written by: Ray Gruenfelder and Lauren Jablonski
Saturday night brought yet another great turn out to the Cradle of Aviation Museum for this years Hops & Props beer festival. The beers and ciders were flowing with even a little rum and wine. A great night was had by all including the writers of The Guy Corner NYC and some of our friends. Music was playing throughout the night, along with lots of laughs.
So what were some of the highlights? Lets start with the meat and potatoes of why we all got together, the beer and ciders.
Cider Picks
Homebrew & Handgrenades
Crappleberry Cider-Brewer Rosh & Steve (9% abv)
Stella’s Apple Pie Apple Cider-Brewer-Eric S. (7% abv)
Homebrews & Handgrenades always deliver an assortment of delicious beers and ciders that you cannot buy anywhere. My two favorites were the Crappyberry Cider (9% abv) brewed by Rosh and Steve and Stella’s Apple Pie (7% abv) brewed by Eric S. I’ve tasted Stella’s Apple pie at other festival but this was Eric’s best batch.
Ace Space Bloody Orange Cider (6.9% abv) – Ace Space tastes like tang and a beer had a baby. The tart citrus flavor will have you coming back for more.
Best Brews
Schlafly Double Bean Blonde (6.3% abv) – This blonde ale is brewed with cocoa nibs and French roast coffee. This is a great beer if you love the taste of coffee but don’t want a heavy stout, definitely one of my new favorites.
Original Sin Apricot Cider (5.5% abv) – Cider lovers try Original Sin Apricot Cider, its unique fruity flavor will not disappoint.
Smuttynose Brewing Co- Smoked Peach Short (6.9% abv) – The Smoked Peach Short is a berliner weissbier enhanced by a fruity smokey peach flavor. This beer is a game changer; definitely go pick up a six-pack of these.
Local Brews
Bluepoint Brewing Company- Honey Robber Cream Ale (5.5 abv) – Spring is on its way! Bluepoint Brewing Company released their medium bodied Spring Seasonal, the Honey Robber Cream Ale. The “sting” of honey balances out the bitterness from the 3 types of hops and 6 types of grains.
Greenport Harbor Brewing Company- Cuvaison (6% abv) – The Greenport Cuvaison is their yearly farmhouse ale brewed with the noble Halbert auto Blanc Hop and Chardonnay. Beer and wine enthusiasts both will love this one.
Port Jeff Brewing Co.-Orange Dream (10.3%) – The Orange Dream is a version of H3 Trippel with orange zest. This if you like oranges and beers with a high abv, this one is for you.
Great South Bay Lethal Cupcake Imperial Chocolate Porter (9% abv) – Great South Bay Brewery’s Lethal Cupcake is absolutely delicious. Definitely fill up a growler of this chocolaty delicious porter. Great South Bay Brewing was so popular at Hops & Props they even ran out of beer at the festival!
Among all the great beers on tap Saturday night, there were also some great bites and products for sale as well. From the food side, Bespoke Bacon‘s beer bacon jam and bacon samples (in a wide variety of flavors) were a BIG hit among those in attendance as well as Bulls I BBQ with their Big Bad Wolf’s Revenge” and their famous nachos. For that spicy side there was Wild Coyote Gourmet Hot Sauces. I (Ray) loved their Black Scorpion for extra heat as well as their Buried Alive which not only gave off some great heat but also provided some aweesome flavors that would work well with different foods.
I did say there were some great products for sale too right? Well two of our favorites Distinkttee TShirts and Scents for Gents were on hand and never disappoint. Distinkttee were there with some classic designs with a twist including different beer and wine themed shirts and Scents for Gents were also on hand providing just that, great candles for the guys including their NEW lumberjack candle. Who says candles are just for the ladies. Check out our post on them here.
