The most-trafficked article on this entire site is titled “Where Can I Buy Heady Topper in New York City?“ Thousands of people come to this site every month wanting to know where they can get the double IPA brewed by a small Vermont outfit called The Alchemist – a beer that is consistently ranked among the best beers in the world by beer-rating websites. There’s a simple answer to that question in the article: you can’t. But that’s not entirely honest of us: you can. We won’t tell you where, because we don’t want to encourage the type of activity that allows it to be purchased in the city. The black-market selling of this beer and others is blatantly illegal, goes against the wishes of the brewer, and drives up the scarcity of the beer in places where the sale is legal thanks to hoarders trying to make a buck.

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The Hunter Mountain Base Lodge becomes a celebration of New York beer at TAP New York on April 25th & 26th (Photo: John Seelow)

Winter looks like it’s finally starting to loosen its grip on New York, and before long, we’ll be outside with beers in our hands in backyards and on patios, and rooftops. We’ll also get the urge to enjoy beers indoors and out with other beer geeks. If you’ve caught the beer festival bug, you know that these are great events to get exposed to beers you’ve never had before from breweries you’ve never even heard of. There’s nothing better than discovering a new beer you love while sipping among thousands of fellow beer geeks. So, here are four festivals this spring we absolutely love that are just a short trip from Manhattan.

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This building is slated to house new facility for Queens Brewery (via Instagram)

Queens Brewery, which had been contract brewing their beer at Olde Saratoga Brewing Upstate, announced via social media that they’ve signed on to open a facility on Covert Street in Ridgewood, Queens. The facility – which will be their new home base in New York – is just off the Halsey Street stop on the L Train, and the second brewery to announce its future opening in the neighborhood.

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With the ceiling for beer prices in Manhattan becoming more outrageous and the floor becoming impossible to hold down, it’s getting harder and harder to find a craft beer pouring for under $7. Even in the outer boroughs, prices are inching up. Last week, both locations of The Pony Bar increased their prices to $7 per pour, their second increase in the chainlet’s nearly six-year history. With beer pricing becoming a source of contention among our readers, we went to Pony Bar owner Dan McLaughlin to get his story on why the prices are increasing and how his customers are reacting, in his words:

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The weather may not look like it, but spring is just around the corner. And hopefully, March will usher in some temperatures that won’t make you want to stay cooped up inside. With that in mind, we’ve got a rundown of some of this month’s beer events that will force you out of the house.

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We told you earlier that Kansas City’s Boulevard Brewing Company is launching next week in New York. Now, we know where you’ll be able to find their beers for the first time in the City. Our events calendar is chock full of events next week, including a huge slate of them on their official Launch Day, Tuesday, March 3rd. Here’s where you’ll be able to celebrate with a few sips of Midwest brew.

Here’s the brewery’s huge list of events, as their team (including founder John McDonald and brewery ambassador Jeremy Danner) fans out across the city:

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