We first heard about Breukelen Bier Merchants(182 Grand St., at Driggs Ave., Williamsburg) over a year ago, and was really looking forward to a craft beer bottle shop in Williamsburg. But permitting and licensing can be a pain in the behind, and every update about the place came with a new open date and new delays. The wait finally ended last week, and it was well worth it.
First, the basics: they’ve got 16 beers on tap for pints and growlers, hundreds of different bottles from the US and overseas, some tasty sandwiches, and seating at big wood tables. It’s open every day until 10pm. It’s a huge space with lots of room, so you won’t be tripping over anyone’s beer. And - daydrinkers rejoice - they’ve got approval already to open a backyard space, which should be up and running in time for summer.
Here are the beer-related goings-on after work tonight:
The weekly Liquids of Interest tasting series at d.b.a. Brooklyn(113 N. 7th St., at Berry St., Williamsburg) offers up free samples tonight at 7pm. This week’s topic: white beers… they’ll focus on Weiss and Witbiers, just in time for spring.
Homebrewers in Brooklyn can head to Beer Table(427B 7th Ave., at 15th St., Park Slope) tonight at 9pm for their monthly homebrewers’ meetup. Share your homebrew, try others, and meetup with the folks from Brooklyn Homebrew for some tips and tricks to perfect your brews.
Alex Hall curates yet another cask festival this weekend at dba Brooklyn (photo via Imbiber37407 on Flickr)
If you’re looking for ways to incorporate beer into your weekend, we’ve got a few ideas for you.
Get Free Beer: Start your weekend with a free tasting of Peak Organic at Whole Foods Columbus Circle(10 Columbus Circle, at 59th St., Upper West Side) tonight from 4-8pm. Get the last of their Spring Simcoe, their dwindling spring seasonal as we make room for their Summer Session. Meanwhile, at the Whole Foods Bowery Beer Room (95 E. Houston St., at Chrystie St., Lower East Side), there’s a free tasting of Pennsylvania’s Sly Fox from 5-8pm. They’ll also be debuting the new Sly Fox variety 12-pack of cans.
If You Prefer a Cool Beer: It’s on: the 5th Williamsburg Cask Festival began this afternoon at d.b.a. Brooklyn(113 N. 7th St., at Berry St., Williamsburg) and runs through Sunday. It’ll feature 16 casks from various breweries both American and imported. All are poured at a low price and can be order by the imperial pint, pint, or half-pint. Among the highlights: Two Brothers Resistance IPA, Barrier Antagonist ESB, and Dieu du Ciel Corne du Diable.
Get Acquainted with your Evil Twin: We mentioned this yesterday, but Denmark’s Evil Twin Brewing, which just found a home stateside with 12 Percent Imports, will be at Blind Tiger Ale House(281 Bleecker St., at Jones St., West Village) on Sunday starting at 1pm. They’ll pour the whole kit and kaboodle: Soft DK, Before, During, and After Christmas, Yin, Yang, and Disco Beer.
Here are the beer-related goings-on after work tonight, 4/20:
Barrier Brewing of Oceanside, Long Island takes over the taps at Bierkraft (191 Fifth Ave., at President St., Park Slope) tonight at 7pm, pouring Greenroom Pale Ale, Ruthless Rye, and many others from this up-and-coming brewery. Plus you can enjoy the new backyard on this sunshiney day.
Celebrate Brewery Ommegang’s collaboration with d'Achouffe tonight from 7-10pm at Sunswick 35/35(35-02 35th St., at 35th Ave., Astoria). They’ll pour Gnomegang along with others from both breweries, including Hennepin and McChouffe.
Standings(43 E. 7th St., at 2nd Ave., East Village) has Founders in the house tonight starting at 6pm, pouring Double Troube, Cerise, and… wait for it… Kentucky Breakfast Stout. Get there early for the KBS (6:10pm), and later for the free pizza (8pm).
An evil twin has arrived in New York: Evil Twin Brewing is the newest import from Denmark that marked its arrival stateside this week with a sold-out launch dinner at Beer Table(427B 7th Ave., at 15th St., Park Slope) on Monday, and now has popped up at a few craft beer bars around town, like Rattle-N-Hum(14 E. 33rd St., at 5th Ave., Midtown) and Spuyten Duyvil(350 Metropolitan Ave., at Havermeyer St., Williamsburg), and is being sold at retail shops like Bierkraft (191 Fifth Ave., at President St., Park Slope) and Whole Foods Bowery Beer Room (95 E. Houston St., at Chrystie St., Lower East Side).
The beer labels have a somewhat American feel to them, and that’s not accidental: Denmark is already known for a couple of breweries that sell American-style beers, like gypsy brewer Mikkeller, which happens to have a close relationship with Evil Twin. Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø, the man behind Evil Twin, is the brother of Mikkeller founder Mikkel Borg Bjergsø. Both had a knack for homebrewing and beer geekery and wanted to brew robust, American-style beers. You’ll see that in the lineup of beers that Evil Twin has brought or will be bringing stateside:
- Ryan and the Beaster Bunny, a 7% ABV Saison brewed as their spring seasonal - Soft Dookie, a 10% ABV Imperial Vanilla Stout - Yin, a 10% Imperial Stout - Yang, a 10% Imperial IPA (Yin and Yang can be paired together in a Black & Tan) - Before, During, and After Christmas, a 10% Imperial IPA (See a pattern developing here? Jeppe likes big beers.) - Disco Beer, an even bigger 10.5% Imperial IPA/Chardonnay blend
If you’re having a hard time deciding which to buy, or want to try it all in one place, Evil Twin will be serving several of their beers on tap at Blind Tiger Ale House(281 Bleecker St., at Jones St., West Village) beginning on Sunday at 1pm. With this and Mikkeller, you might be able to save yourself a trip to Copenhagen.
Here are the beer-related goings-on after work tonight, 4/20:
Rattle-N-Hum(14 E. 33rd St., at 5th Ave., Midtown) will “get hazed” today as they welcome Boulder Beer starting at 4pm, serving their Hazed and Infused, naturally, plus the 2009 and 2010 Killer Penguin barleywines, and six - yes, six - bourbon-barrel aged versions of their beers. In addition, they’ll have a few beers from New York’s newest import, Demark’s Evil Twin.
Brooklyn Brewery is front-and-center today at Blind Tiger Ale House(281 Bleecker St., at Jones St., West Village) starting at 3pm. Brewmaster Garrett Oliver will be on hand, and they’ll pour some familiar and some not-so-familiar brews. On tap: Dark Matter, Manhattan Project, Cookie Jar Porter, and a 1997 (!) vintage of the Black Chocolate Stout.
The Double Windsor(210 Prospect Park West, at 16th St., Windsor Terrace) has six beers on tap from Mikkeller tonight starting at 7pm, including USA Alive!, the East Kent Golding variety of their Single-Hop Series, and Beer Geek Brunch (Weasel). If you’re squeamish, I recommend not reading the description of that last one. It’s kind of… well, shitty.
