KEY BEER
With seven taps, about thirty-four bottles, and a few cans, the selection is organized into “session beers,” “middleweights,” “strong,” and “extra large.” Look for obscurities like Hoppeditz, a big, 7.5% ABV altbier with a long hoppy finish from Sebastian Sauer’s Freigeist, a pathbreaking brewery in Cologne, Germany.
MISSION DOLORES
249 4th Ave. (between President St. Carroll St.) • Brooklyn, NY 11215 (718) 399-0099 • missiondolores.com • Established: 2010
SCENE & STORY
From the owners of Bar Great Harry on nearby Smith Street comes an urbanite’s shrine to rare and recherché craft beer, classic pinball games, and reclaimed building materials. Owner Mike Wiley says he wanted the interior to look something like a huge Vol du Nuit (see Manhattan entries), with luminous natural light coming through skylights so visitors can luxuriate in all the textures of wood, metal, cement, glass and other materials that were used to form the interior, benches, and bar.
PHILOSOPHY
The owners’ own site refers to it as “that weird bar at 4th and Carroll,” which is understating how incredibly cool this place looks on the inside, and how pleasant it is to pass some time here among committed beer lovers, or the merely curious. A bar for the adventurous, Mission Dolores has hosted a “Where the Wild Beers Are” festival in the fall, for wild and sour ales.
KEY BEER
There are twenty tap lines, about three-quarters of them American craft beers; the remaining are Belgian or German, and there’s usually one cask. Standout offerings include several hard-to-find West Coast brews from Green Flash, Ballast Point, and Firestone Walker. Another recent score: the rare, 9.5% ABV Mikkeller/Brewdog collaboration double IPA, Hardcore You.
TØRST / LUKSUS
615 Manhattan Ave. • Brooklyn, NY 11222 (718) 389-6034 • torstnyc.com • Established: 2013
SCENE & STORY
Tørst, founded by Evil Twin Brewing’s Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø, is a white marble and pale wood bedecked beer bar in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, that has quickly earned a reputation inversely proportional to its size. Thanks to the deep list of esoteric brews (heavy on Evil Twin, with scores more selected with the help of beersmith Jon Langley), and a crazy tap system called the Flux Capacitor, it’s always busy. And it’s a terrific place to drink beer and explore all sorts of good tidings from the beer world.
Shoehorned in back, soft spoken ex-Momofuku and Noma chef Daniel Burns presides over Luksus, a twenty-six-seat, Nordic-themed jewel box of a restaurant dedicated to pairing beautiful food and beer. Acclaim has been sustained; even Amelia Lester in the New Yorker noted how Luksus conjures a “hushed reverence.” It sure does, but it’s far from stuffy. Even the Michelin star Luksus has earned won’t change that.
PHILOSOPHY
Barrels of ambition, kegs of care. On a recent visit to experience the seventy-five-dollar tasting menu (with beer pairings at additional cost), this lucky writer feasted on—among other things—a striking entree of tender duck heart, duck breast, and roasted, sliced, and pureed chioga with red beets and salted plums. This was crazy-delicious on its own, but with the beer pairing this dish really soared: to go with the crimson assembly, Jarnit-Bjergsø selected the luscious Italian sour beer Brugna, from Birrificio Loverbier, in Piedmont, Italy. Brugna, which is Piedmontese dialect for “prunes,” is fermented for two weeks in stainless steel with a mixed Brettanomyces and lactic acid culture, and then undergoes secondary fermentation for three to four weeks induced by Ramassin (Damaschine) plums, and finally rests for nine to eleven months in 3hl wooden barrels, where the brew’s appealing, citric, juicy flavors deepen. We won’t even try to make you jealous about what we had for dessert. Pro tip: Reserve early—as in several weeks or more—and when you’re there, sit at the bar to watch all the action.
KEY BEER
Well, what’s for dinner?
OTHER HALF BREWING
195 Centre St. • Brooklyn, NY 11231 (347) 987-3527 • otherhalfbrewing.com • Established: 2014
SCENE & STORY
From an unlikely basecamp in the shadow of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway and under the massive, looming Smith-9th Street Subway platform of the F/G Train (it was shown in the movie Goodfellas), Other Half has stormed the city. Their timing was perfect. In 2014, after brewing some beers to serve at pop up dinners, the partners (one, Sam Richardson, had studied brewing in Oregon and worked for both Pyramid and Greenpoint Beerworks; the other, Matt Monahan, was working in the NYC food scene) started getting asked to brew for local high-end restaurants and realized their time had come. On the edge of Carroll Gardens and Gowanus they built a tiny tasting room where you can grab cans or fill up growlers, soaking up the adventure of the neighborhood itself.
