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Queens has come a long way from having exactly zero breweries and a handful of beer bars a few years ago. The borough now boasts eight breweries (with at least four more under construction) and a plethora of options for drinking local beer from Bayside to Astoria. So it’s no surprise that people there are finding a reason to celebrate the borough’s beer scene… Queens Beer Week is back for a fourth year, kicking off Saturday and running through May 14th.
The interior of Clinton Hall’s new location, off Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. (Photo: Clinton Hall BX on Facebook)
Starting on a personal note, I want to thank readers for all the well-wishes and patience over the past couple of weeks. I had a severe elbow injury that put me out of commission and made writing quite difficult (next time, perhaps I’ll dictate to someone else). The good news is I’m on the mend, and excited to deliver some great beer news again! Here goes…
A Challenge to New York Brewers
The Governor’s office this week announced the first-ever Taste NY Craft Beer Challenge, an online and in-person competition that culminates in a tasting event hosted by Governor Cuomo in the city on May 17th. The challenge starts with online voting through the Taste NY web site, where users can vote for their favorite participating New York brewery. The top five vote-getters will compete in the May 17th tasting before a panel of all-star judges, during American Craft Beer Week. Among the participating breweries are several in the city: Big Alice, Bridge and Tunnel, Brooklyn, Coney Island, Flagship, Greenpoint Beer & Ale Co., Gun Hill, Interboro, Kings County Brewers Collective, Lineup, Paulaner, Sixpoint, Strong Rope, and Transmitter.
The vibrant label for Cloudwater’s DIPA v13, one of five of the brewery’s beers pouring tonight at Tørst.
Cloudwater visits Tørst
There’s a couple of special visitors coming to Tørst tonight. Manchester, UK-based Cloudwater Brew Co. is making some of the dankest IPAs on the other side of the Atlantic – a feat made all the more impressive by the fact that England’s breweries don’t exactly get the choicest, freshest North American hops. Founder Paul Jones will be at Tørst tonight as they pour 5 beers from the brewery (and there’s more Cloudwater-related news down below in this weekend’s beer releases). And that’s not all – Stephane Bogaert, brewer at Page 24, will also be visiting, as they pour two tasty beers from the French brewery. Beers will be on all day long for your Good Friday drinking pleasure.
From IPA Day to Repeal Day, beer holidays are a dime a dozen. But there’s a reason why April 7th has been declared National Beer Day: the date has historical significance for American beer drinkers.
It was Friday, April 7th, 1933 when beer began flowing from taps in the United States legally for the first time since the Volstead Act, which enforced Prohibition, went into effect in January of 1920. The 21st Amendment that repealed Prohibition had not yet been ratified by any states at this point (Congress proposed a Constitutional Amendment to end Prohibition in February of 1933), but lawmakers sought to amend the Volstead Act to classify beer under 3.2% alcohol by weight (about 4% alcohol by volume) as non-intoxicating. Given weak economy and lack of government revenue as a result of the Great Depression, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt sought to encourage beer-making “to provide through such manufacture and sale, by substantial taxes, a proper and much-needed revenue for the Government.” It would also decrease unemployment by generating manufacturing jobs in the brewing industry.
Mikkeller rolls out beer for Citi Field
We thought something was up when we saw Mets fans taking pictures of cans of two Mikkeller beers we had never seen before on Opening Day. Turns out, they’re exclusive cans made by the Denmark and San Diego-based brewery for Citi Field. Henry Hops is their IPA and Say Hey Sally is their Pils. 16-ounce cans of each will run you $10.50 at the ballpark – the going price for craft beer at Citi Field this season. We’ll have a full stadium beer roundup shortly, once we begrudgingly and desperately search for craft beer at Yankee Stadium.
Chris Cuzme and Kelly Taylor host a January trolley tour of Bronx breweries (Photo: Juren David)
The Trolley Returns
Last year, NYC beer vets Kelly Taylor of KelSo and Chris Cuzme of the forthcoming Fifth Hammer Brewing Co. started hosting trolley tours of several breweries in Brooklyn and Queens to raise money for City Harvest. They’re back again for their fourth tour – this time, to the city’s nano-breweries on Wednesday night, April 19th. The $40 trolley tour will start in Queens at Transmitter Brewing, then head to Big Alice Brewing, across Newtown Creek to Keg & Lantern Brewing Company, and wrap up down in Industry City at newcomers Lineup Brewing and Wartega Brewing. You’ll get transportation and tours and tastings at each brewery. Get on the trolley and get your tickets now!
