2018 Taconic Road Runners' Beer Mile

I love one mile races - and I lover beer.  My fellow mile/beer lovers lined up for the always awesome Taconic Road Runner's Beer Mile (which tonight also included what appeared to be wine coolers and/or hard ciders)! 

Last year I couldn't run it because the date conflicted with my summer session class.  But back in 2016 I managed to run a solid 8:35 - something not to be repeated this time around.  Four beers, high humidity, and slightly older runner... I eked out a 9:30 finish :O


Addendum:  According to Strava, my moving time was exactly 6:59 - which meant that 2:30+ was "drinking" time.  Well, of that drinking time, practically an entire minute was devoted to beer #4 - haha!

Another highlight of this event is that it's held in conjunction with our Club's monthly meeting.  So after the running/drinking we climbed up the hill to the Gazebo for the results/meeting/food - and, it should go w/out saying, a bit more drinking :D


Here are the official results from the Taconic RR.

Here's the link to the Taconic Race Photos!

An impressive array of fluids nicely lined up at the start!

Done!

A bucolic venue for the meeting :D

2016 Taconic Road Runners Beer Mile

I've run plenty of one mile races over the years (and drunk plenty of beer before and after some of those races)... But last night was the first time I combined the two (drinking a 12 ounce beer at the start of each quarter mile split) - at the Taconic RR's second annual Beer Mile! 

It was a lot of fun -- and somehow I did manage to drink my 4 bottles of beer and finish in a respectable 8:35 :D

Will I do this again next year?!  YES!

brewery ommegang's game of thrones three-eyed raven

just in time for season five premiere sunday night!  picked up a pair of ommegang's newest game of thrones release, "three-eyed raven" this afternoon.  it was officially released last week, but took a while for it to reach my neck of the woods (decicco's ardsley).

the official description from ommegang reads:

Push through the thick brambles and present yourself to the Three-Eyed Raven. Abiding in the shadows of the Three-Eyed Raven lies this deceptive Dark Saison. The ominous Three-Eyed Raven inspired us to brew a Dark Saison ale, a hybrid style open to brewer’s imagination. In the end it is neither a pure saison nor your typical dark beer, but instead a delectable blend that both deceives and thrills the senses.

i love session beer, and brewing it dark should be interesting - think dark wheat beers (dunkel weizen).  looking forward to tasting one tomorrow.  and the question is will any remain for Sunday's premiere :D

frog xvi - a paris microbrewery

after a day of sightseeing, i went to frog xvi with my friend tom to try a few locally brewed beers.  frogpubs brews 6 different beer styles, all of which we had a chance to sample.  we opted for pints of the "dark de triomphe" :D

it seemed a bit odd to drink beer with all the fantastic wine to be had in paris - but the beer was good, and there'll be a few opportunities to have some wine during the next couple of days.

brussels beer cafe, kuala lumpur

last night salil, tom and i checked out the brussels beer café (hap seng location) - which was just a 5-10 walk from the taps beer bar we the night before.  the selection was just as large as taps, with a decidedly belgian tilt in choices.  not to harp, but the only american beer on the list was budweiser (which i'll point out was 1 more than taps)!

i had one of my favorites (albeit) german beers, an erdinger wiessbier dunkel.  tom went the belgian route with a leffe brune on tap. salil opted for a virgin mojito.  the wait staff was knowledgeable and the beer was served in the appropriate glassware.  tom and i also split a franzikaner hefe-weissbier. the only negative was the shortage of some selections - a couple of our original choices were out of stock (grimbergen albree and pauwel kwak).

overall, a great place - and shouldn't be passed up if you're nearby. :D

taps beer bar, kuala lumpur

last night i had a chance to try a couple of beers at the taps beer bar.  tom and salil joined me after class and we walked over there together - with a side trip to the frog porridge stall (which, unfortunately, was closed).  tom and i both started off with "indian saison" from nogne o, an austrialian brewery.  salil opted for iced teas.

i followed up the saison with a "schiehallion" from harviestoun (scotland) and tom went with a "nipponia" from hitachino nest (japan).  the bar was relatively empty given that it was an early wednesday night.  taps had a large, if somewhat pricey, selection of world beer - including a dozen choices on tap.  given the typical high cost of beer in kuala lumpur (a large bottle of tiger can easily fetch $16 rm!), the premium for craft beer wasn't bad.

it's definitely worth checking out if you're looking for craft beer in kl!

blue tractor bbq & brewery - once again!

