Brew York, New York

Your Beery Weekend: February 24-26

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 11:00:00 -0500

Are you ready for the A-PORK-alypse? The celebration of beer and pork happening this Saturday is just one of several beer events that’ll have you whetting your whistle with great craft beer this weekend. Here’s a rundown of beer events and tastings around New York through Sunday. Enjoy!

FRIDAY

Prepare for the weekend by tasting some free beer! Blue Point pours samples at Barzini’s (2451 Broadway, at 91st St., Upper West Side) today from 5-7pm, including their new arrival, Spring Fling! Crispin Cider samples, including their Artisanal ciders, will be poured at Whole Foods Tribeca (270 Greenwich St., at Warren St., Tribeca) today from 4-8pm.
Wandering Star’s Alex Hall will be on hand this afternoon at New Beer Distributors (167 Chrystie St., at Rivington St., Lower East Side) starting at 3:30pm. Come by and sample these beers, brewed in Massachusetts, but with roots in former New York homebrewers!

SATURDAY

Are you ready for the aPORKalypse? It’s Get Real NY’s aPORKalypse Now Festival, Saturday afternoon and evening at The 404 Event Space (404 10th Ave., at 33rd St., Hell’s Kitchen). 10 chefs used ten organic local whole hogs to prepare 20 different pork dishes for the event, paired with brews from two dozen breweries, including Lagunitas, Dogfish Head, Captain Lawrence, and Stillwater Artisanal Ales. The event will run in two sessions: 1-4pm and 5-8pm. The bad news? It’s sold out!
What to do if you can’t get pork? Join Brooklyn Vegan, Delta Spirit, and Brooklyn Brewery on a bar crawl with $3 Brooklyn beers! The crawl begins at 3pm at Manhattan Inn (632 Manhattan Ave., at Nassau Ave., Greenpoint), and then continues to two more stops as they celebrate the completion of The Delta Spirit’s new self-titled release. Full details are on the Facebook event page.
Stinky Bklyn (261 Smith St., at Baltic St., Cobble Hill) hosts a tasting of beers from around the world on Saturday from 1-4pm, featuring Alesmith Old Numbskull, Nøgne Ø Sunturn, and the Schlenkerla Helles.
Brooklyn Brewery takes over the taps this afternoon at GRAB Specialty Foods (438 7th Ave., at 15th St., Park Slope) from 4-7pm. They’ll have several beers on taps ready for samples and growler fills, including Blast! and Sorachi Ace. Plus, they’ll have free meats and cheeses!

SUNDAY

Spuyten Duyvil (350 Metropolitan Ave., at Havermeyer St., Williamsburg) holds their big and wood-aged beer event, The Big Woody, on Sunday starting at noon. The impressive tap list includes the 2008 Goose Island Bourbon County Stout, Laughing Dog Bourbon-Barrel Dogfather, Harviestoun Old Engine Oil Engineer’s Reserve Blackest Ale, and a whole lot more! They’ll also have tons of bottles available. Get there early before the beer runs out!
Head to Standings (43 E. 7th St., at 2nd Ave., East Village) as they tap at keg of Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA at 1pm on Sunday. Plus, they’ll serve up free frites from Pommes Frites at 2pm!
Beers from Firestone Walker are set to go on tap at 3pm Sunday at Blind Tiger Ale House (281 Bleecker St., at Jones St., West Village). The tap list hasn’t been announced yet, but come on! It’s Firestone Walker! It can’t be bad!
For the cider lovers out there, Original Sin hosts a tasting at The Growler Station (26 W. 8th St., at MacDougal St., Greenwich Village) Sunday from 3-6pm. They’ll be featuring their new heirloom ciders, the Newtown Pippin and Cherry Tree, and handing out some free samples!

Happy Hour: Thirsty Thursday

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 14:00:00 -0500

It’s Thursday, February 23rd. Here’s our list of recommended beer-related events in and around New York after work tonight:

Enjoy the latest beer from Greenport Harbor at Bierkraft (191 Fifth Ave., at President St., Park Slope) tonight starting at 7pm. Called Super Freekeh, it’s a collaborative beer between the brewery, Bierkraft, and East Village restaurant Back Forty. That beer will be on draft and pulled from a cask, along with a dozen other brews from Greenport Harbor.
Brooklyn Brewery heads a few blocks over to take over the taps at Barcade Brooklyn (388 Union Ave., at Ainslie St., Williamsburg) tonight starting at 5pm. They’ll pour the 2009 Backbreaker, 2007 Monster Ale, a cask of the new Dry Irish Stout, and whole lot more!
Breukelen Bier Merchants (182 Grand St., at Driggs Ave., Williamsburg) hosts Wandering Star tonight starting at 7pm. Try the new Thunderbolt IPA, plus enjoy favorites like Bash Bish Bock and Bert’s Disqualified Imperial Stout.
Celebrate beer from cold, far away places tonight at the Bronx Ale House (216 W. 238th St., at Broadway, Kingsbridge), as they pour brews like Midnight Sun Panty Peeler, Evil Twin Ron and the Beast Ryan, and the Mikkeller/Three Floyds Boogoop starting at 6pm.
Idle Hands Bar (25 Avenue B, at 2nd St., East Village) celebrates the release of Sierra Nevada cans tonight starting at 8pm! They’ll have 12-ounce cans of the Pale Ale and 16-ounce tallboys of the Torpedo, plus - quite appropriately - it’s Metal Night!
On Tap at Whole Foods Columbus Circle (10 Columbus Circle, at 59th St., Upper West Side) hosts Flying Dog today from 4-8pm. Try samples and try the Kujo Imperial Coffee Stout or the In-Heat Wheat on tap!
Rare beer alert! Jimmy’s No. 43 (43 E. 7th St., at 2nd Ave., East Village) taps a cask of the old-school English Porter, RCH Old Slug, brewed in Somerset, UK, today at 5pm.
Over in Jersey, there’s an impressive list of Southern Tier beers lined up at the Copper Mine Pub (323 Ridge Rd., at Crystal St., North Arlington, NJ). Starting today at 3pm, enjoy the Gemini, Creme Brulee, Iniquity Black Ale, and a bunch more.

