brown's brewing

To be honest, I have not thought much about Troy, NY in the past. But then again, up until a few years ago I hadn't thought much of St. Louis or Kansas City, and now I know a lot about them!

I was sent a crown from Brown's Brewing Co by the Crowncap Kidd. (Thanks!!). It reminds me a lot of Kansas City's Boulevard Brewing Co's bottle cap -- it has the smoke stack and the brewery image.  The part I like best? (Can you guess?) It says "Cheers!" which is always welcome when opening a frosty brew.

After checking out Brown's selection of beer, my mouth started to water. Can I find their Cherry Raspberry Ale and Oatmeal Stout in NYC? Or their Pumpkin Ale? Gotta love the seasonals...

I am a fan of this bottle cap, and now a fan of the beer, and I haven't even tried it yet!  Here's hoping that I get to, soon.

Unfortunately, the schedule doesn't allow for posts next week. Drink a cold one for me, and see you on the flip side.

magic hat

Last week I had dinner with a very good friend of mine. We are both making a concerted effort to spend more time together (in NYC it can be easy to go weeks/months without seeing friends -- life just has a tendency to get in the way).

The restaurant we went to for dinner was BYOB, and she texted me while on the way that she was picking up the beer. Hurray! In retrospect, I should've told her to get a mixed six-pack, but it was too late.

Luckily, she came to dinner with a six pack of Magic Hat #9.  How can I complain about that? And it was then that I realized that I haven't actually blogged about Magic Hat yet.

Magic Hat is both awesome and terrible for collectors of bottle caps. On the one hand, they have fantastic sayings underneath each bottle cap.  Examples?

• Poise and Grace Keep Egg Off Your Face
• Try to Impress And You Make a Mess
• Never Decline A Number 9

You could also just go to the @MyMagicHat twitter feed for a constant stream of witticisms by Magic Hat.

But the terrible aspect is that Magic Hat only has one main type of bottle cap (up top) -- the place where I'm most interested in diversity & design.

Magic Hat, I must ask -- why, if you enjoy the phrases below, do you not vary your bottle cap above? It seems only logical that you would want to give variety and color to your bottle cap BEFORE people take it off to drink your tasty beers. And then, while drinking and enjoying, to be able to read the quotes and also admire the variation in design.

It also brings me to the question that my faithful readers can hopefully answer: what other bottle caps have phrases underneath? Are any as varied as Magic Hat?

Also, have any of you ever won the bottle cap opener? (hint, hint, Magic Hat!)

youngs

A while back, I mentioned that Crowncap Kidd had sent me a pretty sweet haul of new bottle caps.  I previewed a few of them early on, but have yet to really dive into the awesome crowns I received.
This changes now!

Youngs Brewery, hailing from Merry Old England (where I will be traveling later this summer), has a pretty great bottle cap.  Dark blue with a white ram head, yet slightly modernist in its image -- and even has that "is it a ram or is it a Y" thing going on.

It has an animal on it, which is a plus. It has a Y, which stands for Youngs. Would I know, though, by looking at it that it is a UK beer called Youngs? Probably not.  I understand it would take away from the minimalist theme they have going if they actually put Youngs on there, but it would certainly help with brand recognition, especially in the US.

It looks like Wells and Youngs recently merged, and although I haven't blogged about it yet, I have tried Wells Banana Bread Beer (which is quite delicious).  I'll blog about that one another time!

seadog brewing

A while back, I mentioned that Crowncap Kidd had sent me a pretty sweet haul of new bottle caps. I previewed a few of them early on, but have yet to really dive into the awesome crowns I received.

This changes now!

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to have another delicious dinner at Luke's Lobster, this time in the one on the Upper West Side, before attending a play in Central Park (gotta love NYC in the summer).

Luke's Lobster prides itself on getting fresh Maine lobster and providing local brews (both soda and beer). I'm sorry to say that I did not get the Sea Dog bottle cap at Luke's but it seems like it would be a good place to find it. There were a few other beers, but we were in a bit of a rush and ended up not having time to really sit down and enjoy a brew, so we stuck with soda for our beverage of choice.

I will also direct readers to the history page, where not only does it tell the story of Sea Dog, but ALSO talks about Barney the Dog. I love it when there really is a dog associated with the brewery.

I love this bottle cap! It's simple, and although it doesn't really tell the drinker what they are having, it sticks with the animal theme that I enjoy. However, it would be pretty cool if they stuck their dog with the rain hat on the bottle cap. Didn't I already go over this last week with Shock Top? Take advantage of your mascots when you can!

cooperstown brewing

It's almost Memorial Day!  In honor of the unofficial start to the summer, I offer the Cooperstown Brewing bottle cap. Michael and I have our work cut out for us. All totaled, I think we're going to five major league stadiums (and a few minor leagues thrown in for good measure) over the next three months. Technically, Michael already started his baseball season (in ATL) but it is MY official start this weekend. And on that note, next week's posts will be a day late. So, have a great Memorial Day weekend, drink some brews for me ...and save the bottle caps!

leinenkugel big butt

Leinenkugel does come up with a good name, don't they? Leinie's Summer Shandy...Big Butt Dopplebock....Ummm, ok, maybe just those two.

When I first saw this crown on the Crowncap Kidd's website, I knew I had to have it. I emailed him and asked if he was willing to do a trade, and also asked if he had any knowledge of where the name came from. He sent me this story:

Well, rumor has it that a specific woman patron of the Leinenkugels’s taproom, Molly Phillips, had an affinity toward their seasonal (Autumn/Winter) bock beer (actually a double bock). This woman also had an incredibly large backside, so big in fact that she often saddled up two bar stools next to each other so that she could enjoy the bock during happy hour when she visited the taproom. The other patrons took notice along with the bartenders, management, and brewers. For a while (prior to bottling) their bock in the tap room was designated "Double-Stool Bock" on the white board. Upon the decision to bottle, however, they decided to make a name change since marketing wanted to steer away from the possible potty-minded folks and assure everyone that there was no possibility sales would be hurt from drinkers who feared getting the runs from the consumption of their strong double-bock beer. Wanting to still honor/razz Molly, they changed directions and simply stated the obvious. Thus, Big Butt Bock was born for the marketing push of the bottled product. Crazy, huh? 

Ok, Ok. It's not true. But Crowncap Kidd, as I said in the email, you spin a good yarn.  I don't think I could have come up with a better one!

saranac

A few weeks ago, I was invited to a birthday party in Williamsburg, aka hipster central. Home of the skinny tie, ironic moustache, NYC food truck scene, and trucker hats (are those still popular?), Brooklyn also has its fair share of micro brew sodas and beers.

Saranac, an Upstate NY brewery does a bit of both: beer and soda, that is. And soda is what I found on that fated day in Williamsburg. An Orange Cream, to be precise. Tasting a bit like an orangicle, it was way too sweet for me, so I handed it over to Michael to finish.

But Saranac also makes beer! I think I've mostly had Saranac beer on tap in finer establishments across the city, but thankfully, due to a recent shipment of admittedly awesome bottle caps by the Crowncap Kidd, I also have a bottle cap for the beer (thanks!).

So, readers, lets compare and contrast.

Personally, I am leaning toward the beer crown. Classic and simple in design, the beer crown doesn't need to fuss with bells and whistles. It is here, and it is making a statement. The soda crown, however, is slightly easier to read from a distance, and also offers a bit of history (established in 1888? Well done!).  They also kindly state that you are about to have a soft drink. No alcohol to be found in this bottle. (thumbs down!)

Thoughts?