“If you don’t like German beer, it’s because you’ve never had real German beer,” I’ve been told by my German friend. So he brought this gem home from Dusseldorf for me.
The three year-round beers brewed by New Jersey Beer Company
It took a lot of sweat (and grain, hops, and water), but New Jersey’s newest brewery is officially a reality. New Jersey Beer Companywill have its launch tomorrow afternoon at the Copper Mine Pub in North Arlington, New Jersey. While the beer is only available in Jersey for now, it’s brewed in North Bergen, barely two miles from the West Side of Manhattan.
The launch gets underway at 3pm, and they’ll be pouring the three beers above: the Hudson Pale Ale, an American Pale Ale, their 1787 Abbey Single, a light-bodied Belgian-style ale, and the Garden State Stout, a stout brewed with Belgian dark chocolate. Founder Matt Steinberg promises giveaways at the Pub tomorrow, plus an appearance of a dry-hopped cask of the Hudson Pale Ale, which I was able to sample last weekend and can safely say is worth the trip in itself.
Every time there’s new variety added to our beer menus, it makes a little bit giddy. So let me be among the first to welcome New Jersey Beer Company to the New York beer scene!
Don’t get too excited. Tragically, nothing is brewed here anymore.
In the late 19th Century, Brooklyn was the American beer scene’s breadbasket… or beerbasket, perhaps. Over three dozen breweries operated up until the beginning of Prohibition - and nearly a third of them were on “Brewer’s Row,” a strech of Bushwick where one-tenth of all beer in the United States was produced in the 1890s.
One of the breweries along that stretch has been given landmark status by the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission. The William Ulmer Complex, which brewed beer from 1872 until 1920, still stands along Belvidere and Locust Streets in Bushwick. It doesn’t produce beer anymore, but the four buildings used to churn out a whopping 100,000 barrels of beer a year at the brewery’s peak.
And they weren’t even the big one. Schaefer Beer was brewed exclusively in Brooklyn until 1950, and was the #1 beer in the United States until ceding its title to Budweiser. At their peak, they were making more than two million barrels of beer at their brewery in Williamsburg. Rheingold Brewery in Bushwick dominated the New York beer market until the 1970s. Many other beer brands, some defunct, some purchased by larger brewers, have a rich heritage here in New York.
It’s amazing to think what a rich beer history New York City has. We’re regrowing it from literally nothing just two decades ago. Another new - albeit very small - brewery will open this summer on Coney Island. Slowly but surely, our city’s rich beer tradition will be revived.
Today and every Tuesday at 5pm, check out Beer Sessions, a live streaming show on the Brooklyn-based Heritage Radio Network. The show, naturally, focuses on craft beer (and beer in general… there’s even discussion of “bodega beer”) and is hosted by Jimmy Carbone of Jimmy’s No. 43, with Ray Deter of d.b.a. and Sam Merritt of Civilization of Beer co-hosting.
Brew York, New York does not recommend tempting fate with rent-a-cops at outdoor beer festivals.
Spring has long since sprung, and slowly but surely, beer events are moving from indoors to the outdoors. Take, for example, the New York Brewfest on Governor’s Island, which is barely a month (!) away.
A good warm-up for the Brewfest might be a trip up to Captain Lawrence Brewing Company in Pleasantville this Saturday starting at noon for their Fourth Anniversary Party and Pig Roast. At their brewery, you’ll be be able to enjoy six bands, some barbeque sourced from local ingredients, and most importantly, their delicious beer. Food’s extra, but a $30 admission at the door gets you beer and entertainment. And it’s just a short walk from the Pleasantville Metro-North station (a 49-minute ride from Grand Central), so you can leave the driving to someone else.
Elsewhere, the events are under a roof, but still very much worthwhile.
Blind Tiger Ale House will be hosting West Coast brewery Green Flash on Wednesday starting at 4pm, pouring 20 beers, including their Tripel, Le Freak, the aptly-named Pallet Wrecker, and a few kegs with the sweetest words in the English-language: “Bourbon Barrel.”
That same night, The Pony Bar will have Goose Island brewmaster Greg Hall in the house starting at 6pm, as the brewery takes over their 20 drafts and 2 casks. Dog Days Lager is already tapped, if you’re looking for a preview.
On Thursday night, Harpoon will take over Barcade in Brooklyn. Head Brewer Todd Charbonneau will be on hand as they pour stuff like the Leviathan Series Baltic Porter, the Leviathan Series Quad, and all sorts of big and small beers.
Is that enough for now? I hope so. I’ve already got too many beers to try as it is.
Come tonight, this shirt will be mine! (Source: The Pony Bar)
This weekend is a very special beer weekend for me… if only because tonight, I’ll be drinking my 100th different beer at The Pony Bar to become a member of their All-American Club. It took far too long, but you’re rewarded with a ringing of the bell and an embroidered shirt from the bar. 200 can’t be far off, right? Allegedly, one patron of The Pony has already reached beer #400. More power to this brave soul, who must have a stomach of stone and a liver of steel.
Anyway, onto the happenings this weekend…
HARBOR-ING NEW BEER
Rattle-N-Hum is welcoming Long Island’s Greenport Harbor Brewing to Manhattan in style: with a full-on assault tonight starting at 5pm. They’ll be pouring Black Duck Porter, Disorient IPA, Havre Rouge, Harbor Ale, and their Triton Barleywine. It’s pretty much their entire line all in one place. Collect them all!
FAN-CASK-IC!
Couldn’t get down to Gotham Imbiber’s cask festival last weekend at The Brazen Head? This weekend is a good substitute: the cask festivals move on to d.b.a. in Williamsburg, with an extensive list of rare beers served as they were meant to be - cool, not cold. Here’s the complete list of beers (PDF), and note that there are some very pleasant surprises in store, including stuff from Dark Horse, Fuller’s, and Stoudt’s!
The casks get tapped this afternoon, and the festival runs all weekend, or until they run out. Get ‘em before they’re gone!
HARPOON HAS CHANGED ITS RELATIONSHIP STATUS TO SINGLE
Single Hop ESB, that is. Made with one of the newest American hop varietals, Delta hops, this is the newest Harpoon 100 Barrel Series brew. The beer is, in fact, the first commercially-distributed beer to use Delta hops. They’ve got a very floral and earthy tone and are a unique complement to the maltiness of the ESB. It’s on tap right now at Bronx Ale House, but it’s been seen here and there around the city - and given its love affair with Harpoon, you’ll probably see it at Professor Thom’s soon, too.
This post is rich with awful puns. I apologize. I will spend the whole weekend in the corner thinking about what I’ve done. Now, you go spend it drinking these beers!
