A year ago this week, I started publishing this newsletter. Many email newsletters piddle out and fail quickly, and I thought this would be one of those. But after 52 editions of this, it’s your encouragement, comments, and subscriptions that have really helped to inspire and motivate me to keep this going. So truly, thank you for reading. And to the 160 or so of you who have been around since issue number one: thank you especially for sticking with reading this as much as I’ve stuck with writing this!
I’m not going to go through some in-depth retrospective of just a year of newsletters, but I will point out my personal favorites so far:
Beer Above the Clouds: featuring my top 5 airport beer bars in the U.S.
Excessive Vliet Warning: really more proud of this title than anything else.
All’s Fair in Beer and Cheese Curds: documenting the beers I drank at the Minnesota State Fair.
Fresh Hop Frenzy: if you wondered what it’s like to drink in the largest hop-growing region in the world during hop harvest, this one’s for you.
Far From This Opera Forevermore: a trip to Wichita, Kansas — probably my most unexpected beer destination from 2021
Thanks again for all your support, and I hope you’ll keep reading and sharing this newsletter in the coming year!
Fingers is an independent newsletter full of original reporting, interviews, and criticism about drinking in America by 2x James Beard award-winning drinks journalist Dave Infante.
With each edition you’ll get freewheeling, unorthodox coverage on the culture, politics, and business of booze, and join thousands of readers who have already made their inboxes a little less sober and a lot more fun.
Annual subscriptions are 20% off for Brew York subscribers until March 1st
Bronx Brewery opens new East Village outpost
After two years of construction and a pandemic getting in the way, Bronx Brewery opened their new bar and brewery in the East Village last weekend. They’re serving up their lineup of beers from their main brewery, like the World Gone Hazy IPA, Well Earned Pilsner, and City Island Sour IPA. But in addition to those, there will be offerings exclusive to the East Village as part of their “Y-Series” that will be brewed in the brewhouse that’s the focal point of the back room of the new location. One of those beers is already on tap: Rye Or Die, a Rye Amber Ale.
The food menu is burgers and fries and snacks from a Swedish import: Bastard Burgers. The lineup of burgers includes classic and vegan options, fries, mac and cheese bites, and mozzarella sticks. Everything is ordered at the bar.
If you’re in the neighborhood and just in a hurry, there’s a cooler fully stocked with four-packs and six-packs of cans to-go.
The new location is at 64 2nd Avenue, and is open seven days a week, 5-11pm Mondays through Thursdays, 5pm-12am Fridays, 12pm-12am Saturdays and 12pm-9pm Sundays.
Celebrating NYC’s Beer Bars: 124 Old Rabbit Club
124 Old Rabbit Club
124 MacDougal Street (at Minetta Lane)
Greenwich Village
If you don’t know about 124 Old Rabbit Club, I can’t really blame you. It’s hidden behind a non-descript steel door that’s a few steps down from the street. The signage is lacking. It’s on a block that’s cluttered with plenty of other bars and ice cream and falafel and crepe shops, so it’s easy to miss.
On paper, Old Rabbit Club sounds like it lacks much appeal. It’s got a buzzer that occasionally functions to let people in. It has no windows, which is fine, because when you don’t open until 6pm, you’re not missing out on much natural light. There’s not much un-natural light, either, and it takes some time for your eyes to adjust. It’s a little dirty, if your eyes adjust enough to notice. There’s a somewhat creepy Mannekin Pis statuette in a cage surrounded by dusty old beer bottles in the bathroom. And the bar only serves one thing: beer.
You’re not going to Old Rabbit Club for the ambiance. You’re going for the beer. There’s a lengthy list of imports and local and craft standouts that will satisfy any beer drinker’s tastes and curiosity. You can get $6 bottle of Einbecker Pilsener. You can splurge for a bomber from Jester King or Dupont or De Ranke or St. Bernardus. You can sip on an Allagash White or a Grimm pastry stout. You can reliably get an Orval or a Schneider Weisse here, served in proper glassware. And you’ll do it all in pleasant dimness, removed from the bustle of MacDougal Street that’s just a few feet out the door.
