Hops Hopper

Brooklyn Pub Crawl! September 7, 2008

One of my colleagues at work, who was also on the softball team, decided to organize a pub crawl in Brooklyn. We began our little adventure at 1pm at the Gowanus Yacht Club.  Interesting place- it’s entirely outdoors and there are a few wooden tables and a grill.  Beers were really inexpensive, especially the Pabst Blue Ribbon.  The first time I had PBR, i was in Beijing 4 years ago.  I wasn’t too experienced with beer (or alcohol) back then, but one guy was and when he saw PBR, his eyes lit up.  I guess after drinking Tsing Tao for the first week of the trip, he needed something a little more American.  Tsing Tao tastes like piss water by the way.  Any way, back to the pub crawl… I don’t want to sound like a beer-snob, but after drinking other beers, PBR is like the American version of Tsing Tao.  There’s a reason why it’s so cheap– it’s not good.  But I had to order it because PBR always brings back memories of my trip to China. I’ll always remember playing beer pong using a mixture of PBR and Tsing Tao (we couldn’t tell the difference in taste any way) and stacking a massively high pile of cans in somebody’s room.  Or the 4th of July BBQ we had and the people in China had no idea why this was a big deal.  We bought PBR event for that.  Ah, good times. 

We’re still at the Yacht Club and after forcing myself to finish the PBR i ordered, I looked on their beer menu and saw it– DUFF beer.  Homer Simpson fans might remember this beer from such episodes as… well they’re in almost every one of them.  I was thinking that it would be frothy and dark and come in a cool mug.  It was pale and came in a plastic cup.  It was ok, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to order another one.  I’m not a big fan of the pale ales, except for Harp.  It was fun to order though… or should i say D’oh! 

Next on the way–  actually have no idea where we went afterwards.  All i remember was that it was empty before we got there and we took up the whole place.  I ended up getting a Sly Fox.  It is a very bitter, dark, and strong beer, even more so than Brooklyn Lager.  But there’s a little hint of a spice, which makes the back of the throat tingle a little.  I wasn’t sure what it was, so of course i went on the internet and found out it was ginger.  I don’t like ginger at all.  I think it’s one of the worst tasting things ever.  I do like ginger ale though, but it’s fake– it’s all sugar water.  But i enjoy a Sly Fox every now and then.  The ginger isn’t overpowering and the handle on the tap is cool… it’s in the shape of a fox tail.  I like animals.

By this point, I’ve been to two bars and had three beers.  Not really buzzed yet, since PBR isn’t strong and i ate a burger and walked off some of the alcohol.  So, we go to the next bar and it was just a regular bar so i got a couple of Sam Adams seasonal.  i think I’ve already talked about that, so moving on. The next place i remember–it was called the Zombie Hut.  I’m pretty sure I had a Brooklyn Lager because they didn’t have any unique beers and being in Brooklyn, i had to have a Lager.  Warm lager, or any beer for that matter, is not pleasant tasting. It wasn’t warm when I ordered it, but after mingling and then going out for pizza, i left it unattended outside.  Whoops, my fault.  But if there’s anything I learned from my China trip, it’s that alcohol should never go to waste.  So of course I finished it.  

Finally, we made our way to Camp.  By now, there’s only a handful still with us from the first bar and most of us are pretty wasted.  Me included.  The reason the place is called Camp is because you can get smores… and not that, you get to make ‘em yourself.  They give you a chocolate bar, a bunch of marshmellows, crackers, sticks and FIRE.  yes you read it… FIRE.  Alcoholics and Fire… great combo right there.  But we were outside and there wasn’t much we could burn besides our fingers.  After a long day of drinking, we concluded at around 9 and went home.  It was a fun day and I’m glad i got to try to a bunch of different beers early on in the pub crawl. I eventually made it back home to Queens, while taking public transportation, and then i passed out on my bed, waking up at 3 in the morning.