Pop Quiz:
What do all of these places have in common?
- A dodgy flat-top “modern” estate pub, built at the distant corner of two very different housing estates, one quite compact and decidedly upscale and middle class (whatever that is now … we knew what it was then) and one with no core, a rambling collection of “affordable” housing with some incorporated council houses, for those of the working class (whatever that was) with aspirations towards eventual home ownership, still growing as more farmland is converted by developers. The pub originally stood at the very edge of that farmland, opposite several small shops (including a chippie), a little away from both estates but intended to be claimed, as it immediately was, by the estate of more modest means; the “nice” estate already had the old country pub in the lanes across the highway. The pub is still there but one estate has eventually grown around it; no prizes for guessing which estate.
- Another box-shaped pub, this time sitting on a busy wharf, opposite an inter-island ferry dock and a colorful flotilla of fishing boats, from small gaily-painted drifters to monstrous, ominous black/grey trawlers. The pub faced away from the granite-grey town that lurked over its shoulder and welcomed the fishermen and land-based fish workers that labored on the piers outside its front door.
- An imposing “Victorian” gin palace of a pub, built in the early 19th century and dominating the other stores and houses along a stretch of High Street in a North London borough. A quiet regulars’ pub during the daytime, and a live (and lively) music club for the garage, punk and post-punk scene in the evenings; mostly relatively unknown bands (as most were then), but also a recurring venue for Messrs. Difford, Tilbrook and Holland aka Squeeze. They tell me it is now a spoonies.
- A converted auto-mechanic shop in the rapidly gentrifying P-Street Corridor in downtown District of Columbia. A renowned beer-centric bar, routinely voted as one of the top-5 bars on the East Coast and top-20 bars in the entire U.S.
- A little bit of England on the upper east side of Manhattan. This pub and restaurant comes as close to an English boozer as you can make it, outside of the Home Counties. Authentic British food, both fine (yeah, there is such a thing) and rustic (mmm peasant food), and a serious commitment to real ale. It gets no better than this.
Yeah, they were all “haunted” at one time.
I had a busy week at work last week.
With multiple concurrent projects and their incessant remote calls and meetings, I was pretty much shot at the end of each weekday, barely able to do much more than feed Mr. Bagel (Meow!) and slump on the couch.
So, it was a good decision that I made to go out to my “local”, Jones Wood Foundry, on Monday evening instead of waiting until later in the week as I usually do.
Alright, I was encouraged to do so, in order not to miss out on sampling Ian Hatton’s 200th brew, the Old Glenham CC Special Bitter, which had been tapped over the weekend … bloody brilliant by the way.
I had a couple, and a couple of Strong Rope’s excellent Pub Ale, all lumped down with some Bangers & Mash (too knackered to cook for myself), and got to chat with the guvnor for a while.
I got back home, totally wound down again, after the day’s wind-up.
Everybody should have a “local”.
With my wife out all day Saturday I swung by JWF again, this time for a bit of social interaction and a pint or two of Fifth Hammer’s Hammerfest, which surprisingly, I had never had on cask before … bloody brilliant by the way.
The restaurant was buzzing, but the bar was quiet without any Premiership games on the box, nevertheless I got to chill out and spend some me-time in comfortable and familiar surroundings, and even managed to enjoy a couple of hours of some college football.
Everybody should have a “local”.
Walking the twenty minutes back home, passing the dozens of other drinking establishments that Yorkville and Carnegie Hill have to offer, I started to wonder if I was correct in referring to JWF as my “local”.
Hey, it was close to home, and I did spend a fair amount of my optional time in there, but what about all of the other places in-between, weren’t they more local than Jones Wood?
So, off to Google it was, again.
And as usual, it was pretty much a complete waste of time.
It would seem that in order to differentiate between a pub and a “local”, you first have to define what a pub is, as opposed to a bar.
- A pub is for old folks, while a bar is for youngsters. If that is the case, then what the hell was I drinking in for over ten years? The only bar that I knew was in the Student Union at Heriot-Watt University.
- A pub is for beer, while a bar is for cocktails. Rum and Black, that is a cocktail, isn’t it? What about Vodka and Babycham? I am sure that is a cocktail, a girly cocktail maybe, but still.
- Pubs are quiet, while bars are noisy. Tell that to the Ruby Lounge in Margate in the late ‘70s.
- And it goes on and on and on …
Everybody has an opinion, except maybe me.
It doesn’t matter if it is a pub or a bar (whatever they are), I just want to know if it can be a “local”.
