Howling at The Moon

Brewer Kyle McDonald knows a good event when he sees one. His first Winter Cask Fest in 2016, held in conjunction with New Jersey Craft Beer's Mike Kivowitz, was so popular and well attended that he decided to do another. His 2nd Annual Winter Cask Fest took place yesterday at the popular Harvest Moon Brewery and Cafe in New Brunswick. And it played to a packed house.

I was invited by Frank Kropf, and due to an earlier commitment to my wrestlers, I couldn't get there until late afternoon. Which was OK, because there were still some excellent beers being offered in four-ounce or eight-ounce pours. But many I would have liked to sample had kicked.

Kivowitz, who claims to have 5,000 customers in his NJCB base, is all about Jersey beers, and even at 5:30 PM, it appeared that 10% of that base was still at the event enjoying what was left. This pic doesn't even show those who opted to go outside due to some incredible, un-February-like weather. (Note to self: Get there early next time.) Still, there were some real gems available. Frank Kropf grabbed one of Gretchen Schmidhausler's Little Dog beers called Gesundheit!, an altbier made with star anise--that was absolutely phenomenal. NJ's first beermistress proved again that she knows exactly what she's doing.

I also got to sample Carton's Red Rye Returning, and it, too was outstanding--fragrant, balanced and with a complex variety of palate and olfactory-pleasing notes.

Unfortunately, I did not get to try Bolero Snort's Double Dry-hopped Mango Moosaic, Cypress Brewing's Insane in the Grain DIPA with Blueberries, Demented's Tres Leches Sloth (Milk Stout with Cinnamon, Vanilla and Brown Sugar), Departed Soles Cocomo Dreams Milkshake IPA with Coconut, Flounder's Dry-hopped Hill Street Honey Blonde, 902's Black Dynomite Black IPA Double Dry-hopped with Simcoe, Spellbound's Ghost Pepper Mango Pale Ale or Tuckahoe's Meraki Barrel-aged Golden Sour with Pomelo. But they must have been good if they were all gone three hours after launch.

One beer I did get to try (that very few others did, because it was A: Not on the menu, and B: so well hidden) was a Stout from Cigar City called Double Barrel Hunahpu's. Kyle had to travel to Tampa to get it because it's available nowhere else that we knew of, and even in Tampa, he had to use his brewer's influence to score a bottle. It was an amazing brew, with coffee, pepper, cinnamon, vanilla--and, I think, cigar smoke from a Flor d' O'Halloran. If that reference is confusing, check out this fascinating story.

In any event, it was perhaps the best stout I have had in many, um, moons. That is, until I tried an eight-ounce pour of McDonald's own Oceanus Procellarum and Mare Tranquillitatis, a Bourbon Barrel-aged Imperial Stout, a Coffee Imperial Stout with Cinnamon and Vanilla. The Oceanus compared very favorably to the Cigar City brew in my humble opinion, and the Tranquillitatis did as well, being just a tad smoother with no pepper. Mare Tranquillitatis is a reference to the Sea of Tranquility on the moon. There are many interesting "moon links" at Harvest Moon. But one thing is sure: that McDonald kid can make stouts.

And, as always, you meet some very interesting people at these events. Take Pharmacist Sarah and "Planetary Geologist" Meredith, both delightful gals and beer lovers whom I engaged in conversation at the bar. When I shared that I was a bit disappointed that many of the fine beers had kicked before I got there, they said, "Just as well. There were so many people here an hour and a half ago, you couldn't have fallen down if you'd had one too many."

And that kind of popularity, apart from the danger of spilling your beer when you're shoulder-to-shoulder, is great for Jersey beer, those who enjoy it, those who brew it and those who promote it.

If the event hadn't occurred the same day as district wrestling, I'd have been howling at the moon much earlier.

But a tardy howl is better than no howl at all.

Cheers!

The PubScout