NYC Beer Trippin' to the Yankees (PT2): Heartland Brewery & Rotisserie

The Yankees have already swept the Minnesota Twins and the Phillies have done away with the Colorado Rockies, however before all this October playoff pandemonium started I took the train up to NYC to meet a few friends for my first visit to Yankee Stadium. Since I am a fly-by-night baseball fan my trip to the Big Apple served another purpose. I made sure to arrive early enough to explore a few good beer bars before meeting the group. The afternoon started at the very impressive Rattle-N-Hum and then moved half a block west to Heartland Brewery & Rotisserie (350 5th Ave) located in the Empire State Building.

My first experience with Heartland happened a few years back while visiting friends in midtown. Kelleigh and I stopped by Heartland's original location in Union Square. Since I'm known to drift into the closest brewery no matter where I am a Heartland stop was inevitable. Unfortunately the only thing that stood out from that experience was that nothing stood out from that experience. The food was decent but I remember the beer being fairly average. Not bad just nothing to shout about. Kelleigh had made the point that the place might work better for someone who was trying craft beer for the first time. There was good variety with nothing too over the top to scare off the macro minded beer drinker. In a sense what Red Lobster is to seafood, Heartland is to beer. Fast forward to now. So why did I decide to stop in on this trip? Besides having to pass the front door on the way to The Ginger Man (more on that later) HB&R brews one of my guilty autumn pleasures, a pumpkin beer.

Put pumpkin in it and I'm on it: cake, pie, latte, ice cream, soup, yadda, yadda, yadda. Every fall for the past several years my never-fail-me pumpkin beers have been Southern Tier Pumking and Dogfish Head Punkin' Ale. Wishful thinking had me penciling in Heartland's fall classic Smiling Pumpkin Ale. The brewery website states: "Our Famous autumn colored beer is made with honey-roasted pumpkins and simmered with ginger, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. A sweet and spicy harvest treat that goes down smoothly". Tasty brewery speak.

Smiling Pumpkin starts out with the big aromas of fall. Nutmeg, cinnamon, coriander and allspice are all present. Sadly the first sip revealed a taste that didn't quite reach the level of the aroma. Some light spice and sweetness came through with a touch of pumpkin flavor. The honey-roasting isn't detectable. Overall a little too thin for my taste. Since I am more of a pie-in-the-glass guy I was hoping for a bolder spicier beer with a maltier background. However it does fall in line with their other middle of the road offerings.

My quick stop at Heartland allowed me just enough time to toss back the pint and look around the place. The most notable point about the Empire State location were the bars. Upstairs reminded me of a slightly fancier Friday's (where is your flare?) while the dimly lit, quiet downstairs seemed like a trendier spot for the evening. A great space but either way I wish the beer had made the big impression. Onward to the Ginger Man.

To be continued...