I admit I have a bit of a burger problem lately. I find myself eating them more and more often as the need to wear a jacket outdoors diminishes. I’ve also sworn a solemn oath (to myself) to take more time to enjoy my lunches, and to enjoy them with wine or beer whenever possible. Hey, they’ve done it in Europe for thousands of years without too many major societal collapses, I say fuck the Puritanical American Lunch Ethic, lets ressurect the Three Martini Lunch with some brews instead.
Unfortunately for me and the rest of New York, not only does the best casual burger spot in the city become impossibly, ridiculously, unbelievably crowded as soon as the weather improves, but even in the dead of winter, the beer selection is pitiful. I’m talking of course about Shake Shack, the stand that has become an institution in just a few short years at the south-east corner of Madison Square Park. For someone so meticulous in his selection of every burger, dog, and custard component, Danny Meyer has really dropped the ball in curating the Shack’s beverage selection.
Fortunately for us beer-swilling burger-hounds, however, Stand (24 East 12th Street) happens to have an amazing selection of regional draughts, and grills up what I currently consider my second favorite cheeseburger in the city. A recent lunch trip brought MRB and I together to see what kind of damage we could wreak on the list during a workday lunch. I opted for my perennial favorite there, the Weyerbacher Hops Infusion (pictured, on the right). It’s sweet and malty up front, a nice counterpoint to the salty tang of the blue cheese sauce they serve on their cheeseburger, and fruity on the finish. The hop blend definitely leans towards citrus, perhaps at the expense of a more complex bitterness, but that makes it a great easy-drinker for the summertime.
We’ve been digging a lot of the Cap’n Larry brews lately (look for more from Ceeg about his trip to the brewery soon), so MRB opted to try the Captain Lawrence Liquid Gold (pictured, on the left). I’ll let him weigh in in the comments, as i didn’t try his until after I had already sipped my hop-monster and ruined my palate. I will say that it seemed pretty tame on all fronts and had an off finish, though it may have been due to dirty lines. There are plenty of other great beers on the list there that I look forward to getting into in the very near future. Actually I kind of feel like another burger right now…
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