Hop To It

I didn’t plan on going out last night, I was just going to pick up my share from the Harvest Astoria CSA, do my volunteer time and then make dinner with my freshly procured produce. As I sat at the CSA check in table, mentally creating a menu involving my fresh squash and basil and pondering what in the hell one does with pole beans, my phone began to buzz with an abundance of text messages: was I going to Hop Week? Hmm, usually I shy away from IPAs and all things proclaiming their hoptasticness but all this hype for the hop was piquing my curiosity and, after ten days of sobriety, I sure could use a night out.

Sunswick began their Hop Week on the 13th and it extends through the weekend, offering up an impressive rotating menu. I’ll admit, I was a little intimidated by the list of bitter brews. The bartender gave me a few samples to break the ice and, what do you know, I actually found myself digging the floral spicy hop notes. I started with the Rogue Juniper, a nice herbally concoction accented with piney notes and hints of hops. My friends opted for Left Hand’s Hop Sun, bright and crisp and very easy to drink, and the Hazed&Infused from Boulder, which is unfiltered and dry hopped.

Wednesday, as it turns out, is trivia night at Sunswick and it was pretty crowded but the owner quickly re-arranged the bar stools so we could slide in next to the trivia teams at the bar. We arrived too late to join but were still entertained by answering the questions among ourselves. I enjoyed the random beer questions the host peppered in to his routine in honor of Hop Week, so I will use this opportunity to drop some knowledge on you, dear readers. Hops are the female flower clusters of the hop plant and they impart a spicy, tangy, and often bitter flavor when added to beer as well as add to the over all aroma. The Reinheitsgebot, or “purity order” of 1516 states that a beer must be made using water, hops, and barley malt in order to be called a “beer”. Hops are also an antiseptic, which is an important element when you are storing beer on, say, a boat. Historically, the IPA began out of necessity. Sailors on the route from England to India needed a way to keep the ale on their boats fresh and safe for consumption, extra hops were added and the India Pale Ale was born. Recently, the IPA has become somewhat of a challenge to brewers—how hoppy can you go? Hopheads in the U.S. experiment with single hop brews, combinations of hops and other yeasts, and the addition of botanicals and herbs to create uniquely distinct beers.

Usually, I like to fly under the radar when doing beer research. I like to sit down with a pint, ask for suggestions from the staff and just take it all in. Sometimes, though, fate intervenes. I broke the seal after pint number 2 and rushed back to the bar to pick out pint number 3. As I sat down, I noticed the owner Juan motioning to me to come talk to him. Had I been pegged as the Wench, I wondered? I walked over, smiling politely and prepared to introduce myself when he leaned in and whispered, “I don’t want to embarrass you, but you seem to have toilet paper stuck to your shorts.” Cue mortification. I thanked him and snuck off to the bathroom to quietly die in peace after removing said offensive tissue, damn my germophobia and need to cover every inch of the commode with TP before using it, damn summer time sweat, and damn my friends—isn’t it their job to alert me to this kind of thing?! I returned to bar and attempted to recover whatever dignity I retained by thanking him and introducing myself. It was one hell of an icebreaker, let me tell you. Juan sat down and we talked about his menu, his beer tastes, and his plans for upcoming events. I’m particularly psyched for the keg of Sixpoint Signal getting tapped today and the 3-year-old keg of Samiclaus he’s been aging for this Christmas. Sunswick has even been honored by Bloomberg as one of the greatest beer joints in the boroughs.

We made our way though pints of Coney Island’s Luna, which is their new summer offering, the Bruery Rugbrod, which was extremely drinkable and light however it was 8% a.b.v., and then on to the Gubna from Oskar Blues. The Gubna was the bartender’s pick for me, and he nailed it. It was rich and warming, florally hopped and delightful. Juan and I were going back and forth with beer knowledge and trivia, comparing our tastes. He said that he really enjoyed natural lambics, which are often over looked due to their sour taste. Most widely consumed lambics contain added fruit to sweeten them because the method used to make the beer requires that it be exposed to wild yeast to create a spontaneous fermentation that yields a sour bite. I had never experienced an unsweetened lambic so we got a bottle of Gueuze Fond Tradition. My friend Josh now has a new favorite beer, this is not for the faint of heart but if you enjoyed Warheads as a kid, chances are you can get down with the lambic.

I’d like to go back to the ‘swick and play trivia soon, I definitely need more visits to fully experience everything they have on tap and, since he rotates every other week, I am excited to see what other gems he has in store.