“Delayed” isn’t just the status of your train out of Penn Station.
Blue Point Brewery released a new beer called Delayed at Shake Shack’s Penn Station on Monday, Aug. 14, poking fun at the Summer of Hell with a launch party at the location during rush hour from 4 to 8 p.m.
Starting at 4, the Long Island brewery gave free burgers to the first 100 customers to line up and buy a can of the new Pilsner.
“Myself, our brewers and our employees have spent a lot of time ‘delayed’ in Penn Station waiting for the train back to Long Island, albeit with a beer happily in hand,” Blue Point president Todd Ahsmann said in a statement earlier this month. “Since the delays are expected to increase during construction, we figured we would brew a beer perfect for that extended wait.”
Delayed, according to Ahsmann, “has just the right amount of drinkability with a touch of bitterness.” The beer’s apple-citrus aroma comes from a blend of floral, spicy hops, its honey taste from a mix of three malts.
“This beer should hold you over while you wait for the train but provide just enough bite to keep you critical of the current state of transit,” added Ahsmann, whose Patchogue-based brewery took home two silver medals for stouts in the 2017 Taste NY Governor’s Cup Craft Beer Competition.
Responding to Blue Point’s rib at the LIRR, MTA spokesman Shams Tarek called the rail system’s work to provide consistent service during Amtrak’s summer repairs at Penn Station as a “massive effort.”
“Thankfully the delays that were feared during Amtrak’s summer repairs at Penn so far haven’t been that bad,” Tarke added. “Hopefully this beer won’t be either.”
Delayed has an alcohol by volume (ABV) of 5.8 percent, so it won’t give you too much of a buzz. And the can’s clever design, a riff on Penn Station’s departures board, is definitely worth a chuckle.
