Volume 2, Conclusion

My second year of the Beer Book Blitz concluded on a Thursday. I took the day off and planned accordingly.

I started first at an eatery in Red Hook, called Hope & Anchor. The beer selection wasn't great, but I was able to wet my whistle with a Hofbrau Dunkel.

Getting to Red Hook involved taking a bus, so I bused back to Gowanus in Brooklyn and discovered Threes Brewing, a shining example of a place I have returned to numerous times, had I not discovered them in the Beer Book.

The bar and beer garden was still closed that early on a weekday (about 1:15 P.M.), but they have a coffee shop attached with a small tap and shop built in, so I was able to launch my as-yet-unknown love affair with Threes Brewing with their Chronic Myopia IPA. 

From there, I headed to Building on Bond, an establishment in Boerum Hill that had been too busy with the Sunday brunch crowd the last time I had tried to go. Again, this was more of an eatery with a decent beer selection than a beer-centric place. Nonetheless, I tried something new (to me), a traditional English ale called Old Speckled Hen. I wasn't terribly impressed. 

From there I headed to Fort Greene, but No. 7 Restaurant was closed, so it was on to Clinton Hill, where I was delighted with Mekelburg's, which looked like a basement grocery, until you find the taproom in the back, serving up a wide eclectic assortment of New York microbrews. 

I enjoyed a Short, Dark & Wired, from Other Half Brewing.

From there, I was going to head to The Emerson, but it wasn't open, and Covenhoven in Crown Heights was also still shuttered. By the time I had reached Covenhoven, I could have waited twenty minutes and gone in, but I was bladder-full, cold, and it was getting dark. I decided to try one last place in Crown Heights, and finally found warmth, a bathroom and a beer at Catfish, a New Orleans-themed establishment.

I rounded out the night with a Rockaway Black Gold Nitro Stout.

And that concluded the 2016 Beer Book Blitz. 16 out of 30 establishments. That was 2 more than 2015, but still a little underwhelming - considering the places that weren't open. Planning is key! Nonetheless, still a valiant effort for this old man. 2017 looked to be a better year!

Volume 2, Day 4

I took a day off from work to knock out some more Beer Book coupons.

Again, however, I learned the hard lesson of not planning properly.

My first two stops in the early afternoon were Bar Chord and Sycamore in the Ditmas Park section of Brooklyn.

Alas, after a long trek via bus, and on foot, both places were not open for business in the early afternoon. Sycamore was, but only the flower shop section of the flower shop-bar combo.

So, I headed toward Windsor Terrace and finally made it to Hamilton's, where I had an Old Rasputin from North Coast Brewing:

From there, I found The Adirondack, which was just opening, and I was delighted to have a tasty beverage from Grimm Artisanal Ales, their Cube Cuvee #2:

I wrapped things up at Krupa Grocery in Prospect Park South, enjoying a Bush Fire from Beau's All Natural:

And then this happened at Krupa's:

I had other errands to run, so that wrapped things up for the day. There was one more day of blitzing remaining in the year.

Volume 2, Day 3

Thirteen days until the end of the year, and I really hit my stride today, straddling Crown Heights and Prospect Heights, in Brooklyn.

Started with a Two Roads Bergamonster at The Vanderbilt:

Then I discovered the wonderfulness that is Berg'n, where I enjoyed a Moscow on the Hudson from Peekskill Brewery.

Along with some delicious lumpia from the Lumpia Shack:

Then, I found my way to The Saint Catherine, where I enjoyed The Perfect Matcha from Evil Twin Brewing:

And then I wrapped things up with an awesome Black Walnut Stout from Kelso Brewing at Dean Street:

And another chapter in the Beer Book Blitz came to an end.

Volume 2, Day 2

Still ahead of last year, I went out again, hoping to knock a bunch of beer coupons out of my Book.

It started successfully enough, at Hollow Nickel on Atlantic, where I enjoyed a Bell's Two-Hearted Ale:

Then, things got complicated, I headed over to Building on Bond, but I timed it poorly. They were in full Sunday brunch swing and there were no seats in the inn. To frustrate matters more, Robert Bar, right next door, didn't open until 5:00 PM. So, I ditched those two Boerum Hill locations and headed into downtown Brooklyn, to the Kimoto Rooftop bar. They, also, were closed. I was told they didn't open until 4.

So then I went on a long walk to Fort Greene. Well, it was only a mile, but it was longer than I had hoped to walk, after striking out at three closer locales.

Nonetheless, I went to a place I had visited several years earlier, and I knew the beer was good. The place was DSK, or Die Stammkniepe, a great biergarten.

There, I enjoyed a Hofbräu Dunkel / Dunkel Gold from Staatliches Hofbräuhaus München:

It was a big strong beer, and it made me happy, despite my expression!

So, only two beers, but I had hoped for more. Still, there were 20 days left in the month!