The Ginger Man NYC Flights

After hearing about The Ginger Man from every bartender in Manhattan I asked about "the place to get beer", I finally stumbled across it my last night (embarrassed to say it was less than a half dozen blocks from my hotel).  Boasting 66 taps and over 120 bottles of beer from around the world, The Ginger Man was certainly the beer mecca it was promised to be, and offered some truly unique and hard-to-find beers.  Although the bar is the sibling of the original The Ginger Man in Houston, TX (named after the 1955 novel The Ginger Man), it felt like pure New York in all the best ways.


The first flight I had included The Ginger Man Ale (their house ale), Chimay Cinq Cents, Evil Twin Molotov Cocktail, and Nøgne Ø Sunturnbrew.
  

The Ginger Man Ale- Not reading the sign and only knowing The Ginger Man Ale was "ale brewed with real ginger, I was totally unprepared to the big Belgian yeast funk that met my nose and palette.  A Belgian pale ale by any other name, The Ginger Man was well balanced and it wasn't until the ale began to fade did the ginger bite show up, fresh and surprisingly complimentary to the spiciness of the Belgian yeast.

Chimay Cinq Cents Tripel- Shock number two of the evening... an ale as carbonated and light as the typical Chimay offering with an even bigger farmhouse funk than The Ginger Man.  To over simplify, Chimay + Belgian yeast.  Tasty.

Evil Twin Molotov Cocktail- By taster number three, I was ready for almost anything, but couldn't have been more caught off guard when the first sips of Evil Twin Molotov Cocktail lead with fruit punch with a touch of sourness and slight bittering.  The ale stayed fruity as it lingered, with a dry, astringent grapefruit rind creeping up in the end and eventually taking over.    

Nogne O Sunturnbrew- As if driven to push my concept of what beer should taste like to the limit, the Norwegian Nogne O Sunturnbrew brought big flavors of new tire rubber, roasted ham, and pure funk to the table.  Really... mind blowing (if not particularly enjoyable).  The lingering rubber taste took several minutes to clear from my mouth.

My second flight began with Avery duganA, Southampton Grand Cru, Southern Tier Imperial Mokah,and ended with Dogfish Head Old School Barley Wine.

Avery duganA Double IPA- For a brewery known for great IPAs, Avery hits the mark again with duganA IPA.  Slightly more toasted and bready in the malt profile than their other IPA offerings, there is still a psychedelic amount of pineapple and tropical fruit hops to be found in this ale.  There is a slight mineral/earthy quality at the edge of the hops, interesting but faint enough to not be distracting.

Southampton Grand Cru- Fruity, spicy, and slightly sour, Southampton Grand Cru is an excellent, somewhat funky introduction to the Southampton Publick House offerings.  Spiced, fruity, and a melange of different beer styles coming through with pronounced funky yeast.

Souther Tier Imperial Mokah- This ginormous (it's a word in the dictionary now?) Imperial Stout manages to bring creamy, cafe-style chocolate mocha latte flavor without giving away an heat to suggest its 11% ABV.  Sweets for the sweet tooth.

Dogfish Head Old School Barley Wine- 15% barley wine?!?  Yup, and it's not the first time I've done it...