While the Mets are in the midst of an utterly miserable early-season slide, the situation on the field leaves about as much to be desired as the beer situation at Citi Field. While for the past several years, there were dedicated kiosks to local craft beer at the stadium, the beer selection has devolved to be a mile wide and an inch deep — more availability across the stadium, but far fewer selections, and even fewer local ones.
Citi Field’s beer selection is largely dominated by Mets major sponsor MillerCoors, with the macro beers, Blue Moon original and Moon Haze, and the Vizzy and Topo Chico-branded seltzers all regularly available throughout the stadium. Boston Beer has a dominant presence this year, with both Dogfish Head (60 Minute IPA and SeaQuench) and Coney Island (Merman IPA, Mermaid Pilsner, and Beach Beer) widely available, but seemingly the only Sam Adams-branded product on offer is their N/A IPA, Just the Haze. Montauk Brewing, which got a big boost when they were acquired by cannabis company Tilray last year, is widely available, offering the Wave Chaser IPA and Summer Ale. Brooklyn Brewery, which has been available in fits and starts at Citi Field since its inception, has Lager, Summer Ale, Pulp Art IPA, and Pilsner this season — though the Pilsner was a hard find, spotted only on draft at Pig Beach behind section 135. Sloop Juice Bomb is one of the few returning craft beers this year, and there’s one new entrant: Glen Cove-based Garvies Point Brewing, who’s got cans of their Crescent Kolsch.
The big reason for the dearth of indie craft options this year: 16-ounce cans are gone from the stadium. It appears that Aramark, Citi Field’s concessionaire, required that any local or craft beer be sold in a 19.2-ounce can. Putting aside that 19.2 ounces is more IPA than I really want to drink, it’s an unreasonable ask for small breweries that would not typically have both the supply of cans and capability to can in that format. In past years, the Empire State Craft stands would exclusively offer 16-ounce cans at a fixed price point. And despite the average length of games being notably shorter this year, the beers are now sold to last longer (and, on hot days, probably get warm before you can finish them).
As far as pricing goes, not too much has changed. While the $14.25 16-ounce craft cans are gone, the handful of 19.2-ounce cans last season from Dogfish Head and Brooklyn were priced at $15.25 — the same price as this year. 24-ounce macro beers are still $15.50, and 24-ounce cans of Blue Moon and Leinenkugel Summer Shandy will continue to set you back $16.50.
Anyway, if you’re looking for the best beer selection on each level, here’s a quick and easy guide:
Field Level: Montauk Brewing stand behind section 128
Excelsior Level: the beer stand behind sections 301/302 on the Coca-Cola Porch
Promenade Level: the beer stand behind section 418 (where the Empire State Craft stand was in past seasons)
One notable omission from the beer list this year: EBBS Brewing Co., beer that’s quite literally brewed under Citi Field’s right field stands. Of course, you can still have their more reasonably-priced beers before and after the game at their taproom.
A slimmed-down Green City is on for 2023
Other Half is bringing back their popular Green City festival this year, but at a different, very familiar venue: their brewery in Gowanus. The event will take place Friday night and Saturday afternoon, June 23rd and 24th, and tickets are on sale now.
What you’ll get isn’t too different from last year’s fest, at a much larger event space in Gowanus. They’ll still have more than thirty breweries from across the country pouring beers at each session, like Rhode Island’s Long Live Beerworks, Tennessee’s Southern Grist, and California’s Green Cheek. They’ll still have food trucks (Panzon and Marcel's BBQ, to be precise). There’s still a theme to the fest — this time, it’s an homage to the 1979 film The Warriors. And you’ll still be among throngs of beer geeks in search of a brew that’ll knock their socks off.
One of the biggest pluses to this year’s event: a much more affordable ticket price. Tickets to each four-hour session are just $65, and a two-day pass is $120 — not much more than what a single session of the fest had cost in recent years. They’re on sale now through Eventbrite.