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Why you can't get that beer here

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 12:30:00 -0500

Sorry, folks. You can search up and down the island of Manhattan to find beers from these brewers, but you won’t find them.

It happens on an almost daily basis to beer store and bar owners all over New York. The questions that, to the industry insider, have an obvious answer. But to those unaccustomed to how the beer industry functions, the questions are fast and furious and almost always net a disappointing response.

Some of those questions look like this:
- Do you guys have Pliny the Elder?
- Do you have Fat Tire on tap?
- Do you carry Bell’s Two-Hearted?
- When is your store getting a shipment of Three Floyds?
- Where in the city can I get Surly Darkness?

The answers to those questions are: no, no, no, never, and nowhere.

Sorry to disappoint you. New York is a melting pot of people from not just different parts of the world, but different parts of the country. Plenty of craft beer drinkers from the Midwest and West Coast have been exposed to these brands for years - and some of them move to New York only to find that access to their favorite regional beers has dried up completely.

Of course, the answer of “no” is simple, but the answer to the follow up question of “why not?” can be more complicated. In the end, though, it boils down to one explanation: these breweries - for a variety of reasons - do not distribute in New York.

To start, in order for a brewery to distribute and sell its beers here, the brewery and beers must be registered with the New York State Liquor Authority. Registration of a brewery and its beers costs a pretty nice chunk of change - $10,000 in bond, plus a couple hundred dollars per beer brand. In addition, they have to enter into a costly legal process to finalize a deal for an in-state distributor to receive their beer. To some brewers, especially the smaller ones, this is not money well-spent. But it’s especially not worth it if they can’t make enough beer for them to ship to New York.

“So what if they don’t ship to New York,” you might say. What’s stopping a bar or store from going to the brewery - or a store or wholesaler out of state - and bringing the beers back here for sale? Plenty. If a bar or store gets caught selling unregistered beer in New York, they could face steep fines. And it’s not just because the SLA would question the quality of beer not received directly from an in-state distributor. By buying beer and reselling it on the black market, a bar or store is evading paying the proper state taxes on it. In 2008, when the Upper East Side’s Mad River Bar & Grille (1442 Third Ave., at 82nd St., Upper East Side) sold bottles of unregistered New Glarus Spotted Cow to celebrate their status as New York’s official Wisconsin alumni bar, they were fined $20,000 - and worse still, the beer was confiscated.

Not only does selling illegal beer potentially put the bar or store in hot water with authorities, but often the brewer isn’t happy about it, either. In 2007, Bell’s owner Larry Bell took to Beer Advocate to excoriate bars in New York City that he had heard were illegally selling kegs of beer. He was actually losing money from the cooperage fees he paid on kegs that would never be returned to Bell’s. He took a hard stand, since he didn’t want to look to competing brewers as though he was condoning illegal activity. “Bell’s has a reputation of being a law abiding company that follows Federal and State regulations,” Bell said at the time. “I would like to keep that image.” There is no denying that there’s demand for his beer in New York, but he actively chose not to distribute here, and wants that decision to be respected.

Once a brewery does decide to distribute in New York, keeping up with demand is the bigger hindrance that they have to consider. Even though New York City has a very modest rate of craft beer consumption compared to “beer havens” like Denver and Portland, it’s the largest city in the country, making it the largest craft beer market in the country. The cost to produce enough beer to meet the demands of a market this big is daunting even for larger breweries like Colorado’s New Belgium, who is scouting locations for a second brewery on the East Coast that would likely have to open before they could meet the demand of large markets like New York, Philadelphia, and New England. Great Lakes, an Ohio craft brewer whose beers are widely available Upstate, registered their beers with the State Liquor Authority, but opted not to distribute in the New York City market at the time because of the brewing capacity it would demand.

It’s not just brewing capacity, of course. A brewer may have the capacity to meet New York City’s demand, but at what cost to other markets? Would they have to pull out of other markets or limit their shipments to smaller markets, upsetting consumers who are already used to having access to their products? Brewers like Stone, Avery, and Dogfish Head pulled out of some markets last year because they had spread themselves too thin to meet the growing demand of their key markets. It was a difficult decision that led to outcry (and eventually, acceptance) from beer geeks in places like Wisconsin, Indiana, and Connecticut.

For more distant breweries, shipping costs and efficiencies are a major issue, too. It’s one reason why Sierra Nevada announced plans for a second brewery near Asheville, North Carolina late in January. The environmental impact of shipping beer across the country certainly played a major role in the decision, and the economics would suggest Sierra Nevada can eventually recoup the costs they would spend shipping beer clear across the country from Chico, California, despite the capital a new brewery requires. Even Bend, Oregon-based Deschutes, the 5th largest craft brewer in the United States, has kept their growth closer to home, choosing to meet the growing demand of their West Coast markets rather than expand into newer, more distant ones. You won’t find a drop of Deschutes beer in a state east of the Mississippi River.

Sometimes, though, the reasons a brewery doesn’t ship its beers to New York are as simple as… keeping it simple. “As goofy as it sounds, we don’t want to be a big brewery,” New Glarus brewmaster Dan Carey said when, in the wake of the Mad River incident, he was questioned about why he doesn’t distribute beer outside Wisconsin. “We want to control our growth.” Many breweries are too small to meet New York’s demand, and don’t want to become big just so they can.

