New York City is hopping with the kickoff of the fifth annual Beer Week, the festival during which craft brewers come to hawk their wares at venues all around the city.
The newly hatched New York City Brewers Guild took over the organizing of Beer Week this year (it’s only a year old). “There were never enough brewers to have [a guild in the past],” says Jeremy Cowan, the president of the guild and owner of Shmaltz Brewery, based in Brooklyn and San Francisco.
But as more craft brewers have set up shop in Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx and Manhattan, there’s plenty of room for a guild. Members include big boozemakers such as Brooklyn Brewery, which produced 176,000 barrels of beer last year, to nano-breweries like Rockaway Brewing Company, which produces about 16 or so kegs per week.
Beer Week kicks off tonight with a party at Galapagos in DUMBO. Old favorites like the Red Hook-based brewery Sixpoint (which has produced more than 100 different kinds of beer over the years) and Brooklyn Brewery will be there, as well as newbies like City Island Beer, which is making its debut. (Check out newyorkcitybrewersguild.com for more info.) Eight days of events follow complete with pig roasts and dinners, ending with a blowout at Birreria at Eataly.
Big or small, there’s a beer for every taste. Here are some of NYC’s finest:
Chelsea Brewing Company
Want to take in a nice vista while you chug — excuse us, gently sip — your next ale? Drink at the Chelsea Brewing Company, which is located at Chelsea Piers overlooking the Hudson. Made in great copper and brass tanks a few feet behind the bar, the brewery’s Sunset Red Ale is just the right brew to appreciate, well, the sunset.
On Thursday at 6 p.m., Chelsea is introducing a bourbon-barrel-aged stout, Black on Black, accompanied by live music for Beer Week. chelseabrewingco.com, Chelsea Piers, Pier 59; 212-336-6440
Bronx Brewery, Bronx Pale Ale
To take on the name of your home borough is a great responsibility. In 2011, two Bronx residents — Steve O’Sullivan of Riverdale and Niall Henry of Woodlawn — reached for the brass ring and began churning out their flagship Bronx Pale Ale, a strong, amber-colored brew that has turned up in about 250 locations. And now Bronx Brewery is approaching phase two: They’re canning the stuff starting in April. Phase three? They took a lease for a spot at 136th Street and Walnut to manufacture the beer, which will include a 1,500-square-foot tap room. But you can taste their wares at the Rare & Barrel-Aged NY State Breweries tasting tomorrow at 216 W. 238th St. thebronxbrewery.com
City Island Beer, City Island Pale Ale
One of the beers you’ll be able to get a maiden taste of during Beer Week is City Island Pale Ale, the product of Paul Sciara, an engineer who lives in City Island and has been experimenting with homemade beers with his two brothers for years. “Our flagship [beer] is the City Island Pale Ale,” says Sciara. “As we get going, we’ll try other recipes.” Availability is limited to about a half-dozen bars in The Bronx and Westchester, but interest is already, uh, brewing elsewhere in the city. (Check their Web site for locations.) The beer will be produced in Massachusetts at first, but Sciara is hoping to get something off the ground in City Island. cityislandbeer.com
Birreria, Calabrona
To close out the week, on March 3, head to Birreria, where some of the beer ingredients could be termed exotic: chestnuts in the Wanda ale and maple syrup in the DFH 75-minute IPA. But those feel kind of bush league in comparison to the Calabrona. “Calabrona” means hornet in Italian, and, yes, the yeast in the Calabrona is fashioned out of hornet bellies. Pomegranate molasses is added, and the result is a fruity beer, almost tasting like a cider. eataly.com/birreria, 200 Fifth Ave., 212-937-8910
508, Szechuan Paradise
In a crowded city like ours, it’s rare to find a restaurant that has the space to grow its own food, much less whip up beer by the barrel in their basement. Therefore, we tip our hat to the SoHo eatery, 508 — they churn out their own beer at a pretty respectable rate (260 barrels per year). In-house brewer, Chris Cuzme, makes the stuff in 508’s basement. The names are funny (Beauty Booty Blonde Ale), and the beers have stories behind them (the 508 Porter is made in the spirit of Benjamin Franklin, who made his own porters). But our fave has to be the “Szechuan Paradise” — a saison (pale ale) made with Szechuan peppercorns, “grains of paradise” (a black pepper), lemon peel and pilsner malt. Fruity, spicy and delish. 508nyc.com, 508 Greenwich St., 212-219-2444
Kelso Nut Brown Lager
Kelly Taylor, the brewmaster of Heartland Brewery (which has seven locations thoughout the city) churns out about 6,000 barrels of beer in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, and is making two beers for Beer Week — a Belgian golden ale and an imperial oatmeal stout. They’ll be paired all week with a three-course prix-fixe at four of the Heartland Breweries. Taylor has a sideline brewing KelSo beer. He’s also making a Flemish red ale and a pilot porter for his KelSo label — both will be served on Tuesday at Applewood in Park Slope, Brooklyn. For a fifth option try his nutty, malty Nut Brown Lager, and all you’ll say is: Keep up the good work! heartlandbrewery.com; kelsoofbrooklyn.com
SingleCut Beersmiths, “Half Stack” IPA
“There’s a lot of duplicity in the New York City marketplace,” says Rich Buceta, of SingleCut Beersmiths. “A lot of places claim to be local — but are not brewed anywhere close to New York City.” You don’t have to worry when you look at their 5,000 square-foot facility, which opened in December. And their newest beer will be introduced tonight at Galapgos: A double umlaut lager, aged in a rum barrel. singlecutbeer.com, 19-33 37th St., Astoria, 718-606-0788
Rockaway Brewing Co.,Scottish Ale
The key to making something valuable is making it rare, and by that standard, Rockaway Brewing Company produces the most valuable beer in the city. This beer, which was created by set designer Ethan Long and cinematographer Marcus Burnett at their homes in Rockaway, only comes out in batches of 12 to 16 kegs per week. Last summer they opened a tap room in Long Island City, where they fill up a growlers of Rockaway’s Black Gold (a stout) but on Wednesday at Jimmy’s 43 they’re introducing a Scottish Ale and a new IPA. 5-01 46th Ave., Long Island City, rockawaybrewingco@gmail.com, rockawaybrewco.com
Shmaltz Brewing Company’s Funky Jewbiliation
The Jewish holiday of Purim, where the faithful are commanded to get wasted, starts this weekend. So why not try a He’brew? In honor of Beer Week, Shmaltz Brewing Company is introducing “Funky Jewbilation,” a blend of six ales and lagers aged in bourbon and rye barrels. With its 9.4 percent alcohol content, we’re sure that after a few you won’t be able to tell the difference between “Blessed be Mordechai” and “Cursed be Haman!” When their tiny Coney Island brewery was destroyed by Sandy, it’s now only brewed upstate. But you can sip ’em down Tuesday at Resto. shmaltzbrewing.com