Okay, I’ll admit it: I’m a Boston Red Sox fan. It was instilled in me at a young age, going to games at Fenway while growing up in Rhode Island, and it’s not something that’s going to change, even having now lived in New York for the large majority of my life. I’m also, as a writer who covers the New York beer scene, I am very much conscious of my anti-Yankees bias and I try to remain as neutral as possible in the rare moments that the Yankees come up in writing about beer.
But on this Opening Day of the 2024 Major League Season, I’m going to stop trying to be nice: the beer selection at Yankee Stadium fucking sucks. I did pan the selection back in 2021, calling it “as generic as an airport Chili’s,” but even then, I think I was being too gentle to placate the Yankees fans among my readers. The reality is it’s been pitiful as long as I’ve been covering this beat. While their crosstown rivals in Queens have at least made an attempt to offer a variety of decent local beer options over the years, the utter contempt that the Yankees have for their fans who drink beer continues to show itself in exciting new ways.
For the past few seasons, one of the only unique beer options that Yankee Stadium has offered had been Blue Point Pinstripe Pilsner. It was a flavorful, hop-forward pilsner that honored the team’s tradition and allowed fans a rare chance to support a local brewer — a brewer that, admittedly, was owned by Anheuser-Busch, who has a contractually allowed near-monopoly over beer in The House That George Built.
But since Blue Point was sold off to Tilray Brands in the offseason, the team did the least surprising, most Yankees thing possible: they introduced a new signature beer option at the stadium this year called New York Legendary Ale, and it’s made by… Goose Island Brewing Company, also owned by Anheuser-Busch. Because nothing screams “beer for Yankees fans” more than one from a brand based in Chicago. It’s a perfectly soulless beer for a perfectly soulless ballpark.
Now, an entire book could be written about the economics of ballpark beer, sponsorship contracts, exclusivity deals, and how concessionaires often strongarm small local businesses into essentially taking a loss just to have a placement in a major sports venue. If you want to be someone who blindly defends the Yankees for the way they’ve managed to turn their back on the breweries in the city where they play ball, you could just say, “well, that’s good business.” Fine. And the Mets aren’t that much better at it, having had ebbs (pardon the pun) and flows when it comes to supporting local breweries over the years. But I can’t be the only one who, when given the choice between going to a Yankees or Mets game, will choose the Mets 10 times out of 10 simply because their beer options are better, even though I’m having at most two beers at a baseball game.
Anyway, expect updates on both ballparks’ beer selections in the coming weeks. Play ball!
Another big win for Grimm in NYS Beer Competition
New York City breweries took home 21 medals at this year’s New York State Beer Competition, held last Friday as part of the New York State Brewers Conference in Albany, and Brooklyn’s Grimm Artisanal Ales took home the top award of New York State Brewery of the Year for the third time in four years.
The event is open to every brewery in the state, and this year, the competition was stiff: 1,421 beers from 236 breweries were entered across the 30 categories. Of the 95 medals awarded, more than one in five went to breweries in New York City, despite the city accounting for just a tenth of the breweries in the state.
Grimm Artisanal Ales was named Brewery of the Year for their five total medals, including three gold medals. It’s their third time winning the title in four years — in 2021 they won the title outright, and in 2022 shared it with Rochester’s Strangebird Brewing. Other big winners in New York City included Threes and 18th Ward who won three medals each and EBBS Brewing Co, who won two medals.
The full list of New York City winners is below. If you want to see the full list from across the state, check the list on the competition website.