But the New York City market doesn’t always get overlooked. To some brewers, it’s an important beer market that can make or break a brand. Just last month, Alaska’s Midnight Sun chose New York as just the sixth state to receive their beer. When choosing New York as the first East Coast market they’d enter, Nebraska Brewing’s Paul Kavulak made clear, “we believe highly populated areas and areas with a broad appreciation for craft beer in general are perfect for our beers.” Their decision to go straight to New York was derided initially by those in the beer community, but has clearly paid off in further expansion. And while both Avery and Great Divide pulled out of markets across Upstate New York last year, they always maintained their presence in New York City.

In the end, though, New York beer drinkers should be grateful for what they have instead of complaining about what they don’t have. New York City boasts one of the best selections of both American and imported craft beer of any place in the entire nation. Just enjoy what’s available here. When you travel to a place that does receive beer that New York doesn’t, it’ll make that first sip taste even better.

Happy Hour: Everybody must get Stoned

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:00:06 -0500

It’s Wednesday, February 22nd. Here’s our list of recommended beer-related events in and around New York after work tonight:

Stone is front and center at Blind Tiger Ale House (281 Bleecker St., at Jones St., West Village) today starting at 3pm. Enjoy a double dry-hopped version of Stone IPA, a 2008 vintage of the Old Guardian barleywine, a cask of Smoked Porter with chipotle peppers, the Bruery/Elysian/Stone collaboration La Citrueille Celeste de Citracado, and many more surprises.
Krombacher pays a visit to Idle Hands Bar (25 Avenue B, at 2nd St., East Village) for their weekly $10 Bourbon and Beer Tasting Series. Celebrate one of Germany’s best-selling breweries! From 7-10pm, $10 gets you 2 full beers, a 3-beer tasting flight, a taste of whisky, and an order of tater tots!
Downtown Bar & Grill (160 Court St., at Dean St., Cobble Hill) hosts Ommegang starting tonight at 7pm. Head over to enjoy the Abbey, Hennepin, and the delicious BPA.

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Happy Hour: Fat Tuesday Edition

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:00:00 -0500

It’s Tuesday, February 21st, and it’s Fat Tuesday! Here’s our list of recommended beer-related events in and around New York after work tonight:

Brooklyn takes over the taps at Mission Dolores (249 4th Ave., at Carroll St., Park Slope) for a special Brewmaster Reserve Night! They’ll pour the 2007 Monster Ale, 2009 Black Chocolate Stout, the new Mary’s Maple Porter, the newer Dry Irish Stout, and a lot more… including some special mystery bottles! The beers will be on tap when they open at 2pm, and then from 7-10pm, everything gets cheap!
Abita will be the beer of the day on this Fat Tuesday, naturally. Various brews from the Louisiana brewer will be on tap for events tonight at The Stag’s Head (252 E. 51st St., at 2nd Ave., Turtle Bay), The Three Monkeys (236 W. 54th St., at Broadway, Midtown), Mudville 9 (126 Chambers St., at W. Broadway, Tribeca), Standings (43 E. 7th St., at 2nd Ave., East Village), and One Mile House (10 Delancey St., at Bowery, Lower East Side), just to name a few. Some highlights? The Stag’s Head will have a special menu of cajun cuisine, Standings will have free pizza at 8pm, and The Three Monkeys will have pints of Restoration and Purple Haze for just $4. But honestly, go to any craft beer bar tonight and they’ll probably have it on tap. The few exceptions might be below.
Victory hosts this week’s free Tuesday Night Tasting at Bierkraft (191 Fifth Ave., at President St., Park Slope). Come at 7pm and join our friend Sean McCain as he lets you sample beers like the Moonglow Weizenbock, Yakima Glory, and Headwaters Pale Ale.
Not up for the whole “Fat Tuesday” thing? Avoiding excess? Well, this week’s Ten Buck Tasting at Jimmy’s No. 43 (43 E. 7th St., at 2nd Ave., East Village) features Session Beers! $10 gets you six tastings of beers like Wandering Star Mild at Heart, Maine Peeper Ale, and the Spanish low-alcohol favorite Guineu Riner. The tasting gets underway tonight at 7:30pm.
Breukelen Bier Merchants (182 Grand St., at Driggs Ave., Williamsburg) hosts a Beer and Cheese Pairing tonight with Martin Johnson of The Joy of Cheese and Maggie Fuller from 12% Imports. The fun starts at 7:30, and $35 gets you phenomenal beer and impeccably paired cheese!

Follow us on Twitter for ongoing updates, like us on Facebook to spread the word, and check us out on Foursquare for great lists of beer bars, stores, and breweries!

Captain Lawrence unveils new digs in Westchester

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:38:27 -0500

Wondering what to do with your holiday weekend? Well, here’s one day trip to put on your calendar for tomorrow: after months of construction, Westchester County brewer Captain Lawrence has officially moved into its new digs in Elmsford, doubling its previous space for production of beer, and - even better - quintupling the size of its tasting room. ANd it’s open for your perusal this weekend!

The new 1500 square-foot tasting room features a 30-foot bar, 12 CL beers on tap, and cheese plates from Murray’s Cheese. As an added bonus, there’s heat and air conditioning in the room - something that was desperately missing from their old facility in Pleasantville. Coming later to the tasting room are an outdoor seating area and a bocce court. One thing hasn’t changed: the three-ounce samples of beer are still free!

The new brewery, obviously, allows Captain Lawrence to expand its production. Among the items on the agenda: 12-ounce bottles, six-packs, and a 6-barrel pilot brewing system where brewmaster Scott Vaccaro can experiment with different fruit, vegetable, and spice beers.

One slight drawback of the new brewery: it’s not within walking distance from Metro-North, unlike its predecessor. But it’s just a quick cab ride from the Valhalla station on the Harlem Line, and you can make it to the brewery in under an hour from Grand Central.

