Talkin' 'bout Beerz

Defiant Brewing in Pearl River, NY (Rockland County) is closing their doors in a couple days. They were in business for 21 years. It's a little sad. But, they never really pivoted to the changing trends over the years. For the longest time, their packaged beer was c&c 750ml bottles. And they were focusing on styles like Belgian Strong Pale Ale, which I really enjoy, but it's not everyone's cup of tea.

And I just looked this up, but they were business, just before Captain Lawrence opened their doors. CL will celebrate their 20th anniversary this May. Scott won't be closing up shop anytime soon. He has a business related degree from Villanova, accounting, I believe. And looking at what he did over the past 20 years. He definitely put it use, as well as the knowledge he gained from brewing at Sierra Nevada, to make some good beer of his own.
 
Cask ale is like tamales or meatloaf - it can never be great. You can have very good cask ale for sure but it’s never going to be THAT good. And I don’t want to hear about some amazing cask mild you had at a pub in West Hamfortshire.
Danny Devito GIF by hero0fwar
 
Cask ale is like tamales or meatloaf - it can never be great. You can have very good cask ale for sure but it’s never going to be THAT good. And I don’t want to hear about some amazing cask mild you had at a pub in West Hamfortshire.
Back in Philly, people would rave about IPAs (Nugget Nectar in particular) in casks. Every time I tried them I was disappointed. It mutes the aroma big time, at least that was my experience. I do think the right kind of beer can be excellent in cask, but I can't remember the last time one really wowed me.
 
Milds, Stouts, Bitters, Pales and Browns are awesome on cask. Machine House’s fresh hop IPAs are amazing on cask, but they know what they’re doing and brew them to be served that way. I can’t think of another brewery who has done a cask IPA I liked.
 
Milds, Stouts, Bitters, Pales and Browns are awesome on cask. Machine House’s fresh hop IPAs are amazing on cask, but they know what they’re doing and brew them to be served that way. I can’t think of another brewery who has done a cask IPA I liked.
honestly as someone who never loved the IBU race, I prefer cask IPA. But I am happy to drink traditional English milds, porters, and I miss the heyday of NotLA when we would get something as simple as Robert the Bruce or as wild as G+T beer in a cask decorated like a Hedgehog (Tonic the Hedgehog was too weird to live but I loved it so much)
 
honestly as someone who never loved the IBU race, I prefer cask IPA. But I am happy to drink traditional English milds, porters, and I miss the heyday of NotLA when we would get something as simple as Robert the Bruce or as wild as G+T beer in a cask decorated like a Hedgehog (Tonic the Hedgehog was too weird to live but I loved it so much)
Tonic the Hedgehog, holy shit I forgot about that masterpiece.
 
Cask ale is like tamales or meatloaf - it can never be great. You can have very good cask ale for sure but it’s never going to be THAT good. And I don’t want to hear about some amazing cask mild you had at a pub in West Hamfortshire.
 
Cask ale is like tamales or meatloaf - it can never be great. You can have very good cask ale for sure but it’s never going to be THAT good. And I don’t want to hear about some amazing cask mild you had at a pub in West Hamfortshire.

Nah. Meatloaf stinks for sure, but you can’t deliver a better 3% beer than a creamy, full bodied, Harvey’s cask dark mild in a proper pub. Depends on what you want. No better bang for your buck abv. West Ham
Is a known dead spot though.
 
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