Month: February 2013

We coulda been a contendah! Oh, wait! We are. Welcome to NYC Beer Week, which witnesses the growth of craft beer in NYC and the state over the past five years since NY Craft Beer week was launched by one of this week’s Beer Sessions Radio™ guests, Josh Schaffner. This week’s episode (listen here) celebrates our 3rd Anniversary broadcasting on the Heritage Radio Network while discussing the evolution of craft beer in NYC with a couple Good Beer Seal bar owners (Dave Brodrick of Blind Tiger Ale House and Ed Berestecki from Mug’s Ale House), Josh and James Tai (“That Chinese guy at the bar you’ve seen before!”).

Speaking of that guy at the bar you’ve seen before, James shouts out to Wynkoop’s 2013 Beer Drinker of the Year, Warren Monteiro, who beat out regular Beer Sessions Radio™ guest host Jen Shwertman in the finals this past week in Denver.

While the group discusses how to participate in NYC Beer Week, they also want to promote NY beers and brewers at NYC Brewers Choice, which will feature a Keynote by Captain Lawrence Brewing’s Scott Vaccarro. They look forward to the day when NYC Beer Week offers a full week of NY-only beers.

 

So many Good Beer Seal bars, so little time. While we think every day is a craft beer day in NYC, the official NYC Beer Week is here, and we’re offering suggestions on where to go and what to do. The big event for today is at 61 Local, where they will be celebrating their 2nd anniversary with a party, raffle and general great community vibe from 5-9 p.m. (and beyond, we’re guessing).

The first thing you’ll probably notice about 61 Local upon entering it is ALL. THAT. SPACE. Even though it’s in Brooklyn (very conveniently located, too, because those in the “know” know the G Train is the best kept north-to-south Brooklyn secret, and 61 Local is steps away from the Bergen Subway stop on the G Train), the high ceilings and clean open floor plan gives a new name to spaciousness. In fact, the space continues to a second floor, where 61 Local often hosts film screenings, book readings and other community-centric events.

61 Local also defies definition. Have a teetotaler in your life? No worries at 61 Local, which has a full coffee bar to complement its many local draft beer offerings. They were among three bars city-wide to get a keg of Blue Point Barrier Brewing relief beer, Surge Protector, for example. They also offer a clever array of “sandwiches” and “non-sandwiches” to nosh on (their chili is to die for!).

Among their community partnerships are BK Farmyards, Brooklyn Soda Works, and Cut Brooklyn, all of which will be featured at tonight’s 2nd anniversary celebration. In fact, the bar/coffee shop/community hang-out will be serving up Brooklyn Soda Works shandies, raffling off a one-of-a-kind knife (Cut Brooklyn is the exclusive provider of cutlery at 61 Local), with all proceeds going to BK Farmyards.

Without a doubt, 61 Local is everything a quintessential Good Beer Seal bar should be. And NYC Beer Week dovetails nicely with their 2nd anniversary party, so be sure to check them out!

What can we say other than Good Beer Seal bars represent! We’re just blown away by the new Thrillist flowchart for making your way through NYC Beer Week, which officially launches tomorrow. If you follow any of the options, chances are you’ll end up at a GBS bar. You can see the interactive (click on any of the black boxes and you’ll find out more details) Thrillist flowchart here.

As a lead up to NYC Beer Week (2/24-3/3), Jimmy’s No. 43 played host to the annual Good Beer Seal bar owners’ luncheon on February 7th. Happily, all five boroughs were represented by 13 GBS bars, the NYC Homebrewers Guild, and Beer Sessions Radio™. Bar representatives discussed the state of being a craft beer bar owner and Good Beer Seal community member. Among the more interesting offerings on the lunch menu was a Samichlaus 1997, provided by Sam Barbieri (Waterfront Ale House). This was the last vintage brewed and bottled by Hürlimann Brewery in Switzerland. Waterfront Ale House has been open since 1989 and has an amazing cellar of vintage beers. For NYC Beer Week, they will be featuring one beer from each of the NY Brewers Guild breweries with food pairings.

We invite the craft beer community to celebrate NYC Beer Week at one (or many) of the 41 GBS bars that will be hosting events, many of which will be listed here on our calendar. Among the featured events will be:

• February 22nd – Craft Beer Mafia Returns at The Stag’s Head
• February 23rd – 2nd Anniversary Party at 61 Local
• February 23rd – Bronx Ale House Presents Rare & Barrel-Aged NY State Breweries Tasting
• February 23rd-26th – 7th Williamsburg Cask Beer Festival at dba Brooklyn
• February 25th – Nano-Beer Vegetarian Nonsense Prix Fixe Dinner at Jimmy’s No. 43
• February 26th – The New Tuesday Tasting with The Bruery at Jimmy’s No. 43
• February 26th – Harpoon Brewing Night with Mark DeLuca at The Stag’s Head
• February 27th – Rockaway Brewing and New Beer Launch at Jimmy’s No. 43
• February 27th – NYC Brewer’s Choice at City Winery – THE MARQUEE EVENT OF NYC BEER WEEK!
• February 27th – Nightmare on 4th Avenue at Mission Dolores
• February 28th – The Manhattan Launch of Bridge & Tunnel at Jimmy’s No. 43
• February 28th – Greenport Harbor Brewing Night with John Liegey and Greg Dorowski The Stag’s Head
• February 28th – Beer for Beasts brewing day at Sixpoint
• March 3rd – Jimmy’s Homebrew Jamboree with Josh Bernstein at Jimmy’s No. 43
• March 2nd-3rd – Split Thy Skull at Mug’s Ale House
• March 3rd – Rare Seasonals with Kelso Brewing at Jimmy’s No. 43

Check back often for updates to events and happenings at all 41 Good Beer Seal bars, and don’t forget to tune in to Beer Sessions Radio™ for all your craft beer news during and beyond NYC Beer Week.

