Restaurants and bars are not the only places to get food and drinks. There are many events going on throughout the year in NYC that combines activities with food and drink. This is just one of many. I found this fun event called Beer Hop 5K in September 2016. It was their first event, and will be an annual event (unless they cancel). It is basically an event where you can sample all sorts of local beers, as much as you like, after you run (or walk) 5K first! You can tell yourself that you burned enough calorie to drink a little bit of beer as a reward…or maybe more than a little bit. But come on, who can resist their reason for this event: Because running is better with beer at the finish line. I can’t argue with that!
I especially love an event that has a charity component or a good cause attached to it. In this case, they were donating 10% of the event’s proceeds directly to City Harvest, who help feed struggling New Yorkers.
And, for those who are not interested in 5K, but would love to get the beer sample part, they offered two kinds of options. The first option was 5K + Beer Fest ($60/person), and the second option was Beer Fest Only ($50). The Beer Fest Only ticket included unlimited beer samples from all participating breweries, souvenir pint glass, koozie, and festival access with food trucks, lawn games, and live music. The 5K + Beer Fest includes all of that, plus finisher’s medal, after completing 5K.
The event was held at Randall’s Island Park, and the 5K was along the East River. It is not really a “race” so everyone could run or walk. But, the top three men and women finishers received some kind of special prize. Needless to say, I was not among the three… The few days prior to this day was cold, so I was concerned it will be really cold on the day of the event. However, for some reason, it was super hot on that day! The humidy was crazy high, so even though it was a cloudy day, everyone was drenched in sweat. Once we finished the race, we walked over to the festival site right by the finishing line. They also had Vitamin Water sponsoring the event, so we got some Vitamin Water for free. The only down side to that is that Vitamin Water contains soooo much sugar… They of course had some water coolers, so we could get some cold waters for free as well.
The line-up of the participating Breweries were insane! There were Brooklyn Brewery, Sixpoint Brewery, Blue Point Brewery Company, Bronx Brewery, Gun Hill Brewing Co., Captain Lawrence Brewing, Single Cut Beersmith, Third Rail Beer, Alphabet City Brewing Company, KelSo Beer Co., Great South Bay Brewery, Original Sin Hard Cider, Rockaway Brewing Company, Crabbies Alcoholic Ginger Beer, and Spiked Seltzer. I didn’t know there were so many local breweries in New York! I don’t think we got sample from all of them, I mean, how much beer can you really drink in few hours??? We started off with the one that sounded most attactive to us: Ginger Beer from Crabbies. They had original and raspberry flavors, and they both were great. Nothing like a little sugar and alcohol after 5K run…
Then, we moved onto Spiked Seltzer. I didn’t know what they were about, but it got my curiosity enough to go over and try them out. They were kind of like flavored champaign, but they are basically fruit flavor infused in seltzer and 6% alchohol. They are all natural, low carb, gluten-free, much less guilty free than wine or beer. Nice!!! I really liked them, it seems like they can stand on its own, or used in cocktail recipe.
We actually bumped into a friend there, and she insisted we try Bronx Brewery beers. She said that they are the best beer. They were offering beer called No Resolutions and Bronx Banner. No Resolution is an IPA with a variety of hops, creating a spectrum of aromas ranging from citrus, pine, musky, tropical fruit to lemon grass. The Bronx Banner is Kolsch-inspired ale that is brewed using Belgian pilsner, American wheat malts & classic Bavarian hops. It’s brilliantly clear-filtered, soft and perfectly balanced. We did like their beer, and we are now very much interested in them. I think we will be visiting them for a brewery tour soon…!
And there were so many more breweries, most of them offering one or two flavors.
And they had more than brewery vendors, they had Freehold Brooklyn, offering free coffee cocktail drink that was very interesting. They called it “The Cold Wedge” and it was made with Stumpcon Cold Brew Coffee, Ginger Beer, Oranze Syrup, and Orange Slice. But the staff there were saying that it was non-alcoholic, so I am not sure if it really had ginger beer in it or not… It was a nice drink for coffee lover though.
And of coursde, they had food vendors as well. What I failed to check before we went to the event was, if they were cash only or not. On their website, it did say “All food trucks require cash” which I did not read… And they only had two vendors providing food, and one vendor providing dessert. For an event that had about 2,000 people or so participating, this was so NOT enough numbers of vendors… Hopefully, thet will have more food vendors next year.
The food vendors participated for this event was Organic Bareburger, Ponti Rossi, and Blossom Ice Cream. Since the line for Bareburger was insanely long, we decided to get in a line for Ponti Rossi. And while we were waiting in line, I also decided to check out the dessert.
This vendor, Blossom Ice Cream was actually a shop that I have been wanting to try out, so I was excited. But the, they told me they only take cash… We had less than $10 in cash, and they were less than $10, so we figured we maybe get some ice cream later.
From Ponti Rossi, we got Sausage and Peppers Panini ($10), and yes they took cash AND credit card. Thank you Ponti Rossi! It was a nice size, meaty, and super flavorful. Especailly when you are starving after 5K run, it tasted extra awesome. It was just enough to feel good, but not enough to be full, since we shared one panini between the two of us.
Then, after going back for some more beer, we decided to try and get in the super long line for Bareburger. I have always wanted to try Bareburger, but neither one of us had the opportunity. We were pretty excited… After stainding in line for a while, a staff came out and said there is no more beggie burger. We were ok wth getting regular burger, so we stayed in the line. When we finally got to the window, my dreams came crushing down with those words “cash only”… why, Bareburger, WHY??? With the amount of cash we had, we were able to get fries (I mean, after standing in line for so long, we better get something out of it!). Their fries were $5, and it was actullay nice amount of fries. Soft and potato-y. We were disappointed that we didn’t get to try Bareburger, we just have to visit one of their locations…
After all, I believe we consumed so much more calories than we burned, but then again, we had so much fun! Discovering many local breweries and their offering, that alone was very exciting and super awesome. I would love to do this again next year…with cash in hands of course!
The Brew Hop 5K (2016) – Randall’s Island Park, NYC