Well, it would seem that the considered opinion of the majority of “experts” in this matter, is that a “local” has to be local, and possibly has to be the most local.
And apparently where I have been spending much of my quality time has not been spent in “locals” at all, but has occurred in regular haunts – who knew?
So, we can now provide an answer to our initial pop quiz.
Each of the seemingly disparate establishments described above have been haunted by the Cask Whisperer (or proto-cask whisperer) at some time in their history.
But why? What was the appeal?
It can’t just be for the cask ale, because the first three, those actually located in the old country, did not serve real ale while the Whisperer was in residence.
So let us consider each in turn, and try to distill their essence:
The Bounty, Strood
Minus Side
- Crowded and noisy.
- Smoky, very very smoky.
- You needed to know someone.
- No cask. Beer was meh.
Plus Side
- Your close friends all went there.
- Your close friends friends all went there.
- Your close friends family all went there.
- Your dad went there.
- Darts and whelks.
Thule Bar, Lerwick
Minus Side
- Unfriendly, unless you smelled of fish.
- It calls itself a bar even though it is a pub.
- Very basic, but that may actually belong on the plus side.
- No cask. Beer was meh.
Plus Side
- Your friends from the fish factory went there.
- Your stuck-up coworkers from the fish factory went to that other place.
- Friendly, because you smelled of fish.
- Fun with friends and chill by yourself.
- Beer was meh, but it was Tennents.
The Rochester Castle, Stoke Newington
Minus Side
- No character.
- Dead during the day.
- Coach & Horses across the street was friendlier.
- No cask. Beer was meh.
Plus Side
- Your flat-mates went there in the evenings.
- Real edgy atmosphere when a band was on.
- Pogo!
Churchkey, DC
Minus Side
- Could initially appear intimidating for newbies.
- Long lines for “cool” beer events.
- The stairs.
Plus Side
- Friendly, well informed bar staff.
- Friendly, curious customers.
- Massive beer selection.
- Five (now three) handpumps.
- Welcoming to regulars and newcomers alike.
Jones Wood Foundry, NYC
Minus Side
- Not local enough to be a “local”.
Plus Side
- Friendly if you want it to be.
- Professional if you just want a drink.
- Meat pies, bangers & mash, weekend roasts, full English …
- Good beer, cask and otherwise … Tennents.
- Home from home atmosphere.
So there you have it folks.
If you want the Cask Whisperer to regularly haunt your establishment, you must make it welcoming, dispense good beer (preferably cask), and optionally provide good peasant food (or whelks).
Either that, or be accepting of his friends and family, or allow him to enter by himself in a quiet contemplative mood, or just smelling of fish.
Everybody should have a regular haunt “local”.
Scorecard w/e 10/15/24
In the past week the Cask Whisperer has enjoyed the following casks:
- Old Glenham CC (200th Brew) Special Bitter @ Jones Wood Foundry
- Strong Rope Pub Ale @ Jones Wood Foundry
- Old Glenham Winders ESB @ Jones Wood Foundry
- Fifth Hammer Hammerfest @ Jones Wood Foundry
Upcoming Cask Events (Festivals and Otherwise)
10/26/24: 9th Annual NYS Cask Fest at Woodland Farm Brewery, Utica NY
Dang, it looks like I am going to miss it this year, I will be down in Virginia for a family event the night before, and it will be a long haul and big ask to go back to NYC via Utica!
They just announced that they will have a cask of Grimm Double Negative.
10/26/24: Real-ly Local Ale Festival in Eckington, DC
Well look at that! I will be down in that area for a family event the night before…
10/31/24 – 11/3/24: Cask-O-Ween at Fifth Hammer.
11/2/24: 20th Annual Blue Point Cask Ale Festival, Patchogue NY
11/8/24: Two Roads Cask Fest at Area 2, Stratford CT
4/2/25 – 4/5/25: 26th Annual NERAX will be held in Boston MA. Save the dates!
Upcoming Random NYC Casks
- None spotted as of yet.
NYC Cask Venues
Known Operational/Active Beer Engines
- Jones Wood Foundry (x2)
- Fifth Hammer
- Wild East
- The Shakespeare (x3)
- Cask Bar & Kitchen
- Drop-off Service
Occasional Pins (worth a follow on Instagram)
- Strong Rope
- KCBC
- Tørst
- Blind Tiger Ale House
- Threes Brewing
- Brouwerij Lane (First Friday Firkins)