The brewery will be open Tuesday through Friday (retail 2-7pm, and samples served 4-7pm) and Saturdays, with retail and samples from noon-6pm, and brewery tours at 1, 2 and 3pm. The new spot is at 444 Saw Mill River Road in Elmsford. For more info, just head to Captain Lawrence’s web site.

A Brewing Meme

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:30:00 -0500

We know this meme has been played out a bit on the Internets this week, but we got a chuckle out of this one from New Jersey brewing newcomer Bolero Snort, who’s in the midst of paperwork hell right now as they go through the process of becoming a working commercial brewery. They got their Federal approval a couple weeks ago, but that’s just the very beginning of the process.

You can follow their transformation from hardcore homebrewers to full-blown commercial brewers on Facebook, Twitter, and at their site.

Happy Hour: Thirsty Thursday

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:00:00 -0500

It’s Thursday, February 16th. Here’s our list of recommended beer-related events in and around New York after work tonight:

As we mentioned earlier, Sixpoint Mad Scientists #8 Ich Bin Kein, a Berliner Weisse brewed to celebrate Time Out New York’s annual beer issue, will be released simultaneously at more than a dozen bars across the city tonight at 7pm. For a complete list, read our issue recap.
Founders pours a whopping 16 beers at The Gate (321 5th Ave., at 3rd St., Park Slope) tonight starting at 7pm. Among the brews they’ll offer up: a 2009 vintage Imperial Stout, the Devil Dancer Triple IPA, the new release Better Half, and yes, the 2010 Canadian Breakfast Stout. Get there early!
Over in Jersey City, The Iron Monkey (97 Greene St., at York St., Jersey City, NJ) hosts Flying Fish as part of their Meet the Brewery series starting at 6pm. They’ll pour the Red Fish, Abbey Dubbel, the brand-new Exit 8 Chestnut Brown Ale, and more!
Want a good deal on beer? Head down to the South Slope to Mary’s Bar (708 5th Ave., at 22nd St., South Slope) tonight at 8pm, when Peak Organic will be pouring pints of the Winter Session and Nut Brown for just four damn dollars.
Our friends off the 7 Train can pay Molly Bloom’s (43-13 Queens Blvd., at 43rd St., Sunnyside) a visit for Blue Point Night from 7-9pm. Pints of Toasted Lager and Winter Ale are half-price!
Haven’t had the Guinness Black Lager yet? Give it a whirl and get free swag at Buddha Beer Bar (4497 Broadway, at 192nd St., Washington Heights) tonight from 7-9pm.

Follow us on Twitter for ongoing updates, like us on Facebook to spread the word, and check us out on Foursquare for great lists of beer bars, stores, and breweries!

Time Out New York Beer Issue hits newsstands

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 12:30:00 -0500

It’s back! The 2012 edition of Time Out New York’s Beer Issue is out, and is chock full of tips, tricks, and insight about New York’s burgeoning beer scene. Local writers, brewers, and beer experts contributed to the issue, and there’s plenty of new information even for the city’s most seasoned beer geeks - including a new beer brewed in honor of the issue with Sixpoint. Among the things we learn:

The trend that everyone’s talking about this year is sessionability. After years of “bigger is better,” people are hoping that flavorful, low-alcohol beers make a splash in the beer market. In the issue, three beer experts extol the virtues of session beers, and TONY suggests a bar crawl through Greenpoint and Williamsburg for session beers.
Park Slope spot Beer Table (427B 7th Ave., at 15th St., Park Slope) once again bolsters its credentials of being the place to get an education in beer. In a TONY video, owner Justin Phillips takes a beer novice through some unique styles that can transform people’s opinions of beer.
Five new local breweries get nods in the issue, including Bronx Brewery, Long Island’s Spider Bite, and the Hudson Valley’s Crossroads Brewing. Also, there’s a profile of Manhattan’s newest brewpub, 508 Gastrobrewery.
In the interest of appealing to beer drinkers of all types - and supporting our theory that there’s a right time and place for every beer - the issue suggests beer happy hours where the prices hover around a couple bucks a brew. Obviously, don’t expect much craft beer here, but when you’re choosing your beer solely on price, beggars can’t be choosers.

Finally, as we mentioned, Sixpoint and Time Out have partnered on a beer again this year in celebration of the beer issue. Last year, it was Time Out For Porter… this year, it’s Ich Bin Kein, a Berliner Weisse that fits the bill perfectly given the issue’s running theme of session beer. Berliner Weisses typically clock in at a very sessionable ABV… although perhaps not the most sessionable flavor - even one or two of these could wreck your palate for the night. This one’s just 3.4%!

To celebrate, the beer will be released simultaneously tonight at 7pm at beer bars across the five boroughs! Here’s where you can find it:

Manhattan
- The Growler Station (26 W. 8th St., at MacDougal St., Greenwich Village)
- Rattle-N-Hum (14 E. 33rd St., at 5th Ave., Midtown)
- Blind Tiger Ale House (281 Bleecker St., at Jones St., West Village)
- The Cannibal (113 E. 29th St., at Park Ave., Murray Hill)
- Jimmy’s No. 43 (43 E. 7th St., at 2nd Ave., East Village)
- City Swiggers (320 E. 86th St., at 2nd Ave., Upper East Side)
- Earl’s Beer and Cheese (1259 Park Ave., at 97th St., Upper East Side)
- Taproom 307 (307 3rd Ave., at 24th St., Murray Hill)

Brooklyn
- The Double Windsor (210 Prospect Park West, at 16th St., Windsor Terrace)
- Barcade (388 Union Ave., at Ainslie St., Williamsburg)
- Bar Great Harry (280 Smith St., at Sackett St., Carroll Gardens)
- Mission Dolores (249 4th Ave., at Carroll St., Park Slope)
- 61 Local (61 Bergen St., at Smith St., Carroll Gardens)
- Brooklyn Tap House (590 Myrtle Ave., at Classon Ave., Bed-Stuy)
- Pine Box Rock Shop (12 Grattan St., at Bogart St., East Williamsburg)
- Spuyten Duyvil (350 Metropolitan Ave., at Havermeyer St., Williamsburg)

