East Coast Vs West Coast Punk Rock Brew Tour

[link to podcast page]
WFMU's Beer Hear! East Coast Vs West Coast Podcast

Three years ago, Smuttynose's NY sales rep Pat Fondiller started the East Coast Vs West Coast Brew Tour with two East Coast craft brewers and two from the West Coast. The idea was to take over the taps of a bar while a particular music genre battled over the sound system (think East Coast Hip Hop artists vs. West Coast Hip Hop artists) and the beers battled on the tap towers.

(C) Jan from Sierra Nevada, (R) B.R.

Pat said that the inspiration of the annual event was the fact that all of his music-centric pals drank terrible beer, and this was an excuse to try to get them turned on to the good stuff.

Jeff from Sixpoint, unidentified person, Pat from Smutty and Yvon from Oscar Blues.

We went to Barcade Jersey City, one stop on the 8-city stops on the tour, to talk to Pat about the history of the EC/WC Brew Tour, the schedule for this year's installment, as well as some of his ideas for future tours. One thing he told us was that, continuing with the beer/music collaborative themes, Smuttynose Director of Brewing Operations Dave Yarrington wants to brew a beer called  "B.W.A. -- Straight Out Of Hampton" once that their new facility opens in Hampton, N.H.! Suckers to tha side I know you hate my I.P.A. -- you're gunna get hops!

Barcade JC

Here are all the remaining dates left on the tour:


April 9 Bronx Alehouse -- Bronx, NY
April 10 Birdsall House -- Peekskill, NY
April 11 The Black Sheep Ale House -- Mineola, NY
April 12 Beer Authority -- NYC, NY
April 16 Julians -- Providence, RI
April 17 The Independent -- Providence, RI
April 18 Bar Matchless -- Brooklyn, NY


See ALL the dates for this year on the tour's FaceBook page.

Don't believe in Beer Santa? Now you do.

Sierra's Jan with his pal Liz of WFMU

Lagunitas: Charitable Beer

WFMU's Beer Hear! Lagunitas podcast

Even though we were at the Blind Tiger the previous day for our annual post-Thanksgiving dinner digestive walk, we were very happy to visit there again with canned food in hand to donate to a food drive for the Food Bank for New York City organized by Mark of LAGUNITAS BREWING. 

Mark of Lagunitas, B.R. and Jim of Lagunitas.

The deal:  if you brought just one can of non-perishable food to donate, the brewery bought you a pint! Feeding hungry New Yorkers, one pint at a time...

Lagunitas' Facebook page.

Did you ever hear the story of when Lagunitas was raided and shut down by the California ABC? If you check out the podcast, then you will have!

Lagunitas will host another charity/beer drinking event in NYC, too. On Tuesday Dec. 20, 2011, they'll be coordinating with TOYS FOR TOTS, the US Marine Corps charity which collects toys to distribute to kids who may not otherwise have such a merry Christmas.

Just bring a new, unopened toy to Rattle 'n Hum on Dec. 20, and you'll get discounted beer AND a free Lagunitas pint glass that you can keep! We hope to see you there! (UPDATE: This event will now take place on Dec. 22 at Blind Tiger.)

Why is there no Brown Sugga' for the holidays this season? And what is in its place? Check out the podcast to find out!

Do you know about the collaboration that Lagunitas did with German brewery manufacturer ROLEC?   Podcast!

Lagunitas Food Drive At Blind Tiger

Our weekly blogpost/podcast is usually up by now (this week it's WANDERING STAR), but it being Thanksgiving... the (not quite post-production) podcast IS posted to the WFMU website, and the accompanying blogpost should be up by tomorrow. But in the meantime, we hope that you can join us at Blind Tiger on Friday -- see the details below!

This Friday, 25 November, Blind Tiger (281 Bleecker Street) is hosting a Lagunitas canned food drive. Bring a non-perishable food item with you to the bar anytime between 4 and 8pm and Mark and Trevor from Lagunitas will buy you a beer, either their IPA or their DoppelWeizen. All of the food will be donated to City Harvest. And if you're out and about and don't feel like lugging cans around with you all day (what - you don't always have a spare can of peas in your back pocket?), there is a deli down the block where you can pick something up. Bob and I will be there so come on by for a beer and a good cause!

And speaking of the Blind Tiger, it has become a recent Thanksgiving tradition for Bob and me to stroll on over there (well, waddle, perhaps) after Thanksgiving dinner instead of passing out on the couch with a beer in hand. Instead, we have a few beers at the Tiger, walk back home, and then pass out on the couch later having made the mistake of eating a second helping of pie upon our return. Perhaps accompanied by a glass of Dogfish Head Honey Brown Rum. If you're in town, it's a mellow place to hang out and the most quiet you'll ever see the Tiger at night. Bartender Dom opens the place up at 2pm on Thursday and I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you brought him that second slice of pie.