PHILOSOPHY
Bold and bright. Building a brewery in exorbitant New York is one (crazy) thing, but under a rough-edged subway station near a Superfund site, the canal? The hop-forward beers are really good, and the can designs and company graphics pop with off-kilter style (bright pink keg labels; kelly-green logo-less cans; ironic beer names like “Cool Summer, Bro”).
KEY BEER
Try “Doug,” an India Black Ale of 7.1% ABV that drinks like an American-style IPA—without any roasty astringency—and comes in a color-etched black can Daft Punk could have come up with.
BAR GREAT HARRY
280 Smith St. • Brooklyn, NY 11231 (718) 222-1103 • bargreatharry.com • Established: 2007
SCENE & STORY
A valid criticism of many of the late-aughts era bars of Brooklyn is that they try too hard—way too hard—to be cool, old, local, artisanal, and gastronomically innovative all at once. The endless iterations of gastropub-meets-speakeasy aesthetic (a Brooklyn epidemic) have become tiresome. Over distilling the past, their suspendered mixologists slinging obscure sloe gin cocktails with house-cured maraschino cherries overreach to the point of absurdity.
Not so at Bar Great Harry. This is a beer bar, period—not a period bar. The tiny, no-frills, dog-friendly Cobble Hill beer lover’s hideaway opened without fanfare, then proceeded to cycle through some 450 different tap handles in only two years, hosting brewmasters from across the land, like Carol Stoudt of Pennsylvania’s Stoudt’s. With low ceilings, a cozy, always-seated-with-regulars bar, and a recent back room addition, it’s neighborhood in the extreme, but that’s what makes it so worthy. People cram in there, order rarities from Oxbow, Finback, Central Waters, Greenpoint Harbor, and many others, and then repeat the process, as the sounds of Blur and Fugazi echo in the street. Dinner will have to wait.
PHILOSOPHY
Don’t judge a beer bar—or a beer—by its size.
KEY BEER
Bear Republic’s luscious, hoppy, strong Racer 5 IPA (7% ABV) was on tap, quite literally, for years. It may yet return. Until then, you’ve got a great range of IPAs from the likes of Other Half and Evil Twin, for example, to choose from.
SUNNY’S
253 Conover St. • Brooklyn, NY 11231 (718) 625-8211• sunnysredhook.com • Established: 1890
SCENE & STORY
There is, at the end of a desolated, cobblestone street in the neighborhood of Red Hook, a bar seemingly cut from pure sail-cloth, burlap, denim, and time. Opened in 1890, Sunny’s is one of the last, best, most authentic New York places; to spend some hours there is to understand what makes the unhip, untrendy New York so appealing to a certain sort of drinker. Sunny’s grandfather opened up the place, and it doesn’t seem like it’s changed much, ever. There are electric Christmas light strands and maritime knickknacks left over from its days as a longshoreman’s bar. An old green Willy’s Jeep sits parked in front; the wooden floors slope, and at night (it’s only open Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m.), you crowd in and listen to really good musicians play western swing, dancing if you feel like it.
Sunny’s just might be my favorite bar in the world. It’s not for everyone. For starters, Sunny’s is not easy to find. There’s no subway clos
e by, and the bus service is sporadic. Close to the harbor, you can smell the water, and the piers seem eerie. And even though there are some new bike paths and a fancy Fairway grocery store not too far away, on arrival, one immediately understands the meaning of the term Brooklyn Noir, which was invented for long-shadow streets like this. You can’t use a credit card. You bring dollars, and you drink straight out of the bottle or a can. The bartender (Sunny himself, often) does not make old-time cocktails, pretending like he’s an extra in The Great Gatsby. I spent a birthday there once; strangers bought me oysters. Another night, I found myself with friends in a rousing singalong of the old standard “Dark as the Night, Blue as the Day” by Bill Monroe, as regulars strummed along on old instruments. It gets late. It’s not a place for the self-conscious, or the critic. It’s also not really for cowboys, but the jam session on Saturday nights makes you feel like you might have been one in a past life. You might just want to spend this life there, too.
PHILOSOPHY
Micro-what? Hey, in 1844, Pabst Blue Ribbon, named for a German ship captain, was a sort of craft beer, too. This is not beer-geek country, but that’s exactly what is so refreshing about coming here.