Bronx
- Bronx Ale House (216 W. 238th St., at Broadway, Kingsbridge)

Queens
- Alewife Queens (5-14 51st Ave., at 5th St., Long Island City)
- Sunswick 35/35 (35-02 35th St., at 35th Ave., Astoria)

Happy Hour: Sixpoint's Anniversary

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:00:00 -0500

It’s Wednesday, February 15th. Here’s our list of recommended beer-related events in and around New York after work tonight:

Kettle of Fish (59 Christopher St., at 7th Ave., West Village) celebrates the seventh anniversary of Sixpoint tonight! From 7-10pm, they’ll be serving $5 pints of the Anniversary Ale (a Belgian Red IPA), Crisp Lager, Sweet Action, Little Wisco, and Righteous Ale. There will also be some cans of the brand new Resin double IPA on hand to taste, plus free cupcakes and Wisconsin Mac & Cheese.
Growler Station (26 W. 8th St., at MacDougal St., Greenwich Village) has a Sixpoint tasting tonight from 6-9pm for those who can’t or don’t want to party all night long. They’ll be sampling the Anniversary Ale there, too!
Breckenridge pays a visit to Idle Hands Bar (25 Avenue B, at 2nd St., East Village) for their weekly $10 Bourbon and Beer Tasting Series. Celebrate Colorado beer! From 7-10pm, $10 gets you 2 full beers, a 3-beer tasting flight, a taste of whisky, and an order of tater tots!
The Ginger Man (11 E. 36th St., at 5th Ave., Midtown) holds their 2nd Annual Chocolate Event tonight starting at 5pm, with specially-made chocolates served and paired with beers from breweries like Dieu Du Ciel!, Ommegang, and Rogue.
Get your hands on some Brewery Ommegang tonight at The Three Monkeys (236 W. 54th St., at Broadway, Midtown). From 5-8pm, sample the BPA Belgian Pale Ale and the Duvel Single!

Follow us on Twitter for ongoing updates, like us on Facebook to spread the word, and check us out on Foursquare for great lists of beer bars, stores, and breweries!

First Look at Buddha Beer Bar

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 10:00:00 -0500

The number of bars serving more than a couple of craft beers on tap in the upper-reaches of Manhattan can probably be counted on one hand. But just a half-block out of the 191st Street stop on the 1 Train lies a new diamond in the rough: the week-old Buddha Beer Bar (4497 Broadway, at 192nd St., Washington Heights).

In a retail strip on Broadway, Buddha Beer Bar lies between Inwood and Washington Heights. The beer and food menus are a bit upscale, but this is a neighborhood place at heart, and the friendly folks behind the bar are knowledgable about beer and completely unafraid of recommending an American craft beer to a regular Negro Modelo drinker while reminding them of that Mexican beer’s history.

The tap menu is 24 deep, including three beers on nitro, like Wexler’s Cream Ale and Sixpoint Otis. The remaining beers focus primarily American, with brews like Victory Yakima Glory, Sierra Nevada Torpedo, and Brooklyn Mary’s Maple Porter on tap along side Delirium Tremens and Weihenstephaner Hefeweizen. Tap beers average between $6 and $6.50, with only the rarest beers topping $7. They also have a rotating cider on tap, and an extensive bottle list that includes highly-praised brews Ballast Point Sculpin IPA and Ommegang Seduction. Brian Duffy, who some folks might remember from his days at Bronx Ale House, manages the beer list and keeps it well-balanced with several varieties of craft beer while offering a few selections for craft beer newbies.

The food menu, curated by owner and chef James Lee of nearby wine bar 181 Cabrini, puts his spin on bar food with a nod to his Korean heritage, offering a menu of kimchi steak tacos ($9), braised pork belly with dates ($7), pulled pork sandwiches ($12), and snacks like crunchy and sweet fried brussels sprouts in a chili caramel sauce ($7).

The vibe isn’t stodgy and it’s not entirely a celebration of craft beer - but it shouldn’t be. Buddha Beer Bar functions as a well-rounded neighborhood bar with great beer. They’ve got sports - nine TVs in all - to satisfy the fanatic in you. They’ve got fusion food to satisfy the foodie side in you. They’ve got growlers to go - bring your own, or for a limited time, get a new one for free - to satisfy the homebody in you. And they’ve got a two-dozen deep tap beer selection to satisfy the beer geek in you.

Buddha Beer Bar doesn’t have to be all things to all people, and it doesn’t try to be all things to all people. But without even trying, it kind of is. And it’s worth checking out if you’re just around the corner or from the furthest reaches of Manhattan.

Happy Hour: Madly in love with beer

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:00:00 -0500

Happy Valentine’s Day! It’s Tuesday, February 14th. Here’s our list of recommended beer-related events in and around New York after work tonight:

Big and old: Vintage Barleywines are the subject of this week’s free Tuesday Tasting at Bierkraft (191 Fifth Ave., at President St., Park Slope) tonight at 7pm. You’ll get to sample several different vintage brews, including a 2007 Smuttynose Barleywine and 2008 vintages of Uinta Barleywine and Sierra Nevada Bigfoot.
The Pony Bar (637 10th Ave. at 45th St., Hell’s Kitchen) hosts Brewery Ommegang tonight starting at 6pm. It’s an All-American Belgian-Style celebration, with Valentine’s Day-appropriate beers like Adoration, Aphrodite, Seduction, and plenty more!
Celebrate Valentine’s Day with One Stop Beer Shop (134 Kingsland Ave., at Beadel St., Greenpoint), as they host Peak Organic from 7-9pm. Stop by to enjoy a free tasting and share this special evening with people who all have one love in common: Beer!
Good Beer (422 E. 9th St., btw. 1st Ave. and Ave. A) hosts California’s Ballast Point tonight from 6:30-9:30. They’ll be pouring Abandon Ship Smoked Lager, Sculpin IPA, Barrel-Aged Three Sheets Barleywine, and more on tap!
Perfect for Valentine’s Day, the weekly Ten Buck Tasting at Jimmy’s No. 43 (43 E. 7th St., at 2nd Ave., East Village) features beers that can be paired with chocolate! You’ll get six tastings of brew for $10, including The Bruery Saison de Lente, Dieu du Ciel! Rosee d’ Hibiscus, Ommegang Three Philosophers, and others. It’s BYOC: bring your own chocolate!