Light Lagers (Traditional) - 66 entries
Gold: Eleven - Strong Rope Brewery
Light Lagers (Modern and Contemporary) - 77 entries
Gold: Contiguity - Threes Brewing
Silver: UN1 Basmati Rice Lager - Transmitter Brewing
Dark Lagers (NEW!) - 51 entries
Bronze: Heavy Handed - Kills Boro Brewing Company
Wheat Beers (American, Wit, Hefe) - 33 entries
Gold: Grimm Weisse - Grimm Artisanal Ales
Golden & Blonde Ales - 32 entries
Gold: Prototype - Kings County Brewers Collective
Bronze: KOLSCH NO.2 - EBBS Brewing Company
Cream Ales (NEW!) - 43 entries
Silver: Premium Cream Ale - 18th Ward Brewing
Pale Ale - 27 entries
Gold: Moderance - Wild East Brewing Company
Silver: Lighter Than Air - Grimm Artisanal Ales
Hazy Pale Ale - 32 entries
Gold: Future Memory - 18th Ward Brewing
American IPA - 69 entries
Bronze: Venomous Villains - Kings County Brewers Collective
Experimental IPA - 36 entries
Silver: Forever Ever - Other Half
Belgian Farmhouse - 22 entries
Silver: Wandering Bine - Threes Brewing
Experimental - 29 entries
Silver: States Of Being - Threes Brewing
Brown Ale - 32 entries
Silver: Brooklyn Brown - Brooklyn Brewery
Porters (Non-Imperial) - 36 entries
Bronze: McNally Porter - 18th Ward Brewing
Stout (Non-Imperial) - 37 entries
Bronze: STOUT NO.1 - EBBS Brewing Company
Imperial Stouts & Porters - 25 entries
Bronze: Double Negative - Grimm Artisanal Ales
Strong Ales - 33 entries
Gold: XXXXX - Grimm Artisanal Ales
Wild & Sour Ales - 13 entries
Gold: Ambient Fizz Koyo Berries - Grimm Artisanal Ales
Brewery Tracker
Total brewery count: 3,383
Total breweries visited in 2024: 99
Total breweries visited in California: 279
Brewery Visit of the Week
Brewery #3356, Craft Coast Beer & Tacos, Oceanside, California (Visited 15-Mar-2024)
While we’re in the spirit of celebrating award-winning beer, on my visit to California two weeks ago, I walked into this brewery in Oceanside and immediately looked up to my left to see three World Beer Cup awards and a Great American Beer Festival medal on display. I had never heard of this brewery until about two days prior, and I apparently missed their victories when watching and even attending those award ceremonies. I’m ashamed of this — after all, my ears should’ve picked up when I heard the word “tacos” in the brewery name.
The taproom was bustling on a Friday afternoon when I sat down at the bar and asked about those award-winning beers. The first one the bartender pointed out was the Old West, an American IPA that won bronze at the 2023 World Beer Cup in the most competitive style category in the competition. I ordered it and immediately sipped this bright, snappy delight of a West Coast IPA with a touch of malt sweetness and was transported to the West Coa — oh, right, I’m literally blocks from the Pacific Ocean. I ordered some Baja-style tacos and pondered my next beer. I ended up with the Oscura in my next glass, another World Beer Cup award winner from back in 2022. The beer is a “crowd favorite,” the bartender told me. It’s a lovely dark amber lager with enough robust flavor to stand up to the spiciness of the salsas from the salsa bar.
And I enjoyed the beers, the tacos, and the vibes all so much I went back a second time before I caught the train back to San Diego. Totally worth it.
The Doom and Gloom Tracker
At least 3 breweries I’ve visited closed or announced their closure this week:
Brewery #2171, Neutral Ground Brewing Company, Fort Worth, Texas (Visited 1-May-2021)
Brewery #2414, Hyperion Brewing Company, Jacksonville, Florida (Visited 17-Oct-2021)
Brewery #3185, Alpine Dog Brewing Co., Denver, Colorado (Visited 21-Sep-2023)
The Weekly Reader
A preview of Blue Point’s first 4/20 festival under the ownership of a Cannabis company [Bernie Kilkelly, LI Press]
Tackling craft beer’s “White Dudes with Beards” Dilemma [Dave Infante, Taplines]
Is this year the year of the dark lager? [Grace Lee-Weitz, Hop Culture]
How brewers transitioned from producing alcoholic beverages to THC beverages [Leslie McMann, Full Pour]
One Last Thing
I’m always keeping tabs on the many breweries I’ve visited over the years, and while a fair number have closed, another good chunk are looking to pass on the successful business they built to a new owner. Such is the case at Keg Creek Brewing in Glenwood, Iowa — a charming little small town brewery I visited for the first time back in 2012 (brewery #110). The founders have put their spot on the market, looking for someone to carry on the legacy they built so they can enjoy retirement. As we are now a generation past the acceleration of the American craft beer boom, this is another change in the industry we’ll increasingly have to keep in mind: finding a succession plan for a successful brewery will be another challenge these businesses will have to navigate.
Cheers,
Chris