If like me, you follow all of the NYC area breweries on Instagram, you may have noticed the recent trend going around the taprooms and brewing spaces, namely Goat Yoga.
If like me, you are ancient in body and creaky in bone, you may have pooh poohed the dicey yoga stuff and searched for something a little more sedate in the way of exercise.
Well, look no further and allow me to introduce you to Hiking with Goats.
Those folks who pay attention to the Scorecard section of the blog below, will see that there are quite a few cask events coming up this month, most of which I will not be able to attend personally due to prior commitments.
So, when I got wind of an event occurring at Odd Bird Brewing on the one weekend that I knew I would be free, I jumped at the chance even though it would involve a two-hour road trip to Stockton NJ, alongside the Delaware River in far west Hunterdon County; of course, my darling wife volunteered to come along and handle the driving duties.
I set about searching for some rewarding activities that we could both partake in, to make the trip a little more fun for my designated driver, and came up with a short list of farm museums, u-pick orchards and farmstands/markets that I thought she would enjoy.
And then I checked back on Odd Bird on Instagram to make sure that I had all of the date, time, and location details sorted out, and stumbled on another event that they had held back in March, to collect blankets for newborn baby goats.
The electronic trail led me to Gorgeous Goat Creamery, a small goat dairy and farm just twelve minutes’ drive from the brewery, and actually on the way, if I was willing to navigate through the back lanes of central Hunterdon County; if I had just gone with Google, I would have missed it.
Checking their upcoming events, I noticed that they had spots available on their next scheduled goat hike, which was due to start the same time that the brewery was opening; we signed up immediately, figuring that Odd Bird would still have some cask ale left after an hour or so.
Many years ago, I had persuaded my wife to hike up a mountain in New Mexico by lashing her to a llama, so I knew that an hour’s short stroll through the woods of New Jersey with a small herd of goats would probably be a success, and would earn me some brownie points when I finally got to the casks.
And it really was a success.
It was so relaxing just wandering the mostly goat-cleared trail through the trees, while farmer Matt explained what he was doing with the farm, and answered any questions that we had.
We were outnumbered 8-6 by the goats, who volunteered to join us on our stroll, and much of the time we just emptied our minds (see, just like yoga) and let ourselves be entertained by our cloven hooved companions, who alternated between foraging and playing and foraging again; yeah, mostly foraging, but they also seemed to enjoy our company, and came up to us individually for pets and rubs and scritches, many times during the “trek”.
When the hike was sadly over, we got to sample some of the delicious cheeses that they make at the creamery; we didn’t buy any, because we knew that we were going to be out in the sun for several more hours before we would see a refrigerator, but will certainly be checking out any farm markets closer to the city where we can find any of their products.
Returning to the back roads, we were soon pulling into the converted gas station that was Odd Bird Brewing.
The taproom was quite crowded, but we managed to find seating and table space (and guest dogs) outside under the tent, where I settled my wife with our lunch pail of prepared munchies, and then ventured inside to be greeted by the sight of three pins and a beer engine on the bar, all serving British style beers.
There were actually six different cask ales on the event menu, as they also had two replacement pins ready just in case any of the initial offerings kicked; they needed both, but despite our late arrival I did manage to get half-pint samples of all available beers.
Every last one was absolutely brilliant, they have a deft and delicate hand with the nuances of brewing a bitter or a mild or a golden ale or a stout.
Hard to pick a favorite, but I am going with the Extra Stockton ESB, their “original” version brewed with Fuller’s yeast, which had all of the fruitiness of the dangerous Fullers GBH ESB that I grew up drinking, and sometimes regretting, back in the day.
They had a second Taylor’s Version of the ESB, this time brewed with Timothy Taylor’s yeast, equally delicious but quite different in character; a more pronounced bitterness that may have been suppressed by the Fuller’s yeast.
Together they highlighted the marked differences that occur with the swapping out of a single beer ingredient, one that usually does not get much recognition, when compared to the hops or malt or even the water.
As for my preference, well, I am a southern boy.
Another standout was the Mome Rath rye mild which was on the handpump; rye is not a typical or traditional ingredient in a British beer, but here it was perfectly integrated into the ale, giving it a soft spiciness without obscuring the essential Britishness of the end product.
Even though the event was busy, I managed to grab a couple of short conversations with Adam, the co-owner and co-brewer, who told me that they were a small family run business and that they were only open for service three days a week, Thursday to Saturday; the remaining days are spent on brewing and production, as they sell out pretty much all of their output each week, including three pins.
They hold this cask event three times a year, one for each season except summer, so the next iteration will be coming up in January next year.
Should all go well with the world, I fully expect to be returning here in January, if not before; I will also be looking to return again in April, when it is baby goat season; my grandkids will love it.
I had no idea what to expect when I first came across this event, but I was hoping to scope out the neighborhood (beautiful by the way) and get at least one proper beer.
I got six.
Just remarkable.
Scorecard w/e 10/08/24
In the past week, family duties and commitments kept me away from JWF all week, but on Saturday I took a road trip to Hunterdon County NJ and attended a cask event at Odd Bird Brewing, where I managed half-pint pours of the following six casks:
- Odd Bird Black Sheep Oatmeal Stout @ Odd Bird Brewing
- Odd Bird Maurice Golden Pub Ale @ Odd Bird Brewing
- Odd Bird Extra Stockton ESB @ Odd Bird Brewing
- Odd Bird Mome Rath Rye Mild @ Odd Bird Brewing
- Odd Bird Mumbletypeg Tavern Stout @ Odd Bird Brewing
- Odd Bird Extra Stockton (Taylor’s Version) @ Odd Bird Brewing
Upcoming Cask Events (Festivals and Otherwise)
10/11/24-10/13/24: 18th Annual Cask Days at Bar Volo, Toronto ON
Yep, I know it is a long way away, but it can be reached by public transportation (well, Amtrak). I was just about to put it into my calendar but a whole bunch of conflicting events came up, so for me, next year.
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.
10/31/24 – 11/2/24: As yet unnamed cask event 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
- Still watching out for the KCBC Shadow Crypt Festbier to put in an appearance, unless they managed to slip it by me while I was distracted.
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)
