Is Black IPA back?
TALEA gears up for opening, farewell to a Portland beer mecca, and a Big Dog
Everything old is new again. A nearly-extinct and often-maligned beer style seems to be making a comeback after seemingly vanishing off the face of the Earth. Black IPA had a meteoric rise and an equally meteoric fall in the first half of the 2010s, but the dark, roasty, hoppy style appears to making a small comeback. Last fall, Long Island’s Blue Point brought back their Toxic Sludge as a one-off in their Throwback Series. Around the same time, my friends in Chicago were drinking Revolution Jukebox Hero for the first time in ages. I thought this was a fluke, but then Wookey Jack, a once beloved Firestone Walker Black Rye IPA last seen in 2016, was released on a small scale at their Propagator location in Santa Monica, California last month (it sold out so quick that they released another batch last week). Bell’s Brewing expanded their distribution of Black Hearted IPA this year after introducing it as a February release last year. And the hashtag #BIPAcomeback has been popping up in my social feeds thanks to several recent U.K. Black IPAs from the likes of Siren and Elusive, Northern Monk, and Cloudwater’s more extravagant take on the style for their anniversary.
Locally, we’ve seen two revivals of the style so far. Neighbors on Brooklyn’s President Street, Finback and Strong Rope collaborated on a Black IPA released on Presidents Day called Word on the Street. Perhaps as a bit of nostalgia washed over them while opening their second brewery in Brooklyn, Other Half brought back one of their original beers from their 2014 lineup, Doug, as one of the first batches brewed at their Domino Park location. Cans of Doug, which released last Saturday, were snapped up quick.
I’m not going to declare it back yet, but it’s been nice to get a taste of a style I’ve barely touched in five or six years. Black IPA was one of those “Flavor of the Week” beer styles that everyone drank, wrote about, and got tired of. With these three paragraphs, I’ve now completed two of those three steps.
TALEA opens Williamsburg location for pickup
TALEA Beer Co. is inching closer to cutting the ribbon on their new brewery taproom in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, opening for the first time this past weekend for to-go beer. Founders LeAnn Darland and Tara Hankinson started TALEA in 2019 with intentions to build out a brick-and-mortar brewery with a friendly, inviting taproom, and that vision is coming to life in a bright corner space at Richardson and Leonard St. Since the brand launched, the beers have brewed at Torch & Crown’s facility in The Bronx for distribution across the city. The brewhouse was fired up this month to push out the first house-brewed offerings in the taproom once open next month.
The space will feature a 2,400-square foot taproom with a 30-foot bar, a separate retail and coffee shop space, and outdoor seating just in time for spring. They’re hiring for taproom positions now. Until they open for on-site drinking, the space is open for to-go beer Monday through Friday 3-8pm, Saturday Noon-8pm, and Sunday Noon-6pm. You can also order in advance for pickup or opt for local delivery if you’re in the area.
Curtain Up Beer project nears 60 breweries nationwide
The Happy Hour Guys and Gun Hill Brewing Company’s Curtain Up Beer has now brought nearly 60 other breweries along on their journey to raise money for the arts community in wake of the pandemic. Yes, it’s another pandemic charity beer, but with a purpose near and dear to New York: protecting the arts community. The Happy Hour Guys, Jimmy Ludwig and Mark Aldrich, are both Broadway actors themselves, and many of their peers have been out of work for nearly a year as a result of Covid-19. They paired up with Bronx-based Gun Hill, who previously worked with them on the first beer in their charitable Broadway Brews Project, to develop a single beer recipe for any brewery to brew with the pledge that they’ll donate to The Actors Fund and a local arts organization in need of support.
The beer itself is a Hazy IPA with Citra hops, dry-hopped with Citra, Centennial, Azacca, and Amarillo hops. Among the breweries in New York City joining Gun Hill in the effort are Big Alice Brewing and Flagship Brewery, who’ve already dropped their versions of the beer. 18th Ward, Circa, Endless Life, Five Boroughs, Keg & Lantern, Rockaway, and Sixpoint are all on board, too. Keep an eye out for those releases later this winter and in the spring.
If you’re looking to get your hands on several of these at once, the official kickoff event for the beer, the Drink Like a Girl X Curtain Up Backyard Brewfest, is one easy way to do it. The virtual beer fest will take place on March 27th and includes 15 cans of the beer along with other goodies that you can pick up at various spots across New York State the prior week, including in Queens at Big aLICe Brewing. Tickets start at $125, with proceeds going to support musicians and Port Chester’s Capitol Theatre.
A Venue Eulogy: Bailey’s Taproom
News hit earlier this month that one of my favorite beer bars in the U.S. was one of the many, many victims of the pandemic. Bailey’s Taproom in Portland, Oregon announced it was closing permanently, to my dismay. It was always my first stop off the plane from PDX, and every visit would yield tips on new breweries to check out on the ensuing days in the region. Bailey’s Taproom was practically a living, breathing guide to the Pacific Northwest’s beer scene, and its tap list was often how I curated my itinerary for the rest of my visit to Portland (in one case, I was convinced on staff’s recommendation to take the train to Eugene for a brewery day trip). Breweries were put on the map because of this place. Bailey’s uniquely had two important features of traditional British pubs that the vast majority of American bars lack: a half-pint option and a walk-up bar for ordering. It was also the first place I saw an electronic beer menu in action, years before Untappd had rolled out their own offering that I’ve seen at countless breweries and bars since. Bailey’s Taproom was legendary for good reason — it was innovative, welcoming, and celebrated local beer, something every great American beer bar does.
There will still be a piece of Bailey’s in my heart on every trip to Portland — founder Geoff Phillips also co-founded the fantastic Level Beer, which has become my usual last stop before the airport on my way out of Portland (it’s just a 10-minute drive from PDX). They’re not going anywhere — in fact, they opened a satellite taproom in Southwest Portland last year.
