Every year since 1998, Denver-based brewery Wynkoop Brewing Company has awarded the title of “Beer Drinker of the Year” to an individual worthy of the title. Folks from Wynkoop, beer experts, and previous titleholders conduct an exhaustive review process of potential candidates and have announced this year’s finalists.

If you had any doubt that our city was a beer-drinking city, stop doubting now: two of the three finalists are from New York.

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It’s Wednesday, February 13th. Here’s our list of recommended beer-related events in and around New York after work tonight:

• Blind Tiger Ale House (281 Bleecker St., at Jones St., Greenwich Village) hosts a great lineup of brews from Ommegang today starting at 3pm. Among them: the 2011 Aphrodite, Biere D'Hougoumont, Barrier Relief, and a whole lot more. They’ll pour them all till they’re out, and brewer Phil Leinhart will be on hand, too!
  
  
• Bronx Brewery, Shmaltz, and Sixpoint, along with Idle Hands Bar (25 Avenue B, at 2nd St., East Village), team up for the bar’s weekly $10 Bourbon and Beer Tasting Series. Tonight from 7-10pm, $10 gets beers in a 3-beer tasting flight, 2 full pours, a taste of whisky, and an order of tater tots!
  
  
• City Swiggers (320 E. 86th St., at 2nd Ave., Upper East Side) hosts Flying Dog tonight from 6-9pm. Enjoy beers like the Kujo Coffee Imperial Stout, El Dorado Single Hop IIPA, Doggie Style Pale Ale, and more on tap, plus a big lineup of bottled brews, too!
  
  
• It’s Sixpoint Night at Dining Room (56 Willoughby St., at Lawrence St., Downtown Brooklyn) from 6-8pm tonight. Get half off pours of the Crisp, Sweet Action, and a beer from their Spice of Life series.
  

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It’s Tuesday, February 12th. Here’s our list of recommended beer-related events in and around New York after work tonight:

You can probably imagine that Louisiana’s Abita will be the craft beer of the night tonight across the city, and you’ll find it all over the place:

• Standings (43 E. 7th St., at 2nd Ave., East Village) will be pouring three beers from Abita starting at 6pm, along with free pizza with cajun spices.
  
  
• Abita takes over the taps at Sunswick 35/35 (35-02 35th St., at 35th Ave., Astoria) tonight starting at 7pm, with Andy Gator, Mardi Gras Bock, Wheat IPA among the beers they’ll pour on tap.
  
  
• The Brazen Head (228 Atlantic Ave., at Court St., Cobble Hill) will be pouring Turbodog, IPA, and Purple Haze, and they’ll have $5 Hurricanes all day long!
  
  
• Malt & Mold (221 East Broadway, at Clinton St., Lower East Side) starts celebrating early with samples of the brand-new Oyster Stout and other Abita beers from 2-4pm, along with Muffaletta sandwiches and free cheese samples.
  
  
• All three bars in the Dive Bar chain - Dive 75 (101 W. 75th St., at Columbus Ave., Upper West Side), Dive Bar (732 Amsterdam Ave., at 96th St., Upper West Side), and Broadway Dive (2662 Broadway, at 101st St., Upper West Side) - have tons of Abita on tap starting at 7pm, including the Turbodog and Mardi Gras Bock.
  
  
• ABC Beer Co. (96 Avenue C, at 6th St., East Village) has beers from Abita and new arrival Bayou Teche Biere tonight, with $1 off pints until 9pm. They’ll also have cajun music, cajun sandwiches, and beads and coozies to give away!

Meanwhile, if Abita isn’t your thing…

• It’s Double-Digit Night at The Owl Farm (297 9th St., at 5th Ave., Park Slope). Go big or go home, with high-ABV beers like Avery The Kaiser, Founders Imperial Stout, Southern Tier Backburner Barleywine, and many more boozy brews. The beers go on tap when they open, but you’ll get a discount from 6-10pm.
  
  
• Bierkraft (191 Fifth Ave., at President St., Park Slope) hosts a very special Tuesday Tasting tonight at 7pm. Shelton Brothers founder Joel Shelton will be in the house to host a tasting of some of his company’s finest imported beers, and Jim “Bocky” Barnes will be spinning vinyl after the tasting.
  
  
• This week’s Tuesday Tasting at Jimmy’s No. 43 (43 E. 7th St., at 2nd Ave., East Village) celebrates beers fromFrench and French-Canadian brewers! $20 gets you six tastings of brews like Thiriez Extra, Dieu du Ciel! Route des Epices, La Choulette Ambree, and more! Things get underway at 7:30pm.

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A new entry to the New York market started hitting shelves in the city late last week. And just in time for Fat Tuesday, it’s a brewery from the bayou: Louisiana’s Bayou Teche Biere.

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It’s Monday, February 11th. Here’s our list of recommended beer-related events in and around New York after work tonight:

• Jimmy’s No. 43 (43 E. 7th St., at 2nd Ave., East Village) hosts a “Lundi Gras” Beer-and-Seafood Dinner tonight at 7pm. The five-course dinner includes items like Baked Oysters with Creole Aioli and Crayfish Gumbo paired with French and French-Canadian Craft Beers like Theillier and Dieu du Ciel! The prix-fixe dinner is $45 and you can still purchase tickets through Brown Paper Tickets.
  
  
• 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 2011 vintage Ommegang Gnomegang, a delicious (and rhyming) Belgian strong ale that was a collaboration with d'Achouffe.
  
  
• Celebrate the Lunar New Year at Manchester Pub (920 2nd Ave., at 49th St., Midtown East) tonight. With every Tsingtao you buy, you’ll get a free plate of roasted pig. Get there early before it’s gone!
  

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To answer a question that has probably been asked by readers of this site more than any other: no, right now, you cannot find beer from famed Michigan brewery Bell’s at any store or bar in New York City. The brewery doesn’t have a distributor here, for one, and the beer isn’t even registered to be sold in New York. Last year, we explained what holds back out-of-state brewers like Bell’s, but noted that once there’s enough brewery capacity to meet demand, a brewer like them might consider adding New York as a market.

Beerpulse reported yesterday that New York is the next market Bell’s is eying for expansion. Laura Bell, the brewery’s marketing director, says the move into New York will happen “when there is enough beer to do so.” With Bell’s recent expansion, that should be quite soon. For those in New York City smacking their lips, though, there’s a catch.

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