New NYC Brewery Alert!
Manhattan's newest brewpub, a Proletariat glow-up, and a lazy susan of beer
For those folks that spent last Sunday in New York City, was that not the most perfect day?! I spent every moment drinking beer outdoors and did not regret a second of it.
Which reminds me, what’s your favorite spot to drink a beer outdoors in New York City? I’ve got one nominee — the rooftop at Greenpoint Beer & Ale Co.:
What are your top spots for drinking beer in the city in the great outdoors? Would love to compile some suggestions for a future list. Leave a comment, and go out and enjoy the great weather we’re expecting this weekend!
Belse opens on Lower East Side, offering house-brewed beer and vegan food
Belse NYC, the city’s newest brewery, has opened on Manhattan’s Lower East Side in a location that might be familiar to beer fans already — the old Paulaner Brewpub on The Bowery. That brewpub closed unceremoniously in 2018, but for four years after, the German-engineered brewhouse that was custom-built for the location remained in the space unused — until a few weeks ago, when Belse brewer Ryan Gillette went to work on recipes for the vegan restaurant and brewery’s opening last week. Gillette, who is German-trained in Brewing, has a resume that includes stops at Hyde Park Brewing, New Belgium, and Trillium. The first beers on tap are a Pale Lager, Hefeweizen, Blonde Ale, and Blackberry Ale, all served directly from serving tanks that continue to sit behind the bar. Expect more beer variety soon, including a Session Pils and, yes, an IPA.
Those beers will pair with Belse’s menu full of shared plates (fries, hummus, Brussels sprouts), flatbreads (Margharita pizza, Sausage Fennel flatbread), and main dishes (a burger, a cauliflower steak) that are entirely vegan. The restaurant team has LA roots, known for Little Pine there, and the NYC Belse is actually their second outpost — the first is in Dallas, a city not exactly known for vegans.
Belse is the third brewery to open on the East Side of Manhattan in under two years: Bronx Brewery opened their East Village outpost in February, and That Witch Ales You opened their doors in Two Bridges in 2020.
Belse is located at 265 Bowery, just south of Houston Street, and is open Monday-Friday from 11am-1am and Saturday and Sunday from 10am-1am, with brunch served on weekends from 10am-3pm.
Proletariat reopens in new East Village location
After a brief hiatus as they moved out of the St. Marks Place location, East Village beer bar Proletariat has reopened just a few blocks away on East 7th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues. The new space, just a few doors down from McSorley’s Ale House, Burp Castle, and Standings, is a sizeable improvement over the old, narrow location, with far more seating, twenty draft lines, and a kitchen with a food menu with unique spins on English pub classics.
The refreshed Proletariat features two rooms: a bar that’s a tad bit wider than their old location, and a sitting room with plenty of tables and couches — complete with table service. The beer selection has grown but hasn’t strayed from their mantra of “Rare, New, and Unusual Beer” — 20 lines that include selections from Hudson Valley, De La Senne, KCBC, Hill Farmstead, and Coniston, to name a few. The well-curated bottle and can list lives on at the new location with plenty of large format and vintage stuff. The food menu is sneakily vegetarian, which you wouldn’t know at first glance with a Shephard’s Pie, Bubble and Squeak, and Cornish Pasties on offer.
The new Proletariat is at 21 East 7th Street and is open 5pm-Midnight Tuesday through Thursday, 5pm-1am Friday, and 4pm-1am Saturday. Reservations, remarkably, are accepted.
Brewery Tracker
Total brewery count: 2,705
Total breweries visited in 2022: 176
Total breweries visited in Montana: 20
Brewery Visit of the Week
Brewery #460, Bridger Brewing, Bozeman, Montana (Visited 17-Oct-2015)
“Last Call at 8pm.” That’s listed on web page with the hours of Bridger Brewing. You wouldn’t guess that last call was in an hour when my friend and I walked into the taproom on a Saturday at 7pm. It was packed with people watching baseball and college football, eating pizza, and throwing back pints of their beer – no more than three pints per person per day, mind you. It’s the law. So is the 8pm last call. Montana has some obscene restrictions on brewery taprooms. And despite the best efforts of their state regulators (and the bar and restaurant lobby, who aggressively pushes back against reform), Montana’s breweries manage to make their taprooms welcoming places. Bridger in Bozeman was a surefire standout on my very first trip to Montana back in 2015.
Bridger is more brewpub than brewery, with a kitchen that churns out some delicious pizza. The pizzas sell like hotcakes, which is not surprising, as Bridger is steps from the Montana State University campus (GO CATS!). The pizza seemed like the main attraction, with families seated across the taproom enjoying some large pies, but we were there for the beer — and with the clock inching ever closer to 8pm, we had no time to spare to try it. We opted for a sampler, served on a swiveling lazy susan-like device, and quickly found ourselves taking a liking to the Lee Metcalf Pale Ale, an American Pale Ale that celebrates a local wilderness area. The Ghost Town Coffee Stout perked us up after a long day trying to visit all the breweries we could between noon and 8pm — the only hours breweries can operate in Montana. Amazingly, both these beers are still brewed today, nearly seven years after our visit, which is a testament to how in-demand they are.
Another thing that hasn’t changed: the brewery still gives back with their weekly “Pints with a Purpose” night that gives a dollar from each pint sold to a local non-profit. It’s the friendly touches that can make a good brewery great, lousy beer laws be damned.
Social Post of the Week
Long Read of the Week
So remember when Pennsylvania-based brewery Tired Hands’ CEO stepped down from his position last year in light of accusations of sexism and racism suffered by employees there? Kate Bernot brings us the not-so-great news that he’s back as CEO — allegedly against the wishes of some employees, and in direct contradiction of the brewery’s own words when he stepped down last May. Not. Great.
One Last Thing
I’m headed to SAVOR this weekend, a festival that I haven’t attended since 2018 when I left the fest to be surrounded by rowdy Washington Capitals fans who just poured out of the arena to celebrate a Game 3 victory in the Stanley Cup Finals. This night, hopefully, will be tamer (though there’s a few Colorado breweries there that might be celebrating a hockey game on Friday). I’ll be sending folks over to Wild East Brewing’s table, since they’re who gets to represent NYC at this year’s fest. They won’t let us down.
Cheers,
Chris