The habits of New York craft beer drinkers owe an inestimable debt to … California. The Golden State birthed the craft beer movement in the United States; it incubated the heavily hopped style that has come to define American craft beer more than any other; and it laid the template for that thankfully ubiquitous of Read More
95 First Avenue
Claustrophobics have long been culled from the East Village, so no one will blink an eye at a 700-square-foot restaurant with portions to match.
Catching the small-plate trend, a new oyster and craft beer bar is opening in Little India, where they’ve already managed to fit an entire subcontinent worth of Read More
So, we’ve already established that Williamsburgers hate chain stores, particularly the new Duane Reade on their beloved Bedford Avenue, which is locked in a deathmatch with a mom-and-pop pharmacy across the street. We have also established that The New York Times is somehow ignorant of Brooklyn, the most populous borough in its Read More
Long Island has in the last year become a tender hub of nanobreweries: As many as four are in operation or will be in operation by the middle of 2011. Two of those distribute in the city (which itself hosts no nanobreweries, as far as I was able to find—if I missed one, please let Read More
If you’ve been reading The Hophead this year, you know I focus more on the back stories of beers and the people behind them than on the tastes (go elsewhere, please, for serious disquisition on mouthfeel and bouquet—I don’t claim to be a critic). I seek to report on the influencers of what we Read More
“My father’s a statistician,” said Jen Schwertman on the Friday night before Thanksgiving. She was in the front booth of an after-work bar in the financial district, just off the 1 line, talking over the labored small talk of men in loosened ties and the women in pencil skirts playing defense. She was sipping a Sierra Read More
What: Beer Class
Where: Greenpoint
Why: Because the verbs matter more than the adjectives in the craft beer movement.
I was going to give a talk on Oct. 13 at the Black Rabbit Bar in Greenpoint, owned by the delightful Kent and Anne Lanier, as part of what we were billing as “Beer Class.” Read More
What: Homebrewing
Where: Williamsburg
Why: Because the retail options for buying equipment and ingredients in New York City have multiplied from basically nothing to several in just the last few years, and an entire subculture has sprung up.
On Saturday, Oct. 2, I hoofed it from the Metropolitan stop on the G train (why did Read More
What: Pumpkin Ale
Where: Brooklyn
Why: Because it was the first weekend of fall, and someone tweeted something.
At 5:43 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 14, a New Yorker tweeted the following: “Anyone have a favorite pumpkin beer OR a favorite place in Brooklyn for drinking pumpkin beers?”
Two minutes later, the redoubtable CrankyKaplan Read More
What: The Great American Beer Festival
Where: Denver, Colo.
Why: Because the Mile High City celebrates its craft beer culture in a way New York is just coming around to
The City of Denver, along with the trade group the Brewers Association, hosted a jolly bus tour of Denver’s more Read More