when we visited the blue tractor bbq & brewery in june, pat and i came for lunch.  last night, along with katie, we went back the blue tractor for dinner.  as always, i love to try samplers - so i had another go at their 6 beer sampler.  i had the 4 regular selections plus two seasonal choices.  of the 6, the "lime flew over the cucu's nest" witbier was fantastic.  i'm a big fan of wheat beers in general - but this one, with a lime twist, incorporated cucumbers (hence, what i would suspect the "cuco" is about).

here are the six sampled:

smokehouse amber
bumper crop ipa
bearded pig cream ale
pitmaster porter
tiger cub session ipa
lime flew over the cuco's nest

while the tiger cub session ipa was also good, i'm not generally into ipa's.  on the food side, don't miss the fried green tomatoes appetizer!

grizzly peak brewing company, ann arbor :D

on my third trip to ann arbor, dinner at the grizzly peak brewing company was my forth visit to a brewpub in this fantastic town.  i had planned on lunch at grizzly peak during my june trip here - but it was closed for renovations at the time.  no problem, because the blue tractor bbq & brewery was, literally, just a few doors down the street.

but grizzly peak was definitely worth the wait - if only for the elk burger that i had to go along with my 9 beer sampler - the full flight, so to speak (samplers varied from 5 to 9 selections).  my selection included not only the ginger beer, but a gravity pulled ginger beer infused w/peppercorns (my favorite of the bunch).

here are the nine i sampled:

victor's gold
gizzly peak pale ale
steelhead red
bear paw porter
blah blah ginger beer
anniversary black ale
county cork's irish stout
hms sheerwater ipa
gravity pulled ginger beer w/peppercorns.

as mentioned, the ginger beer infused w/peppercorns was my favorite, followed by the regular blab blah ginger beer.  the novelty of ginger beer added to my interest - i had only tried this stuff once, years ago.  the rest of the selections were good - among them, the pale ale and ipa were excellent.

in addition to the beer selection - the food was great.  i couldn't pass up the elk burger - again mostly for the sheer novelty.  but that burger was fantastic!

don't pass up a visit here.

blue tractor bbq & brewery, ann arbor

i followed up yesterday's dinner at the jolly pumpkin café & brewery with lunch at the blue tractor bbq & brewery.  these two brewpubs are w/in a couple of blocks of each other - and blue tractor is on the same street as the ann arbor brewing company and the grizzly peak brewing company (which had been my initial lunch destination, but was closed today and tomorrow for renovations).

as it turned out, blue tractor was a great place for lunch (and beer).  i sampled 6 of their selections:

bearded pig pilsner
bumper crop ipa
smokehouse amber
simply the zest (belgian wheat)
demonic black ipa, and
the pitmaster porter.

the sixpack of 5 ounce samples was served up in cupcake pan - with a pint of water on the side ;O

i'm awed at the sheer number of brewpubs here - and conveniently concentrated in - downtown ann arbor.  i've already lined up a new pair to check out for parents weekend in october :D

jolly pumpkin cafe and brewery, ann arbor

last night we had dinner at the jolly pumpkin café and brewery.  it was my second visit to a brewpub in as many visits to ann arbor (last time we checked out the arbor brewing company).  i've been into jolly pumpkin saisons for a long time - ever since i was first turned on to them back at a sour beer tasting a jimmy's no. 43 in the village, way back in 2010).  so when in rome... i opted to sample their sour beers :D

my sampler, inspired by the suggestions of the server, include:

luciernaga ("the firefly")
bam noire
la roja
oro de calabaza
and, tamicon 5 saison (the new collaboration with arbor brewing)

here's the description for tamicon -  "From its red-pink color to its floral, tart, funky aroma, this Jolly Pumpkin / Arbor Brewing Co. collaboration beer has a mouthwatering start, a very tart and sour middle and a funky, peppery finish. Whoa!"

tamicon, which was released just last week, was certainly the highlight!  it wasn't available when i visited arbor brewing less than 3 months ago!

pat did not taste any beers (belgian style, or otherwise).  she, instead, saved her calories for belgain waffles at the "waffle shop" :D

the next brew pub i'd like to check out in ann arbor is the grizzly peak brewing company - stay tuned...

growlers beer bistro, tuckahoe

yesterday tony, wayne and i headed over to tuckahoe to check out growlers beer bistro.  it was happy hour, so one perk was sampling the tap menu selections for only $4 - a pretty good deal as for pints of any kind... a fantastic one for craft beers!

tony and i started with the peekskill simple sour (wayne stuck to wine).  passable for a light sour, but no body to speak of.  the real highlight was the newly released ommegang's "iron throne" blonde ale - timed to coincide with the season three premiere of "game of thrones" tomorrow night. ommegang is one of my favorite breweries, and this one didn't disappoint.

