Yesterday, Mark & Stacy, Nancy & I paid a visit to Blue Point Brewery located in Patchogue, LI. It's a great micro-brewery making some very fine beers. Their tasting room is open on Friday's and Saturday's, and allows visitors to sample a number of their beers that are on tap. The best part is that most of the beers available for sampling are free. We sampled their Summer Ale, Pale Ale, Octoberfest, Blueberry Ale, and Hoptical Illusion. Samples of the Hoptical Illusion are $1. All were good, but to me the Pale Ale and Hoptical Illusion were excellent. Then we compared Hoptical Illusion poured from a regular keg to HI as a Cask Conditioned Ale. The Cask Conditioned HI was $5 for a pint and damn, was it good! It was nice and creamy, very smooth with loads of hoppy & fruity flavors, and the fact that it wasn't so cold allowed the flavors to come thru even better. It was also noted that the cask conditioned sample was much darker than the HI from a regular keg.
During the visit, I spoke with one of the brewery's employees and asked if they had anything new and different that they were planning. He informed me that they're planning an experimental ale that'll be aged in bourbon barrels! That certainly got my attention. I'm hoping that when that becomes available I'll be able to get out there for a taste or 2!
Check out their website: bluepointbrewing.com