Are you looking for a loaction to host your event?  Please feel free to contact us at info@manchesterpubnyc.com.

And our video clip of the weekend, Bubble Geese feat Chronikill “Drinking Coffee with Kofi Annan”.  Chronikill features our buddies Rox One and Charlie Cypher. 

Some have been waiting for this day ever since the Alabama Crimson Tide was crowned national champions. Others have been waiting since the last game of the regular season.

We have new head coaches, most notably Lane Kiffen of USC and Brian Kelly of Notre Dame. Lane Kiffen’s disappearing act on Tennessee and recently imposed NCAA sanctions are going to give USC headaches to come. Similarly, Brian Kelly’s resignation from Cincinnati prior to the Allstate Sugar Bowl has also left a bad a taste in the mouths of Cincinatti fans.

We have new starting quarterbacks with large shoes to fill. The last time John Brantley saw any significant playing time for Florida was when Tim Tebow got laid out against Kentucky in September 26, 2009. Brantley went 4 for 6 with one touchdown.  More recently, Texas watched Garrett Gilbert fill in poorly for Colt McCoy against Alabama in the Citi BCS National Championship Game, where Texas got manhandled worse than the 37 – 21 score appeared and Gilbert went 15 for 40 and 4 interceptions. Not a good way to debut.

We have teams that need to get back on track. Notably, and I say this as subjective as possible, Rich Rodriguez and Michigan needs to turn this program around. They are not facing an easy Connecticut team that has 16 returning starters.

Finally, we are seeing the rise of non automatically qualifying schools with (3) Boise State and (6) TCU breaking the top 10 in the Associated Press rankings.  Luckily we get to see these boys play some big games to kick the season off!

And if that is not enough, we feature England in Euro 2012 qualifier action and the New York Red Bulls in MLS action.

Here is our  NCAA football and Soccer schedule for the weekend:

Thursday - September 2, 2010

• 11:00 PM – (14) USC vs. Hawaii – NCAAF

Friday – September 3, 2010

• 3:00 PM – England vs. Bulgaria – Euro 2012 Qualifiers

Saturday - September 3, 2010

• 12:00 PM – Miami (OH) vs. (4) Florida – NCAAF
• 3:30 PM – Connecticut vs. Michigan – NCAAF
• 3:30 PM – Purdue vs. Notre Dame – NCAAF
• 7:45 PM – (24) Oregon State vs. (6) TCU – NCAAF
• 8:00 PM – (21) LSU vs. (18) North Carolina – NCAAF
• 9:00 PM – Real Salt Lake vs. New York Red Bulls – MLS
• 11:00 PM – (12) Wisconsin vs. UNLV – NCAAF

Monday, September 6, 2010

• 8:00 PM – (3) Boise State vs. (10) Virginia Tech

Come join AKA as they celebrate the end of summer at Happy Hour on Thursday, September 2, 2010 right before Labor Day Weekend.

Who: Adult adoptees, families and friends 21 years and over
When: Thursday, September 2, 2010, 6:30pm-8:30pm
What: $25 open bar (Bud, Bud Light, Coors Light, Stella, Heineken, Heineken Light, Sam Adams, Amstel Light, Corona, and Well Drinks)
Where: Manchester Pub – 920 Second Avenue (2nd Avenue and 49th Street)

Also-Known-As, Inc., began in early 1996 out of a desire to create an organization that recognized and celebrated the community of people whose lives, through adoption, bridge nations, cultures and races. Recognizing the invaluable resource and experience of adult intercountry adoptees, in May of 1996, a small group of Korean adoptees and friends in the New York metropolitan area, began planning a mentorship program targeted to a new generation of intercountry adoptees.

At the heart of Also-Known-As, Inc., is the desire to create a community where individuals would not have to be identified by their ethnicity, race or culture. Since then our mission and programs have expanded, to include not only the experiences of Korean-born intercountry adoptees, and families but, all families created by intercountry adoption and the unique experiences of transcultured people, seeking to share the human experiences of adoption.

For more information about AKA, please find them on the internet at: http://www.alsoknownas.org/index.shtml

Come join us at 7:00 PM on Wednesday, September 1, 2010 as Dave Lindsay from Harpoon Brewery will be joining us as to showcase the following beers:

Harpoon Cider

Harpoon Cider is made from a blend of locally grown apples including the New England favorite, McIntosh. By fermenting this blend of varieties with Harpoon’s own yeast, it is able to produce an aroma that has a clean, fruity character. This crisp, refreshing cider has just the right balance of ripe apple sweetness and tartness from the fruit’s natural acidity. The color of this smooth tasting cider is very light as a result of using only freshly pressed apples. Without the addition of preservatives, artificial colors, or sweeteners Harpoon has created a cider that is fresh, pure, and delicious. Enjoy!

Harpoon IPA

The origins of India Pale Ale (IPA) dictate its flavor profile. As a result of needing a beer that could withstand the trip from England to India via unrefrigerated sailing vessels, the English brewers took advantage of two natural preservatives: alcohol and hops.

Harpoon IPA is an interpretation of the classic English style using hops and malt grown in the United States.

