Melba and Niko from *Long Island Pulse* talk beer.
Melba scored tickets to the [*North Fork Craft Beer Festival*][2], at **Martha Clara Vineyards** in Riverhead, and invited me. It was the second time I was lucky enough to attend, but it was Melba’s first. There were dozens of New York and Long Island brewers as well as distributors, home brewing groups, and even our [local Rock station][3] all giving out 2 oz. samples of beer and wine for us to try. We were pretty surgical in our attack plan. We hit our favorites, like [**Long Ireland**][4], [**Greenport Harbor**][5] and [**Spider Bite**][6], and sought out some up-and-comers that we hope to profile soon. [Melba][1], ever the personable front to *DnU* found time to speak to almost everyone and got her photo taken with [Niko from *Long Island Pulse*][7] magazine, and [Mike from *The Beer Amigos*][8], which got us thinking we should get get a press pass for next year’s event. We’d gladly interview people face-to-face while they continually refill our 2 oz. glasses.
Melba and Michael from *The Beer Amigos* drink beer.
It was a lot of fun and the weather held out, having been threatening to rain all weekend, and as a bonus, we got stop by [**Long Island Spirits**][9], the maker of *LiV* Vodka, on our way home to try their new *Pine Barrens* single-malt whisky, made from [**Blue Point Brewing** *Old Howling Bastard*][10]. Whoa! It was pretty killer, with a bit of heat and a lot of sweetness, with vanilla oak tones. They’ve made three batches, and they keep selling out as soon as they go on sale. When I get a full bottle, I’m going to do a proper review.
Tasting **Long Island Spirits** new *Pine Barrens Whisky*.
**Sixpoint** *Brownstone*, **Orchard Gate Gold** *J.K.’s Scrumpy* hard cider, **Samuel Adams** *Stony Brook Red* and *Harvest Collection*! Gonna be a good harvest season.
And it’s mid-August, so of course, that means that we’re all quitting summer, even though it technically has over a month left. Commercials and retailer are all reminding us of back-to-school, and, even though I’ve been out of school for twenty years, I still get anxious around this time. But beer is here to save our lives, and the Octoberfest-styles and pumpkin ales [all begin to come out now][15]. We got to sample our favorite pumpkin ale, [*Leaf Pile*][11], at the *North Fork Craft Beer Festival*, but what I couldn’t wait for was my first **Samuel Adams** *Octoberfest*, which is my singular favorite beer. So I stopped by [**Bellport Beer Distributors**][12] to pick up the *Harvest Collection,* which has amongst the regular *Octoberfest* and *Boston Lager* their dunkelweizen and a hazelnut-flavored beer, *Hazel Brown*. I don’t mind admitting that I stuck one of those in the freezer so I could drink it within 20 minutes of getting it home.
**Bellport** also had **Samuel Adams** *Stony Brook Red*, which I’ve been eager to try for a couple of years now. As far as I know, it was just available at the Boston brewery until recently. And to round out the autumnal goodies, I purchased a couple of *Scrumpy* ciders for Mrs. Ferment and [**Sixpoint** *Brownstone*][13]. I believe I’ll have to wait for Melba to come over to sample the later, as she’s gone brown ale crazy.
[1]: http://drunkandunemployed.com/index.php/author/melba/
[2]: http://www.northforkcraftbeerfestival.com/
[3]: http://www.wbab.com/
[4]: http://www.longirelandbrewing.com/
[5]: http://harborbrewing.com/
[6]: https://www.facebook.com/SpiderBiteBrewing
[7]: http://www.lipulse.com/search/results/88f713276f0ffc3ceea7ec1db448605d/
[8]: https://www.facebook.com/thebeeramigos
[9]: http://www.lispirits.com/
[10]: http://drunkandunemployed.com/index.php/2010/11/blue-point-brewing-old-howling-bastard/
[11]: http://drunkandunemployed.com/index.php/2010/12/greenport-harbor-leaf-pile-ale/
[12]: http://www.bellportbeer.com/
[13]: http://brownstone.sixpoint.com
[15]: http://brewyorknewyork.com/post/29633604643/is-it-pumpkin-season-yet-no
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