US brewery creates ‘Delayed’ beer for commuters

A New York brewery has created a beer aimed at stressed commuters enduring a ‘summer of hell’ on the Long Island Rail Road.

The Long Island-based and AB InBev-owned Blue Point Brewery has introduced a new pilsner, christened ‘Delayed’, for those New Yorkers struggling through rail improvement works at Penn Station.

New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, has been quoted as saying that the lengthy delays and cancelled trains caused by the repairs (as well as New York’s famously sweltering August heat) would lead to a “summer of hell” for commuters.

Suitably inspired, Blue Point’s design for the beer can depicts the departure board at Penn Station with every destination on Long Island listed – with a ‘delayed’ sign next to each.

Blue Point’s president, Todd Ashmann, told local paper Long Island Press, that: “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.

“Since the delays are expected to increase during construction, we figured we would brew a beer perfect for that extended wait… This beer should hold you over while you wait for the train.”

The beer is described by the brewery as a: “Crisp, drinkable Pilsner that will make your crowded, frustrating, too-much-body-heat-filled delay just a bit more bearable,” and will be available exclusively at Penn Station from 14 August, initially at the Shake Shack and then at other concessions.

It’s a clever piece of marketing from the brewery and with the UK’s own record of poor railway services, especially Southern Rail’s litany of strikes, ‘rail improvement’ works, staff shortages and now the construction work at London Waterloo lasting for the bulk of August, it’s a wonder a British brewery hasn’t come up with an ale for commuters’ to drink their frustration away.