When the Nail Creek opened its doors in Utica NY they introduced a challenge to craft beer drinkers. It’s more challenging for some, but its fun for everyone who loves drinking craft beer.
The challenge is simple. Drink 100 different beers at the Nail Creek and document it and you get your name in the craft beer hall of fame.
The difficulty comes in here. I started this challenge when they opened and when first introduced. The beers needed to be bottled. Draft beer didn’t count. I worked my way to almost 50 different bottles of beer. But I found myself missing the freshness of draft beer. The second part that was hard for me is they had to be different beers. I drink a lot of a Utica Club Beer and repetition gets you know where in this game.
So about 3 years later as my wife is pregnant and we’re planning the birth if our first child, I make it a goal to get this done before my baby is born.
Luckily when I got back at it the rules changed a little bit so I could add draft beer into the mix. This made me a happy craft beer drinker.
So I started by stopping in after work and having one new beer as often as I could. What you don’t realize is that beyond the glory of getting your name on the wall you really gain an extensive pallet and learn a lot about beer.
Not only through the challenge of drinking the beer, but from talking to the bartenders, craft beer drinkers and the beer snobs. I definitely know what kind of beers I like, what kinda bartenders are full of shit, and what a beer snob is.
Finally, I made it. I got to 100 beers and they added my name to the wall of fame. It took me three years and a bunch of money, but getting the chance to drink all those craft beers in Utica NY was worth it.
If you like craft beer and live in Utica NY this should definitely something you should try doing. If you’re visiting Utica, make sure to check out the Nail Creek’s craft beer selection.
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