New York Craft Beer Week Dinner - BLT Burger

Oh yes, that time has rolled around again, guys....New York Craft Beer Week! I haven't been able to be as active as I'd like to be this year (my beer passport is being woefully underused), but I knew when I saw the special NYCBW menu at BLT Burger, that I couldn't possibly pass it up.

Three courses (I had 2 choices per course) were paired with three beers from Breckenridge, a microbrewery out in Denver, Colorado. I love finding new beers to try, so the fact that this was from a brewery I didn't know made this all the more exciting.

First Course:
Fried Green Tomatoes w/Buttermilk Ranch Dipping Sauce served with Breckenridge Agave Wheat

This was the first time I'd been served batter-dipped dipped tomatoes, I'm more used to the breadcrumb/cornmeal variety...and I dare say that I enjoy the latter more. The hot batter coating kept slipping off the tomatoes! In spite of that, the green beauties were tangy and very tasty. The Ranch dressing provided some kick.

So, this beer right here? I need to find out where I can get it here in NYC, because it is just fantastic. Between the hint of lingering sweetness from the agave and the smoothness of the wheat, I could have drunk this all night long. A great pre-dinner beer and a nice introduction to this brewery.

Second Course:
Mac and Cheese Burger - Fried Mac and cheese patty, caramelized onions, beer cheese, bacon, and BBQ sauce served with Breckenridge Ball Park Brown

Oh yeah baby. Read that description again if you don't believe me. This burger could have been an outright disaster; it has way too many components to be structurally sound, and delicious. But...it was exactly that. The mac and cheese patty was crispy and flavorful...and the cheese was GOOEY. I'm very particular about mac and cheese, and this was delicious. The bun, perfectly toasted. Ordering the burger medium, instead of medium well made a difference, too. The juiciness of the burger ran into the other condiments, combining to make this dish really pop. It did a great job of turning something gimmicky into a burger that I wish that BLT would put on their menu permanently.

The slightly smoky flavor of the Ball Park Brown complimented the burger, but also let it shine; there were a lot of strong flavors going on here, and it was just assertive enough. Again, a very smooth drinking beer. The taste almost reminded me of a slightly bolder Newcastle.

Dessert:
Breckenridge Float - Vanilla Porter, Vanilla Ice Cream, Graham Cracker crumbs

Yum, yum, and more yum. So many flavors going on here: sweet, bitter, creamy, and spicy. The porter was divine, very rich with deep vanilla tones but never delving into a syrupy treacle. I would have liked some whipped cream and salted caramel...but that was only an afterthought.

This menu is only good until September 25th, so if you liked what you saw here, make sure you get down to BLT Burger. New York Craft Beer Week seems to just bring out the best in restaurants.

Girls Don't Drink Cask Beer? Get Real! - Get Real NY Cask and Food Fest 2010

Now I warn you in advance, some of these pictures are blurry. REAL BLURRY. Over the course of this awesome 3hr event, I proceeded to imbibe over 12 different beautiful cask and regular beers. TWELVE. And I'm not counting the other ones I drank quickly because I wasn't crazy about them.

I weigh 127 lbs.

The pictures are gonna be blurry. I'm sorry.

Seeing as that it's NY Craft Beer Week, and that I love beer, I knew that I'd have to go to at least ONE awesome event. I decided to make Get Real NY my event because of its focus on cask beers. Cask beers are unfiltered and unpasteurized and served without additional carbonation. The soft bubbles that you feel are from the yeasts that are still fermenting. Apparently, this is how it was done in the olden days before modern kegging and refrigeration.
Flat warm beer, you say? I think not! Time for me to do some drinking.

I got to the Altman Building in Chelsea about 15 mins in, and I was greeted by a fantastic sight.

LOOK AT ALL THAT BEER! 40 damn casks, and I had no idea where to start. I was given a super pretty GRNY glass, and I was relieved that I was getting a a nice full glass of beer, instead of a dinky sample cup. I gave the beer list I was given a look over, and really, the best way to handle this was to walk around and get a feel for everything...then dive in.

First beer up? Smuttynose's Pumpkin Ale. It was....not nearly as pumpkin-y as I'd hoped. Or spicy either. I've been forever searching for the perfect pumpkin beer....it didn't need to be sweet, just be delicious! This beer was okay, but I have to admit, I was disappointed.

For my next one, I decided to stay in the same brewery, but try a different flavor. Smuttynose's Chai was definitely different...but totally spicy and delicious. Traditional Chai spices shone in this dark, spirited porter. It was super herbal, deep, and smooth. Mmmhm.

I'm not too sure how I landed a glass of Elland's Beyond the Pale. It was a VIP ticketholder beer, and I wasn't one. Oh well. I'm just glad I had it, because it was fantastic. Light, fruity but not cloying, and it smelled like Christmas. I drank this one quickly, and asked for another glass even quicker. So delicious.FOOD! I decided to give my stomach something to hold onto, and ventured over to the food vendors.

I used to work in the Lower East Side, so I'm more than familiar with Roni-Sue's amazing handmade chocolate. But she was offering...Beer Corn???

Beer reduced to a delicious syrup, tossed with popcorn, pretzels, and mustard seeds. RIDICULOUS. Sweet, crunchy, salty, and tangy pop from the mustard seeds. Utter, beautiful insanity.

I decided to go for a bitter beer recommended to me from...an interesting gentleman. Sly Fox's Chester County Bitter was definitely that. I didn't like it at all, the bitterness was so overwhelming. Blech. Thankfully, a helpful and friendly volunteer pointed me to St. Louis's Schafly Imperial Stout. I'm a huge stout fan, but one cannot live on Guinness alone. This stuff was STRONG and assertive, and I was more than willing to obey.


To supplement all this cask goodness, Brewery Ommegang (one of my favorites) had some of their beers on hand, the cold kind. I was loving how the room temperature really let the cask beer flavors sing, but after a while the flavors were muddling my taste buds. Time for a cold one.

I tried the Maredsous Blonde and the Ommegang Zurr, which was a limited edition. ZURRRRRRRRRR!! Sour! Cherries! Snap crackle pop! I was in love. I was also refreshed by the chilly brew, and was ready to jump back to the casks.

This is when things start to get a little...foggy. I tried another VIP beer, The Bruery's Autumn Maple....YAMS! Rich, with a touch of sweetness. And after another glass of that, things got even foggier. All I remember is that they were delicious.

I had maybe, 4 or 5 beers after that, all different, all served with friendly and informative hands. I was struck by how proud the volunteers and brewers were. You could tell that this was their livelihood. I could taste it.
Thank you again, Get Real NY, for an amazing Sunday night!