Follow us on Twitter for ongoing updates, like us on Facebook to spread the word, and check us out on Foursquare for great lists of beer bars, stores, and breweries!

Beer For Beasts update: Day Session sold out!

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:36:10 -0500

Tickets for the 2nd Annual Beer for Beasts event, sponsored by Sixpoint and Beer Advocate are disappearing! In fact, the day session is 100% sold out, and the night session has just 250 tickets remaining!

During the event, which will be held on Saturday, March 31st at The Bell House (149 7th St., at 3rd Ave., Gowanus), Sixpoint will serve up forty beers that have never been brewed before. Many of them will be collaborations with members of the community, extending Sixpoint’s locally-focused and locally-mindful mantra. They’ll also have local food from vendors like Calexico and Big Gay Ice Cream. Last year, the event raised over $30,000 for The Humane Society of New York City.

Tickets for the evening session, which runs from 6-10pm on March 31st, are available for $60 here. Hurry up and get them before they’re gone!

Outrageous beer prices aren't limited to pints

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:00:05 -0500

We’ve been hammering away at the fact that not all craft beer should be sold at $7 a pint. The phenomenon of the $7 is creating two problems: Price Creep, where more and more bars believe it’s acceptable to charge $7 for all pints of beer, and Price Acceptance, where beer drinkers unwilling to comparison shop accept $7 as a reasonable price for a pint of any beer.

Unfortunately, these concepts aren’t limited to the pricing of pints; it also applies to beer sold in bottle shops - especially when the beer is a small-batch, rare, or once-a-year release.

A couple of our readers reported sticker-shock upon visiting Top Hops Beer Shop (94 Orchard St., at Broome St., Lower East Side) to pick up a bottle of the Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout last week. The pricetag for one 22-ounce bottle? $30. Chicago stores were selling it as low as $12.99, and even in the New York area we saw it priced at a still-reasonable $19.99. But $30? We have never seen a single bottle of any American craft beer retail for that price anywhere in New York… except at a bar or restaurant, where we’re begrudgingly willing to accept that kind of markup. Although Downtown Bar & Grill (160 Court St., at Dean St., Cobble Hill) is selling bottles for $40, while the average restaurant in Chicago is pricing them between $22 and $26.

Of course, all stores and bars have the right to price it any way they wish, and as long as people buy the beer, they’re going to continue to charge that price. But if someone is obsessed with Coffee BCS, they might be willing to pay that exorbitant $30. And in New York, they might be even more willing to shell out the money so they don’t have to cross the city five times simply trying to find a place that has it in stock.

In the early days of City Swiggers (320 E. 86th St., at 2nd Ave., Upper East Side) late last year, when there was anger in one online forum over a sudden change in the price of Dogfish Head Faithfull Ale. In one week, the price for a bottle jumped from $17.99 to $25.99, to the outcry of a repeat customer who had come back for more. A Yelp reviewer claimed that the store’s owner justified the markup to him via email:

One person came from another area to buy them out, and complained when we limited quantity. [Others] weren’t satisified with sharing, and tried to find a loophole in our limit by returning the next day for more.

Due to [selfish people], we were forced to raise the price so that others could try this limited beer.

You can see both sides here and understand the struggle that retailers have. Stores have an incentive to keep their rarer beers in stock, as it’ll drive more people into the store. And we hate to see people buying large quantities of these beers only to turn around and sell them on eBay for five, ten, or a hundred times the retail price to beer geeks in places outside of the brewery’s distribution footprint.

But price-gouging does nobody any good. If one store drives up their prices to keep the hoarders from hoarding, other stores will likely follow suit, and that will result in a “price creep” that will make it acceptable in the eyes of retailers and gullible consumers that paying $25 for a large-format bottle of 5% ABV beer is somehow reasonable. It’s not. Neither a beer black market nor price-gouging is good for craft beer.

Many people attribute craft beer’s success during the economic downturn to its accessibility - it’s an affordable luxury. Charging over a dollar per ounce at retail for beer makes it just as expensive as a mid-priced wine - something that could turn many occasional craft beer drinkers off and drive them back to cheap, mass-produced beer. And forget about the potential craft beer drinkers; as the price gap between macro and craft beer widens, craft beer looks less and less attractive to a price-conscious consumer.

Unfortunately, the explosion of craft beer across the country will breed opportunists - people who are in it for the money, not the love of the beer. Those people aren’t just the retailers or the bar owners; they’re also the beer drinkers who run beer on the black market and the beer reviewers who hype rare beers and drive people to pay outrageous sums of money to drink what may otherwise beer a mediocre brew.

Thankfully, our free market also allows us to choose where we buy our beer. We can choose not to buy these beers at these prices.There are plenty of suckers - beer-worshippers, we call them - that will pay any price to get their hands on a beer that they love, and that drives up beer prices for all of us. Don’t be a beer-worshipper. Act smart when you buy beer, and vote with your wallet. Buyer beware!