Leviathan Triticus

Latin for “wheat,” Triticus is a strong and dark wheat wine-style ale that boasts 11.5% alcohol-by-volume. The blend of 50% wheat malts, including caramel and chocolate, provides color and depth of flavor. Complex hopping and dry-hopping lends a delicate spiciness and just enough balance to complement its strength.

Harpoon originally brewed Triticus in 2005 with guest brewers Jason and Todd Alström, founders of BeerAdvocate.com, as part of Harpoon’s 100 Barrel Series. A draft-only batch was brewed to launch the Leviathan series two years ago. Harpoon now offers Triticus in bottles for the first time since its 100 Barrel debut five years ago.

Pott’s Landbier

This beer, the 32nd in the series, has was inspired by Joerg Pott of Pott’s Brauerei in Oelde, Germany. Pott’s master brewer, Peter Wienstroer, collaborated with Harpoon’s Todd Charboneau to brew this beer.

The origins of this beer go back to 2003 when a group of German brewers, including Rainer and Joerg Pott of Pott’s Brauerei, took a tour of American breweries that included Harpoon. A few years later in 2007 Joerg joined the Harpoon staff for the summer months to learn more about American craft beer.

During Joerg’s 3-month tenure at Harpoon, the idea of brewing a beer together was mentioned often, but the timing never quite seemed to work out– until now.

Pott’s Landbier, or “country beer,” is a traditional session lager with a decidedly malty backbone made up of a blend of German and North American malts. The smooth malt character is tempered by the German bittering hop Magnum, which lends a clean, crisp balance. This beer is finished with more German hops for a spicy herbal palate and aroma. Fermented with Pott’s proprietary lager yeast – and imbued with over 240 years of German brewing tradition — this is just the beer to quench your summer thirst.

This will be the last Case of the Mondays show for the summer.  Case of the Mondays will return for the Fall on 9/20, with a show time of 7pm to 8pm to accomodate the Monday Night Football season.  The shows are scheduled to be weekly, but we may reschedule certain shows to work around the potential Yankees playoff run in October.  Thanks to all the fans and comics for understanding in advance.

Check out this awesome lineup:

• Thomas Dale (NBC Stand Up for Diversity; Cringe Humor; Comix)
• Mark Normand, top left (Just for Laughs Montreal; Comix; We’re All Friends Here)
• Ali Wong (Comix; MTV; San Francisco’s Funniest)
• Damien Lemon (Comedy on the Hump; NBC Stand Up for Diversity; NYUCF)
• Aparna Nancherla (Punchline Magazine; North Carolina Comedy Arts Festival)
• Phil Hanley (CTV Comedy Special; Just for Laughs Montreal; Vancouver’s Funniest)
• Yamaneika Saunders (NBC Stand Up for Diversity; Carolines; Comix)

and all of this hosted and produced by Phoebe Robinson (NY Times; NBC Stand Up for Diversity).

Look, its a FREE show with a great lineup, and we also offer Happy Hour and 50-cent Wing specials throughout.

5.  Weekend Happy Hour still going strong ($3 – Bud, Bud light, Coors Light; $5 – Sam Adams, Heineken, Heieneken Light, Amstel Light, Corona)

4.  50 cent wings.  We feature 8 different sauces (BBQ, Buffalo, Chipotle, Curry, Garlic Parmesan, Honey Mustard, Sriracha, Teriyaki)

3.  Judson.

2.  Hudson.

1.  Triva Night at 7:30pm.  Brian is back in the host seat.  And the theme this week is the Family Feud.  Lots of points on the line for this one.  Your chance to win up to $30 off your tab.

And just because I’ve hosted Trivia night recently, I do expect a fair share of answers that go like this:

USA Coach Bob Bradley’s open campaign to be the next manager of Villa is the other point of intrigue.  Bradley’s contract with US Soccer Federation expires at the end of the year, and the Federation has been in no rush to extend the term of Bradley’s services.  While Bradley is expected to continue negotiations with the USSF, he also expressed his interest in the Villa manager position on BBC’s Sky Sports news.  The Villa job has become open after Martin O’Neill resigned earlier in the month. Interim manager Kevin Macdonald has led Villa to a 1-0-1 record thus far, and is considered a candidate for the permanent position.  From the US Soccer perspective, Landon Donovan recently weighed in, saying his “gut says probably no” on Bradley receiving an extension with the USSF.

Meanwhile, the most exciting soccer being played stateside has got to be by the New York Red Bulls of MLS, no? The additions of Thierry Henry and Rafael Marquez as designated players has boosted the Red Bulls play on the field, and marketing prowess off the field.  Home attendance is up 39.5% from 2009, thanks to a stronger team and the move into Red Bull Arena, and Thierry Henry’s jersey has now overtaken David Beckham’s as the best selling jersey in MLS.  The Red Bulls are home against the San Jose Earthquakes this Saturday at 7:30pm.

Here is our soccer schedule for the weekend.  And since I focused on US Soccer this post, the video on the bottom is one of our all-time favorites.  A real pick-me-up on a down day.

