My Neat Hobby
Brooklyn Brewery's new space and a nerdy New Hampshire brewery in a house
I’m delving back into the world of non-alcoholic beer this week for medical reasons (don’t worry, I’ll be fine and back to tasting beer in a few days), and it was a nice opportunity to step back and realize just how widely available N/A beer is these days at the bars in my neighborhood. Admittedly, I live in the hip, younger part of Brooklyn where nobody opens a tab and someone always seems to be ordering a soda or Red Bull sans liquor. But it’s clear the social stigma has clearly been stripped away from this segment of beer (hey, thanks, Gen Zers!), and my usual spots are far more likely to offer multiple N/A beer options than they were when I did a Dry January a few years ago, knowing that drinkers of non-alcoholic beer crave variety as much as boozy beer drinkers do.
The best of my locals has four N/A options: Heineken 0.0, Athletic Upside Dawn Golden Ale, Athletic Run Wild IPA, and the dark horse: Guinness 0. Not just a dark horse for its shade, but for its shocking resemblance to the already-sessionable original. Every time I’ve had a Guinness 0, I’ve had to pinch myself that it’s not the real thing. It’s also a slow-sipper, which allows you the pass the time over beers with a friend. The Athletic Run Wild is also passable, but I’m still trying to track down Sam Adams Just The Haze or something comparable to it around my neighborhood, since I’ve found heavily-hopped beers with a touch of body to be the second most passable style when replicated in N/A form.
Anyway, I’ll be on the hunt for more N/A beer in New York City this weekend while everyone else is out enjoying the real thing at the long list of beer events listed below. I’ll be spending time planning the trip to my 4,000th brewery (more on that soon) over a drinkable N/A beer. What a time to be alive!
More Details Emerge About Brooklyn Brewery’s Upcoming Move
Brooklyn Brewery is closer than ever to their big move four blocks away, and as it approaches, we’re learning more about when it’ll open, who will occupy the kitchen, and what kind of amenities its new address, 1 Wythe Avenue, will offer. The long-awaited move has been years in the making, and it’ll be a major upgrade, with four times the space of its previous location, more seating across multiple levels, a full kitchen, and improved brewing capabilities.
The space itself will occupy three floors at the address, including a main hall on the ground floor featuring the taproom’s main bar and retail shop, and a fourth-story terrace bar featuring a leafy outdoor space and views across Brooklyn. There will be space for private gatherings and special events across all levels.
The kitchen, developed with Fornino founder Michael Ayoub, will add a dedicated food element to Brooklyn’s taproom for the first time. The menu will consist of pizzas and other foods specifically matched to pair with Brooklyn beers. A dedicated demo kitchen will be included to broaden “food forward experiences,” something that’s been a cornerstone of Brewmaster Garrett Oliver’s approach to beer for a generation.
The new brewery will expand Brooklyn’s capacity for small-batch and experimental beers, remaining the global hub for research and development for the brewery. With the opening of the new space, brewery tours will return, and tastings and other beer events will be in the cards as well. And beer won’t be the only beverage on offering -- wine and cocktails will be on the menu too.
The brewery announced yesterday that they’ll have a soft opening in late summer, with a grand opening celebration coming in the fall.
