Month: March 2014

We hope you have been following us for Liquid Lent! For 40 days, Jimmy Carbone has been documenting his efforts to “drink like a monk” with simple foods and great beers. So which are some of his favorite beers thus far?

Other Half’s Lembeek 86 blonde: This beer will be featured as part of our April Sours theme, which we have every year at Jimmy’s No. 43. We think spring is a great time to celebrate the sours (and we’ll culminate this month in our annual April Sours beer dinner). Lembeck is the town in Belgium that “lambic” comes from. Classic sours. Other Half, Brooklyn’s newest brewery, created a classic sour with some hoppiness to it but all brettanomyces in the forward notes.

KelSo’s Rhubarb Gose: Another classic sour style, gose originated in Germany. Rhubarb is a beautiful sour spring vegetable, so this pairs well with our spring menu that features duck and early greens.

Finback Brewerys Double Sess: This is a spin on a traditional wit bier, with ginger, camomile, and Szechuan peppercorns. The name is a play on sessions beers, and it fits the bill, weighing in at 4.7% ABV.

Speaking of session beers, we love Evil Twin’s Bikini: a 2.7% ABV (!! – that’s lower than traditional kombucha) and a hop profile reminiscent of Carton’s Boat Beer.

Finally, we have spring’s favorite style, the saison. We’ll be featuring several saisons this month, including Ommegang’s Glimmerglass, which we’ll be featuring on Saturday April 12th, during our “Walk the Monk’s Trail” tasting event. This will be a two-hour walk-around tasting with beer reps and owners pouring their favorites. If you’ve attended our Battle of the Belgians in December, you will want to get your ticket for one of the two tastings we’ll have featuring Belgians and Belgian-style beers paired with brunch food items.

As we continue on our Liquid Lent journey, tonight we’ll be having a “Meatless Monday” dinner, pairing Belgian-style beers to the following menu:

• Assorted cheese toasts with cheese from Saxelby Cheesemongers
• Carrots cooked in milk, over NY grits
• “Mad for Turnips” – turnips three ways: pickled, roasted, au gratin
• Wild mushroom ragout over polenta
• And for dessert: Elvis tea sandwich bread pudding with peanut butter and honey

Exact beer match-ups tonight from these beers:

• Crooked Stave, Vieille Artisanal Saison
• Ommegang, Glimmerglass seasonal Saison
• The Commons Brewery (from Portland, OR, and new to NYC), Urban Farmhouse Ale
• Westmalle, Triple
• Het Nest, Quadruppel

It’s not too late to join us: Tickets are still on sale online (here) or may be available at the door.

And if you’d like your Belgians with a more educational tone, tomorrow night’s $20 Tuesday Tasting will feature B. United leading a Belgian Beer 101 tasting. Beers to sample with complimentary cheese plates will include:

• Ichetegem’s Grand Cru
• Hansens Gueze
• Glazen Toren Saison d’Erpe Mer
• Baladin Noel
• Cuvee Freddy
• Barley Friska

We hope you’ve been following Jimmy Carbone on Twitter as he celebrates Liquid Lent, and we’re looking forward to several events we have planned in the next week featuring Monk’s brews!

• Assorted cheese toasts with cheese from Saxelby Cheesemongers
• Carrots cooked in milk, over NY grits
• “Mad for Turnips” – turnips three ways: pickled, roasted, au gratin
• Wild mushroom “farro” risotto
• And for dessert: Elvis tea sandwich bread pudding with peanut butter and honey

Inspired by a blogger who decided to live on beer for Lent, Jimmy’s No. 43 owner Jimmy Carbone is celebrating #liquidlent (yep, we have a hashtag!) with simple meals paired alongside Trappist, Belgian-style American, and Monk’s brews. Here’s what he has to say about his practice: “Growing up, Mardi Gras never had any meaning to me. Lent itself is an entire season of special foods and—as the monks show us—great beer. I’m going back to my roots!”

For the first week, Jimmy’s Liquid Lent has included:

Day 1 (3/5) – Jimmy made fried stale bread w/ scallions paired with Newburgh Hop Drop DIPA, which he found “almost Belgian like” due to it’s low (for a DIPA) ABV of 9% and its balanced hop profile.

Day 2 (3/6) – Jimmy took lunch at the vegan kosher diner around the corner (B&H), having vegetarian broth with carrots and noodles. Later in the day he drank Bridge and Tunnel’s Hazel Eyes: “What is more monk like? A nutritious brown ale with actual hazelnuts in it! Talk about a liquid meal!”

Day 3 (3/7) – Fried challah bread paired with Other Half Hop Showers, a super-fresh, unfiltered IPA. Plus Siggi’s plain yogurt with a dash of Vermont maple syrup. And Mushroom Soup for dinner.

Day 4 (3/8) – Cold kale and cabbage with rye crackers, paired with Bridge and Tunnel’s Black Rye Ale.

Day 5 (3/9) – Grandma-style pizza: Day-old peasant bread toasted with Marinara and sprinkled with cheese scraps; paired with Pretty Things 1955-Style-Whitbread Double Brown (the perfect Monk’s brown ale).

Day 6 (3/10) – Jimmy paired Ommegang’s 3 Philosophers with a simple salad.

Jimmy is documenting his Lenten journey (follow him on Twitter: @jimmypotsandpan), and you can join in by tagging your Liquid Lent with #liquidlent and #drinklikeamonk. Celebrate Lent in true Trappist tradition!

Inspired by a blogger who decided to live on beer for Lent, Jimmy’s No. 43 has teamed with Beer Sessions Radio™ and six other East Village craft beer establishments to celebrate Lent with a series of tasting events and dinners that focus on Trappist and Monk’s brews. From Ash Wednesday (March 5^th) through mid-April, we’ll offer the following events and tastings:

• Vegetarian Prix Fixe Beer Dinner featuring Belgians on Monday, March 24^th at 7 p.m. Five courses and five beers at this ticketed sit-down dinner (get tickets here);
• Belgian Beer 101 $20 Tuesday Tasting with B. United on Tuesday, March 25^th at 7 p.m. 
• Belgian Beer 101 $20 Tuesday Tasting with Shelton Brothers on Tuesday, April 8^th at 7 p.m.
• The final weekend (April 11-13) will be a culmination event and pub crawl celebrating the “Monk’s Trail.”

Plus we’ll be featuring sour beers, large bottles and Belgian/Belgian-style beers all the way up to Easter. Come drink with us, like a Monk would!