I’m back from Texas! That was an… experience.
Well, let me be fair not to paint Texas in broad strokes. In my three days in San Antonio, the beer was wonderful, the scenery, history, and architecture were fantastic, and the cuisine was top-notch. Mask compliance was up above 90% at every single place I went. I was really impressed. Maybe everything we’ve heard about Texas was overblown!
Then I flew to Dallas on Friday night. I stepped into a brewery and thought I was taking crazy pills. I looked around and not a single person in the place was wearing a mask. Not a customer at the jam-packed bar. Not a hurried employee in my line of sight working frantically to fill happy-hour orders. And this wasn’t some scuzzy-looking brewery taproom with country music and chauvinist beer names. No, this was a hoity-toity brewery with a marble bar top near a hipster neighborhood in Dallas.
I thought I was prepared for that post-vaccination, back-to-normal life, but wow, that was really some way to be thrown back into things. I’m going to take a few steps back and dip my toe in the water by sitting at a bar in New York City for the first time since last March this weekend. Thankfully, this Friday night, I can be assured two complete strangers won’t be sitting two feet away from me talking about how they’re both unvaccinated (which really only makes me nervous for them).
An end in sight for NYC’s bars, but questions remain
With Governor Cuomo’s announcement last week that restrictions would soon be lifted at restaurants and bars in New York City, things are looking up for struggling businesses that have been faced with changing restrictions for nearly fourteen months. On Monday, bar seating was permitted in New York City for the first time since 8pm on March 16th, 2020. This coming Friday, indoor capacity will increase from 50% to 75%, the highest capacity permitted at venues since 5pm on March 13th, 2020. On Monday, May 17th, outdoor areas can be open past midnight. Earlier this week, the governor announced all capacity restrictions would be lifted effective on Wednesday, May 19th. And on May 31st, restaurants and bars can return to their normal stipulated closing times on their licenses in indoor spaces.
But much like other changes of Covid-era restrictions announced on the governor’s whim, venues are still wondering what other rules set forth by the state will be voided and what will remain with these new guidelines. The State Liquor Authority’s guidance has been vague, apart from these top-line changes. Many other questions remain, including whether customers can order from a bar, whether customers must be seated while drinking, and whether parties larger than ten can be seated at a table. Additionally, the while the SLA has continued to extend rules — which as of last night were still set expire today — permitting the delivery of beer from breweries and takeaway alcohol from bars and restaurants, it’s not clear if there is a path to implementing these policies permanently.
At least one thing is clear: streetside dining areas will not be open past midnight in New York City, even after May 17th. The city made clear that any Open Streets Program space must close at midnight — likely a relief for neighbors who feared 4am outdoor drinking on city streets.
Meanwhile, neighboring states are lifting their restrictions as well. Connecticut and New Jersey’s loosening of restrictions on restaurant capacity aligns with New York, ending on May 19th. And Pennsylvania and Massachusetts plan on lifting most restrictions on May 31st.
Your Early May Beer News Roundup
There are always small developments on the NYC beer scene, so I’m going to fire them at you in little bursts to satisfy those of you with short attention spans. Ready? Let’s go:
Alewife Brewing has released its first cans of beers brewed at its brewery and taproom in Sunnyside, Queens. The first two cans dropped yesterday: Green Queen, a DIPA with Azacca, Idaho 7, and Motueka hops, and Narrative on Reality, a NEIPA with Cascade, Citra, and Loral hops. Four-packs are available at the taproom and via online delivery, pickup, and shipping.
For those on the Upper West Side who were left beer shop-less after Beer Shop closed in late 2019, Craft+Carry has opened its sixth location in the city at Amsterdam Avenue between 82nd and 83rd Streets.
With Governors Island welcoming visitors for the season, Threes Brewing has opened their shipping container bar on Saturdays from noon to 6pm on Liggett Terrace. And Taco Vista, from the folks at ABC Beer Co., is open daily for beers and tacos on Soissons Landing. A reminder that like last season, ferry tickets must be purchased in advance.
Other Half Brewing is celebrating Citra Week from May 5th through 8th, featuring special can drops through the weekend, and 12 beers all brewed with Citra hops on tap at all of their taprooms on Saturday.
It’s Lager Appreciation Month at Kings County Brewers Collective! They’ll be celebrating crispy bois all month long with tons of lagers on tap, special merch, a package of lagers for pickup and shipping called their Sack o’ Suds, and a good cause: a portion of all lager sales throughout May will go to Bushwick Ayuda Mutua.
Finback Brewery turns seven this week, and they’re celebrating with the release of two anniversary beers: 7-Year Anniversary Triple IPA, a 10.1% knockout dry hopped with Belma, Bru-1, Bru-1 Lupomax, Citra, Citra Lupomax, and Strata, and 7-Year Anniversary Imperial Stout, an 11.3% boozer with Cacao Nibs and Cocoa Pebbles. They’ll be available at both their breweries on Saturday — in Glendale, Queens and Gowanus, Brooklyn.
Finally, speaking of anniversaries, Flagship Brewing Co. also turns seven this month as well — save the date for their indoor and outdoor celebration at their brewery on Staten Island on Saturday, May 15th starting at 2pm. They’ll be taking over their parking lot for live music, beer, and food all afternoon.
