial stout—its alcohol content is a stratospheric 9.5 percent—and aged it with French and toasted oak chips. This imparts a subtle vanilla nuance that meshes marvelously with the Yeti burly coffee and chocolate flavors. Bring a couple buddies when you break open this 22-ounce bomber, because drinking it solo is a prescription for instant intoxication.
Find it: $7.99, Whole Foods Market Bowery Beer Room, 95 E. Houston St., 212-420-1320
Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye
Watch out, partner, as this gargantuanly flavored brew crushes meek palates like Godzilla stomping a Yugo. California’s Bear Republic incorporates rye into their barley-malt mix, resulting in hearty, thick hooch that’s as brown as your retired grandma’s Florida tan. Opening the bottle releases a hoppy whiff, which soon relents to pure flavor overload. Caramel and toffee tackle your tongue, while candy-like undercurrents smooth the bitterness out.
Find it: $5.95, Bierkraft, 191Fifth Ave, Park Slope, Brooklyn, 718-230-7600
North Coast Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout
Not one ray of sunlight could slip through a mug of Fort Bragg, California’s Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout. This intense black-hole brew—inspired by creations devised by 19th-century brewers trying to curry favor with the Russian Czar—features low carbonation, high alcohol (9 percent) and espresso notes. Rasputin’s so thick, rich and creamy, it makes Guinness seem like tap water.
Find it: $10.99, Key Food, 369 Flatbush Ave., Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
718-789-3007
Pshaw. Your only necessary resolution is to stop swilling $1 Coors and lukewarm Bud longnecks. Spend this year—a leap year, creating an extra day for drinking—getting pie-eyed on top-tier beer. As luck and alcoholism would have it, I spent 2007 calcifying my liver so I could suggest the following American-crafted suds to dump down your throat.
Southern Tier Gemini
Quite quietly, Lakewood, New York’s Southern Tier Brewing has become a brewing force to be reckoned with, crafted drool-worthy extreme beers like the unfiltered, easy-sipping Hoppe pale ale and the Un*Earthly imperial IPA’s floral hop wallop. These two great tastes taste great together in Gemini, which combines 50-50 ratios of the tipples, resulting in a smooth, disturbingly drinkable masterpiece of intoxication. One caveat: Don’t drink the unfiltered dregs at the bottom of the bottle.
Find it: $7, New Beer Distributors, 167 Chrystie St., 212-473-8754
Captain Lawrence: Liquid Gold
You’d assume I have a man-crush on Scott Vaccaro, the youthful brewer behind Pleasantville, New York’s Captain Lawrence, given the ink I’ve spilled about his suds. That’s because they’re some of the finest quaffs this side of the Mississippi. Oh, I could suggest the coffee-tinged Smoked Porter, but my favorite addiction is the Liquid Gold. This Belgian-influenced ale reins back candy sweetness in return for a balanced, orange-scented beauty that you’ll guzzle until your legs go wobbly.
Check availability at: Bar Great Harry (280 Smith St., Brooklyn, 718-222-1103) or Blind Tiger Ale House (281 Bleecker St., 212-462-4682)
Jolly Pumpkin: La Roja
Ron Jeffries, the brainpower behind teensy Dexter, Michigan’s Jolly Pumpkin, is an alcohol artisan. His unpasteurized, unfiltered handiwork is aged in wine barrels, resulting in libations more nuanced than most rot-gut vino. For a scrumptious intro to Jolly Pumpkin, nab the La Roja amber ale, blended from barreled beer that’s been aged from two to 10 months. The tart, ruby-red bubble extravaganza is suffused with caramel and sour notes, creating a mouth-puckering, everyday indulgence.
Find it: $11.99, American Beer Distributors, 256 Court St., Brooklyn, 718-875-0226
Great Divide Oak-Aged Yeti Imperial Stout
The Yeti’s as black as a coal-miner’s lungs, but infinitely tastier. The geniuses at Denver’s Great Divide have taken their heady, hoppy imperial stout—its alcohol content is a stratospheric 9.5 percent—and aged it with French and toasted oak chips. This imparts a subtle vanilla nuance that meshes marvelously with the Yeti burly coffee and chocolate flavors. Bring a couple buddies when you break open this 22-ounce bomber, because drinking it solo is a prescription for instant intoxication.
Find it: $7.99, Whole Foods Market Bowery Beer Room, 95 E. Houston St., 212-420-1320
Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye
Watch out, partner, as this gargantuanly flavored brew crushes meek palates like Godzilla stomping a Yugo. California’s Bear Republic incorporates rye into their barley-malt mix, resulting in hearty, thick hooch that’s as brown as your retired grandma’s Florida tan. Opening the bottle releases a hoppy whiff, which soon relents to pure flavor overload. Caramel and toffee tackle your tongue, while candy-like undercurrents smooth the bitterness out.
Find it: $5.95, Bierkraft, 191Fifth Ave, Park Slope, Brooklyn, 718-230-7600
North Coast Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout
Not one ray of sunlight could slip through a mug of Fort Bragg, California’s Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout. This intense black-hole brew—inspired by creations devised by 19th-century brewers trying to curry favor with the Russian Czar—features low carbonation, high alcohol (9 percent) and espresso notes. Rasputin’s so thick, rich and creamy, it makes Guinness seem like tap water.
Find it: $10.99, Key Food, 369 Flatbush Ave., Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
718-789-3007