The Return of the Pop-Ups: NYC breweries open their seasonal spaces
Torch and Crown Union Square, the first seasonal pop-up for the Soho-based brewer, makes its official debut today. Through November, you’ll be able to find them on the north side of the square in the historic Union Square Pavilion, serving beers and food with ingredients sourced from the square’s Greenmarket. The open-air space is dog-friendly and will be open Tuesday-Friday from 3-10pm and Saturday and Sunday from noon-10pm.
Threes Brewing Governors Island officially opened for the summer last Saturday. The space at Liggett Terrace features a lineup of their beers, burgers from The Meat Hook, and lots of shady space to relax and sip. There’s usually an exclusive-to-Gov-Island beer, too. The space is open weekends from noon-6pm throughout the season.
And Other Half is back outside for the summer in Rockefeller Plaza — in addition to their permanent taproom on 48th Street, they’re serving outdoors this summer in their original pop-up location, on the South Promenade by the rink from 12-7pm Tuesdays through Sundays. Enjoy cold cans of local beer and gawk at the non-locals.
Brewery Tracker
Total brewery count: 3,091
Total breweries visited in 2023: 196
Total breweries visited in Iowa: 11
Brewery Visit of the Week
Brewery #110, Keg Creek Brewing, Glenwood, Iowa (Visited 17-Nov-2012)
This week is the annual Craft Brewers Conference, and it reminded me of a funny story from the conference when it was held in Denver back in 2014. I was at an opening event mingling with other beer writers when I ventured to a table to pick a can of beer out of an ice tub. I glanced at the badge of a man named Art standing next to me, and noticed the name of the brewery on it: Keg Creek Brewing.
“Oh, hey, I’ve been to your brewery,” I told him, excitedly. He turned and looked down at my badge, with my location, Brooklyn, on it, and looked up at me quizzically.
“Really,” he asked. I nodded. “What was a guy from Brooklyn doing in Glenwood, Iowa?” It was a fair question, but even a decade ago, seeking out breweries in odd places out of sheer curiosity was a hobby for me. In the case of Keg Creek, the place was barely a year old when I visited back then, and it was also the only brewery in nearby Iowa when visiting Omaha, Nebraska to attend Nebraska Brewing Company’s fifth anniversary (that requires its own explanation, but I’ll spare you).
Back then, Keg Creek was in a low-slung building on the edge of Glenwood (population 5,000), brewing on a small system that comfortably fit under the room’s drop ceilings. It was a small-town brewery with a decidedly small-town vibe — no pretention, no fancy touches — just beer in a purely utilitarian taproom. The brewery is in a newer, much bigger and shinier location south of Glenwood now. On a visit to Des Moines in 2019, I got to taste their beer again and it had evolved into something much more mature and well-known across the Hawkeye State.
Come to think of it, I probably Glenwood another visit, even if they’ll wonder why I’m there again.
Long Read of the Week
As I mentioned, brewers are gathering in Nashville, Tennessee (a very problematic location for an industry that’s trying to grow by promoting diversity and inclusivity) for the Craft Brewers Conference. At the conference, the Brewers Assocation’s chief economist Bart Watson delivered sobering (pun only somewhat intended) statistics on state of the industry, reiterating that the market is “maturing” and that brewers will need to “see some reinvention.” You can read this helpful wrap up of his remarks from Aaron Hand at the trade publication Packaging World.
One More Thing
There’s a lot of Other Half content in this week’s newsletter, so while I’m at it, here’s some more: Hoplark, my go-to non-alcoholic beer-related beverage, has partnered with OH on two collabs that are now available: The All Nectaron Everything One, a sparkling white tea with the hyped New Zealand hop, and Green Dots, a sparkling water with Citra, Riwaka, and Strata hops.
Meanwhile, for those looking to relive their glory days of the mid-10s, Other Half is reopening their original taproom on Centre Street this Saturday only, serving out of that delightful glorified broom closet all day starting at noon.
Cheers,
Chris
Prices have actually gone up across the stadium - tax is no longer included in the posted menu prices.