My Ithaca, NY First Class Beer Flight

I love little downtown Ithaca. A short walk from my home/office is The Commons. Many restaurants are a mere three block walk. So this is perfect for having a drink, and walking home. Being a DWI lawyer in a small town makes this a safe and easy arrangement.

I recently discovered a little gem called the BandWagon Brew Pub. It is located on Cayuga Street, in a basement spot right next to the old Clinton House. It has high quality food, pleasant service, and a comfortable decor. It is literally around the corner from the State theatre, and a block from our own independent movie house, Cinemapolis. My daughter Cali is an aspiring actress. She was in the Running to Places (R2P) production of Oklahoma at the State so the Bandwagon or Wagonwheel (after a few) was my spot for some on the job DWI legal defense research pre-play this Friday.

The Bandwagon has a nice eclectic menu but more importantly a wide range of crafted beers. I have had many a wine flight but have only tried a cursory beer flight about a decade ago. My bartender encouraged me to go for the "First Class" flight. She poured me 5 nice glasses of beer.

First Class Beer Flight
Bandwagon Brew Pub, Ithaca, NY

They were most definitely dark and full bodied. This was no Schlitz (the King of Beers) flight from my younger poverty stricken college years These brews had been "crafted" with care.

All I can say is, "Holy Frankenstein," was this stuff strong. In Starbucks lingo, "full bodied" but man oh man this was no drinking beer but really sipping beer. One "beer" in particular really knocked my sox off (yeah I'm old, get over it), called the Backburner. First off, How can you call this stuff beer?

It was a 14% Bourbon Barreled zombie blend. My head was immediately feeling the effects. I had to take breaks between sips of that and the four other "lesser" beers called IPAs. India Pale Ale did not exist in my frat days. We had Rolling Rock. That was the extent of my beer acumen, St. Pauli Girl was for when we had a few bucks, or whatever was in our tap (we had an old 50's frig in our house), or whatever we got cheap (on sale).

I have come to learn that the Backburner is really an Imperial Barley Wine Style Ale.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/3818/36185/

My big lesson for when I have DWI clients tell me of their brew pub adventures or IPAs or any of these new blends is I must think they were NOT BEER drinking as I might think.

One 16 oz. Backburner may be like 3-4 drinks, that would be a .06 to .08 BAC (blood alcohol concentration) in many people. Being Mindful of the legal limit of .08 BAC I see an issue, especially without eating any food and/or within a short period of time.

Alcohol by Volume is a concept that many have a difficult time reconciling.

1. Always consider the strength and the volume of what you are drinking.
2. Always consider the time of day/night and the time of consumption.
3. Always consider that it takes approximately one hour per drink (.015-.02BAC) to metabolize.
4. Always consider that the effect of any drinking on YOU has to factor in your bodyweight, genetics, food consumption, body cycles, and gender. 

My You Tube video, "High BAC DWIs: How Much Alcohol was Really In Those Drinks"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04AlFgfRUoQ&list=UUBwBPLfPQYrF6MC3STcNOsw&index=6&feature=plcp

Lawrence (Larry) Newman, D.C., J.D.

Doctor of Chiropractic

Attorney and Counselor at Law

504 North Aurora Street

Ithaca, NY 14850

607-229-5184

http://www.ithacadwi.com

http://www.ithacainjurylawyer.com