Bottle Shop of Note: Beer Noggin, Bronxville, NY

Hello, friends and fellow drunkards beer enthusiasts! We have to stop meeting like this. And by “like this” I mean extremely infrequently with promises of upcoming posts that are never actually fulfilled. Um, yeah, we’re really sorry about that. We’ve just had a few major life events crop up that sort of, well, distracted us from this blog. Without being any more esoteric, the owners of this here beer blog got themselves hitched! And, as it turns out, doing a destination wedding and honeymoon, moving into a new place, changes in jobs, having a party, sending out thank you cards and all that jazz can be pretty time consuming. We’re not going to try to justify the fact that we didn’t make the Unrefined Beer Review a priority, we’re just going to put forth our sincere and humble apology and hope  that you will understand. our absence.

Now that the personal stuff’s aside, on to the business of beer!

This time around we’re shifting our focus to something a little different, not a brewery or a bar, but instead a special bottle shop that recently opened its doors in our beloved Westchester County. In late winter/early spring I noticed an interesting-looking sign in an open window space in the lovely little town of Bronxville, NY (which is near and dear to my heart, as that’s’ where I attended grammar school). It read “Coming Soon! Beer Noggin: Bottle Shop and Taproom.” I couldn’t believe my eyes, a craft beer shop and taproom in Bronxville? It was one of those “I wish I had this idea first” kind of moments.

I waited on bated breath for the opening of this new beer market, checking their Instagram account on a semi-weekly basis for any updates. Finally, the opening day came in late June and John and I found ourselves stopping by after dinner one night around 9:00 (yes, a business in Bronxville that actually stays open later than 8:00 PM, aside from our much-loved Slave to the Grind, of course).

The shop is small, but that adds to its charm (the space was formerly the home to Swizzles, a frozen yogurt shop). The left-hand side of the shop is dedicated to the walk-in coolers for chilled beers, while the right hand side houses the shelving for non-chilled beers. There are two tables with chairs and two additional standing tables. The bar area is cozy and there are 12 taps (I also personally enjoy the fact that they do half pours on certain beers). What I find most appealing, though, is Beer Noggin’s “corkage” policy. Any beer purchased in-store can be consumed there, with an additional $2 corkage fee ($3 for larger bottles). While this may not seem like much, when you compare it to the high markups on bottles and cans in bars, the price is a welcome change. Upon our first visit, John and I not only enjoyed two beers in-store (1 draft, 1 can each), but we also walked away with a mixed six-pack of cans. Our choices included 21st Amendment Monk’s Blood, Stillwater Artisnal Classique, Mikkeller Simcoe, Victory Summer Love, Avery Brewing Co. Ellie’s Brown Ale and Downeast Cider.

Also offered are small plates to go along with the beers. Food options include a cheese plate, olives, pickles, jerky and pretzels baked fresh from the Bronx Baking Company. For the designated drivers of the bunch, there are a variety of craft sodas to enjoy as well. And for the snobbish Bronxvillians, there are also wine options available (I’m joking, of course, about the snobs. I’m not joking, however, about the wine–there are three different varieties available, two of which are in cans!).

Above all else, the owners, Doug and Brendan, are affable and accommodating, always willing to give a beer recommendation if asked. They have big plans for their little shop, all of which place a large focus on supporting local breweries and businesses. Aside from tap takeovers, they have plenty of other events planned too (in the recent past they have hosted #beerandamovie nights  like “Gose-busters” which paired a viewing of Ghostbusters with a can of Anderson Valley Gose and “Ballast Point Break” which paired, you guessed it, Point Break and Ballast Point). Despite the owners being two NJ-transplants, their focus is local and community-minded, as all craft should be.

Welcome to Westchester, Beer Noggin. We’re glad you’re here, and you can definitely expect to see us again soon!

— Jamie

Beer Noggin is located at:

102 Kraft Avenue, Bronxville, NY, 10708.

Their hours of operation are:

Monday – Saturday: 11am – 10pm
Sunday: 12pm – 6pm 

You can find them online on their website, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Brewery of Note: Broken Bow Brewery, Tuckahoe, NY

Broken Bow, located in the quaint village of Tuckahoe in Westchester County, NY, is a true community-focused operation. And what better way to serve the community than to start with family? Broken Bow is family-owned and operated, run by the LaMothe family–Michael, his father Lyle, mother Kathy, and sisters Kristen and Kasey. The company started with Michael, who would dabble in home-brewing while working in finance–though he never thought of making the hobby a full-time commitment. After an internship at Village Brewery in Calgary, his “hobby” soon turned into something more, and not long after he shifted from financial adviser to brew-master–bringing his family along with him. While most of the work in the brew-house is mainly left to Michael, each member of the family is knowledgeable about the process, and they all help out in different ways–from creation to distribution.

The facility, opened to the public in August of 2013, is located near the Crestwood and Tuckahoe train stations and features a bar and tasting room with an interesting juxtaposition between the metallic brewing equipment and the old wooden bar, picnic tables and a broken multi-faucet sink for its taps. This also suits its location well, as the brewery sits in the more industrial area of an upper-class village.  If you visit the facility, any of the family members working will be happy to share their tricks of the trade and stories with you. After one visit, you’ll feel like family, too, making Broken Bow a not only tasty brewery providing quality beers, but one of the more likable ones as well.