Friday – 8/27/2010

• 2:45pm – Inter Milan vs. Atlético Madrid – Super Cup Final

Saturday – 8/28/2010

• 10:00am – Chelsea vs. Stoke City  – EPL
• 10:00am – Tottenham Hotspur vs. Wigan Athletic – EPL
• 12:30pm – Manchester United vs. West Ham United – EPL
• 7:30pm – New York Red Bulls vs. San Jose Earthquakes – MLS

Sunday – 8/29/2010

• 11:00am – Aston Villa vs. Everton – EPL

A little background: Beatle Jackson is a singer/guitarist who plays to clubs/bars throughout NYC. He is a party cover musician who can play over 1,800 songs ranging from the 40′s to the present, of all styles and genres. Beatle Jackson always has an extra microphone set up and encourages not only requests but guest singers to come up.

And to get you in the mood for singing covers, here is Pomplamoose’s cover of Lady Gaga’s ‘Telephone”:

Did you see Newcastle’s 6-0 beatdown of Villa on Sunday morning?  Probably not, as kick-off started at 8:30am for us in NYC.  But we were open, with Eddie, who normally does not see the light of day, was up bright and early to tend the bar.  And he was rewarded strongly with Newcastle’s shocking result, so much to the point that I called our insurance agent to check our coverage just in case he burned the whole place down.

We don’t show a lot of games on delay, but given Newcastle’s resurgence and for Eddie’s sake, we will be showing the mid-week Carling Cup match between Accrington Stanley and Newcastle. 

Here is the soccer action for this week:

Tuesday – 8/24/10

• 2:45pm – Hapoel Tel-Aviv vs. Salzburg – Champions League
• 2:45pm – Sampdoria vs. Werder Bremen – Champions League
• 2:45pm – Sevilla vs. Braga – Champions League

Wednesday – 8/25/10

• 2:45pm – AJ Auxerre vs. Zenit St. Petersburg – Champions League
• 2:45pm – Ajax vs. Dynamo Kiev – Champions League
• 2:45pm – Tottenham Hotspur vs. Young Boys – Champions League
• 5:00pm – Accrington Stanley vs. Newcastle – Carling Cup (Delayed)

Jack D’Or

“Jack D’Or” is a simple table beer, or “Saison Americain” as we’re referring to it. We are not trying to coin a beer style – we’re just having fun. At PRETTY THINGS we don’t brew styles per se. Instead, we re-imagine everything and leave the style numbers in books on the shelves where they belong. What that means is that while other people might be able to put our beers into a category, we have a hard time with it! Our beers are first and foremost creative beasts, not “types” of beer. Jack D’Or is the kind of beer Martha and I like to drink before, after and during a great meal. Heck, we’ll drink this sort of beer any time.

On our honeymoon in France and Belgium we stashed quite a few cases of Wallonian beer into our trunk. Every night after setting up our tent we’d cook lardons and lentils on our camp stove and enjoy fresh “saison” under the stars.

Inspired by some of our favorites saisons like Saison DuPont, but also DeRanke’s XX Bitter, De Dolle’s Arabier, and local table IPAs like Smuttynose, our Jack D’Or starts off with North American Pils, Vienna, Wheat and Malted Oats (among others) and is hopped with a combination of four hops, finishing with Palisade and Nugget. Fermentation-wise we use a blend of three yeast strains to give Jack D’Or its refreshingly dry character. Finally, despite all of the spicy flavours in this beer it contains no actual spices – only malt, oats, sugar, hops and yeast. One more time: there are no spices whatsoever in Jack D’Or!

American Darling

If you’re looking for another reason to try Pretty Things this summer, we hope a well-stated 7% pale lager might be a good bet too. We hear what you’re saying: “a filtered Pretty Things lager”? Nothing strange about that, we love all sorts of beers!

This time we were looking to make the un-lawnmower beer. The first step in the process is to filter so that it can be more portable, without sediment to worry about disturbing. Put it in your coolers, your picnic baskets… your saddlebags. Take it to family reunions and pie eating contests, parades, beaches, fancy mustache conventions, wherever good summer fun happens!

Then fire up the grill, not just once – how about like every day! Get out the horse shoes, kick up your feet and forget that oily red jalopy out back even has a purpose.

Specs: 7.00% abv
IBU: 45
Malts: two German Pils malts, German caramel pils malt
Hops: Saphir, Perle, whole-leaf Hallertau in the kettle and dry hopped.
Yeast: a blend of traditional Lager yeast strains
Style: Pale lager of grand stature with contributions from hard water and dry hops

Victory Sunrise

As invigorating as the morning rays of the summer sun, Sunrise Weissbier satisfies when the heat is on, too. This unfiltered, Bavarian style ale is true to its origins with all ingredients except for the water having been imported from Germany. It remains unfiltered to feature the tangy, fruity flavors of its unique yeast. The imported German malt contributes greatly to add a crisp, citric snap that makes this beer a superb summertime refresher.

Malts: 2 row German barley and wheat malt
Hops: German and Czech whole flowers
Yeast: Imported, of German origin
Alcohol by volume: 5.7%