Thursday, February 07, 2008

Revenge of the Beer Nerds

Track84inside

My friend Alan, while once traveling with the future N4N on dusty backroads in the former colony of British Honduras (which by then had been redubbed Belize), launched into a spontaneous ode to the wonders of beer: its refreshing qualities, its ability to stimulate thought, conversation, and bonhomie, and so forth. He was right on target, and one couldn't help being impressed.

Flash forward into the present, and you might notice that there are more varieties of beer available in Rhode Island -- even in little neighborhood package stores -- than ever before. This, too, is something worth celebrating, and I describe the trend in this week's Phoenix:

One such [beer destination] is Track 84, a tavern housed in a simple wooden structure on Kilvert Street, a dead-end off Post Road in Warwick, hard by T.F. Green Airport, which appears from the outside to be an old-fashioned Rhode Island watering hole.

Step into the place now, though, and it’s hard to resist being impressed by the 19 different taps — exclusively craft beer — running the length of the long old wooden bar.

The beverages of choice at the moment include Captain Swain’s Extra Stout, by Nantucket-based Cisco — “I call that a local beer,” says David A. Longiaru, Track 84’s proprietor — Kasteel, a Belgian brew made with black cherries, Dale’s Pale Ale (the only craft brew that comes in a can), Lagunitas Brewing Company’s Brown Shugga, Stone Brewing Company’s Double Bastard, Magic Hat’s Odd Notion, Weyerbacher’s Blithering Idiot, and several offerings from locally based Newport Storm. The most unusual tap is the pink elephant for Delirium Tremens, a reference to both its 20 percent alcohol-by-volume content and the thrill-seeking spirit embodied by craft brewers.

While the bar has passed in and out of Longiaru’s family over time, the affable Warwick native realized, after reacquiring the place in 1999, that a different approach was needed to sustain it into the future. Thankfully, his enthusiasm for craft beers offered what seemed like a promising direction.

Since installing the new focus about three years, Longiaru remains amazed by how many people enjoy good beer. He talks authoritatively about the subject, describing with awe how the Belgians won’t serve a certain brew if they lack the appropriate glass in which to put it (he took a busman’s holiday with five other enthusiasts, including Nikki’s Liquors’ [Michael] Iannazzi, to Belgium in February 2007.)

Food | Nightlife