Craft Beer NYC

Ok folks, I will have to admit that my postings have been slow in the past year or so.   The events in the world right now have given me some valuable time to focus my attention back to my craft beer adventures.  Just to be clear, my beer adventures did not slow down, just my ability to capture them for my readers has been largely compromised, but not any more.  Here we go.....there has been a recent trend with “healthy” low calorie, low carb, low alcohol beer.  In the past, this has created watered down dribble from the likes of unnamed breweries. However the folks at Sixpoint in Brooklyn have mastered a unique entry into this space.   Brewed in collaboration with outdoor gear company REI, this 99 calorie beer is my new favorite beer of the year.  It weights in at 4.0% ABV, which is positioned as a hazy adventure IPA, you know, for going hiking and enjoying the outdoors without making you stumble of the trail.  The hop profile contains VIC Secret, Eni...

This beer has single-handedly brought my blog back from a long hiatus.  I'm going to officially award this stellar creation from Brooklyn the "Craft Beer of the Summer" award.   Tiny Juicy IPA is one of Five Boroughs Five core offerings, brewed out of their Sunset Park facility.   They just celebrated their 2 year anniversary a few weeks ago and are quickly creating a strong foothold in the increasingly cluttered NYC craft beer scene.  The hop profile for this IPA is full of Mosaic, Simcoe, and Cascade which provide a nice fruity but piney bitterness.  This team strongly believes in their brewing philosophy is that the "Five Boroughs is Brewed for your New York City"!   The founding team of life long residents represents the entire footprint of NYC across each of the Five Boroughs.     This ale rivals all citrus infused summer ales over the last several years (Pineapple or Grapefruit Sculpin from Ballast Point was a previous award winner). Avail...

I was walking down Amsterdam Avenue this past weekend and noticed an interesting little market called Hudson & Charles.  Local, Sustainable, Grass-Fed Meats was enough of a hook on their window for me to try them out, but when I got closer I realized they had craft beer on draft with take home growlers! Their name actually comes from the intersection of their downtown location (corner of Hudson and Charles Street in the West Village).  I wound up taking home a nice fresh cut of London Broil and a 32oz Growler of Lawson Session IPA to pair with it.  Lawson's Finest is a Vermont craft brewery that has a partnership with Two Road Brewing in Stratford, CT to brew a few of their session ales  (#2, #8 and Sip of Sunshine)   It was a very enjoyable ale with a nice citrus finish, which was served super fresh out of the growler.   I think this could becomes a neighborhood staple for those high protein dinners that need to be washed down with craft beer from regi...

Gritty's is celebrating their 30th anniversary this year.   The original brewpub in Portland was the first established brewery and pub since prohibition in the state, starting a great trend in the northern "Vacationland" wonder of Maine.  Situated near the historic old port district in Portland, this location is now in the heart of Main culinary and brewing culture.  They now have 3 brewpub locations in Maine, Auburn, Freeport and the original Portland location, and ship their product all over New England. The Summer Ale, which shares the same name of the State of Maine's tourism slogan, is available April-August.  Vacationland is a great well balanced summer pale ale from a mixture of pale and wheat malt with special Cascade leaf hops for the finish.  Gritty's is known for a more traditional technique for their ales, reminiscent of British pub styles.  The hop profile for this one is rounded out with Saaz and regular Cascade hops.   For all the offsit...

This is the magical creation of Dogfish Head and Woolrich, two independent family owned companies.  Woolrich is America's oldest outdoor clothing company, dating back before the Civil War as a family run business specializing in the Buffalo Plaid print shirts and gear.    The teams started out trying to find a unique mid Atlantic hook to the recipe, since that there is nothing comparable to northwest hops in the northeast.  They decided to use fresh harvested spruce tips to give this ale an earthly aroma and tasting notes to the intense hoppiness.    The "Tuxedo" name comes from the colloquial term used for backwoods locals dressed in their black and red outdoor gear.  Founder John Rich of Woolrich references spruce beer in his journal entries back in the 1840's which was one of the inspirations for this new brew.  Dogfish Head and Woolrich harvested spruce tips from the woods in north-central Pennsylvania and near Georgetown, Delaware.  This...

We discovered this one at our local Westside Market on the Upper West Side of NYC.   At first it seemed like a novelty beer, but we soon found out that this this was a craft beer powerhouse.   The brewmasters from the Baltimore area based Duclaw have a reputation for experimental wild beer styles, and commissioned an annual H.E.RO. campaign to reward home brewing recipes from their fans.  Sweet Baby Jesus has now become their most successful and popular offering available all over the northeast and beyond. 6.2% ABV 10/10 Chocolate Peanut Butter Perfection that should make Reese's and AB very nervous Duclaw History https://duclaw.com/history/ Sweet Baby Jesus Story with Video https://duclaw.com/beers/sweet-baby-jesus-2/

I first experienced this Belgian delight in London at a nice little Belgian bistro near Soho.  I asked what rare beers they had available and sifted through about 30 pages of options.   When I asked for the Duchesse, the waitress actually asked is I was sure, and said that it was intense and it tasted a little like vinegar.  I understood the waitress' caution, but decided to take a gamble and let her know that I like intense beers and that I would try it.  I was delightfully surprised and when she came by to check on me, I gave the thumbs up and cheered with the glass in the air.  Brewery Verhaeghe was founded by Paul Verhaeghe around 1885.  During the German occupation of Belgium, they were forced by the government to halt production and in response the German soldiers dismantled the operations.   Back in full swing since the end of the war, this successful family-owned brewery is located in the southwest of the province of West Flanders about an hour...