But now, THE BEERS:

Broken Bow started out with their three mainstay brews: the Broken Auger Lager–a malty and palatable brew that’s a refreshing change from most lagers in the craft beer world, turning to the traditional style unlike the many overly-hoppy lagers that saturate the market, the Broken Heart Stout–a smoky, but not too hefty stout that is rich in flavor, and the Marbledale APA–which has a very West Coast-style with hints of grapefruit.

For a brewery just starting out, they nailed the taste of their mainstays off the bat and have only continued to improve with each beer to come after it.

If you’re interested in checking out Broken Bow’s tasty brews, the Craftsman Ale House in Harrison, NY is having a tap takeover tonight from 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM featuring 8 BB samples:

Wet Hopped Cascade IPA
Broken In Russian Imperial Stout
Octoberfest
Cherry Wood Red
Parson’s Glebe
Broken Heart Stout
Marbledale APA
Broken Auger Lager

Our favorite is still the Broken Heart Stout, but we highly recommend trying any new beers they have available.

Visit the Tasting Room at 173 Marbledale Road, Tuckahoe. Open Wed & Thurs, 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM, Fri & Sat, 1:00 PM – 10:00 PM and Sun, 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM. Tours take place Fri & Sat at 3:00 PM and 6:00 PM.

Follow Broken Bow on Twitter: @brokenbowbrew; and Like them on Facebook: Broken Bow Brewery

 

Support local, friends and fellow beer-drinkers!

 

Next time on UBR: A few more local bars and brew-houses of note, smashing some pumpkins before the season ends, the wondrous mix of tea and beer and tasting another one of the divine-yet-mysterious Hill Farmstead brews. See you then!

Brew of Note 8.21.14: Naked Fish, DuClaw Brewing

My introduction to Maryland’s DuClaw Brewing was their much talked-about Sweet Baby Jesus!, a chocolate peanut butter porter. Sounds overly decadent? Not really–it’s actually the perfect amount of decadence to hit all the right flavor notes while remaining drinkable. It was actually in Maryland that I first tried this beer, and I haven’t been able to find another one of their brews since–until last week.

I was on vacation/house sitting in New Jersey and Johnny and I went on one of our many beerscapades to stock up on brews for some quality drinkin’ in the pool time. In New York you can grab yourself a beer at a 7-11 (many carry Captain Lawrence now, so wee-morning craft drinkers rejoice!) or at a 24-hour grocery store, but in the Garden State, with all their odd and complex alcohol laws, beer can only be purchased at liquor stores which usually close around 10:00 PM (hard liquor also is not sold past 10 PM on any day). This was fine by us–it just meant we had to stock up early!

We opted to check out Buy Rite–NJ Shop Rite’s liquor store add-on. What’s interesting about liquor stores in New Jersey is that, while they may not have the hugest beer selection, what they do have of craft options are usually rather interesting and varied. DuClaw’s Naked Fish immediately caught my eye, as the words “chocolate” “raspberry” and “stout” seemed to call to me, begging me to embrace the pink-scaled box in my loving arms. Being spoiled by Half Time (more on this in a later post), I knew that making up a mixed six-pack sampler was out of the question, and John and I agreed that if there were any beer that would be worth taking the chance on a full six-pack, it would be this one.

 

Man, were we right.

The first sip is more coffee-flavored than anything else–as the best stouts are–which makes sense, since Gourmet Chocolate Raspberry Coffee is added to the grain bill. At first the flavor is subtle, very standard for a medium body stout, but then the chocolate creeps in near the finish, with a delicate hint of raspberry in the aftertaste. Basically, Naked Fish is kind of like dipping a chocolate jelly ring into coffee and taking a bite out of it–for some reason writing that out sounds kind of gross but, trust me, it’s absolutely delicious.

Recommended drinking conditions: enjoy by a warm, luxurious pool on a cool summer’s night. Or on your couch in front of the TV. That works, too.

 

I’m always interesting in craft beer packaging. DuClaw’s logos and names read more like a list of font types and titles on a font website, but that only adds to their charm. I also respect that DuClaw has taken chances experimenting with different flavors for stouts, something I’m always happy to see. This stout’s a mere 4.6% ABV, but that’s because the focus is on the complementary flavors adding up to an overall great-tasting beer.

My count of brews I’ve tried by DuClaw is a measly two, but now knowing how good these two flavor-filled beers are, I’m keeping my eyes open for all the others they have to offer. A few I’m especially interested in trying are: 31, Anti-Venom Cluster F#@k, Black Jack Stout, Divine Retribution 3, Bad Moon Porter, and Dirty Little Freak.

 

Have you tried any of these? Let me know what you think!

 

Overall: 5/5    This might actually go up there as one of my favorite stouts. Kudos, DuClaw!

 

 

Speaking of New Jersey, get ready for our next post sampling one of the Garden State’s own brewing companies: Flying Fish. Stay tuned! 

 

-Jamie