Well, Long Island's beer reporter has been tasting plenty of beer, but my focus over the last week has been Trappist or Abbey-style ales and outside of Southampton Publick House there are few examples brewed on the Island. DJ Swanson of John Havard's Brew House in Lake Grove has a Triple in the tank. I did stop in last Sunday for a mug of beer and to do some roving beer reporting, but ran into one of my buddies from the local homebrew club and we got to talking about the beers we are brewing right now and swapping suggestions. While we talked I drank DJ's Old Willy IPA that was served out of a cask and hand engine pumped into my 22 ounce mug. If you can believe it, I forgot to grab a copy of the beer list, so I don't know if the Triple is on tap yet. I'll let you know in my next update.

All the Trappist hunting took me to a few new beer stores and some familiar haunts too (giving me an opportunity to update my Long Island Beer Guide). I finally visited Swiftway in Medford where I was able to stock up on several of my favorites. I also picked up a bottle of Saxo brewed by Brasserie Caracole. I don't have written tasting notes, but it's one of the beers I reviewed on my podcast last week (it's in episode 4 in case you are interested).

I did manage to put together a collection of ales from all the Trappist monasteries that brew (except Westvleteren and that's because they don't export to the US). I invited a number of friends and fellow beer lovers over to my place last Wednesday for a "Drink Like a Monk" night. I previewed that event in my Brewsday column on The Spirit World this week if you want to know more about that.

To followup on something that Alan started last week, I got my hands on Porkslap Pale Ale and Heinnieweisse Hefeweizen from Butternuts Beer & Ale in Garrattsville, New York. I wrote a very long (like 1500 words) account of how I learned about this beer---it's too long to post here, but I tell the whole story on today's Slow Brew podcast (it's in the second half hour of the show). The podcast includes my tasting notes for both beers. If I have time, I'll try to post the full text of my Butternuts article on my web site and give you a link in my next Long Island Beer Update.