Every year New York City craft beer fans wait for a special weekend event in Williamsburg: Mug’s Ale House’s Split Thy Brooklyn Skull which will take place March 2nd & 3rd.  As usual, Mug’s is pulling out all of the stops with a worth-the-wait list of barleywines, imperial stouts, and strong ales to make your mouth water and your head explode (or split your skull, as it were). Click here for a full list of Skull Splitting Awesomeness and don’t forget to tune in at 5:00 PM EST on February 26th to hear Mug’s Ale House owner, Ed Berestecki on Beer Sessions Radio (TM) on the Heritage Radio Network.

 

On this week’s 150th episode of Beer Sessions Radio™ (listen here) host Jimmy Carbone welcomes two-fifths of the Kings County Brewers Collective, along with John Kleinchester of Beertography. KCBC members Kyler Serfass and Jason Sahler discuss the evolution from homebrewing to micro/nano brewing, along with giving a breakdown of the annual NYC Homebrewer’s Guild’s competition, Homebrew Alley 7, which has grown from a few dozen entries to almost 800 in 2013. (Spoiler alert… not a single beer won best of show: first place was a mead, second was a cider, third was a gluten-free pale ale.)

Along with John, they also talk about how to continue to grow craft beer among traditional beer drinkers in NYC and beyond, including through education and social media that makes beer drinking a collective activity.

Jimmy finds humor in a serious subject when Rick Lyke, founder of Pints 4 Prostates, calls in to talk about the connection between men and beer (and, not coincidentally, men and prostate cancer). His own early detection led him on a beer crusade to let men know about this disease.

And it’s not just men’s health we’re thinking about. Flying Fish owner Gene Muller calls in to tell us about his Sandy relief beer going online this Saturday (2/16) in New Jersey. Flying Fish is serious about its global footprint, so you’ll have to go to Hoboken or Jersey City if you want to drink his brew, but his solar powered brewery and recycled water (for gardening) shows the brewer puts his money where his beer is!

Plus everyone’s favorite beers of the week.

As regular readers are fully aware, the Good Beer Seal now extends to all five boroughs, and on this very special episode of Beer Sessions Radio™ (Episode 148, listen here), host Jimmy Carbone represents Manhattan (Jimmy’s No. 43) as he welcomes bar owners and brewers from the other four boroughs of NYC for a colorful conversation about the state of beer in New York.

Adobe Blues bar manager, Ryan Barker, talks about the unique challenges of running a craft beer bar on Staten Island; husband-and-wife owners of Pine Box Rock Shop, Jeff and Heather Rush, discuss how they landed their Bushwick (Brooklyn) location. Singlecut Beersmiths‘ brewer and owner, Brian Dwyer and Rich Buceta respectively, discuss how they went from being Queens first full-fledge brewery since Prohibition to an Astoria destination for interesting new beers. Finally, Bronx Brewery‘s Sean McCain talks about how Bronx is branching out with new beers and broader distribution.

Whether it’s picking the right music or attracting community support, all these borough reps have faced various challenges in NYC’s burgeoning craft beer scene. Our brewers talk about the evolution from homebrewing to creating eight new beers in a week! And all present discuss (and drink) some of their favorite beers on this week’s episode.

What do veganism and craft beer have to do with one another? Well, at Pine Box Rock Shop (at 12 Gratten Street, Bushwick), they are wed into a unique fabric for a community bar that regularly hosts community events in a sprawling space that, yes, once upon a time was a casket factory (hence the name).

Owners Jeff and Heather Rush are proud vegans who decided to open a craft beer bar that catered to those whose diet—including potent potables—eschews animal products. Many imbibers are simply unaware that many beer, wine and spirits (even the occasional soda) producers use emulsifiers that are made from animal products (everything from fish to beetles to tallow, in fact). Jeff and Heather wanted to create a welcoming space for others who would rather enjoy their drinks than dissect what’s in them.

And carnivores have little to worry about, with pop-up cafes taking place all the time at Pine Box Rock Shop. Frequent guest Bunna Cafe (which will be serving Ethopian goodness this Saturday, February 9th, from noon until 5 p.m.) could be a poster chef for vegan conversion (hint: you won’t miss the meat). In the weeks leading up to the holidays, Jeff and Heather opened their doors to an entire Vegan Marketplace.

Pine Box Rock Shop was awarded the Good Beer Seal at last July’s (2012) induction ceremony, and they have proudly hung their Seal at the bar. They bring the ethics of good bar stewardship to a neighborhood that is juggling old school Brooklyn ways with an influx of gentrification. As the neighborhood changes, the bar wants to be open to all in the community, not just the animal-free zone.

While the Rushes aren’t looking to be political, but they certainly are serving a niche in the NYC market. There are plenty of vegan restaurants and many vegan-friendly bars, but their space appears to be the only strictly vegan bar in the city. They even make their own substitute spirits when a recipe calls for Bailey’s, for example (cream). Most of the neighborhood regulars who aren’t vegan don’t even notice that the place is meat-free.

The beer still tastes great!

For tips on how to drink the vegan way, visit Barnivore. Pine Box Rock Shop is open seven days, starting at 4 p.m. M-F and 2 p.m. on the weekend.