Brewery Tracker
Total brewery count: 2,102
New breweries in 2021: 28
Breweries visited in Nevada: 18 (Most recent: Bad Beat Brewing, Henderson, March 2020)
Breweries visited in Montana: 20 (Most recent: Sacred Waters Brewing Co., Kalispell, May 2019)
Brewery Visit of the Week
Brewery #1910, Big Dog’s Brewing Co., Las Vegas, Nevada (Visited 1-Mar-2020)
Visiting Las Vegas was never a priority for me. I’m not much of a gambler, my dietary needs don’t leave much for me to appreciate as a foodie, and vast sprawl in desert landscapes feels bleak and unsustainable. But because I’m willing to give any place a shot, I begrudgingly booked a trip to Vegas with two sweeteners: it would be warmer there than in New York in mid-winter, and there was a very good beer festival that weekend. In researching breweries before the trip, I realized something quickly: there were no less than six breweries in town that, because they are located inside casinos, are open 24/7. Together with a friend who traveled up from Los Angeles, we decided to embark on something virtually unthinkable in any other city in the world: a midnight brewery crawl.
The last stop on that crawl, at about two o’clock in the morning, was Big Dog’s Brewing Co., located inside Big Dog’s Draft House, an all-night joint about a twenty-minute drive off the Strip. At first glance, Big Dog’s gave off some sketchy vibes: it was surrounded by car repair shops and fast-food joints, there was a giant plaster dog out front, and you had to be buzzed into the bar by the bartender overnight. Once inside, it still wasn’t exactly a palace, but it was doing brisk business for such a late hour, with a steady stream of people at the bar watching sports highlights and playing video poker over wings and beers.
The most noticeable thing about Big Dog’s was that at two in the morning, the staff was far more knowledgeable about their beers than I’d expect. I didn’t anticipate recommendations based on my style preferences at a place and time like this. But looks can be deceiving, and the beers were equally as surprising — the Red Hydrant Brown Ale had a lovely malty sweetness and seemed deserving of its 2015 GABF gold medal, and the West-Coast style Underbite IPA was a good note to end this late-night brewery crawl on, with a hoppy punch and a hefty 8.7% ABV.
Geopolitico-Nerdity of the Week
While you can drink a beer at a brewery at 2am in Nevada, you decidedly can’t in the state of Montana. Some of the most draconian laws for brewery taprooms are in Big Sky Country. Thanks mostly to a powerful restaurant and bar lobby that has blocked proposals to loosen on-premise restrictions for years, Montana brewers can’t serve beer past 8 p.m. That’s before sunset in most of the state during the summer, but a modest proposal to extend closing time to 10 p.m. was voted down in House committee by a 16-3 vote in 2019. Breweries often face the biggest regulatory hurdles in states that place an artificial cap on the number of liquor licenses available (New Jersey breweries face food and event restrictions for the same reason). Since breweries don’t need those costly licenses to operate a taproom, bar and restaurant owners feel they have an unfair advantage. In 2017, Montana moved to a highest-price bidding system for new licenses — giving further fuel to bar owners’ ire that breweries don’t shovel out the money for a liquor license. A beer-only license in Bozeman had a minimum bid of $220,000 last fall. In spite of these challenges, Montana boasts an impressive beer scene and ranks third in breweries per capita according to the Brewers Association’s 2019 statistics.
Beer of the Week
Cosmic Arena
Wild East Brewing Co. (Brooklyn, NY)
Barrel-Aged Saison
5.9% ABV
While I think their beers have been excellent from the get-go, Wild East is really coming into its own just over a year into its operation. Now that beers like this delightful Cosmic Arena have had time to sit on wood for a few months, only now are we truly able to appreciate the breadth of the capabilities of the brewing staff here. Aged in red and white wine barrels for nine months, this beer’s nose screams wine grapes and light funk. There’s a pleasant twinge of tartness up front, then an appley sweetness, then a dry Sauvignon Blanc-like finish. I enjoyed this beer, but it got an assist from the weather last weekend, when I basked in the glory of a 37°F/3°C bluebird day that felt warm relative to the rest of this cold, snowy month. Even still, Cosmic Arena was a day-brightener on its own.
Long Read of the Week
As Black History Month draws to a close, this piece on Eater from James Bennett II is an enlightening read about the erasure of American brewing’s own Black history. It details how slavery, temperance, segregation, and marketing all played a role in shaping Black attitudes toward beer today. The article includes appearances from the owners of Harlem Hops and Christopher Gandsy of Daleview Biscuits and Beer in Brooklyn.
One more thing
In case you ever wondered the extent to which my traveling for beer is a part of my life, here’s a sign: non-existent breweries appear in my dreams. Last weekend, I dreamed I visited Germany and spent part of a late Sunday afternoon at a brewpub that does not exist, but appears to be an amalgamation of foreign brewpubs that I have visited. Anyway, if you find yourself in my dreams, please be sure to visit Brews II Brews, a homey, carpeted spot with a British pub-like feel run by an American ex-pat from Syracuse. It’s hard to find — it’s tucked into the rear of a shopping mall in a German-French border town and was only open from 5-8pm on Sunday. Their white stout brewed with coffee is quite tasty, although I’m a little disappointed that my subconscious is not familiar with Reinheitsgebot.
Safe travels and good beer,
Chris O’Leary
Bailey's sounded great its hard to hear all these places closing. Aces and Ales is an excellent bar in Vegas. I stopped by TALEA Saturday looking forward to the opening in March, got to say hi to the head brewer too.
Didn’t know about that Curtain Up brewfest package - very cool!