More Beer in Williamsburg

My roommate's parents visited town this weekend and were looking for some interesting places to have a beer in Williamsburg Saturday afternoon so we ventured to the tried and true Brooklyn Brewery and then on to the not-yet-explored Radegast Hall & Beer Garden (click warning: obnoxious website music).

As always on a Saturday afternoon, the Brewery was packed with card playing, cup stacking, pizza eating twenty-somethings cashing in their wooden beer dollars for the latest selection of Brooklyn's most infamous libation. We were 5 drinkers in total, so we bought 12 tokens (the 6 beer tokens for $20 is too easy to turn down) and tasted the core favorites always on tap:

East India IPA (6.8% ABV)
Brooklyn Brown (5.6% ABV)
Brooklyn Lager (5.2% ABV)
Brooklyn Pennant Ale (5.2% ABV)
Brooklyn Pilsner (TBD)
Brooklyn Weisse (TBD)

Favorite beer of the afternoon: Brooklyn Brown, because it went well with the chilly wet weather.

The only disappointments of the Brewery stop (other than getting there with less than hour before the famous 5:30 last call) was the 8% Brooklyn Blast tap running dry and the short stature of the cup stacks (I propose a cup stacking challenge this spring at the Brewery).

From the Brewery, we strolled to Radegast Hall and Beer Garden on the corner of N 3 and Berry Streets. A little bit the weary after our 12 beer dash at the Brewery (myself taking it particularly slow after being sick for a few days), we settled for a pitcher of something light, a pitcher of something dark, a Bavarian pretzel, and a cheese platter, all severed amongst a quieter, more mature crowd than the one we had left at the Brewery.

The beers (Hofbrau Lager and Kostritzer Dark) were just as expected - delicious, but it was the cheese platter than stood out a true delight. Thanks to Murray's Cheese, for that.

The constraints of our energy, our livers and time prevented us from testing Radegast for it's true "beer hall" worthiness, but it's first impression warrants a second visit, without doubt.

deacon's funtime pick of the week

I'm obviously not a good enough person to make the 7 hour trek cross state to The Southern Tier/St. Susan OktoBENEfest, so for selfish reasons I'm doubling up on this week's pick: Brooklyn Bowl, the (somewhat) new bowling in Williamsberg that aims to compete with the always jampacked Gutter, where the deacon will watch righteous jersey rock band Gaslight Anthem tonight. Apart from being a bowling alley and rock venue, Brooklyn Bowl's restaurant is a venture from the ridiculously tasty Blue Ribbon, and like any self-respecting hipster venue their beer list is hardcore local: three Sixpoint taps (Sweet Action, Righteous Rye, Bengali Tiger IPA), five Brooklyn taps (Lager, Pennant Pale Ale, Weisse, Oktoberfest, and and the recently debuted and totally punkrock awesome DIPA Brooklyn Blast), and two Kelso taps (Nut Brown Lager, Pilsner). I also appreciate the small touch on the menu in describing their localness:

Six Point: "just down the way in Red Hook"

Brooklyn: "right through the wall on n. 11th"

Kelso: "a stones throw away in Clinton Hill"

Totally subjective points for not having Sixpoint's fabulous Brownstoner on tap. Ave maria, mate, it's fall, why's no one carrying this brew anymore!? Hopefully it'll be back in the winter...

Anyhow, I've been delinquent in throwing on my skinny jeans and pretending to like PBR for too many months now, I'm psyched to get back to Billyberg for a cool show and some fresh local brews.

Finally, weather alert: the last (and largest) free ride of the NYC cycling season, Transporation Alternatives "Tour de Bronx" on Sunday, is still open to registration...though Weather.com is calling for rain and a high of 47. Hmm. That should help me shake my hangover?