KEY BEER
The spicy, grainy Brooklyn Lager (5% ABV), if it’s on. It’s a standby throughout the borough. Truth be told, this is a Budweiser longneck kind of place, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Queens
BOHEMIAN HALL & BEER GARDEN
29-19 24th Ave. • Astoria, NY 11102 (718) 274-4925 • bohemianhall.com • Established: 1910
SCENE & STORY
Founded in 1892 in Astoria, Queens, to support Czech and Slovak immigrants to the area, as well as people of Czech and Slovak ancestry, the Bohemian Citizens’ Benevolent Society is housed in “Bohemian Hall” and its tree-shaded beer garden outside is the oldest continuously operated beer garden in New York City, opened in 1910. It can fill up early, so head over early as part of an East New York (i.e., Brooklyn) trek.
PHILOSOPHY
As the Czech proverb says, “a fine beer may be judged with just one sip, but it’s better to be thoroughly sure.” Come for the traditional Czech and Bohemian food like goulash and dumplings, live music, open-air movies, or just beers in the open air. Sundays bring a small arts-and-crafts market, too.
KEY BEER
You can opt for New York–area craft beers from Blue Point, Ommegang (Hennepin), Chelsea, and Captain Lawrence, but the great, golden-hued Czech import Pilsner Urquell would be the classic choice, and it’s fairly priced at five dollars for a half liter (16.5 ounces) or fifteen dollars for a pitcher. It’s light and sparkly but packed with malt flavor, and wonderfully quenching from juicy, spicy hops, as well.
6 E. Washington Ave. • Atlantic Highlands, NJ 07716 • (732) 654-2337 • cartonbrewing.com • Established: 2011
In 2011 Augie Carton, a finance executive with a serious culinary streak, was treading back and forth on the ferry from Atlantic Highlands (where he grew up) to the piers of Lower Manhattan to work on Wall Street. Fired up on beer (and New York’s sudden embrace of it), he and his cousin Chris bought a turn-of-the-century red-brick warehouse near the shore and adapted it for a new fifteen-barrel brewhouse. Success was practically instantaneous. In late 2015, Carton announced a $1 million-plus plan to expand.
Augie is a bon vivant and serious student of flavors and food; he travels with his family frequently to do research on flavors and has overseen some wild projects in the brewhouse, like a sour wasabi ale designed as an intermezzo, a trail-mix beer called GORP, and Rav, a butternut squash/sage/fennel/ hazelnut take on pumpkin beer. He’s also what you might call a student of the beer scene. On his podcast “Steal This Beer” he brings on guests and good-naturedly peppers them with well-researched questions about the drink he loves.
Locally the demand for Boat Beer, a crisp, refreshing American Pale Ale of 4.2%, is pegged. The beer is delicious anytime, but tastes the very best when consumed on the upper deck of the ferry that carried you to and from Atlantic Highlands.
BEST of the REST: MANHATTAN AND BROOKLYN
PROLETARIAT
102 St. Mark’s Pl. • New York, NY 10009 • (212) 777-6707 • proletariatny.com
St. Mark’s Place, near the teeming NYU campus, has some terrible bars when it comes to the pursuit of good, fresh beer. This may redeem them all. Opened in 2012, inspired by old tattoo parlors and dedicated to “rare, new, and unusual” beer, Proletariat is a narrow, dimly lit space with copper topped bar, old light fixtures, framed tattoo artwork, and pressed tin ceilings. A recent peek at the menu confirms, with De Struisse, Evil Twin, Hill Farmstead, Grimm (of Brooklyn), and other new-school offerings on draft. Tip: go either early in the evening or very late to get a seat.
THE JEFFREY
311 E. 60th St. • New York, NY 10022 • (212) 355-2337 • thejeffreynyc.com
Opened in 2013, the Jeffrey has high-end coffee, craft cocktails, a deep wine list, and, of course, a killer, ever-evolving tap row. Built across two storefronts in one, under the Queensboro Bridge on East 60th Street, the Jeffrey has a custom-built draft system to keep temperature and pressure on point, and a separate growler bar tasting area with ten taps. Draft magazine named the Jeffrey one of America’s 100 Best Beer Bars in America in 2014.
TOP HOPS
94 Orchard St. • New York, NY 10002 • (212) 254-4677 • tophops.com
At Top Hops, opened in 2011 between Broome and Delancey by Ted Kenny, a former finance man (and Anheuser-InBev employee—talk about switching teams!), the selection consists of sought-after specialties from 700 breweries, with twenty on meticulously maintained tap lines and the rest organized in twenty-six-foot-long coolers along a polished wood and aluminum bar. Informal, free beer lessons have included a chocolate and beer pairing seminar with the Mast Bros. of Williamsburg, tasting sessions with visiting brewers (like the buzzing Greenport Harbor), and visiting beer writers (present company included).