Beer Events of Note This Week
Threes Brewing is hosting a party to celebrate their seventh anniversary tonight at their Gowanus location, with a live DJ spinning at 7pm, plus beer and food specials ($5 Vliets, anyone?). No entry fee, pay as you go.
It’s a couple months later than planned, but Strong Rope Brewery is hosting their annual Caskiversary Party on Saturday starting at noon at their Red Hook location. To celebrate the brewery’s sixth anniversary, they’ll have cask ale from more than ten different breweries, chicken and biscuits from Daleview, and live music all afternoon. No entry fee, pay as you go.
For Valentine’s Day on Monday, Sweet Avenue in Sunnyside, Queens is hosting “Beer School,” a beer-and-cheese pairing that kicks off at 7pm. You’ll learn about beer from Kevin Brooks as he guides you through four beers and cheeses. Tickets are $80 and can be purchased in advance.
Brewery Tracker
Total brewery count: 2,570
Total breweries visited in 2022: 42
Total breweries visited in Utah: 16
Brewery Visit of the Week
Brewery #2565, Offset Bier, Park City, Utah (Visited 5-Feb-2022)
Offset Bier was one of those breweries I walked into with no expectations. It’s practically brand-new — it opened last September — and it’s in a tourist destination where you could make mediocre beer and still be packed to the gills on a busy ski weekend. But this place didn’t just merely exceed my expectations; it blew my expectations out of the water.
Sure, the technical chops were there — co-founder Patrick Bourque is an experienced brewer who spent time at the very well-respected Unita in Salt Lake City before starting this venture with Conor Brown, who was serving the busy apres-ski crowd in the taproom on my visit Saturday afternoon. But the approach to beer matters, too, and when I saw half of the beer menu was labeled as “Bier Flavored Bier,” I had a feeling that Offset would be my kind of place.
I started with the Helles, a go-to move for me, and it couldn’t have been more perfectly crisp, sparklingly clear with a touch of malty sweetness. The Tmavé Pivo was as roasty and clean as I’d expect a dark Czech Lager to be. The Strata Single Hop Pale Ale was near perfection, a little dank and bursting with citrus and berry flavors. I could’ve run through the entire menu if given a day here. And I’d probably come out of the brewery still mostly coherent, given that draft beer in Utah is all 5% ABV or below.
Beer of the Week
Rogue Wave
Wild East Brewing Co. in collaboration with Kings County Brewers Collective (Brooklyn, New York)
American IPA
6.8% ABV
Remember when IPAs all looked like this? Remember when they weren’t opaque and looked like watered-down orange juice? This beer from two of my favorite breweries in Brooklyn harkens back to a time when IPAs were celebrated for boldness, not juiciness. Simcoe, Centennial, and Chinook come together for this amber brew with a sweet malt backbone and notes of bitter orange and pine. It’s like a liquid time machine.
Long Read of the Week
Ahead of this weekend’s Super Bowl, Kate Bernot has a missive at Good Beer Hunting about the state of TV beer advertising. Despite its shrinking and aging audience, television remains the largest conduit for marketing beer. And while Anheuser-Busch is back in a big way this year with six spots in the big game, Sam Adams is buying local ads in key markets, and MillerCoors is sitting things out entirely, opting for a Miller Lite-themed metaverse promotion. Is this a gimmick or the future of beer advertising? We shall see.
One More Thing
A co-worker of mine said that I should merge my beer writing with travel writing to create a new platform. I’m already trying to do that in a small way here, but here’s what prompted that suggestion: I tipped them off to a little-known trick if you fly Delta. If you wait more than 20 minutes for your luggage to arrive at baggage claim after the posted arrival time of a domestic flight, you can immediately fill out a form and receive 2,500 Skymiles as compensation. You’re welcome.
Cheers,
Chris
Great bar shot out! Kind of always go to tiger when I’m in that area, will have to make a pivot over next time.