i followed it up with another ommegang, the "barrier relief" a belgian style ipa. tony opted for the captain lawrence reserve, an american style double/imperial ipa, which clocked in with a 9.0 abv! it was served up in a 12 oz. goblet. both were excellent.  tony finished up with a speakeasy black and white cookie stout for the road :D

food wise, have to mention the nachos (w/pulled pork) - which were so good (and went so quickly)that we had to order a second plate :O

if you're in or near tuckhoe, definitely stop in for a beer and nachos!

arbor brewing company, ann arbor michigan

our trip to ann arbor wouldn't have been complete without a visit to a local brew pub - the arbor brewing company.  as expected, it was packed when we got there around 7 on friday night.  while we waited to be seated i had a bottle of their "phat abbot" belgian tripel at the bar. 

had i realized the size of the sampler that awaited me when we finally were seated at a table, i certainly would have rethought my initial beer selection!  there were a total of 11 selections from the tap in 4 ounce tasting glasses (it set me back $17).  i worked my way around the tray from light to dark - but when i finally reached #11, the steamroller russian imperial stout, i had only enough room for a sip!

it was a great and exhausting selection!  as for food, i opted for a reuben and pat went for a burger.  and, despite all the beer, there was still some room left for a slice of cheesecake... which was an excellent finish up the tasting :D

"beer here: brewing new york's history" exhibit at the new york historical society

yesterday, albeit it took a me a few weeks, i finally had a chance to visit the "beer here: brewing new york's history" exhibit at the new york historical society. while some of the material was interesting, it wasn't really worth the wait. that's not meant to be harsh, because since the exhibit is display at the historical society - there's an entire building's worth of history to view. i wouldn't make a special trip just to see it.  instead, include it a plan to visit the museum itself.  ironically, the magnificent paintings of "making american taste: narrative art for a new democracy" on exhibit upstairs in dexter hall was far more filling ;O

perhaps "beer here" was over hyped? it started off with hops and water - the basic building blocks of beer. while the artifacts (including what appeared to be a hollowed out log that served as a water pipe) didn't do much for me, i really enjoyed the maps and paintings - especially "cutting ice, rockland lake, ny" which today probably doesn't see much ice harvesting. there were also a couple of fantastic posters, including the huge and imposing "building" of the hell gate brewery!

there was also a bit on the temperance movement and its absurd pinnacle - prohibition.  another fun bit was the roughly 11 minute long film (complete with its own kiddie bench for viewing) on the re-opening of the genesee brewery in rochester, after having been shuttered during the 13 long years of prohibition.  but to end the exhibit with the actual "coronation" gown of the the rheingold girl?  really?

but my biggest grip, if you will, was the utter lack of material on the current craft beer movement - that has single-handedly revived the beer industry in new york (as well as the rest of the country).  to cover the history from birth to its drawn-out death in the 1970's - and leave out its stunning revival is puzzling - to put it mildly.  and yet, the products of the craft beer revolution are on tap in the "beer hall" that serves as the final room of the exhibit.  go figure?

an unexpected find: craft beer at the gas station :O

i don't know how common this is, but it was a first for me - a gas station that sold craft beer and growler refills! yesterday, just before we got on the highway for the drive home from katie's field hockey tournament at syracuse university's coyne field, we had to gas up the car.

imagine my surprise to see the sunoco station w/a large "refill your growlers here" sign in the window! inside there were at 6-8 taps with some excellent breweries represented (dogfish head, for example). while the growler station inside a convenience store was something i hadn't run into before, i didn't opt for a growler.

instead, what caught my eye was the "make your own 6 pack" of craft beers for just $9.99! not only did i pick up a couple of local brands (the middle ages syracuse pale ale, ithaca apricot wheat, and the ellicottville blueberry wheat) but i couldn't resist the wells banana bread beer (a british import) :D

puck fair: a soho craft beer bar

yesterday todd and i checked out puck fair, on lafayette, just south of houston street. as a bonus, it's conveniently located just 4 blocks west of the whole foods beer store :D  puck fair is the most recent in a string of bars that feature a decent selection of craft beer that we've visited (said list includes, mudville 9, the ginger man, the waterfront ale house, the pony bar, the blind tiger ale house... to mention a few).

i started with an aventinus, a dark german wheat beer.  actually, it's even a darker version of the traditional dunkel weiss style - a doppelbock.  it's one of my favorite beers.  if that had a high abv (8+), the brooklyn black chocolate stout was off the chart with a 10% abv!  the chocolate stout had some great flavors, but i couldn't get past the high alcohol content.

