The annual Great American Beer Festival kicks off today in Denver, and several local brewers will help to put the New York beer scene on the map for a crowd of 50,000 beer drinkers from all across the country. 18 breweries from New York State will have booths at the festival this year, up slightly from 17 last year. Another six small brewers from around the state will get some attention as well in the festival’s “Support Your Local Brewery” pavilion. Three of New York City’s breweries will be pouring this year, and another five from Long Island and Westchester will be serving beer to the thirsty masses this weekend.

Keep reading

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

• Mugs Alehouse (125 Bedford Ave., at N. 11th St., Williamsburg) is legal tonight! They’re celebrating their 21st birthday with a lineup of anniversary beers and vintages all night long, like Dogfish Head World Wide Stout 2010, Great Divide 18th Anniversary, Ithaca Fifteen, and lots more!
  
  
• Hoist a stein tonight at The Double Windsor (210 Prospect Park West, at 16th St., Windsor Terrace). Samuel Adams will be in the house starting at 6pm for a stein-hoisting competition while they pour the Nitro Stout, Chocolate Cherry Bock, Double Agent IPL, and many more Boston Beer specialities.
  
  
• Pennsylvania import Weyerbacher stops by City Swiggers (320 E. 86th St., at 2nd Ave., Upper East Side) tonight from 6-9pm. They’ll serve up free tastes of the Heresy Barrel-aged Imperial Stout, Last Chance IPA, Verboten Belgian Pale Ale, and more.
  
  
• Idle Hands Bar (25 Avenue B, at 2nd St., East Village) hosts an American Oktoberfest beer tasting tonight. From 7-9pm, $10 gets you two American-brewed Oktoberfest-style beers like Sly Fox Oktoberfest and Flying Dog Dogtoberfest, plus a shot of Jager and an order of tater tots!
  
  
• Brooklyn Brewery (79 N. 11th St., at Wythe Ave., Williamsburg) continues their War Correspondents Series tonight at 7:30 with a conversation with Robert Nickelsberg and Jon Lee Anderson. A $25 ticket includes admission and a free beer. All proceeds from the events in this series benefit RISC (Reporters Instructed in Saving Colleagues).

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram 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.

The tap selection at one of the 14 breweries holding a farm brewery license, Long Ireland Brewing in Riverhead (Source: Facebook)

Governor Cuomo’s office today announced that a total of 14 new Farm Breweries have opened since legislation took effect in January to create a new license for brewers looking to use New York-sourced ingredients. The Governor also touted the growth of the beer industry in New York, where the number of breweries has nearly doubled in just the past two years.

Keep reading

This unassuming storefront will soon house some good beer on tap in Bed-Stuy

While it’s always great to drink right from the source, there are openings coming up this fall other than new breweries. Here’s a few of the many upcoming beer bars we’re keeping an eye on for opening soon. Never mind that some we featured in our last update back in July haven’t even opened yet - we just don’t want you to blame us when these places pop up seemingly out of nowhere.

Keep reading

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

• The 508 Gastrobrewery (508 Greenwich St., at Spring St., SoHo) debuts two new beers tonight: their collaboration with forthcoming Queens brewery Finback called Baby’s Got Finback,  a smokey Amber ale brewed with Lapsang Souchong tea and Lychees, and Hello Gourdgeous, a pumpkin saison brewed with the New York City Homebrewers Guild. These and all their beers are $5 a pour from 6-10pm tonight.
  
  
• Head to Union Hall (702 Union St. at 5th Ave., Park Slope)for a battle of Beer vs. Cheese in a round of bocce tonight at 7pm! Brewers from Singlecut, Kelso, Captain Lawrence, and Brooklyn take on cheesemongers from Brooklyn Victory Garden, Campbell Cheese & Grocery, Murray’s Cheese, and Stinky Bklyn. $5 for a voluntary donation to City Harvest gets you two drink tickets and access to all the action!
  
  
• Bierkraft (191 Fifth Ave., at President St., Park Slope) features the beers of Victory tonight at 7pm for their free Tuesday Tasting… get there early for a seat as RJ Ober takes you through five of the Downingtown, Pennsylvania-based brewery’s beers!
  
  
• Carve out a space at the bar for yourself at Rattle-N-Hum (14 E. 33rd St., at 5th Ave., Midtown) as they host their Pumpkin Ale Fest starting at 4pm today, with beers like the Southern Tier Pumking, Timmermans Pumpkin Lambicus, Elysian Night Owl Pumpkin, RJ Rockers Gruntled Pumpkin, and many more on tap all night long.
  
  
• This week’s Tuesday Tasting at Jimmy’s No. 43 (43 E. 7th St., at 2nd Ave., East Village) celebrates beers from 12% Imports and Shelton Brothers! $20 gets you six tastings of beers like Freigeist Hoppeditz, Weissenohe Monk’s Fest, and The Monarchy Methusalem. The tasting gets underway at 7:30pm.
  
  
• Radegast Hall (113 N. 3rd St., at Berry St., Williamsburg) hosts an their Tuesday Tasting tonight at 7:30pm. They’ll be any four of their nine draft lines - your choice - along with live music from Jason Prover and his Sneak Thievery Orchestra!

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram 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.

The TTB website sits dormant during the shutdown, locking brewers out of access to important paperwork to process applications to open breweries and sell new beers

As the US Federal government shutdown enters its second week, brewers are getting fed up with the stalled approval process that’s hampering openings and innovation in a fast-growing and competitive industry. Last week we told you that the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, which regulates alcohol on a national level, furloughed the staff responsible for processing brewery notices, which allow new breweries to open, and Certificates of Label Approval (COLAs), which allow brewers to produce new varieties of beer and ship them across state lines. Now, some brewers across the country are making it known that the shutdown is affecting them personally.

Keep reading