Cask Beers At DBA Brooklyn

Friday night, on the way home from the Brooklyn Brewery, where we enjoyed the cask Irish Stout, Mary's Maple Porter, Ama Bionda and others.

We had both cask beers on offer, the Castle Rock Harvest Pale Ale and the Adnams ESB --  both British brewers.

The fact that we saw Alex Hall of the Gothim Imbiber and Wander Start Brewery and his lovely wife Felice there was a sign that we were at the right place for cask ale!

Ray Deter Is Remembered By Dan Shelton

 

Ray Deter Is Remembered By Dan Shelton

On Monday July 11, 2011 a huge group of people gathered for a Second Line memorial march for Ray, and on Wednesday July 13 a formal memorial service was held for close friends and family at the beautiful Marble Cemetery, coincidentally located opposite the backyard wall of D.B.A. Manhattan. Ray passed away on July 3 from injuries he suffered when he was hit by a car while biking to work on June 27.

The beautiful, moving service was followed by a reception at D.B.A., with the taps flowing freely, and a most elaborate spread of incredible food, which honored Ray's penchant for enjoying "good stuff." More like great stuff.

The bar was filled with many giants of the East Coast craft beer world, some traveling from afar, paying their respects. One whom was Dan Shelton, who was not only a colleague of Ray, but a close friend as well. The two "beer hunters" took numerous trips to Europe in search of obscure beers and breweries to expose to others. A number of very entertaining videos were made on these trips and will hopefully be made available soon.

In the meantime, we asked Dan to tell us something about Ray. What he said reaffirmed our perception of Ray as a guy who loved life and lived it on his own terms. Ray was a huge presence in the beer world as well as in our local community. Sadly gone, but never forgotten.

Ray Deter's Second Line

We had planned on having more than one podcast this week. But technical issues in recording an interview with one of Ray's close friends set us back a week. But we managed to at least post this podcast in honor of our friend Ray Deter, who passed away on July 3rd as the result of injuries sustained when he was hit by a car while on his bike. It's simply a sound recording, without an intro/outro or narration, from a memorial gathering held in his memory.
Ray's Second Line podcast

 

I couldn't count the throngs of people who showed up in front of D.B.A. East Village on Monday, July 11, 2011 to join in a New Orleans-style Second Line procession in celebration of the life of Ray Deter, but it was clear that Ray had a lot of fans, friends and admirers.

With a mix of sadness for the loss of a good guy, a good friend and a beer scene icon mixed with the joy of his legacy and happy memories, a colorful band of spirited kindred souls followed an impromptu collection of various horned instruments (sousaphone, trumpets, saxaphones, clarinet), drums, tambourines, washbord, bells, whistles -- even a melodica! -- playing some soulful N'orlans standards, like Basin Street Blues.

The procession began at D.B.A. on 1st Ave. with many carrying candles, hoisting colorful umbrellas and waiving white hankerchiefs. It traveled west on 3rd St., spilling into the street, then south on 2nd Ave., turning east on 2nd Street to Ave. B, making it's way to Ray's home on East 6th Street, where there were repeated cheers of "RAY!" and much whooping it up!

I recorded a nice section of "When the Saints Go Marching In" with some inspired horn solos on my digital recorder. Though the sound quality is iffy, it does catch a bit of the spirit of the march. I don't think anyone will forget this high-spirited, utterly unique (for NYC) celebration, just as none of us will ever forget the high-spirited, utterly unique Ray. In heaven there is only the BEST beer...

Good Beer Seal 2011 Inductees At Barcade

On Tuesday June 14, 2011 B.R. and I attended the induction party for 2011's inductees of the GOOD BEER SEAL association, a group of local beer-hedz who want you to know which establishments in NYC care about craft beer. B.R. and I spoke to Jimmy, one of the founders of the Good Beer Seal, at the event.
  Good Beer Seal Podcast

Jimmy of Jimmy's No. 43 and Ray of D.B.A.

BARCADE was packed for a Tuesday night. There were plenty of local craft beer folks in attendance, and it was really more of an informal gathering than a ceremony.

The 2011 Good Beer Seal inductees.

There was plenty of delicious free grub on hand -- pork bellies with pickled onions (courtesy of Jimmy), hefty pork sandwiches (courtesy of Sam of Waterfront Alehouse), and very tasty eggplant/mozzarella sandwiches and macaroni salad and potato salad (provided by a local good shop/caterer, which I need to track down)!

It wasn't enough that B.R. and Maia (Brooklyn Brewery) wore the same shirt...

 

so did this guy!!!

Jimmy, B.R., Bob, Kelly (Kelso Brewing), all wearing different shirts.