I had some fantastic brews last night at Blind Tiger’s Mikkeller Single Hop Event. Interestingly, the highlight was not Mikkeller’s nine different versions of their IPA brewed with nine different hop varieties. Rather, it was the Beer Geek Breakfast Stout run through a Randall filled with coffee beans. The Beer Geek is a delicious stout by itself, but add an extra kick of some fresh coffee flavor, and you’ve got yourself the perfect beer to start off your day.

Not that I, uh, would ever endorse doing such a thing.

Anyway, if there’s any left, get your hands on the leftovers of last night’s event, and definitely go for the Mikkeller Single Hop Tomahawk IPA and Single Hop Nelson Sauvin IPA. The former has a huge citrus and pine flavor that you won’t be able to get off your tounge. The latter uses a New Zealand hop that imparts a mellow white wine-like flavor that was far different from any of the others.

Another recent entry to the craft beer scene in New York is Nebraska Brewing Company. Say what you will about the blandness of the Great Plains, but don’t knock the beer. While there aren’t any bars to our knowledge that are pouring anything from NBC yet, the Whole Foods Beer Room on the Bowery is offering growlers of their Hop God - a beer that's somewhere between an IPA and a Tripel. Grab a growler and take it to a public park where you can sip it while basking in the early Spring sunshine.

Not that I, uh, would ever endorse doing such a thing.

Okay, now on to some other beers that should be consumed at places and times that are legally and morally acceptable.

If you’re looking to get your sea legs, grab some Harpoon 100 Barrel Series Oyster Stout this weekend while it’s still around. Don’t be too intimidated by the fact that it’s brewed with oysters - the briny finish is the only way you’ll be able to know, and that’s after a rich chocolate, roasty flavor that hits your tounge first. It’s on tap right now at Pony Bar, The Stags Head, and Brooklyn’s Fourth Avenue Pub.

On Tuesday, I mentioned Barcade’s Vintage Beer Night tonight. Obviously, I’d recommend having all of these vintage beers - if you could - but more realistically, you’ve gotta go for the oldest and the rarest. The Avery 2004 Hog Heaven Barleywine will be the oldest and rarest, but I’d also grab the Smuttynose Oak-Aged Big A IPA. It’s a tasty Imperial IPA that packs a hop wallop (sorry, Victory) and the oak will only make it tastier.

One beer that I can’t tell you where to find is Kelso’s brand-spanking-new IPA. At last check, they offered it in growlers at GRAB Specialty Foods in Park Slope, but nowhere else. If you’re really desperate for it, you could always go over to Greenpoint Beer Works in Fort Greene and pound on their door.

Not that I, uh, would ever endorse doing such a thing.

Happy drinking!

Meet your newest entry to the New York City beer scene.

According to SKI Distributors and Rattle N Hum’s Twitter streams, Michigan’s Founders Brewing Company is on its way to New York City. Rattle N Hum on 33rd Street in Midtown will be pouring it next week.

If you’re not familiar with Founders, they’ve been churning out great beer in Michigan since 1990. Among their standouts are their Wee Heavy called Dirty Bastard, their American IPA called Centennial IPA, and most notably, their Imperial Stout called Breakfast Stout. We probably won’t get to see the Breakfast Stout until the winter, since it’s their seasonal.

No word on what beer Rattle N Hum will be pouring yet. I’m holding out for their Kentucky Breakfast Stout. Doubting Founders’ beer cred? Well, this barrel-aged beer has won over the 959 reviewers on Beer Advocate who give it an average grade of an A+.

The Danes make darn good beer (photo via Mikkeller)

Last night, someone asked me how often I go out for beer. When I see an opportunity to add something rare to "the list" (combined with three other friends, over 3,100 beers strong), that answer can swing wildly. This week, it seems to be nearly every night. Wednesday and Thursday night, however, are particular standouts.

For those of us hopheads who appreciate the wide range of aromas and flavors that certain hop varieties can bring to beer, Blind Tiger is carting in a boatload of Denmark’s Mikkeller for the Mikkeller Single Hop Festival on Wednesday (forget St. Patrick’s Day… you’re just going to get a sloppy pour of Guinness if you go somewhere else). They’ll be pouring nine different IPAs made with nine different varieties of hops, including the very unique Nelson Sauvin. Collect them all! They start pouring at 4pm on Wednesday, so drink early and drink often.

For those of us who like our beers a bit bigger and a bit older, Barcade brings us Vintage Beer Night on Thursday. The beer list is impressive, including two beers from Avery, a 2005 Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter (brewed back when Flying Dog was still in Colorado, and Hunter S. Thompson’s death was fresh in our minds), 2007 Quadruples from Sly Fox and Weyerbacher, and last year’s Brooklyn Intensfied Coffee Stout. The taps fly open at 6pm on Thursday, and you can bet your behind that I’ll be there.

It’s a great week to love craft beer in New York. Party on!

The jaw-dropping price of a 20-ounce pour of Budweiser at Yankee Stadium last season

We're less than three weeks away from opening day of the 2010 baseball season. While I won’t divulge my allegiances in the game of baseball (it involves a team that plays in an old ballpark about 200 miles from Manhattan), there’s a clear winner in New York in the craft beer race - and it’s the team who can’t seem to win much of anything else lately: the Mets.

This season, Citi Field will continue to serve up one of the more diverse selections of craft beer in the majors. Brooklyn Brewery announced it will serve four unique draft beers at the Mets’ home again this year, including their Pilsner, Sabroso Ale (a light APA that pairs well with tacos), Blue Smoke (an English Pale Ale that complements Blue Smoke’s barbeque), and Shackmeister (an APA that you’ll find at Shake Shack). On top of the Brooklyn brews, some good bottled beer selections can be found in a kiosk in center field. Among the options last season were Goose Island IPA, 312 Wheat, and Honkers Ale, Widmer Brothers Hefeweizen, Red Hook ESB, and Leffe Blonde. More importantly, the beer is reasonably-priced for a ballpark: $7.50 for the aforementioned bottles, and as little as $5 for a 12-ounce pour of the macrobrews.

Meanwhile, while trying to remain as objective as possible, fans of the Bronx Bombers will continue to suffer at the hands of vendors who charge an arm and a leg for a beer selection that is about as generic as a New Jersey strip mall. At one hard-to-find “Beers of the World” stand in the 300 level in left field, your options are mostly limited to a handful of Budweiser products, plus Yuengling Lager, Blue Moon, Stella Artois, Hoegaarden, Amstel Light, Corona, Beck’s, Bass Pale Ale, and Peroni. After scouring Yankee Stadium on three visits, the only true microbrew I could find in the entire ballpark was Brooklyn Lager - and a 12-ounce bottle will run you $8.50. A 20-ounce pour of the more generic beers will run you $10. And those are last season’s prices… a team that’s willing to charge $2500 for a single seat probably wouldn’t flinch at raising those beer prices again. We can hope that the situation will improve at Yankee Stadium in 2010, but considering the two-month-long backlash and empty seats it took for the Yanks to drop ticket prices, we shouldn’t expect miracles here.

Of course, there’s always the option of just heading over to your favorite bar to watch the game on TV. It’s a lot less expensive, and the beer options are nearly endless.