the ginger man: a midtown craft beer bar

todd and i had a couple of beers at the ginger man in midtown this afternoon. in a reversal of our earlier trip to the waterfront ale house a couple of weeks ago, which was a first for me but familiar to todd, i've been to the ginger man a few times over the years - but it was a new one for todd. afternoons (and weekends) are the best time to check out this place and its great beer selection. after work, however, it takes on a totally different vibe.

i had a pair of fantastic german beers. the first, an ayinger dunkel, was the perfect "light" dark beer. and i followed it up with a schneider aventinus, a weizenbock (a stronger version of the dunkel), which was fantastic! todd kicked off with a smuttynose winter seasonal (and while it may technically be spring, winter hasn't made much of an effort to leave). and he ended with a classic belgian, triple karmeliet - also fantastic!

as usual, 90% of our conversation centered on running! ironically, he had on his albany running exchange tee shirt. which prompted me to mention that arc had been mia at wurtsboro on saturday. normally arc members are a ubiquitous presence at that event (including their own tent). instead, the club turned out. en masse, at the mudders & grunters 5 mile trail run on sunday (complete w/club tent)!

boston was another item of conversation. it turns out we're in the same corral again (along with my friend john). this time around, our 9,000 series bibs have us in the first corral of the second wave. the very same bq's (3:22 for todd, 3:25 for me) had us in the last corral of the first wave at boston last year! there'll be plenty of fun stuff to do in beantown - aside from the race :O

if your running boston this year - say hello!!