THREES BREWING
333 Douglass St. • Brooklyn, NY 11217 • (718) 522-2110 • threesbrewing.com
Opened in 2014, Threes Brewing is a thriving brewpub/outdoor beer garden/coffee spot/event space in the gritty Gowanus Canal area between Park Slope and Carroll Gardens in South Brooklyn, easily accessed by several trains. There’s a full bar and twenty taplines; the interior is all clean, white-painted bricks, matte-stained hardwoods, and tasteful tile accents—even houseplants!—while the much-loved beers sport deadpan names like “Just Add Water” (a Brett pale ale with mangos) and “Constant Disappointment” (an imperial IPA).
BARCADE
388 Union Ave. • Brooklyn, NY 11211 • (718) 302-6464 • barcadebrooklyn.com
Opened in 2004, Barcade is the original shrine to two things: fresh (mostly local) craft beer and old-school, twenty-five-cent videogames from the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s. Which makes it cool, if not a place to bring your parents, lest they be reminded of your irrecoverable years spent playing Super Mario Brothers instead of studying.
GREATER NEW YORK STATE
Westchester County
CAPTAIN LAWRENCE
444 Saw Mill River Rd. • Elmsford, New York 10523 • (914) 741-2337 • captainlawrencebrewing.com • Established: 2005
SCENE & STORY
Captain Lawrence’s spacious ta 2proom draws a steady stream of locals and their guests who know that tours and samples are both free. In tony Westchester County, the straight-talking head brewer Scott Vaccaro and his father (often helping out in the taproom) and other crewmembers (many related to the father-son duo) come off as refreshingly down-to-earth. Not so long ago the younger Vaccaro was getting his butt kicked as a freshman in Villanova’s accounting track, largely because he spent all his time home brewing with anything he could get his hands on, even plastic gasoline canisters. He transferred to junior college in Cupertino, California, his last step before attending the fermentation science program at U.C. Davis, from which he catapulted into externships in Connecticut and England
and finally an actualjob at Sierra Nevada. The rest is history, and today Captain Lawrence (named for the street the Vaccaros lived on when Scott was a boy) is among the best-known and most accessible New York area breweries.
PHILOSOPHY
Vaccaro is a pragmatist, and while the beers have been a bit uneven at times, he doesn’t seem too concerned. “I just brew beer I like to drink and hope other people like it,” he says. “Start with a traditional product and give it your own twist. Extra Gold, for example, is brewed after a Belgian triple, then we dry-hop it like an American IPA.”
KEY BEER
The bright, brassy 5.5% ABV Fresh Chester American Pale Ale has a solid New York area presence, but committed beer pilgrims will want to try and get their hands on something rarer like Vaccaro’s annual Smoke from the Oak release, generally a porter which undergoes extended aging in port, bourbon, red wine, or even apple brandy barrels.
630 Bedford Rd. • Pocantico Hills, NY 10591 • (914) 366-9600 • bluehillfarm.com • Established: 2004
Built amid soaring, remodeled 1930s stone buildings on what was once part of a Rockefeller family estate, the Inn at Stone Barns is more than just a restaurant; it’s the apogee of farm-to-table gastronomy in the New York area and maybe the entire United States. Simply put, chef Dan Barber has been called the most important chef in America, and thanks to the hard work of beer sommeliers who have worked under Barber, it’s also an absolutely incredible place to indulge in a beer lunch for a special occasion (starting at $148 per person). To get there you simply go to Grand Central, jump on the train to Tarrytown up the Hudson Line, grab a ten-minute cab ride, and step off the face of the known culinary landscape.
At least nine varieties of hops are grown on the property for future collaboration batches of beer. The restaurant fosters a close rapport with the brewers and distributors who are in synch with the overall culinary goals of Stone Barns. One highlight for beer lovers, surely, is the annual Sausage & Beer Dinner; the crew works with an area maltster and local breweries to showcase five malts (rye, spelt, emmer wheat, triticale—a hybrid of wheat and rye—and roasted barley) alongside fresh sausages and cured meats followed by a five-course tasting menu featuring Blue Hill Farm pork, local grass-fed venison, beef, and lamb, and Stone Barns Bourbon Red turkeys.
The Great American Ale Trail (Revised Edition) Page 34