A Dip in the Backyard Pool
Brooklyn Brewery's last day on Brewers Row and a canal-side brewery in Holland
As promised, this week I started my series of short profiles of New York City beer bars called 40 Bars in 40 Days. It’s a labor of love that’s getting me to all corners of the city to profile the bars that serve good beer. Some are well-known classics, like The Pony Bar, and some might have flown under your radar like Rough Draft. I’ll post a new one each weekday for the next eight weeks. And if you have something off the beaten path that you’d like to suggest, I’m still planning out my adventures across the city in search of great beer venues. Leave a comment!
Brooklyn Brewery announces final day on North 11th Street
Brooklyn Brewery, ahead of its move to its new facility, has announced the final day in their location for the past thirty years on North 11th Street in Williamsburg. That day will be Saturday, August 29th. The brewery is moving to 1 Wythe Avenue later in the year, just four blocks away from the current location. Construction is nearly complete on that space, which will feature expanded rooms for events, a rooftop patio, and a new production facility in a newly-built mixed-use building at the corner of North 15th Street.
Before they close, there’s a long lineup of events to bid the original taproom farewell, including next Tuesday’s If These Walls Could Talk, a chance to see items from the archives of Brooklyn Brewery’s history, share memories with the brewing team, and sign the mural wall. They’ll also have a final farewell party on the 29th.
No official opening date has been set for the new location, but stay tuned here and on social media for the news when that date has been set.
Upcoming Beer Events of Note
Brooklyn: Dreams of Yesterday Beer Release at Threes Brewing Gowanus, Thursday 8/6 at 5pm, free entry
Brooklyn: If These Walls Could Talk at Brooklyn Brewery, Tuesday 8/11 from 4pm, free with RSVP
Manhattan: Intrepid Summer Beer Wine and Spirits Fest at the Intrepid Museum, Friday 8/21 from 6:30-10pm, tickets $60
Brooklyn: Farewell Party at Brooklyn Brewery, Saturday 8/29 from 9pm, free with RSVP
Queens: Blocktoberfest 2026 at Culture Lab LIC, Saturday 9/26 from 1-5pm, tickets from $45
Brewery Tracker
Total brewery count: 4,010
Total breweries visited in 2026: 87
Total breweries visited in Washington: 179
Brewery Visit of the Week
Brewery #3645, Kompaan Craft Beer, Den Haag, Netherlands (Visited 23-Jan-2025)
I was rehashing my visit to South Holland last year recently and recalled this gem of a brewery taproom in the Thuishaven section of The Hague, outside of the city center. In some ways, it’s a very stereotypical brewery: it was started by two friends who graduated from homebrewing to professional brewing, the taproom is very industrial and features lots of recycled materials, the cold box is a shipping container, their core beer lineup features a New England IPA, and they’re regularly brewing collaboration beers. That could describe thousands of breweries around the world, but this one faces onto a canal in the Netherland’s third-largest city. And my experience here couldn’t have been better. The staff was friendly and the beer was lovely, and even though I visited in January, I did take one beer outside to their canal-side patio to catch a brief appearance of some late afternoon sunshine.
The Levensgenieter, their flagship NEIPA, was excellent when compared against even the best American hazies. They’re really into American hops — heck, the brewing staff trekked all the way to Washington’s Yakima Valley the fall prior for hop selection. The Backyard Pool, a perfect California Common, was an interlude that paired nicely with the snacks in their taproom. Finally, being as close as I was to Belgium, I had to have the Maverick Monk, another core beer that’s an 8.4% ABV Tripel that uses some new world hops. That delicious beer made the train ride back to my hotel in Rotterdam effortless.
The Doom and Gloom Tracker
At least 3 breweries I’ve visited closed or announced their closure in the past week:
Brewery #1453, Texas Ale Project, Dallas, Texas [Visited 9-Feb-2019]
Brewery #2309, Brewery Faisan, Detroit, Michigan [Visited 5-Aug-2021]
Brewery #3324, River Horse Brewing Co., Ewing, New Jersey [Visited 10-Feb-2024]
The Weekly Reader
What’s happening to Central New York’s breweries? [Deborah Jeanne Sergeant, Oswego County Business]
Frederick, Maryland is brewing a tenth of the beer it brewed in 2017 [Michael Stein, DC Beer]
A guide to breweries along U.S. Route 66 [Don Tse, VinePair]
What else do we lose when people give up booze? [Ginia Bellafante, NYT]
One Last Thing
A little plug for something that can do good and get you a beer: Blood for a Brew is back! The annual month-long event by the New York Blood Center offers you discounts on a beer at breweries (or coffee, if you prefer) across the Tri-State area when you donate blood. Details are here.
So long, and happy National IPA Day!
Cheers,
Chris
If not already on your list for the 40 bars, I highly recommend adding Judy’s in Sunset Park. You'll always find something interesting and different in their can selection.