Beers for a Vaxxed Summer
Evil Twin opens new outpost and I cut out the gluten for a brewery visit
Hello from home in Brooklyn. You know how absence makes the heart grow fonder? I felt that little pitter-patter in my chest when I saw this view from my plane window on approach to LaGuardia on Monday night after arriving back from a trip to Wisconsin. After being home for more than a year, I hadn’t gotten that “it’s great to be home” feeling in a long time.
The trip to Wisconsin was full of incredibly friendly people, some very good beer, and a lot of fried fish and cheese curds. Among the highlights: closing out a night with sours and a Table Beer at Funk Factory Geuzeria, drinking $3 Spotted Cows at a Madison college bar, meeting Joel of Brewery Travels at the fabled Sprecher Brewing, and drinking in an actual, authentic biergarten with a house-brewed Helles in hand at The Bavarian Bierhaus.
I may be starting to plot my summer travel (in the plans: Alaska, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Spokane, Washington), but I’m really looking forward to some days up on my roof with a folding chair, a koozie, some cheap sunglasses, and a cooler stocked with some of my favorite summer beers.
Your Summer Beer Roundup
After some 90°F days in May, it seems that summer was teasing us and now we’re back in Spring. But with warmer weather on the horizon, I wanted to touch on some of the beers that, for me and for you readers, are synonymous with summer, including some new releases that are out locally just in time for things to heat up.
Threes Vliet
What, are you surprised? This should come as expected to anyone who’s followed me on social media for the past few years. This pilsner is crisp, crushable, and plentiful — which makes it easy to find at your local bottle shop or grocery store.
Pairs best with: backyard cookouts, picnics in the park
KCBC Beach Zombie (recommended by reader Tim P.)
Guava and Strawberry come together to make this fruited sour taste like it’s part tiki bar cocktail and part liquid candy. Pour it in a glass and you’ll have convinced yourself you’ve escaped to a tropical getaway.
Pairs best with: garden parties, trips to Rockaway Beach
Torch and Crown Stoop Beer
Back for another summer, this lager is hopped generously with Mosaic hops for a citrusy, slightly dank IPA-like flavor profile, but it’s an easier-drinking, dry-finishing beer. Some dude on Untappd says it “ain’t a lager,” but it is, in fact, a lager.
Pairs best with: a late-night stoop drink on a humid night, stoop parties
Carton Boat Beer (recommended by reader Sean M.)
This sessionable jam from Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey is a little bit of everything: crisp from the Kolsch yeast, a little sweet thanks to a noticeable biscuity malt character, and fruity and piney from the generous hop additions.
Pairs best with: trips to Sandy Hook Beach, classing up a shore house party
Kills Boro Lei
If you’re looking for something that screams tropical but won’t assault your sensitivities to sour beer, this Coconut Cream Ale is a fun break from tradition, with a bit of sweet corn and a touch of toasted coconut.
Pairs best with: Staten Island ferry rides, pineapple-flavored Italian Ice
Evil Twin opens new DUMBO outpost
If you’ve been a fan of Evil Twin Brewing’s beers but have dreaded the trip out to Ridgewood, Queens, there’s good news: a second taproom opened this week at 43 Main Street in DUMBO, a block from the East River between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. The new bar will feel quite familiar to visitors to their Ridgewood brewery: the sunny, high-ceilinged space is decked out in greenery, much like their original greenhouse tasting room. Electronic signs display the beer selection on the wall for you to order at the bar at the center of the room.
Expect to see much of the same beers and pastry seltzers here as at the brewery itself, plus wine, cider, and frozen cocktails. There’s beer to-go in four packs and crowlers as well. For now, they’re instituting a vaccinated-only policy so visitors can enjoy the space without masks. For their first weekend, Evil Twin DUMBO will be open Thursday from noon-midnight, Friday noon-1am, Saturday 10am-1am, and Sunday 10am-11pm.
Brewery Tracker
Total brewery count: 2,236
New breweries in 2021: 162
Breweries visited in Wisconsin: 41
Brewery Visit of the Week
Brewery #2215, ALT Brew, Madison, Wisconsin (Visited 28-May-2021)
I’ve never written much about gluten-free beer, but it’s mainly because I’ve been disappointed by so much gluten-free beer. So I was definitely a skeptic when I walked into ALT Brew and kept my expectations low. It greatly exceeded those expectations.
(Flashback to 2016: I’m in Seattle, Washington, and I’m three beers into my flight at Ghostfish Brewing, and I’m trying to figure out why these beers all taste off. And then I finally realize that all of them are gluten-free.)
That’s my usual experience when visiting a gluten-free brewery. But ALT Brew wasn’t that. The Paddleboard Pilsner was as clean and peppy as some of the better ones I’ve had with gluten. The Ripped Jeans and Wolf Shirts IPA made me feel like I was practically cheating on barley, double dry-hopped with Columbus, Centennial, Mosaic, Citra and Simcoe. My travel companion really enjoyed the 1808 Robust Porter, a style you don’t see that often even at breweries that don’t cater to dietary preferences and allergies.
While I was at the brewery, someone called from New York to ask if they shipped beer there. I guess word is getting out and the gluten-averse are anxious for better options.
Historical Nerdity of the Week
I couldn’t help but share this fun fact I learned while in Wisconsin: the state is so focused on their dairy industry that the manufacture and sale of margarine was banned in the state for 72 years. “Oleo-runners” would often smuggle margarine from nearby Illinois in the 1950s and 60s, often skirting the $1 license and 6-cent-per-pound tax required to import it into the state. Hall of Fame Brewers Broadcaster Bob Uecker once claimed he was born in Illinois when his parents were on a oleo run there. The ban was lifted in 1967, but one unenforced law still remains on the books today: restaurants cannot serve margarine as a substitute for butter unless a customer asks for it, or if you offer the option of either. The maximum fine is $500 or three months in jail.
Beer of the Week
Tour de Table
Wild East Brewing Co. (Brooklyn, NY)
Table Beer
4.5% ABV
Out for nearly a month, I cannot believe I slept on this sessionable offering from Wild East for this long. But this table beer is simply delightful — a nice tropical fruit character from the Motueka hops, and a boatload of bubble gum from the yeast, and a nice snappy finish from the rye. It’s crushable, but way too complex to not want to sip and savor. Shout out to Beer Noggin in Bronxville, who collaborated on this delightful little ditty.
Long Read of the Week
With Pride Month upon us, Eater’s Jaya Saxena profiles three beer brands — two based in New York City — that are centering their beer around queer culture. She also discusses what distinguishes these beers from the “pinkwashing” done by some other major beer brands.
One More Thing
This newsletter was powered by a Daypack Mango Seltzer — a beer-inspired, non-alcoholic seltzer with hops from Athletic Brewing Company. I’ve been enjoying seeing these types of beverages pop up here — I’ve been longing for something like this stateside since I tried Cloudwater Soda in London back in 2019. I’m looking forward to trying some Hoplark Sparkling Water that’s coming my way, too. Sometimes, you need a nice break from beer. Especially after visiting 31 breweries in a week.
Cheers,
Chris