Ponies and Jiggers, January 2024

And we’re back with all the booze news you can use for January 2024.

Galentine’s Day Brunch

Our pals at Ellicottville Brewing are hosting a Galentine’s Day Brunch on ‘ebruary 4, at their Little Valley, New York, location. We’ve [enjoyed its hospitality][preev] before (14 years ago!!) and are so pleased to see the brewery has expanded to 5 locations.

Strawberry Rhubarb Moonshine

We received a press release from Northern Rose Spirits announcing Still Fired Distillery’s latest addition to the US Market, Strawberry Rhubarb Moonshine. The Canadian distiller is “located by the coast of the Annapolis River and within ½ mile of the Bay of Fundy, has earned a strong reputation locally for its premium small batch spirits made from their custom-built stills.”

From the press release:

Still Fired’s Moonshine is an un-aged, corn mash whisky that is fermented and double distilled. The un-aged whisky is then blended with fresh local strawberry and rhubarb juice to proof down to 20% [sic]. No added sugars or additives.

We’re not big supporters of calling moonshine “un-aged whiskey,” because moonshine can end up being anything. It’s just distilled from any sort of mash, and has no other characteristics of whiskey or vodka or gin. But that’s neither here nor there. And we’re definitely intrigued by the flavoring being just strawberries and rhubarb without sweeteners. The relatively low ABV would lend the moonshine to light drinks, sounding great for summer.

What is possibly our favorite part of this, though, is that Kristin from Northern Rose Spirits is sending us a goody bag due to ship at the end of the month. That’s our type of press release! We will, of course, let our wonderful audience know what the goody bag contains.

Check out Northern Rose Spirits on Instagram and find out more about Strawberry Rhubarb Moonshine on its site.

6th Annual Cask Ales FUNdraiser

The Long Island Beer and Malt Enthusiasts (LIBME) are having their 6th annual Cask Ales FUNdraiser this Sunday, January 21 in Bay Shore. From the Eventbrite page

On Sunday, January 21, 2024, we will be holding our 6th Annual Cask Ales Festival fundraiser at The Brewers Collective in Bay Shore to benefit The Barton Center for Diabetes Education. It will feature cask ales from local Long Island breweries — ALL DONATED. We will also feature local wine.

There’s over a dozen local brewers and wineries participating, including our friends at übergeek Brewing Co. and Po’Boy Brewing. Hope to see you at the event which takes place at The Brewers Collective, 1460 North Clinton Avenue, Unit N, in Bay Shore, NY 11706. Tickets cost $63.54.

Catoctin Creek

Catoctin Creek is celebrating its 15th year in business! Congrats! Founder and General Manager of Catoctin Creek, Scott Harris kindly did a QnA with DnU back in December of 2012, and we’ve been checking out its progress over the years. The distillery recently announced that it can ship its whiskeys, ryes, and gin out-of-state. Unfortunately, New York is on the restricted list, so someone will have to volunteer to smuggle us some Roundstone Rye.*

* That’s just a joke, ATF and/or FBI and/or NYS Tax Authority. We never encourage anyone to do anything illegal.