New Jersey offers free beer for vaccines
With vaccine adoption now growing at a slower pace, our neighbors in New Jersey have found a unique way to incentivize vaccinations and promote the state’s craft beer industry. On Monday, Governor Phil Murphy announced the state’s “Shot and a Beer” program. Any New Jerseyan of legal drinking age who receives the first dose of their vaccine in May can bring their vaccination card to one of thirteen breweries in the state to get a free beer. The program was spearheaded by an unlikely duo: the state’s Department of Health and the Brewers Guild of New Jersey.
Brewery Tracker
Total brewery count: 2,175
New breweries in 2021: 101
Breweries visited in Texas: 70
Brewery Visit of the Week
Brewery #2156, Künstler Brewing, San Antonio, Texas (Visited 27-Apr-2021)
Every city with any semblance of a beer scene tends to have one brewery where all the people that work at all the other breweries in town hang out. Ask your bartender at each taproom where they drink beer when they’re not working, and you’ll start to figure out which brewery that is. In San Antonio, without a doubt, it’s Künstler Brewing in the city’s Southtown neighborhood. Every day in San Antonio, I had at least two people tell me to visit Künstler or ask me if I had been yet. I sensed it on the first day, so I made it my last stop of the night. Opened in 2017 by German native and brewer Vera Deckard with her husband Brent, the brewery has a loyal following in San Antonio and a GABF silver medal under its belt.
Künstler’s taproom has delicious food, outstanding beer, a lot of character, and a touch of German flavor. I started with a wonderfully traditional Maibock (called Not Yours) and a pretzel with obatzda and was immediately charmed by the place. My bartender was well-versed in what they pour and what I wanted, and served me their Texas Wildflower Pale Ale (pictured above) next, an easy-drinking, slightly sweet and nicely tropical pale. I’m only disappointed that I missed out on their Hawaiian Fog, their popular mai-tai inspired IPA around which they built a beer event held this past weekend with three other variants of IPA centered around the same theme: a NEIPA called Yanqui Fog, a West Coast IPA called Kali Fog, and a fruited IPA called Pineapple Fog. I’ll have to track those down on another visit to this beautiful city.
It was nice to be able to answer “yes” on my ensuing days in San Antonio when asked if I had visited Künstler. And I always answered with a smile.
Transportation Nerdity of the Week
As someone who likes to hop from brewery to brewery, I appreciate the convenience of public transportation, which I used several times last week in Texas. Yes, believe it or not, there’s a pretty extensive bus system in San Antonio, a light rail system in Dallas that got me to a pair of breweries, and a commuter rail line between Dallas and Fort Worth that shuttled me between the two cities on more than one occasion. But Arlington, Texas, a city of nearly 400,000 people between Dallas and Fort Worth that the Texas Rangers call home, doesn’t have a train or a light rail or even a bus. It is the largest city in the United States without public transit. No rideshares or taxis available when you need them on a Saturday night? You could walk, but then you’d be faced with an incredibly pedestrian-unfriendly environment with sidewalks that end randomly and muddy roadside tracks along six-lane roads where SUVs are driving in excess of sixty miles per hour just five feet away. Not that I experienced this first hand or anything or still have mud stains on my shoes to prove it.
Beer of the Week
Puro San Antonio
Black Laboratory Brewing (San Antonio, Texas)
Blonde Ale with Pickle Juice, Cherry Kool-Aid, and Chamoy
4.5% ABV
I swear, this section of the newsletter will not become a dumping ground for all the weird beers I’ve had. But I do love a good beer with a local connection, and Puro San Antonio couldn’t get more San Antonio if it tried. This beer, inspired by the city’s annual Fiesta celebration, is inspired by a unique treat: Piccadilly Raspa. That’s a popular sno-cone with Kool-Aid, pickles, and chamoy that’s widely available in South Texas. I didn’t get to try the real thing while I was in San Antonio, but I was convinced by the staff to try this while visiting Black Laboratory. It was not as bad as I expected. In fact, once I was a few sips in, I really enjoyed the rollercoaster of sweet, salty, and sour flavors in the beer. I don’t think anyone could get away with making this beer anywhere outside this region, nor should they probably try, but I was really glad I got to give this truly unique beer a go.
Long Read of the Week
Lily Waite’s piece in Good Beer Hunting last week came down just after I published this newsletter, and I almost wanted to publish a follow-up just to include it. In it, Lily documents the challenges craft beer is facing in 2021: a culture of exclusion and bad behavior, poor labor practices, and problems with quality control. Lily doesn’t make this call in her piece, but read this and you might think it’s time for drinkers to put pressure on the industry to do better, because it’s becoming increasingly apparent most breweries won’t do it themselves.
One More Thing
I’d be remiss this week if I didn’t acknowledge the passing of Tommy Keegan, founder and namesake of Keegan Ales in Kingston and a pioneer of craft beer in New York State. While I only met Tommy on a handful of occasions, I knew him as someone who was deeply dedicated to his craft, the beer industry, and his community at large through countless charitable endeavors. I’ll be raising a glass to him next time I pass through Kingston to celebrate all that he did to put craft beer on the New York map, most likely with a Mother’s Milk in hand.
Happy drinking,
Chris