Thursday, January 25, 2007

ROLLING THE DICE & COMING UP MIDDLIN’

As mentioned previously, I ventured to New York City last week and was able to get a couple beers down the pipes. My favorite beer bar out there – favorite in the sense that I only have been to 2 or 3 in town – is the GINGER MAN, out in Midtown Manhattan somewhere. This was my 3rd or 4th time there, and every time it’s a crazy-quilt grab bag of wild-ass east coast beers, Belgians, Germans, and some of my faves from back home on the west coast. This time I decided to go local, and since I was feeling in a lower-alcohol frame of mind (tough night the night before, an evening that included ingestion of 3 different high-alcohol, “dark strong ales”. More on those later), I chose the SOUTHAMPTON DOUBLE WHITE beer. This one’s from Long Island, out in the fabled Hamptons, and I know these guys are heavy hitters on the east coast beer scene. This particular one was serviceable – a light-bodied, herbal hop, not very crisp, and generally just interesting enough to be interesting. I do enjoy the Belgian white style quite a bit, yet this one was a little more sour than I guess I’d counted on. At the end of the day it was inconclusive. The score I usually reserve for those is 6/10, so that’s what it is!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You choose a 7% ABV beer when you want something lower-alcohol? Wow, I'd like to see what you order when you're really cutting loose.

Frank said...

Yes, we love the Ginger Man here in Austin too. The owner of the NY one, Bob Precious, built his first in Houston, tehn Austin & Dallas. He has sold the Texas ones, but they are still run the same way. Best beer selections around! Say hi to Tammy at the NY location-she used to work here in Austin.
Cheers!

Anonymous said...

Did it look like the one in your picture? If so they haven't produced that since 2005 in the 750ml format. FYI.

It's now made by contract, Phil brews it though, at Sly Fox (PA) and it comes in the 22oz format. Be sure and try it again if you can.

Cheers!