Barcade Visits WFMU

WFMU's Beer Hear! with Bob W. and B.R. from 1/27/2012

I was asked to fill in for Thursday afternoon d.j. Diane, as she embarked on a "metal cruise", and it seemed like a good opportunity to have some beer-guests on and do a live Beer Hear! segment on WFMU! Beer Hear! co-host B.R. was on hand, too!

Fuzzy photography courtesy of Bob.

Since the guys from Barcade have been so supportive of WFMU, holding two WFMU Meet-Ups/fundraisers in the last six months, Barcade Jersey City is one PATH station away, and we were at one such fundraiser this past Monday, we decided to invite them on to talk about beer, music and to sample a little of each! [Note: this Bob's idea, not WFMU's idea -- and the Barcade guys neither asked for nor expected any "favors" for anything that they've done for the station. They're a cool, unique local business, making J.C. a more interesting, better place -- that's why they were invited on to the radio.]

Michael, fuzzy Bob effect.

Paul, one of the founders of the Barcade "franchise", and Michael, the key man at Barcade Jersey City, dropped by to share some local beers, talk about music, play some selections, and answer questions about their fairly unique bar. 

Paul

We started out trying to guess the identity of an unlabeled 24 oz. bottle from Dieu Du Ciel, which was given to us by the brewer a few weeks ago. It turned out to be the Peché Mortal 10th anniversary! 

Dieu Du Ciel's Peché Mortal 10e.

Next it was the Hoffmann Doppel Bock from Climax the the Jersey-boys brought, which we found to be a bit "off" -- it was kinda sour. But, honestly, I liked it! In the podcast you'll hear a story about another "off" beer that I had at a bar which turned out to be much better than the "not-off" version.

Climax Brewing's Hoffmann Doppel Bock.

Then a "rum barrel aged imperial sweet potato ale" brewed by Bob Olson of Bolero Snort, a new NJ brewery set to open soon.

Bolaro Snort in the foreground.

Then we gave Port Brewing's Santa's Little Helper a taste.

Santa's Little Helper.

Did you know that Paul-Barcade directed a Sam (Dogfish Head) Calagione's music video?

Why can't Bob take a clear photo?!

There was a lot of entertaining banter (and some not-that-interesting banter) on the podcast. But can you pinpoint the moment when Bob earned himself a six-month suspension from the radio station? The photo below lends a cue.

This is how you get suspended from a radio station for 6 months (provided that you're clumsy enough to spill your beer into the board). (Which I was.)

Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout

On Monday, 23 January starting at 7pm, Barcade Jersey City will be hosting a meet-up that is also a fundraiser for WFMU. They have generously offered to tap their long-anticipated keg of Founders Brewing's Canadian Breakfast Stout (CBS) for WFMU and Beer Hear!. And in order to eliminate the mayhem that ensues at a rare beer tapping and to provide you with a comfortable beer-drinking experience, they came up with the brilliant idea of taking reservations for the tapping and donating the proceeds to WFMU. All you need to do to reserve your space and be assured a glass of CBS is pledge $20 (or more if you got a nice bonus from work around the holidays and are feeling generous) to WFMU and mention "Barcade/beer" in your pledge. They are taking 50 reservations and the spots are filling up fast. The price of the beer is not included in your pledge.

What's the hype, you ask? This massive imperial stout is brewed with chocolate and coffee and then aged in bourbon barrels which most recently held maple syrup. Beer, coffee, bourbon, maple syrup, Canada, horse on the label? These are a few of our favorite things! You know that Bob and I won't miss this.

Thanks to the powers-that-be who decide what can and what cannot be put on a beer label, this 10.6% imperial stout goes by the acronym of CBS because if the brewery put "Canadian" on the label (along with "Founders Brewery, Grand Rapids, Michigan") we'd all think that it came from Canada and not Michigan. Have a little faith in our geography skills, TTB!

Barcade Gives Back To Local Community Radio

On Tuesday Oct. 11, 2011 Barcade Jersey City  was the site of a WFMU Meet-Up/impromptu fundraiser for the non-profit free form radio station, headquartered just one PATH station east, near Exchange Place.

Steve K., B.R. and Joe Belock (Cynthia hiding to the left).

The bar donated all tips generated from 4pm-9pm, and then added on another $250, bringing the fundraising take to $587. Not bad for something that was set up less than 7 days earlier. And the radio station ended up being introduced to a number of local bar patrons who were previously unfamiliar with 91.1FM / WFMU.org.

Free soap?! Honey, run the bath water!!!

Patrons were invited to help themselves to WFMU stickers, soap, bottle openers and other promotional items, and then offered to take the "Beer Trivia Challenge" -- answer one beer trivia question correctly for a swank Brooklyn Brewery ball cap, a Gritty McDuff's t-shirt or another "big ticket" prize! And if the answer was wrong, participants still had a chance to win by stumping the trivia master with their own beer trivia question!

In honor of WFMU, Sixpoint Brewery (who are big fans of the station) agreed to rename two of their beers for the occasion. Specialized tap handles were created for the 'WFM-brU" beer, an american pale ale, and the "FREEDOM IS FREE FOAM" (a rif on the station's FREE FORM format), which was a Belgian style wheat beer.

Don't be surprised if Barcade JC host another WFMU event in March, during the station's annual 2-week on-air fundraising marathon!

4th from the left: "Free Foam".

4th from the left: "WFM-brU"!