Upcoming Beer Events of Note
Brooklyn: One Year Anniversary at Doppelganger, Thursday 5/14 through Saturday 5/16, free entry
Long Island: DAS BOCK! New York's Original Lager Festival at Plattduetsche Park, Saturday 5/16 from noon-5pm, tickets start at $55
Westchester: 20th Anniversary Party at Captain Lawrence Brewing Company, Saturday 5/16 from 1-6pm, free entry and beer pass available for $20
Staten Island: 12th Anniversary Party at Flagship Brewery, Saturday 5/16 at 2pm, free entry, pay as you go
Brooklyn: Half Time Presents Drastic Measures at Queue Beer, Saturday 5/16 from noon-11pm, free entry, pay as you go
Brooklyn: 13 Year Anniversary at Torst, Sunday 5/17 from open to close, free entry
Governors Island: Threes Shapeless Days Launch Party at Threes Brewing Governors Island, Monday, 5/25 from 11am-6pm, free with RSVP
Manhattan: Foam Brewers Some Things Last a Long Time 10th Anniversary Tour at Blind Tiger Ale House, Wednesday 5/27 at 5pm, free entry
Long Island: South Shore Craft Brewery Beer Fest, Saturday 6/6 from 1-5pm, tickets start at $60
Bronx: Brew at the Zoo at Bronx Zoo, Friday 6/12 from 6-11pm, tickets start at $94.99
Manhattan: Curds & Hops Cheese & Beer Tasting at Murray’s Cheese, Friday 6/19 from 6:30-8pm, tickets $110
Brooklyn: Green City at Other Half Brewing Gowanus, Saturday 6/20 from noon-4pm, tickets start at $85
Brewery Tracker
Total brewery count: 3,997
Total breweries visited in 2026: 74
Total breweries visited in New Hampshire: 18
Brewery Visit of the Week
Brewery #3995, Candia Road Brewing Company, Manchester, New Hampshire (Visited 10-May-2026)
There was a brewery I visited for the first time last week that upon walking in, I immediately knew I was going to have a good time. The brewery was in an old house, which in my experience a sign of quirkiness that can exhibit itself in both positive and negative ways. They were all positive here once I walked in: Lukr taps, along with a framed certification of a brewer’s completion of a course in Czechia, a Grodziskie on tap, a Pints and Panels sticker on the brewery door, a coozie from Permanent Hangover that read “Ur Mom Drinks Old IPAs,” and a tea towel draped over an old stereo that read “Thank You, Craft Breweries, for making Beer Drinking seem like a neat Hobby” (the capitalization makes it seem as deranged as it looks). Yes, this was a beer nerd’s brewery.
So it wasn’t surprising what Candia Road offered: a cozy, friendly experience and plenty of great beer served expertly in proper glassware. Their Melaten Kolsch was served in a proper Stange, crisp, easy-drinking, and perfectly suited to pair with their food menu. The Brennenator, a Rauchenmaibock brewed in collaboration with Maine’s Tributary Brewing, was just kissed with smoke malt — not overpowering the biscuity Helles Lager character that is at its core. And the Creature of Habit, a 4.2% ABV Hoppy Pale Lager, struck just the right chords with me. This little spot is churning out some great liquid, and while its humble exterior on a suburban stroad may seem off-putting, looks can be deceiving.
The Doom and Gloom Tracker
At least 6 breweries I’ve visited closed or announced their closure in the past two weeks:
Brewery #48, Wasatch Brewpub, Park City, Utah [Visited 27-Feb-2010]
Brewery #1031, Proclamation Ale Company, Warwick, Rhode Island [Visited 24-Dec-2017]
Brewery #3385, Ghost River Brewing Co. on Beale, Memphis, Tennessee [Visited 29-Mar-2024]
Brewery #3612, Independence Brewing Co., Austin, Texas [Visited 27-Dec-2024]
Brewery #3975, Wico Street Beer Co., Baltimore, Maryland [Visited 25-Apr-2026]
Brewery #3997, From The Barrel Brewing Company, Derry, New Hampshire [Visited 10-May-2026]
The Weekly Reader
A brief guide to the beverage producers of the Utica and Rome areas [Will Phillips, Daily Sentinel]
On owning a beer store in 2026 [Will Cleveland, Cleveland Prost]
What the Brewers Association doesn’t say about the state of beer (but should) [Jeff Alworth, Beervana]
A brewery is using ambient CO2 to carbonate beer [Stephen Bradley, VinePair]
One Last Thing
Finally, a belated farewell to one of the breweries in the Doom and Gloom Tracker this week: Proclamation Ale Company suddenly closed their doors after twelve years in business in Rhode Island. As a native of Rhode Island, I was delighted when they opened their doors and became a darling of the Ocean State’s beer scene. They eventually moved to Warwick, not far from where I grew up, and blossomed into a beloved beer community cornerstone. Behind the scenes, the road was far more bumpy: the brewery’s founding brewer suddenly passed away in 2020 and legal wrangling with an investor stunted their growth in their final years. It’s a sad story for a spot that was set up to be wildly successful and inspired many other breweries that opened in recent years in the state. Their sudden announcement of closing was sent to me by friends far and wide who knew how important they were to Rhode Island beer, and my heart goes out to everyone impacted by Proclamation’s closure.
Cheers,
Chris