Eric: Usually my Tuesday nights consist of gently sobbing in a dark corner of my bedroom, but last night I went to a bar! Spitzer’s Corner is on the Lower East Side, and turned out to be more of a restaurant than a bar. They had 40 taps and a few cool bottles/big bottles. I went with my friend Chad (to protect his identity, let’s call him Chuff) and we sat facing the street watching the LES scofflaws walk by.
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- menu
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- menu
We each got a Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale draft to celebrate the season. It was just ok, but nothing like the amazing Southern Tier Pumking. Pumking is like drinking a slice of pumpkin pie. The Smuttynose tastes like a little bit of a pumpkin and a lot of chemicals, and really bitter.
pumpkin ew
Chuff got a Riegele Kellerbeer, and I got a Green Flash Le Freak. The Keller is actually a type of beer (also called Zwickel) that’s a German lager. He got it because it seems like no one’s ever tried it (only a few reviews online) and it’s not brewed anymore. Which is a good thing, because it was kind of gross…smelled and tasted like apples, and felt really thin. Way to go, Chuff! My Le Freak was very good. I chose it because it’s a Belgian IPA, which are my two favorite styles of beer. It smelled like bread and citrus and tasted like bread and citrus. Way to go, Me!
Next we splurged and split a bottle of Goose Island Madame Rose. I won a bottle of this at the Goose Island takeover at Top Hops, but hadn’t opened it yet, and have actually never tasted it before. It was the 2012 version, aged in wine barrels, with cherries and brett (Brettanomyces yeast).
yay
It was fruity, funky and yummy-ey. I really loved it, and considered murdering Chuff so I could have the whole bottle. Then I remembered Chuff was paying for all this beer. Way to go, Chuff!
On the walk back from the subway in DUMBO, I saw this street art which is just another thing that makes living in NYC great…
Related articles
- Casting a Spell: I Learn a Lesson in Pumpkin Beer Extravagance (thisiswhyimdrunk.wordpress.com)
- Southern Tier Brewing Company’s Pumking (thebittersandthesweet.wordpress.com)
wheresthebeerny.com 
FYI, they have a secret special rare beer list if you ask for it. Expensive, but that’s what expense accounts are for, no?
really? remember anything on it?
I remember lots of vintage stouts, lambics/gueuzes, that sort of thing. Many in the $50+ range.
interesting. The $28 for the Madame Rose was definitely enough. I really wanted to get the Cascade Apricot Ale, but couldn’t justify paying the $36 since I was just in Portland two weeks ago and bought it for $20.