The gauntlet has been thrown. Beer Union has decided to undertake an effort to visit all 40 Good Beer Seal Bars for July Good Beer Month (full disclosure: they’ve gotten a jump start, having visited four of the bars starting last week). We hope you’ll join in (or join them) on a quest to visit the Good Beer Seal Bars (lots of events will be added to the calendar, here).
Month: June 2012
What You Missed On Beer Sessions Radio™ – Carton, Kane Leading NJ Craft Beer Revolution (6/19/12)
This week on Beer Sessions Radio™, there was a New Jersey take-over! Surprisingly, NJ is no longer swimming in the wake of the NYC beer scene, having its own Craft Beer movement, lead by several key brewers and New Jersey Craft Beer owner, Mike Kivowitz. Joining host Jimmy Carbone is Michael Kane from Kane Brewing, along with Augie Carton and Jesse Ferguson from Carton Brewing. Kane is a draft-only microbrewery that is certainly making waves among NJ’s craft beer lovers. As many New Yorkers already know, Carton Brewing is the leading brewer whose reach is gaining inroads in the city.
Just as NJ itself is defying simple compartmentalization, so its beers aren’t easily categorized. Kane and Carton blend styles to create unique beers, including those brought to the studio: Carton’s 0077XX and Boat Beer and Kane’s Single Fin and the Head High IPA. Tune in and you’ll also find out the real reason the monkey ran all around the mulberry bush!
If you want to take a tour of NJ breweries and craft beer bars, join Mike on the Monmouth County Bus Tour next month. Guess what? The PATH runs in both directions? Who knew?! Now you’ve got a great reason to visit Jersey: cool craft beers you just can’t find anywhere else.
July is Nearly Here!
On Independence Day you can celebrate your local pride with some great New York State brews from Ithaca, Barrier, Blind Bat, Greenport Harbor, or Brooklyn Brewery, to name a few. It’s a great way to kick off July Good Beer Month, but it is ONLY THE BEGINNING!
Keep your calendar (and your bellies!) open for Cook Out NYC, (July 7-8) the ultimate cook out, country fair event on Governors Island featuring Sixpoint Craft Ales. Governors Island is NYC’s picturesque getaway island that is just minutes away from lower Manhattan by ferry, but miles away in your mind. You’ll enjoy beautiful views, car-free streets, live music, world class grilling and BBQ, cooking demonstrations and delicious craft beer during this annual event that will remind you what summer is all about!
On July 10, head over to Brooklyn Brewery for Kegs & Kluckers presented by NYC Homebrewer’s Guild and Just Food, bringing together home brewers and urban chicken keepers for this community building event to benefit Just Food.
Come back to Brooklyn Brewery on July 11 to join The Weekly Pint for Brooklyn Pig and Pickle, featuring great Brooklyn beers, pork and McClure’s pickles.
July 12, head over to WNYC’s Greene Space for Craft Beer Jam where Jimmy Carbone, host of the internet radio show “Beer Sessions Radio (TM)” and co-founder of The Good Beer Seal, considers the nuances of beer and food pairings, beer trends and traditions with guests Kelly Taylor (Kelso Beer Co.), Matt Bean (Men’s Health) and a panel of New York City’s most innovative beer/food personalities.
And all of this is just in the first two weeks of July Good Beer Month! Don’t forget to check our July Events Calendar for bar-specific events at your favorite Good Beer Seal bars and keep checking here for more information and specials for the month of July. Tune in every Tuesday at 5:00 PM on the Heritage Radio Network for special July Good Beer Month programming on Beer Sessions Radio (TM) including shows about New York State Beers and a preview of the Beer Book, Blog and Video Fest.
Truly, this will be a Happy July Good Beer Month!
Good Beer Seal Awards 2012: GBS Bars Now In All Five Boroughs!
It took awhile, but the Good Beer Seal has now reached the fifth and final Borough! Tonight at Jimmy’s No. 43, it was announced that Staten Island’s very own Adobe Blues and Killmeyer’s Old Bavaria would be the first Good Beer Seal bars in the fifth Borough. The night celebrated new Good Beer Seal bars in Manhattan and Brooklyn, as well. It was a very competitive ballot, and in the end a simple majority of votes meant that a lucky eight new bars will now join the ranks of Good Beer Seal bars in New York City. So, as they say, “the envelope please…”
From the Island of Manhattan:
- Earl’s Beer and Cheese – This pub at 1259 Park Avenue is “a small neighborhood joint where the craft beer flows with the force and volume of a surging river and the sublime cheese-related concoctions of Chef Corey Cova get churned out like it’s gourmet chow time for the hungry Navymen of the USS George H.W Bush.”
- Dive Bar – The original Dive Bar (732 Amsterdam) has been an Upper West Side haven for great beer and good grub for years, and we welcome her into the GBS ranks!
- Idle Hands – This EV/LES bar (25 Avenue B) has long been an entertainment hot spot, and co-owner “Rev” David Ciancio has been a fixture in the burger world of NYC.
From the Island of Long (okay, we mean Brooklyn):
- 61 Local – A big part of the Good Beer Seal bars is community, and 61 Local embraces that one-hundred times over. You can find them in the heart of Cobble Hill at 61 Bergen Street.
- Sycamore – You want flowers with that? The owners of Sycamore Bar and Flowershop (yep, you read that right) took a big risk combining two seemingly disparate businesses. Then again, what is a hop other than a flower? Find them at 1118 Cortelyou Road.
- Pine Box Rock Shop – In Bushwick (12 Grattan Street), this bar offers rotating taps and vegan-friendly food options. Did we mention it’s in Bushwick?
And, finally, the Island of Staten:
- Adobe Blues – You can enjoy Southwestern-style eats and an old west saloon atmosphere at 63 Lafayette Avenue.
- Killmeyer’s Old Bavaria Inn – An old-style bierhaus that hosts craft beer tastings in its summer garden, the owner was a co-founder of Adobe Blues before opening the new bar on the south end of the island at 4254 Arthur Kill Road.
We congratulate the class of 2012! Welcome to the Good Beer Seal.
What You Missed On Beer Sessions Radio™ – The “L” Word: Lagunitas, Lucy Saunders, And Learning Craft Beer (6/5/12)
This week on Beer Sessions Radio™ (full episode here) Jimmy Carbone welcomed studio guests Mark Sljukic of Lagunitas, Brandon Moore of American Beer Distributors, and author (and Siebel Institute instructor) Lucy Saunders. Together this eclectic group talked about the various certification programs that are bringing a bit of gravitas to being a beer expert, along with Lagunitas’ expansion (both in California and Chicago), the benefits of drinking locally, and the history of beer in New York (Nina Nazionale of the New York Historical society joined the show talking about the Historical Society’s Beer Here Exhibition). Learn about aging cheese with hops, cooking with beer, and some of the offerings you can expect from smaller breweries in the region. Oh, yes, and we answer that age-old question: What beer goes best with a Margherita Pizza? (Hint: It’s all about the basil, baby!)