Beer Shangri-La is an observation by Jack Rusher, published here Friday, September 19, 2003. It is part of Appreciation.
My beer Shangri-La is situated at 167 Chrystie Street, New York, New York, and is called New Beer Distributors.
Some are born beer lovers — those to whom a bottle of Pabst Blue Ribbon is as much heavenly mana as any expensive import. Sadly, I am not such a person. Rather, I have a natural distaste for beer that prevented me from enjoying that frothy beverage for most of my youth.
The pint of Guinness was my one nod to the sacred tradition of the public house. I considered it an anomaly, contrary to my nature, that I enjoyed it as much as I did — more a genetic inevitability than a matter of taste.
Kwak, the Coachman’s Beer.
The transformative moment in my relationship with beer came when first I tasted a Belgian ale. It was neither the dark meal of a Guinness nor the water-thin piss of American beer. It was a beverage of sublime depths, one with the complexity and character of a fine wine.
There are many pubs in the USA that feature Belgian Ales — my favorites include the Toronado in San Francisco, Brewer’s Art in Baltimore, and Burp Castle, Mugs and d.b.a. in New York — but it’s often difficult to find the rarest, best ales in beer markets.
I stumbled upon New Beer Distributors on Chrystie Street while planning my recent flat warming. They have a Belgian Ale selection that’s larger than the total selection at most beer emporia, all at wholesale prices. They even sell my favorite, Pauwel Kwak, by the case.
Kwak is served in a miniature version of the traditional yard of ale that the barmen at the Toronado refer to as a “Kwak pipe.” We’re told this vessel was developed by the inn keeper for whom the ale is named to accomodate rushed coachmen who would ring their bells as they approached his inn, signaling him to ready a draught that he would slip into a special holder attached to the side of the coach, thus saving time and promoting drunken horsemanship.