Happy Hour: Thirsty Thursday

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:00:05 -0500

It’s Thursday, February 9th. Here’s our list of recommended beer-related events in and around New York after work tonight:

Barcade Jersey City (163 Newark Ave., at Erie St., Jersey City) hosts beer celebrity Sam Calagione and brews from Dogfish Head tonight starting at 5pm. The tap lineup includes the 120 Minute IPA, a 2007 vintage Fort, a 2009 vintage Burton Baton, the new Noble Rot, and a whole lot more.
Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, Wandering Star takes over the taps at Barcade Brooklyn (388 Union Ave., at Ainslie St., Williamsburg) tonight starting at 5pm. They’ll pour Bash Bish Bock, Bert’s Disqualified Stout, Raindrop Pale Ale, and the New York debut of the Rude Man barleywine!
It’s Two Brothers Night at Bierkraft (191 Fifth Ave., at President St., Park Slope). Starting at 7pm, drink theLong Haul Session Ale,Ebel Weisse,Domaine DuPage, and more great brews from the Illinois brewery.
Sample some free Innis & Gunntonight at 7pm at One Stop Beer Shop (134 Kingsland Ave., at Beadel St., Greenpoint). They’ll pour free tasters of their Rum Cask Aged Scotch Ale all night long, and One Stop Beer Shop will roll out some of their new food menu, including a locally-made lamb sausage on ciabatta.

Follow us on Twitter for ongoing updates, like us on Facebook to spread the word, and check us out on Foursquare for great lists of beer bars, stores, and breweries!

Happy Hour: High-Flying Dog

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:00:00 -0500

It’s Wednesday, February 8th. Here’s our list of recommended beer-related events in and around New York after work tonight:

The Brooklyn debut of Midnight Sun takes place tonight at Barcade (388 Union Ave., at Ainslie St., Williamsburg) starting at 5pm. Enjoy the Sockeye Red, Mammoth Extra Stout, Monk’s Mistress, and more - all for the first time in Brooklyn!
Dive Bar (732 Amsterdam Ave., at 96th St., Upper West Side) hosts Flying Dog tonight starting at 7pm. Among the beers they’ll pour: the new Kujo Imperial Coffee Stout, Garde Dog Farmhouse Ale, and a barrel-aged version of the Gonzo Imperial Stout.
George Keeley (485 Amsterdam Ave., at 83rd St., Upper West Side) hosts Speakeasy tonight starting at 6pm. They’ll pour the Big Daddy IPA, Double Daddy Imperial IPA, White Lightning Wheat Ale, and much more!
Growler Station (26 W. 8th St., at MacDougal St., Greenwich Village) has a Krombacher tasting tonight from 6-9pm. Pop in to try samples of the Weisse, Dark, and Pils from the largest privately-owned brewery in Germany!
Up in Peekskill, Birdsall House (970 Main St., at Division St., Peekskill) hosts “Belgium Comes to Peekskill,” with a bevy of beers from Duvel, Ommegang, Brasserie d’Chouffe, and Maredsous pouring starting at 6pm.

Follow us on Twitter for ongoing updates, like us on Facebook to spread the word, and check us out on Foursquare for great lists of beer bars, stores, and breweries!

We’re headed to San Francisco tonight for San Francisco Beer Week, so we’ll be publishing on a light schedule the next few days. Cheers!

Sixpoint Resin now available throughout the city

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:16:42 -0500

No, your eyes are not deceiving you. That’s a cute little four-pack of the new Sixpoint Resin Double IPA. We say “cute and little” because the beer is sold in new versions of their “nano-kegs” for high-test beers - 12-ounce tallboys. These skinny vessels are part beer can, part Red Bull can, but all parts colorful and awesome. And now, they can be yours, as they started to roll off the trucks over the weekend.

Sixpoint released a list of places where you can buy Resin in New York City. And that list is now available for you to peruse in spreadsheet form, so you don’t have to go hunting all over the city to get your hands on it. The sheet is here, but keep in mind that some of the locations may have already run out. But it’s a handy guide in the meantime.

Meanwhile, we noticed another interesting can offering on the horizon for Sixpoint on their new sell sheet at an in-store event last weekend: Apollo will be their summer wheat beer in “nanokegs,” and for once, it’s not hoppy! It’ll clock in at an easy-drinking 5.2% ABV with just 13 IBUs. We’ll let you know more when we know it ourselves, but this may be this year’s summer jam.

A second Pony Bar planned for Upper East Side

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:00:00 -0500

We’ve been big fans of The Pony Bar (637 10th Ave. at 45th St., Hell’s Kitchen) since it opened back in 2009, and from the crowds that it draws on a nightly basis, we know we’re not the only ones. The Pony makes craft beer accessible, introduces good beer to the masses, and has one of a handful of active cask beer programs in the city. Of course, the only thing better than The Pony Bar is having two Pony Bars.

We spotted a liquor license application for the recently-closed Blue Moon Mexican Cafe at 1st Avenue and 75th Street last week. The trade name on the license? The Pony Bar.

Owner Dan McLaughlin confirmed that it’s the real deal: The Pony Bar UES (1444 First Ave. at 75th St., Upper East Side) is in the works, and could be open by the spring.

When you’ve got a formula that works, you don’t mess with it. So the second location of The Pony will have all the things you like about the first: 20 beers on tap, two casks, all American craft beer, beers priced at $5 each, a food menu, and a location that’s about five blocks from Fifth Avenue (okay, fine, that you may not like that last one).

And why the Upper East Side? Well, why not? It’s quickly becoming a neighborhood that takes craft beer seriously, with places like City Swiggers (320 E. 86th St., at 2nd Ave., Upper East Side), Cafe D’Alsace (1695 2nd Ave., at 88th St., Upper East Side), and Earl’s Beer and Cheese (1259 Park Ave., at 97th St., Upper East Side) already pumping up great beer. So this is a natural extension of that.

Just a year ago, we considered the Upper East Side a beer wasteland peppered with frat bars and overpriced restaurants. It’s great to see the beer revolution take place in unexpected places.

