brew dog blog

It took me far too long to get to Beer Table.  Several things tipped me off to me needing to go as soon as possible, including compliments on their menu and food from T-Bone, a nod to their selections from Stinky, and the fact that they were the first bar to carry the 12% beers (Gaverhopke, Brasserie Botteresse) which I have endlessly gushed about here lately.  Since Ceeg hadn’t been there either, and since our better halves were off together having drinks at the Rainbow Room (seriously), we decided to get together for some fancy beers, and essentially ended up at the Rainbow Room of bars, in a totally good way.  The best way.  Seriously.

Beer Table is a tiny place in a part of Brooklyn that is surprisingly not packed with similar spots, just yet.  A unique establishment in a nice little neighborhood is always an attraction to me, especially in Brooklyn, and Beer Table nails the vibe — quaint, quiet, attractive, and relatively comfortable, given the size.  A big list of bottles greets you, arranged by owner Justin daily according to the flavor profiles he wants to highlight, arranged from light (Leelanau’s Petoskey Ale) to medium (De Dolle’s Oerbier) to heavy (shit, I can’t remember) and everything in between.  There’s also three draughts, one cask, and three or more beers “by the glass,” something I’ve never seen before, at least in terms of a bar offering them on a consistent basis, and a lot of snacks, which I didn’t delve in to, but I plan on correcting that soon.  They also just began offering a three-course price fixed meal with optional beer pairings, and they offer many home prepared items.  Check it out.

But on to the beer itself, the reason we were really there.  While I waited for Chris to show up, I ordered a Smuttynose Farmhouse Ale, to unintentionally continue the theme from my last post.  Smutty’s Saison is decent in the bottle but really great on tap, hitting all of the notes that a Saison should, and adding a decent amount of chewey texture and depth to boot.  Fragrant, satisfying, and delicious all around.  Chris sat down and ordered the same thing right away, and we chatted for a while as we finished them and tried to decide what to get next.

Ultimately the tap and by the glass lists called our names, and we took advantage of the bar’s generous offer — samples of any of the draught or by-the-glass beers.  We tried the Alvinne Podge and the Troll Shangrila, and chose to get a glass of each to share.  Going from the Farmhouse Ale, we drank the lighter of the two glasses we had first, that being the Shangrila.  Birrificio or Birra Troll is one of the Itallian breweries making a name for themselves with awesome articles like this from the New York Times (which they’re conspicuously absent from) and this beer was no dissappointment.  A strong, almost Belgian styled ale which was light in color and medium in body, Shangrila is spiced with a long list of herbs and spices which create a delicate but complex bouquet that kept me and Ceeg going: *sniffff*….”Whoah!”…*sniffff*…”Whoah!” for a while.  It was entertaining to us but probably not to the couple next to us.

The Podge is the Alvinne take on a heavy Stout, and in the bottle in the United States, it has been disappointing, mostly infected, overly carbonated, hard to pour, hard to drink.  I honestly can’t comment on the flavor with accurately in the bottle since I feel I’ve barely tasted it.  On tap, however, this is an entirely different beer, and Podge is a creamy, luscious, malty stout with chocolate, light roast, and dark dried fruit flavors, and a hint of bitterness.  Light carbonation, perfect body, damn.  Podge is a fucking hit on tap, don’t miss it.

For our next round we ordered two bottles — Gale’s Conquest, and one of my all-time favorites, De Dolle Oerbier.  The Gale’s came at the recommendation of Justin, and he couldn’t have been more right when he told us he thought we’d like it, given the descriptions of beers we’re into.  Gale’s is an English Brewery, well, it was, until it was closed down by Fuller’s, and Justin has access to some of their meant to be aged old ales and whatever else he can get his hands on.  Described as a “Pale Ale,” but rated at 9% ABV, the Conquest Ale is anything but a typical English Pale Ale and the vintage 2000 bottle that we had, served in a small wine bottle style bottle with a cork, was completely outrageous.  A tart, lactic nose was followed by a spicy, citrusy flavor with a nice amount of body.  It reminded me a lot of the weird German beer served in the pitch lined barrel at Sppuyten Duyvil — almost completey still, aged, and extremely funky.  Difficult to describe, but worth tracking down immediately.  Oerbier is one of De Dolle’s flagship beers, and is an idiosyncratic take on the origins of Belgian Beer.  A dark, light-bodied but beautiful beer with similar tart notes but with a subtle presence of fruit and a whole lot of depth. Very wine like and overall extremely impressive as always.

To finish off, we went for two more recommendations from Justin, and he came back with the Brasserie Vapeur Cochonnette, and the already-quite-touted-on-this-blog Gaveropke Extra.  We were pretty partied out at this point, but the Cochonnette struck me as being particularly intense, and the Extra was tarter, and perhaps younger, than the other bottles I have sampled.

A complete success at a spot that I will definitely return to soon.  Check it out ASAP.