San Diego’s Green Flash Brewing is heading to the East Coast! This has double meaning: the brewery announced earlier this month that they would be opening a second facility in Virginia Beach, Virginia in 2015. But in the much shorter term, the team from Green Flash - including brewmaster Chuck Silva - will pay a visit to the five boroughs in April for a lineup of great beer events they’re calling “The Green Flash State of Mind Tour.” If you’re a sucker for their hoppy West Coast wonders, you’ve got to check out this event list!

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It’s Monday, March 25th. Here’s our list of recommended beer-related events in and around New York after work tonight:

• Bronx Brewery, Ommegang, and Blue Point are all in the house at Harlem Public (3612 Broadway, at 149th St., Harlem) tonight from 6-9pm. Enjoy beers like the new Bronx Belgian Pale Ale, Ommegang Adoration, and Blue Point White IPA on tap all night long!
  
  
• It’s VSK (Very Special Keg) Monday at Blind Tiger Ale House (281 Bleecker St., at Jones St., Greenwich Village). At 5pm, they’ll tap a rare or unique keg of the bar’s choosing. This week, it’s the Perennial Bailey’s Chocolate Ale.
  
  
• Jimmy’s No. 43 (43 E. 7th St., at 2nd Ave., East Village) hosts a Cider Seder Dinner tonight at 7pm. Enjoy a five course Seder with Spanish cider pairings. Tickets are available online, and there may be some available at the door (call ahead at 212-982-3006).

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Because the world exists beyond the Hudson River, Beercation is our occasional travel series where we feature the best beer spots in destinations beyond New York.

To get an idea of how serious Alaska is about beer, you don’t have to go much further than my conversation with Travis Tolson, a brewer at Kodiak Island Brewing, who happened to be sitting next to me on my first morning in Anchorage at the counter of a downtown diner. I asked him, “does your beer get up to Anchorage often?”

“Not at all, actually. Our beer hardly ever makes it off the island.” It’s true: Kodiak’s strategy is to stay fiercely local. Tolson was in town pouring for a beer festival, one of the rare moments when Kodiak’s beer gets to Anchorage. The brewery is no nano-brewery; it puts out several thousand barrels of beer per year. But Kodiak Island is a small island, with a population around 14,000.

“That’s like, a barrel of beer for every beer drinker on the island,” I said, after doing the math in my head.

Tolson nodded.  “And that’s on top of the other beer they drink.” Apparently, that’s an even larger number.

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Nobody can be in the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room at their brewery in Elmsford every weekend. But you can live vicariously through the stories of others each week. Michael Malone is now a year into the great experiment of writing “Notes From the Tasting Room,” a series posted weekly on the brewery’s website. There, he tells stories of another weekend of visits by beer fans, friends, dignitaries, and even pets. He meshes their visits into a clever narrative that reminds readers that while a brewery is serious about the beer, it’s nothing without the people that support it. Malone also sneaks in news about new brewery developments and beer releases. We recommend giving it a read… and if you visit the brewery, heck, you might become a part of it!

Here’s our roundup of beer events happening in the city this weekend, the first weekend of Spring…

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Shmaltz Brewing, known best for its He'brew and Coney Island Lagers brands, announced this morning that they will move from contract brewing to brewery ownership this year, building a new facility in Clifton Park, just north of Albany.

Owner Jeremy Cowan, who has been unabashed in his defense of contract brewing, had his beers brewed under contract at Olde Saratoga Brewing Company in Saratoga Springs up until now. Now, Shmaltz will have its own facility, at which it will be producing all of its beer in-house by this summer. The new brewery will also have a tasting room, expanded capacity, and will continue Shmaltz’s aggressive barrel-aging program.

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It’s Thursday, March 21st. Here’s our list of recommended beer-related events in and around New York after work tonight:

• Celebrate the Fourth Anniversary of Brouwerij Lane (78 Greenpoint Ave., at Franklin St., Greenpoint) with a lineup of anniversary beers tonight from 6-10pm. They’ll have the Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Jack and Ken’s Barleywine, Weyerbacher XVII, BFM La Quatorze, and many more brews, plus cake and balloons!
  
  
• Bronx Brewery holds a release party for their new Belgian Pale Ale at Coopers Craft & Kitchen (87 2nd Ave., at 5th St., East Village). Tonight from 7-10pm, you’ll be able to chat with brewer Damian Brown and the Bronx team while you try the beer for the first time.
  
  
• San Francisco’s Speakeasy takes the taps at The Gate (321 5th Ave., at 3rd St., Park Slope) tonight at 7pm. Enjoy the XV Anniversary Imperial IPA, Black & White Cookie Stout, and a trio of beers like the Green Death that are pouring in New York for the very first time!
  
  
• Get in a Colorado state of mind as Great Divide takes over the taps at Bierkraft (191 Fifth Ave., at President St., Park Slope) starting at 7pm. They’ll pour a huge lineup that includes the Colette Saison, Old Ruffian Barley Wine, Espresso Oak-Aged Yeti Imperial Stout, and tons more!
  
  
• It’s Empire Brewing Night at Barcade (388 Union Ave., at Ainslie St., Williamsburg) starting at 4pm! Enjoy a dozen brews from the Syracuse and Brooklyn-based brewery, including the Empire Strikes Bock, Local Grind Coffee Scotch Ale, the Barleywine, and more!
  
  
• Meanwhile, it’s Allagash Night across the Hudson at Barcade Jersey City (163 Newark Ave., at Erie St., Jersey City). The Smoke & Beards, Bourbon Barrel Black, Grand Cru, and many other Belgian-style brews from Maine will be on tap starting at 7pm.
  
  
• Join Troegs for a free tasting tonight at Malt & Mold (221 East Broadway, at Clinton St., Lower East Side) from 5-8pm. Enjoy some tastes of beer from the Pennsylvania brewery, including the famous Nugget Nectar and more, plus sample some free cheese, too!
  
  
• The Thursday Tap at Jimmy’s No. 43 (43 E. 7th St., at 2nd Ave., East Village) celebrates Spring today, as they pour two bocks from Germany’s Weissenohe in Franconian Casks. They’ll tap the Virtac Bior bock and Bonator doppelbock today at 5pm.
  
  
• Enjoy a free tasting of brews from Ithaca Beer Co. tonight from 5-8pm at On Tap at Whole Foods Columbus Circle (10 Columbus Circle, at 59th St., Upper West Side). They’ll have the Ground Break Saison, Gorges Smoked Porter, and more, and if you buy a beer, you get a free pint glass while supplies last!
  
  
• Harpoon hosts a beer pairing dinner tonight at Alobar (46-42 Vernon Blvd., at 47th Rd., Long Island City) from 5:30-10pm. $50 gets you five courses and five beers, like a Duck Confit Boxty paired with Rich & Dan’s Rye IPA and Irish Ale Lamb Stew paired with the Celtic Ale. You can call for reservations at (718) 752-6000.

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.