Jimmys No. 43

It’s almost here: NYC Beer Week returns Friday, February 19th, through Sunday, February 28th, and Jimmy’s No. 43 is once again the unofficial “clubhouse” for the week. We’ll have tastings, featured SMASH (State Malt and State Hops) beers made especially for NYC Beer Week, and ticketed events throughout the 10-day event celebrating the local beer scene.

Among our Beer Week programming is a special rare beer tasting led by writer Brad Japhe, who has chosen 10 of his favorite brews that we will sample and pair with both vegetarian and whole Lechon hog plates from Tito King’s Kitchen at Jimmy’s No. 43. This ticketed event (limited seating), will include the following beers (subject to last minute substitution):

• Deschutes — Abyss, Rye Barrel 2015
• Deschutes — Abyss, Cognac Barrel 2015
• Goose Island — Bourbon County Stout, Vanilla Rye 2014
• The Alchemist — Focal Banger
• Cigar City — Oak Aged Jai Alai
• Lost Nation — Saison
• Forbidden Root — Divine Mud Herb-infused Imperial Stout
• Oxbow Beer — Saisons
• Aged Belgian Lambics
• Captain Lawrence — Sours
• Plus beers from Grimm Artisanal Ales, Finback, Transmitter and Other Half

Other events for the week include:

Who wants to “drink like a monk”? We’ll be kicking off the Lenten season next week with our own special take on Mardi Gras/Carnivale, as we usher in our annual Liquid Lent (40 days of amazing beers, tastings and meet-and-greets!) when we’ll feature Belgians, abbey beers, large bottle format brews by the glass and some great programming heading into the annual NYC Beer Week (taking place from February 19-28).

Starting on Tuesday, February 9^th from 6 p.m., we celebrate“Carne-val,” our own special take remembering the origins of Mardi Gras/Shrove Tuesday. We’ll have a whole roast “Lechon” pig from Tito King’s Kitchen at Jimmy’s No. 43 (pay as you go) and some killer tunes courtesy of live music featuring the N’Orleans blues and jazz sounds of George Kilby Jr’s “Mardi Gras Revue.”

At midnight, we will segue into Liquid Lent: 40 Days of Drinking Like Monk, when we’ll feature Belgian and abbey ales along with some great tastings (look for an Orval Night – TBA and a Chimay Night on Thursday, February 25^th with plenty more TBA).

Inspired by a blogger who decided to live on beer for Lent, Jimmy’s No. 43 is joins five other East Village craft beer establishments (Burp Castle, ABC Beer Co., Malt & Mold, East Castle and Proletariat) to celebrate Liquid Lent, the time when we focus on renewal and wait for spring… all while drinking some amazing craft beer!

We expect beer luminaries to be dropping by for meet-and-greets and tastings all month long. We hope to see you as we celebrate the closing weeks of winter with Liquid Lent!

“Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it,
But we hae meat and we can eat,
And sae the Lord be thankit.”
― Robert Burns

We’re very excited for the first time ever to host a Robert Burns night as the poet himself would have done: With fine whisky! We’ll be celebrating Foraged Cocktails week beginning tonight, January 25th, at 7 PM, with a Robert Burns Night and Whiskey Prix Fixe Tasting: Join guest host Brad Japhe for a night of poetry, whiskey and food pairings, as we sample eight different single malt whisk(e)ys from America and Scotland.

Tonight’s revelry will be followed by a full week of spirit-centric tastings and events as we welcome some of the region’s (and world’s) best whiskeys, mezcals, brandies and more for a full week of tastings and programming inspired by Amy Zavatto’s new book, Forager’s Cocktails: Botanical Mixology with Fresh, Natural Ingredients. Foraged Cocktails Week will offer the freshest and best ingredients for custom cocktails as well as many guided tastings by the distillers themselves.

Among the programming (subject to change):

• Spirits Sampling and Meet-and-Greet: We will be featuring custom cocktails (pay as you go) from different distillers throughout the week who will sample their spirits and chat about their distilleries with Neversink Apple Brandy (Thursday, January 28th) and both El Buho Mezcal and Catskill Provisions (Friday, January 29th)
• High West Spirits Meet the Distiller (Wednesday, January 27th, from 7-9 PM) – we’ll have High West founder David Perkins sampling whiskeys ($10 at the bar gets you food and whiskey samples)
• Foraged Cocktails Salon on Saturday, January 30th: From 1-4 PM we’ll have several panels and tastings, along with book signings by Amy Zavato, including John Henry (El Buho), Claire Marin (Catskill Provisions) and others TBD

Winter is a great time to get in the spirit(s), so be sure to join us this week for Foraged Cocktails!

Looking for something to pair with our custom-ground Best Burger (with meat from Fleisher’s Craft Butchery)? How about one of our featured cocktails or some great beers we’ll be rotating through the draft lines this weekend! It’s an Upstate Invasion, as we welcome two breweries new to Jimmy’s No. 43 (and relatively new to the city). Catskills Brewery in Livingston Manor opened mid-2014 and is bringing two of their beers down for us to try. Chatham Brewing (from Chatham) will have three different beers. We’ll be working through the following kegs this weekend:

• Farmer’s Daughter Rye IPA (Chatham)
• Ghent Bent Belgian Style Dubbel (Chatham) – a 9% ABV
• Maple Amber (Chatham) – made with local maple syrup
• Ball Lightning Pils (Catskills) – a 5.5% ABV lager made with a surge of whole-cone Saaz hops
• Devil’s Path IPA (Catskills) – a 7.5% ABV India Pale Ale named after The Catskills most harrowing trail

If you prefer spirits, we have some amazing cocktails we’re featuring on the bar menu:

• Reverse Martini – We’re channeling our inner Julia Child with this Martini that is heavy on the (Uncouth) Vermouth
• Manila Mule – Our Tito’s Vodka version of the “Moscow Mule” with ginger beer
• Ginger Snap – Perfect for the season
• Boulevardier – Our classic drink of Campari and Bourbon (made with Angel’s Envy)
  

We hope to see you this weekend!

It’s a new year and we’re back to celebrate with some great menu items that you may have yet to try. The next time you see Jimmy, be sure to ask him about our unique (and custom ground) grass-fed beef burger that we order up from Fleisher’s Craft Butchery in Brooklyn. “To me, it’s the perfect burger,” Jimmy will tell you. Ask him why as you enjoy this super juicy burger yourself.

And of course we have plenty of spirits, wine and ciders for all who imbibe.

And be sure to drop by this weekend for our 8th Annual Cassoulet weekend, featuring a Cassoulet Salon (Saturday), the Cassoulet Cookoff (Sunday) and a prix fixe Cocktails & Cassoulet Dinner on Monday.