We’ll keep you updated on the opening date. And upon the opening, don’t celebrate too hard. Remember: sometimes you ride The Pony, and sometimes The Pony rides you.

Happy Hour: International beers of mystery

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:00:00 -0500

It’s Tuesday, February 7th. Here’s our list of recommended beer-related events in and around New York after work tonight:

The weekly Ten Buck Tasting at Jimmy’s No. 43 (43 E. 7th St., at 2nd Ave., East Village) features beers more of Shelton Brothers Importers’ beers from around the world! You’ll get six tastings of some international brews for $10, including Hook Norton 12 Days, Mikkeller Centennial Single Hop, Nøgne ø Peculiar Yule, and others. What are the others? That’s for me to know and you to find out! The tasting gets underway tonight at 7:30pm.
This week’s Bierkraft (191 Fifth Ave., at President St., Park Slope) Tuesday tasting is a night of brews from Lagunitas! They’ll have some goodies from California like the Censored Ale, Imperial Stout, Czech Pils, and maybe even the Imperial Red. Sorry, they won’t have any of that other kind of goodie that Lagunitas is known for. The free tasting gets underway at 7pm.
Tonight at Franklin Park (618 St. John’s Pl. at Franklin Ave., Prospect Heights), the folks from Bitter & Esters homebrew shop in Brooklyn will show off the fruits of their labors from a hands-on classe in their “Brew Like a Pro” Series, where they brew clones of popular American craft beers. Tonight at 8pm, buy the original beer, Smuttynose IPA, and get an eight-ounce pour of the clone beer for free!
It’s the first Tuesday of the month, so Cassius is at Blind Tiger Ale House (281 Bleecker St., at Jones St., West Village) from 8-10pm, spinning collaborative-themed records while they serve the collaboration Mikkeller/Three Floyds BOOGOOP!

For more updates, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and check us out on Foursquare for our lists of beer bars, stores, and breweries!

Your Beery Weekend: February 3-5

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:00:00 -0500

The weekend is so close, you can almost taste it! And with Super Bowl Sunday on the horizon, there will be a whole lot of beer sampling going on so you can choose the right beer to bring to the big game. Plus, this weekend, Sixpoint Resin, their new canned Double IPA, will make its debut. And, no matter which way the Super Bowl goes, someone at Brooklyn or Harpoon is going to get a good laugh (and some good beer).

Here’s your rundown of beer events this weekend. Enjoy!

FRIDAY

Free beer samples! The Brew York City Growler Bar @ 76th (2148 Broadway, at 76th St., Upper West Side) offers samples of brew from Saranac this afternoon from 3-5pm, and then from Magic Hat from 5-7pm.
Meanwhile, On Tap at Whole Foods Columbus Circle (10 Columbus Circle, at 59th St., Upper West Side) serves up some great Sixpoint brews from 4-8pm, including 8 Days of Wheat, Signal IPA, 7th Anniversary Belgian Red IPA, and Mad Scientists #8 Berliner Weisse. They’ll have free samples and glassware giveaways, too. Plus, at 5:30, they’ll be replaying Super Bowl XLII on the TVs.
From 4-10pm, head to Brouwerij Lane (78 Greenpoint Ave., at Franklin St., Greenpoint) to drink some brews from tiny Massachusetts brewing outfit Element. They’ll be pouring the Red Giant , a dry-hopped red ale on cask, Extra Special Oak, a strong oaked English Bitter, Winter Ion, a winter ale brewed with cocoa and aged on cocoa nibs, and more!

SATURDAY

The Sixpoint sampling continues Saturday at Whole Foods Bowery Beer Room (95 E. Houston St., at Chrystie St., Lower East Side). From 4-7pm, they’ll be pouring growlers of some of their great beers, like Spontaneous Construction, Occupation Ale, and Gorilla Warfare, and sampling some others, including cans of the new Resin.
The Iron Monkey (97 Greene St., at York St., Jersey City, NJ) kicks off a week-long charity event while pouring great beer from Dogfish Head. They’ll be open at noon pouring from their stash of DFH beers like the 2010 Olde School, Ta Henket, Hellhound on My Ale, and tons more… and proceeds from all Dogfish beers go to benefit three charities.
The Growler Station (26 W. 8th St., at MacDougal St., Greenwich Village) cuts a great deal for you: download a coupon from their Facebook page, and get 25% off a two-liter bottle of Brooklyn or Harpoon beer on Saturday or Sunday. Bring it to your Super Bowl party! Impress your friends!

SUNDAY

Warm up for Super Bowl Sunday by visiting Blind Tiger Ale House (281 Bleecker St., at Jones St., West Village) to try Midnight Sun Brewing Company’s beers for the first time in New York! Starting at 3pm, they’ll pour Sockeye Red, a red IPA with three varietals of American hops, and TREAT, an Imperial Chocolate Pumpkin Porter (no kidding). They also make a roasty Mammoth Extra Stout, and much more!
Sixpoint sampling wraps up for those last-minute Super Bowl beer shoppers at Whole Foods Bowery Beer Room (95 E. Houston St., at Chrystie St., Lower East Side) on Sunday from 1-5pm. Why not grab a growler of Gemini Double IPA or Belgian IPA… or perhaps some cans of their Righteous Ale?
For those looking to celebrate the Super Bowl with good beer, there’s Standings (43 E. 7th St., at 2nd Ave., East Village), pouring beers representing both the Giants and the Pats starting at 6pm… with free pizza starting at 7pm, Spritzenhaus (33 Nassau Ave., at Guernsey St., Greenpoint) starts their party at 6:30 and has an iPod dock giveaway at halftime courtesy of Staropramen, and The Bodega (24 St. Nicholas Ave., at Troutman St., Bushwick) has craft beer specials and a barbeque for their watch party at 6pm.