Month: April 2012

Believe it or not, there are places in the USA where you cannot get a drop to drink. These spots are known as “dry” counties. So, what would an industrious individual do if he awoke one morning to find out that the world had gone dry? Filmmakers Jeff Cioletti and Lou Tambone have taken this question to the fictional town of “Brewster,” and come up with a highly irreverent answer: The clever owners of the Abbey Normal Beer Bar exploit a loophole in the law that allows alcohol during religious services… and they turn the local church into a beer hall. What’s funnier than dancing nuns? Drinking nuns, of course!

On Wednesday, April 25th, Jeff and Lou will be premiering their film Beerituality in the back room at Jimmy’s No. 43 (check out a scene, below). If you love beer and love to laugh, this is a great chance to put your two loves together. So grab a beer at join us at 7 p.m. on Wednesday for services at “The Church of Beer.”

This week’s Thursday Tap™ is De La Senne’s Stouterik. Also known as “The Brussels Stout, ” this brew is a 4.5% ABV Belgian stout with Irish inspiration. It is light, dry, and refreshingly bitter. Roasted malts and unmalted roasted barley give layers of dark bitter, chocolatey flavors, and, like all De La Senne beers, this one has a big, hoppy nose.

You know the drill by now. Jimmy taps at 5 p.m. and supplies of this rare keg are while they last. Be sure to get yours!

Chances are if you don’t know the name, you do know the face: Mike Lovullo is the Union Beer rep who brings lots of great craft beer to lots of bars in the city, and he is the “man behind the curtain” during Jimmy No. 43’s weekly $10 Tuesday Tasting (often mimicked, but we’re the original thanks to Mike’s efforts). Today, he’s celebrating his birthday with us (are ya one, are ya two…) with some of his very favorite beers. We sat down with Mike to ask him about beer, Jimmy’s No. 43, the $10 Tuesday Tastings, and growing older.

How did you become involved with Jimmy’s No. 43 and where did the idea for the $10 Tuesday Tastings come from?

Even before I started at Union Beer back in August of 2007, I was a regular at Jimmy’s No. 43.  During this time I was a part-time photographer at Ale Street News. After I assumed the territory for Union Beer that included Jimmy’s No. 43, Jimmy actually approached me about doing small tastings for a cheap price. I forget how we settled on $10, but I have to give Jimmy credit for the idea.

What do you plan on having for your birthday beverages at the $10 Tuesday Tasting?

Jimmy has generously allowed me to raid his beer cellar for some rare gems (discounting the fresh-as-ever Oskar Blues Gubna). Here’s the list:

• Professor Fritz Briem Grodziskie (4% Sour Smoked Wheat Ale) bottles
• Vicaris Triple (8.5% Belgian Triple) bottles
• Fantome Noel (You got words for this one? Cause I don’t! 10% Belgian Strong Dark Ale reportedly spiced with honey, caramel, coriander, black pepper, and other secret ingredients) bottles [Editor’s Note: Our words are, “Sounds like a great beer to toast a great guy on his birthday!”]
• Olvisholt Lava (9.4% Smoked Imperial Stout from Iceland! Just in time for the new Sigur Ros album! Word!) bottles
• Firestone Walker Sucaba (13% Barley Wine, was called Abacus in years past) bottles
• Oskar Blues Gubna (10% Imperial IPA) draft

 What’s your desert island beer (i.e. if you could drink only one beer for the rest of your life, what would it be)?

That is a really really tough one. Most people know I don’t have a favorite beer (only brewery…starts with an A & ends with a GASH!), but it would probably be one of the following: Allagash Interlude with 2-3 years on it, The Alchemist Heady-Topper, CAntillon Fou Fonne or—very possibly—Orval.

What do you hope the $10 Tuesday Tasting participants gain from the experience (e.g. better beer knowledge, new beer friends, a chance to try beers they might otherwise eschew, etc.)?

For this particular tasting, I want them to be absolutely blown away by beers we haven’t featured yet.  As always, I hope the participants come away with more knowledge of styles and the breweries featured and have a great time.

I’ve been doing these tasting for the past 3 years & just love the community around Jimmy’s and am grateful that I can “hold court” in one of my favorite watering holes in this great city.

The summer-like weather has us dreaming of the biergarten (or, in the case of Jimmy’s No. 43, the rathskeller), a cool spot to grab a pint and some wurst. Thus, Jimmy’s No. 43 presents the Dish of the Week: Knockwurst, a venerable sausage veal and pork blend originating in Holstein, Germany, but sourced around the corner at the East Village Meat Market.

For 42 years, owner Julian Baczynsky has been serving up some of the best veal, pork, lamb, beef and other meats that only a true butcher can provide. Jimmy’s No. 43 sources traditional sausages like knockwurst and kielbasa from Julian, a noted maker of hams and traditional smoked sausages, including the sausages that go into our Veal Knockwurst, Pickled Cabbage, and Grainy Mustard (a small plate that feels anything but small). So stop by this week for the Dish of the Week and taste what the neighborhood meat market has to offer.

As with any fledgling business, the owners tend to take a hand’s on approach. When it comes to NYC’s newest brewery, Bronx, President and Head Brewer Damian Brown literally carries his Bronx Pale Ale into Jimmy’s No. 43 every week. While the brewery officially opened in August of last year, their flagship brew took over a year of recipe tweaking to arrive at the perfect American Pale Ale it is today. This traditionally-crafted ale uses only premium and minimally processed ingredients to create a fresh, bold taste from a borough known for its own bold individual character. Character that includes—when necessary—a bit of heavy lifting.