Craft Beer NYC

Named after a Civil War hero from Maine, this delightfully light and crisp English Style Pale Ale is a winner for the spring and summer season.  One of Shipyard's year round staples for over 20 years now, Chamberlain Pale Ale uses 2-Row British Pale Ale, Crystal, Chocolate, and Wheat malted barley to bring that distinctive English taste.   The hop profile is light to medium featuring Fuggles, Cascade, Glacier or Tettnang Hops to offer up a mild hop signature.  Shipyard, evoking it's home of Portland, Maine named this one after Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.   Chamberlain was a Professor at Bowdoin College and got caught up in the cultural swell of the Civil War and quit his job at the school and enlisted.   He rose to to the rank of brigadier general and was part of the key Union victory of Gettysburg.  He also was given the honor of commanding the Union army at the Appomattox Court House during the surrender of Robert E. Lee.   He later become the 32nd ...

This is a nice summer ale that is actually brewed and bottled in New York State as part of their year round portfolio.  The Apricot flavored trend has offered up several new, usually seasonal ales over the last few years, mostly from the northeast.  For over 17 years the Ithaca team has been creating quality craft beer that has embodied the adventuresome spirit of the finger lakes region.   The craft beer industry is an important part of the economic redevelopment of New York State, and Ithaca Beer products are offered as part of Governor Cuomo's Taste New York campaign that launched at the end of 2014.  Key tourist and transit hubs now have Taste NY retail stores and beer carts that offer up local and independent options from everything from beer, wine and cheeses.   The hints of Apricot balances out the Summit hops for a crisp fruit set of tasting notes. 8.5/10  4.9% ABV Ithaca Website http://ithacabeer.com/beers/ Taste NY Info http://taste....

Music is one of the things almost as important as great beer to Sam Calagione.  His passion for Miles Davis and his classic jazz, fusion, psychedelic masterpiece Bitches Brew led to a very special event for the 40th Anniversary of the release.   Approached by Columbia Records and Legacy to commemorate the special anniversary, the music of Miles Davis always played a special place in Sam's beer-storming (brainstorming for beer-a-philes), so the pairing was a natural fusion of artistic minds.   The behind the scenes of the production was featured on the premiere episode of Brew Masters- the too short lived series on the Discovery Networks.   The beer is a hybrid of 3 parts imperial stout and one part honey beer with gesho root, a perfect dark ale for spicy chili and dark meats.   In fact this creation is coming up on its own 5 year anniversary- it was unveiled on June 5, 2010 at the Savor, An American Craft Beer and Food Experience in Washington, DC. 9.0%...

This dark lager from Pittsburgh is an American version of a dark German Dunkel.   They use Two-Row, Munich, and Black malted barley with imported Perle hops from Germany.  The modern Pennsylvania Brewing Co. started in 1986, but the location involved has a brewing tradition that dates back to 1848.  The Eberhart and Ober families started 3 breweries in the City of Allegheny, which is now part of Pittsburgh's northside.  As many breweries around the country,  production ceased in the early 50's due to urban decline and national ad supported competition.   Their dark lager is a nice balanced brew for fans of more intense full bodied beers.  If you have to drink a lager you might as well drink a dark one with more taste and flavor like a Dunkel.  The restaurant at the pub location was the first brewery with adjacent pub in operation since Prohibition in the entire state of Pennsylvania.  This is a great year round session beer,  and a new A...

Stillwater Artisanal Ales have some of the most interesting craft beer recipes and label designs in the northeast.   Thought to be based out of Baltimore, Maryland, however their bottle now say brewed and bottled in Stratford, CT.  They are also distributed by Twelve Percent LLC out of Brooklyn, NY, the same distributor that handles Evil Twin, the beer that doesn't have a brewery home.   This location and identity crisis doesn't take away from their quality brewing of artistic and radically unique creations as seen in this one, titled Why Can't IBU.  This is a statement against the IBU scale - short for International Bittering Units - often a scale that nobody pays much attention.  If you've had too many the label starts to appear in 3D or does it? 5.7% ABV 8.0/10 Eyes of Providence http://www.stillwater-artisanal.com

This new addition to the Flying Dog year round portfolio is a Pale Ale brewed with Blood Orange juice.   Tasting notes are everything from Grapefruit to a full balanced citrus sweetness to balance out the bitterness.  They use Rye and Caramel malts combined with Citra, Galaxy, and Northern Brewer hops to this Halloween inspired Hellraiser labeled black craft magic.   Food pairings tend to be lighter  chicken and meats.  This is a recommendation for a summer cookout with chicken or fish. Movie Pairing:  Hellboy or Hellraiser 7.0% ABV 8.5 out of 10 Puzzle Boxes http://flyingdogbrewery.com/?beers=bloodline More on Clive Barker http://www.clivebarker.info