Labor Day Weekend Jaunt: Brooklyn Brewery and Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory

We decided to take advantage of the last real weekend of summer by going on an intensive 2-day bike ride through 3 boroughs. Day One included Queens and Brooklyn where we visited our old neighborhood of Greenpoint, surprisingly close to our 'hood in Queens. We stopped by one of our fave former haunts we hadn't been to in almost a decade, Brooklyn Brewery. It was reassuring to see that things haven't changed that much, except for us, as now we have a toddler in tow, so enjoying some brews was a little more challenging and definitely not the leisurely experience of years past. Luckily the brewery is a very family-friendly environment and though seemingly illogical, they actually encourage the presence of kids. Nonetheless, we were the only ones there with child (crazy handful of a child at that, running amok!) The guys working there were very attentive and helped us to entertain the little one, even throwing in a gratis soft drink for her, Saranac Sparkling Organic Acai Berry (and amazingly only some of it got spilled on the floor!) and some cute little plastic cups to play with. The barrels also provided many minutes of toddler entertainment. The mostly '20-something hipster patrons' reactions were divided - either 'ignore the child, i do not see her' or that wistful look of those who you can tell like and someday want children. I definitely would have been in the former camp pre-kid, but I hope we didn't annoy people too much. I know there have been a lot of big, bitterly-divided debates recently over whether or not it's appropriate to bring your child into a bar. Luckily we live in a neighborhood with a sizable Irish population, and with pub culture it's not as much of an issue. Overall, it was a really fun and pleasant (and nostalgic) pit stop. Brooklyn's Weisse beer is still one of my favorites and you can only get it on tap as far as I know. Their lager comes in a close second. We didn't try either of the two new high alcohol content beers they had on tap (I believe they were called Blast! IPA and Detonation Ale around 10% alc/vol), but then on Monday, we ended up buying another high alcohol beer (to go with some fabulous chili that I made) from River Horse called Tripel [sic] Horse Belgian-Style, which got me wondering if this is a new brewing trend. Basically one beer has the alcohol content of two regular beers, so you have to be careful!

Later in Greenpoint, for a bigger hit for the little one who loves cold, sweet treats, we ended up visiting a newer place (opened in 2007) I had read about and we hadn't yet been to - the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory. This is the second outpost, the other one is in DUMBO, under the bridge in a different part of Brooklyn. Although the selection of flavors was not so extensive or exotic (they only have 8 flavors) and it is located in a rather desolate industrial stretch that is hard to find, it was fun and the ice cream hit the spot. I noticed the root beer floats were a popular selection. The little one had peaches and cream, RR had vanilla chocolate chunk and I had coffee, which helped balance out the effects of the beer a bit and prepare me to get back in the saddle to finish the ride. Since the weather was beautiful we took our cones outside. And then on we rode.