The first cans of Sixpoint have rolled off the line (photo via Sixpoint on Facebook)

Here they are, in all their full-color glory: cans of Sixpoint Craft Ales’ Righteous Ale and Sweet Action. As we reported a couple months back, Sixpoint has begun canning their beer in 16-ounce cans. And whether you call them “pounders” or “tallboys” or something else, you’ll want one of these bad boys in your hand this summer.

Sixpoint says they’ll start shipping the cans next week, so they’ll be on shelves across New York City just in time for the unofficial start of summer: Memorial Day weekend. So far, we can say for sure that Whole Foods, Duane Reade, Fairway, and Food Emporium will be carrying them. We’ll keep an eye out for them, and the second we see them, we’ll let you know here, or on our Twitter stream.

In addition to the two beers above, they’ll also be canning Bengali Tiger IPA and their The Crisp Pilsner. And they won’t stop there - expect other beers aside from their flagship brews to find their way into cans later this year.

Get ready: The Summer of Beer is about to begin!

Here are the beer-related goings-on after work tonight:

• It’s Victory Night at The Double Windsor (210 Prospect Park West, at 16th St., Windsor Terrace) tonight starting at 7pm, with brews like Yakima Glory, Headwaters Pale Ale, St. Victorious Dopplebock, and more - all on tap for $5 a pint.
• As we mentioned before, tonight is the night to try the Fortitude’s Founding Father Brew, the beer brewed by Shmaltz that’s inspired by George Washington’s historic recipe. Enjoy it and several other Shmaltz beers tonight at 7pm at Rattle-N-Hum (14 E. 33rd St., at 5th Ave., Midtown).
• The Stag’s Head (252 E. 51st St., at 2nd Ave., Turtle Bay) salutes the Pacific Northwest tonight with an Oregon Beer Tasting. We think their definition of Oregon is a bit broad, since along with Rogue and Full Sail, they’ll be pouring Dick’s and Elysian, but whatever - they’re all good. Plus, once the fun gets underway at 6pm, they’ll be passing around free smoked salmon canapes.
• George Keeley (485 Amsterdam Ave., at 83rd St., Upper West Side) celebrates some great brewers courtesy of… Great Brewers. Enjoy beers from Ballast Point, Greenport Harbor, Hitachino, and more starting at 6pm.

We’ve heard rumblings for the past couple weeks about Brooklyn Brewery’s next beer in their Brewmaster’s Reserve series. Their Twitter stream has mentioned ginger, honey, lemon juice, and cocktails in the past month or so, so we were intrigued about what the final product would be.

Enter The Brooklyn Tonic, a beer inspired by The Penicillin, a cocktail invented by Sam Ross, bartender at Milk & Honey. The concoction takes Scotch and blends it with ginger-infused honey and lemon juice. The beer takes a similar approach: pale malt, hops, and dried lemon peel, minced ginger, organic lemon juice from Sicily, and New York State wildflower honey were used in the making of the brew.

You can try it for the first time next Monday night, when Brooklyn Brewery has its launch party for the beer. However, the only way in is to win, and you can “take the Tonic Challenge” on social beer networking site Untappd. Simply check-in to Local 1 or Local 2 at one of 70 different bars or restaurants in the New York area, and you’ll be entered to win one of ten pairs of tickets to the event. The full list of places to give it a whirl are here.

But you better hurry: you must check-in by this Friday to be eligible.

Here are the beer-related goings-on after work tonight:

• Rattle-N-Hum (14 E. 33rd St., at 5th Ave., Midtown) hosts Empire Brewing out of Syracuse today starting at 4pm, serving up Deep Purple, two aged versions of their Barleywine, the Brooklyn-brewed Cream Ale, and more.
• There’s a Pretty Things tasting tonight at 7pm at Bierkraft (191 Fifth Ave., at President St., Park Slope). Enjoy free samples of their brews from New York’s #1 Pretty Things guru, Jim Barnes.
• Brooklynites can enjoy a free tasting of Captain Lawrence at Greene Grape Provisions (753 Fulton St., at S. Portland Ave., Fort Greene) tonight from 5:30-7:30pm. Try the Five Years Later, Captain Lawrence’s anniversary beer.
• At Jimmy’s No. 43 (43 E. 7th St., at 2nd Ave., East Village), it’s another Tuesday $10 Tasting. This week, the tasting is guided by Susan Greene of the Global Brewers Guild, and will include brews from Stoudt’s, Allagash, Great Divide, and more. The tasting starts at 7:30pm.

A letter in the window at 14 Avenue B (via EV Grieve)

EV Grieve is reporting that signage in the windows of a space at 14 Avenue B in the East Village states that they’re proposing to open an on-premises brewpub called East Village Brewery & Beer Shop. The location is on the docket of tonight’s Community Board 3 State Liquor Authority Licensing Committee meeting (which is typically a zoo of angry neighbors and clueless bar owners), so we’ll know more soon.

The spot promises to “produce an in-house, award-winning craft beer to be consumed and sold on premises,” and offer “a retail space similar to the Beer Room component of Whole Foods in order to offer craft beers and beer-related dry goods.”

A commenter at EVG noted that the food menu posted out front is practically a carbon copy of one from Prime Meats in Cobble Hill. Perhaps the owners are involved, or perhaps someone really lazy needed to whip up a menu.

Anyway, since an application hasn’t even been filed with the SLA yet, the process to license a brewpub is even more draconian, and the location proposed has a troubled past, this is probably a long way off if it ever happens at all, but it’s worth mentioning nonetheless.

If you find yourself in Union Square today, you should stop buy the Greenmarket to buy beer directly from a brewer. Tundra Brewery, the product of Mark VanGlad (pictured on right) at his family’s farm in Stamford, New York, is now in its second week selling locally-brewed beer at a booth on the north side of Union Square. They’ll be there today and every Friday from 8am-5pm.

This is a new and once rare opportunity. After all, in many places, because of the way beer has to be sold through a distributor, it’s illegal for a brewer to hand you beer while you hand the brewer money. And while it’s symbolic, it’s a pretty big move and could spell very big things for some very small breweries.

So, the big question: what about the beer? We’ll answer after the jump.

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