An old favorite bar of mine, Blind Tiger, is now in a new location down on Bleeker Street just one block from Seventh and right across from a great seafood restaurant, Fish. It has been in this location for awhile now, but due to a variety of reasons has just recently gotten their liquor license. The recently had a Belgian Beer Festival and I figured that would be a perfect time for me to pop in for a visit.
Bar Man About To Pop In
Blind Tiger always has a good selection of interesting beers, and this was no exception. I decided to try a few draft beers first.
A Tasting About To Begin
I had a Sly Fox Saison Vos, which is a Belgian style farmhouse style of beer. It was a nice golden orange in color and had a spicy touch to it while still being fairly dry. It was very good.
Next I had a Southern Tier Triple, an hefty 9% alchohol but nice and malty while still being spicy and somewhat sweet. The beer is straw colored and a bit on the cloudy side, or so it seemed. It was very good and dangerously drinkable.
Now you might have noticed that these are Belgian style beers but they are not actually made in Belgian. I decided to continue with this theme when I moved to a couple of bottled beers. These were carefully served up by Kate, the cheerful bartender.
Cheery Kate
Brooklyn Local 1
I started out with Brooklyn Local 1, made by my favorite local brewery, Brooklyn Brewery. Not like there are a lot of local breweries anymore, but these guys consistently turn out excellent beers. This one was no exception. It uses the traditional, though uncommon, bottle re-fermentation process. It has a nice spicy citrus flavor with a hint of yeast. It is also quite lively so you have to be careful so it doesn't foam all over the place.
Captain Lawrence Smoke from the Oak
My last one was not a Belgian beer, but sounded so good I couldn't resist. It was Captain Lawrence Smoke from the Oak. This porter style beer has been aged in French oak barrels that were previously used to age Merlot and Pinot Noir. A nice smooth beer that has all kinds of flavors to it in addition to the smoke. Think chocolate, vanilla, and malt. Really great. It would go well with game or chili and would be great to use when making chili if the recipe called for beer.
Of course part of any drinking experience is the friends you meet, new and old. This couple, Tom and Amanda, was visiting from either Ireland or England. I wasn't sure because Tom came from Ireland and Amanda was from England, specifically Liverpool. They were interested in the area around the Blind Tiger because they were big Bob Dylan fans. They were looking to find remnants of when he used to live and play in the neighborhood. I wished them well and sent them off to walk down Bleeker Street.
Tom and Amanda and Barman
After drinking my fill I headed across the street to Fish for a great piece of salmon. Then, before heading back to the subway home I stopped into SushiSamba for a quick saki.
SushiSamba
Barman Downing A Quick One
I had a cloudy saki, but forgot to write down the name. Bad reporting on my part. It was quite good though and made an excellent nightcap.
