Fall is here. Winter is coming.
New beer bar openings, and a Maine brewery born from beer royalty
Walking to work on Tuesday morning, I noticed a chill in the air for the first time since Spring. And with that, it seems like summer has passed, and we’ll be approaching the time when we have to make the calculated decision on how powerful the heating elements are in outdoor seating areas, and how many layers we want to wear to drink a beer outside a crowded taproom. As someone who’s fully vaccinated, I’m happy to have the option and the comfort level to dine and drink indoors, but the unvaccinated are going to quickly see their most pleasant options for imbibing disappear as the weather turns.
In New York City, the staff of these bars and restaurants who turn away the unvaccinated can simply tell these people to take it up with their lawmakers, as enforcement of the vaccine mandate went into effect early last week. In Los Angeles, that will soon be the case as well. But outside of those jurisdictions, the staff are on the front line when a business chooses to enforce a mask or vaccine mandate for customers. And far too often, they’re the ones who bear the brunt of a conspiracy theorist’s ire. So, a suggestion: consider this when you travel. I spoke with a manager of a brewery taproom in Maine who in just my hour visiting had to remind three patrons to mask up… to varying reactions. Let’s be extra-nice and tip extra-well… it’s the least we can do for all the bullshit that’s lobbed their way.
And please, do the same in New York City. Those service workers have suffered for over 18 months now, and with a shortage of labor, they’re more overworked than they’ve ever been.
This Month’s New Beer Openings in NYC
The closings of our favorite spots in New York have finally seemed to slow down, and the openings have ramped up lately. Here are some noteworthy recent openings for beer drinkers in the city.
Let’s be honest: nobody goes to Times Square just to get a beer. But if you find yourself being dragged through hordes of tourists by out-of-town visitors who want to see a giant staircase and surly people dressed as children’s characters, you now have an escape: Yard House has opened its first location in New York City at 41st and Broadway. Like their other locations, this one boasts enough draft lines to make the beer-bar purists panic (130, in fact), a food menu that reads like a book, and the option of a half-yard pour of beer. Thankfully, a few very solid local beer selections will satisfy those craving a New York beer while visiting from out of town, and some Yard House-exclusive beers will offer something unique for New Yorkers who dare venture this way.
Nook is a neat little bar that opened early this summer in Bushwick, just a stone’s throw from KCBC at Irving Avenue and Troutman Street. This aptly-named cozy spot is coffee shop by day, craft beer bar by night, and neighborhood hangout all day long. The taplist includes brews from its beer-making neighbor, plus Grimm, Barrier, Sloop, and more. There’s a lineup of events throughout the week, and if you’re more of the uppers-and-downers type, the coffee’s pretty good, too.
While it’s never going to floor you with a super-eclectic beer selection, The Beer Garage has opened a second location at 118 Christopher Street in the West Village to accompany their Park Slope location. They are good for a cozy spot to drink a pint (Five Boroughs, EBBS, and Greenport Harbor are regular local finds here), and that’s really nice to have, especially if you commute via the PATH, which is a block away.
Brewery Tracker
Total brewery count: 2,373
New breweries in 2021: 287
Breweries visited in Maine: 40
Breweries visited in Portland, Maine: All of them, until another one opens
Brewery Visit of the Week
Brewery #2370, Belleflower Brewing Company, Portland, Maine (Visited 19-Sep-2021)
I pointed myself in the general direction of where I knew Belleflower to be. Often times, I’ll follow my nose on brew days, but last Sunday, I could hear a crowd outside and some distant live music before I turned the corner. I could also smell some pierogi cooking as I got closer, so I knew I was in the right place. The smells and sounds led me to their Oktoberfest celebration, and the taproom was all dolled up for the occasion. So were the beers. I started out, appropriately, with the Belle Fest, accompanied by some grub cooked up by Jaju Pierogi, a New England outfit that seems to have embraced this particular food-and-beer pairing.
The sun was out on a crisp September day in Portland, so I camped out in the parking lot-turned-patio and enjoyed a couple other delicious beers. Their collaboration DIPA with Rhode Island brewery Long Live Beerworks, called Being and Becoming, was a citrusy and resiny delight thanks to a generous dry-hopping of Simcoe, Kohatu, and Citra. I switched back to lagers for the Lost Leaf, a pale lager with Mandarina Bavaria hops that hit just right with a snappy nose and a clean finish.
Belleflower is just six months old and already making fantastic beer. The brewery is rooted in the friendship of two homebrewers-turned-pro with impressive resumes: they both worked at Boston’s famed Trillium Brewing, and one went on to Lone Pine (another noteworthy stop during my weekend in Maine) before they reunited with their families in Portland to open Belleflower. There are a lot of breweries in Portland, Maine, and many of them are excellent. But it’s always nice to see that the new openings are giving the old guard a run for their money. Way to go, Belleflower.
Social Post of the Week
Beer of the Week
Zoktoberfest
Kings County Brewers Collective (Brooklyn, NY)
Märzen
5.4% ABV
Well, you all win. This week on Twitter, I asked what team my followers were on for their fall beer, since yesterday was the first full day of fall. Their resounding answer: Oktoberfest beer. So I dashed off to KCBC, my local brewery and second living room, and finally got my first pour of the year of Zoktoberfest, appropriately poured into a stein. I’m happy to report that this seasonal release is tasting as good as it ever has. Perhaps it’s because last year’s release was just as we saw our impending winter gloom as Covid cases were skyrocketing in the city. But whatever. It’s a gorgeous glimmering golden pour with a nice bready smoothness and a grassy hop bite. It tastes as snappy as a crispy pretzel and it pairs nicely with them, too.
Long Read of the Week
I mentioned that labor shortages are resulting people in the service industry being more overworked than ever. But that’s only one of the shortages that’s impacting the hospitality industry. Elazar Sontag at Eater touches on the three “Great Shortages” that are making restaurants and bars more difficult to run than ever.
One More Thing
This week’s beer adventure takes me to the land of Fresh Hop beers: the Pacific Northwest. I’ll let you know how all the experimental hops taste on Instagram.
Cheers,
Chris
Definitely need to check out Sweet Avenue in Sunnyside