afterwards, todd took the opportunity to check out the whole food beer store :D

john harvard's brew house: another boston brewpub :D

in a repeat of last year, last night emmy, her son andrew, and i went over to cambridge for dinner at a brewpub. this time around, instead of the cambridge brewing company, we opted for john harvard's brew house. it was an excellent choice!

after driving up to boston with todd, and spending a good deal of the afternoon at the marathon expo w/him, i met up with emmy and andrew. last year we walked over to cambridge. this year we took the train there from andrew's apartment. it was a raw and windy trip - and it drizzled on the way back. not an auspicious sign for monday's weather.

beer-wise, they had brewed an execellent belgium style pale ale - which emmy tried. i opted for the pilgrim porter. another excellent beer. on the food side, we were surprised that the nacho starter was big enough to feed all three of us! did we really need more food after that dish ;O

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!!

waterfront ale house: an east side craft beer bar

todd and i checked out the waterfront ale house on second avenue this afternoon. i was my first time there. he had suggested after our january visit to the pony bar in hell's kitchen - and we finally got a chance to check it out. i really should say "i," because todd had been there numerous times. they have fantastic beer menu.

but, in something of a first, i actually skipped the draft selections and kicked off with a rogue morimoto soba ale - a funky buckwheat style beer. not only was it a great beer, but it was a bargain at $8 for the 22 ounce bottle! that should have been enough, but can't just have one - and opted for another rogue, the chocolate stout, for the road :D

as usual, the talk focused primarily on running! upcoming races like the wurtsboro 30k at the end of the month and boston next month, spilled over to summer plans - like the catskill mountain 100k relay. in a major twist - and coming from someone clearly bitten by the ultra bug - todd wants to run the entire 100k relay! and he didn't have to work too hard to sell me on trying it as well. more on that project down the road.

the other running highlight was the release of marshall ulrich's upcoming book, "running on empty" - set to release next month. it chronicles his record-setting run across the united states in the fall of 2008. marshall will be at the boston and follow that up with more book related events here in nyc. i'll post some info on the upcoming nyc events in the near future.

the pony: a hell's kitchen craft beer bar

i heard about the pony bar last summer, when i was at a beer tasting at jimmy's 43. i finally had an opportunity to check it out this afternoon, when todd and i went over to hell's kitchen and sampled some of their draft selections. it was definitely worth the hike over to 10th avenue and 45th street (i walked there from 42nd and 7th) because what they had some pretty incredible beers on tap.

i started with a left hand "fade to black" dark seasonal beer that packed a solid 8.5% abv. and todd kicked off with an avery "collaboration not litigation" ale with an 8.7 abv. - both solid dark ales perfect for winter. my second choice was a goose island bourbon county stout - which, at 13% abv, could have easily been a barley wine! instead, it had a fantastic toasted espresso flavor, and the high alcohol content was barely noted in the taste. todd went with a north coast "old #38 stout" for his second round.

aside from the beer, we talked about running - mostly. we're both lining up for boston again (although plenty of races to run before april). back in 2008, todd and i ran the first half of boston together - i lost him when he stopped to collect some kisses at wellesley! still, that didn't stop him from finishing ahead of me, when all said and done :D hopefully we'll get to run some of the 2011 edition together.

but the bigger news, todd is coming over to the dark side. a couple of weeks after boston he'll run his first ultra - the north face endurance challenge 50k at bear mountain. and i doubt he could have chosen a tougher trail 50k to tackle as his first ultra! no doubt that he's going to have a blast out there!

now the question is - what should be the next craft beer bar we check out?

bxl cafe redux

it's been six months since i was last at the bxl cafe on 43rd street. (a fantastic belgium beer bar, with a sister location on 51st street). anthony spends a lot of time there since it's across the street from his office. for me it's more of trip, coming from city hall. this time around, in addition to the mussels and fries ("moules frites") for lunch, we sampled "sour" beers.

it was anthony's first time with "sours" and he seemed to enjoy the novelity (if not the taste) of some of them. we kicked off with a petrus aged pale - an incredibly refreshing choice for the very hot afternoon (no a/c - just open front windows). that was followed by a pair of rodenbach flemish reds (the highlight of which was a 2007 vintage oak aged ale). and, finally, a st. louis gueuze fond tradition.

we actually ended with a pair of traditional belgians: a dulles teve ("mad bitch") tripel - which was way too alcoholic for me, and an orval trappist ale - excellent stuff!