Thurdsday
Fourthsday,
February 26th, 2009
Burp Castle
Sssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Most of the Dads and I live in Manhattan and send our kids to public schools. That means that usually our Febraury and April meetings gets postponed to "Fourthsday" (i.e., the fourth Thursday of the month) so it doesn't conflict with people's vacation weeks. Of course, since I began teaching college, my own Spring Break comes in March—not that I'm complaining...
A trip to the castle is always a treat. I was joined by Robert, a giant in the publishing world, who was showing some kids' books he translated from Japanese! Kevin joined us, fresh from saving the Naked City from various threats. Dan soon arrived fresh from saving New York State from insurance claims. I have amazing friends!
There's always interesting stuff on draft here. I started with a Witte Ale from Brewery Ommegang. This Belgian-style wheat is light, citrus-y and makes me think of summer—the perfect antidote to February. Don't let the name fool you, it's made upstate in Cooperstown. After that I went for a couple of pints of Stone Smoked Porter. Dark, smoky and complex. Yum!
Things started to heat up at the Castle, so after a few rounds we moved two doors down to Jimmy's #43. This basement-level joint is a stumble down from 7th Street. It's worth it though, because Jimmy's has Artisinal Beers to go with their artisinal cheeses and other gourmet snacks. I enjoyed some sort of sausage plate and I think there was also some bread plate. I also enjoyed a Six-Point Bengali Tiger I.P.A.! This beer, made right over there in Brooklyn, packs a hoppy punch! I've said many times in this website, I'm not a huge India Pale Ale fan, but this was a good one. Might be worth trekking our to Red Hook to visit their taproom!
