Round the World and Back Again
Two new beer spots in Manhattan and another visit to a desolate industrial park
I’m back from a ten-day trip to Asia and the jet lag has been as brutal as expected. Like, falling asleep on your couch at 5:30pm brutal. Like, waking up and not knowing where you are or what day it is brutal. I’m really hoping the jet lag will wear off by the weekend, since there’s a lot going on beer-wise in New York over the weekend (refer to the beer events below).
Since the last time I sent this newsletter, I’ve visited two breweries in two different countries. My visit to Yardley Brothers Craft Brewery in Hong Kong was in the form of a tour — a tour where the spiel about beer-making was the same as anywhere else in the world, but I still get some perspective on the background of the brewery, their approach, and the vast variety of beers from an outfit that boasts HK’s only mixed-fermentation program. The conversations were enlightening, the beer was delicious, and I stuck around longer than I probably should’ve. The next day, my visit to Ugly Half Beer in Taipei was vastly different, as I arrived at their curb to a massive block party and open brewery day to celebrate their fifth anniversary. The vibes were amazing, with music, dancing, some outstanding food vendors, and beers that wouldn’t seem out of place in any well-regarded American brewery. More on that later, now onto the news…
Two new beer openings in Manhattan
Who says beer is dead? Two new venues in Manhattan have opened this month to prove otherwise, and they’re ready to serve you beer.
First up is New York Beer Dispensary, a new beer bar and bottle shop that’s opened on 14th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues. The spot boasts 20 tap lines that include plenty of local and high-profile breweries, like Finback, Evil Twin, Trillium, and Fidens, plus a slew of bottles and cans for drink-in and takeaway. The bar features $2 off drafts at happy hour (weekdays noon to 6pm), weekly beer tastings, and wine and ciders for the beer-averse. New York Beer Dispensary is located at 223 West 14th Street and is open daily from noon until midnight Sunday through Wednesday, and until 1am Thursday through Sunday.
Next is Brooklyn-based TALEA Beer Co.’s third location in Manhattan and fifth overall, this time mere steps from Penn Station and Madison Square Garden at Penn 11, on 32nd Street between 6th and 7th Avenues. If you’ve been to the brewery’s other taprooms, you know what to expect: a bright, colorful, cheerful environment, plenty of IPAs and sours on tap, a range of non-beer and non-alcoholic beverages, and some snack options. The space is a bit more utilitarian than their other locations, but with a location like this, it’s less a place to spend a ton of time and more a place to grab a drink before catching the train or heading into the Garden for a game or concert. TALEA Penn District is located at 160 West 32nd Street and is open daily from 3 to 9pm.
Beer Events of Note This Week
Manhattan: City Swiggers 13th Anniversary, Thursday 11/14 all evening, free entry
Manhattan: Foam Brewers Tap Takeover at Greats of Craft, Thursday 11/14 from 6pm, free entry
Brooklyn: Wild East 4th Grandiversary, all weekend, free entry
Brooklyn: Mi Luna La Primera Beer Release at Gold Star Beer Counter, Friday 11/15 from 8 to 11:30pm, tickets $150
Brooklyn: Vintage KCBC Night at Covenhoven, Friday 11/15 from 6pm, free entry
Brooklyn: Wild East 4th Grandiversary VIP Tour and Tasting, Saturday 11/16 from 12:30 to 2pm, tickets $45
Brooklyn: Gowanus Makers Market and Bar Hop at Finback, Wild East, Strong Rope, and Threes, Sunday from 1-6pm, free entry
Brewery Tracker
Total brewery count:Â 3,556
Total breweries visited in 2024:Â 272
Total breweries visited in Taiwan: 1
Brewery Visit of the Week
Brewery #3556, Ugly Half Beer, New Taipei City, Taiwan (Visited 9-Nov-2024)
It’s a Saturday and I’m walking through a desolate industrial park with businesses all shuttered for the weekend. In the distance, I hear the din of music and the sound of a crowd of people congregating. I turn a corner and see tents and people at the far end of the street that’s blocked off, with a line of food vendors and a stage with a DJ booth set up in front of an industrial building that houses a brewery. Banners are hung announcing the brewery’s fifth anniversary. Inside the production space, brewery staff are pouring cups of hazy IPA from jockey boxes.
This could be an average Saturday for me anywhere in the world. But last Saturday, I was in Taiwan. And while the experience itself was far from novel, the beer at Ugly Half was excellent. I shouldn’t be surprised — head brewer Mark Tung came to Ugly Half from another well-respected brewery I’ve visited — DEYA Brewing in Cheltenham, England. The brewery’s Guava Gose is easily the star of the show, with a lovely tartness and refreshing sweetness. The Triple IPA brewed for this fifth anniversary party was bursting with citrus flavor and aroma and its potent 9% ABV was well-hidden. The Carrot Cake Sour, a part of the brewery’s R&D series, had some lovely vanilla and cinnamon notes and very much evoked the dessert.
Ugly Half really wowed me, and their upstairs taproom, overlooking their production space, seemed like it would be a nice place to slip away for a beer on a more quiet evening. Mark was a gracious host who took time to chat beer with me even while running around making sure the party was running smoothly. I’ve said before that the beer world is flat, and even if everyone around me was speaking Mandarin, I still felt at home at Ugly Half last Saturday.
The Doom and Gloom Tracker
At least 4 breweries I’ve visited closed or announced their closure this week:
Brewery #1809, Boundary Bay Brewery & Bistro, Bellingham, Washington (Visited 29-Dec-2019)
Brewery #1960, Great Adirondack Brewing Company, Lake Placid, New York (Visited 22-Jul-2020)
Brewery #3143, Second Profession Brewing, Portland, Oregon (Visited 31-Jul-2023)
Brewery #3351, Ashton Brewing, Middlesex, New Jersey (Visited 10-Mar-2024)
The Weekly Reader
Is the beer bubble bursting Upstate? [Gino Fanelli, CITY Magazine]
A wine lovers’ guide to wild and blended beer [Katie Mather, The Gulp]
A profile of one my favorite Colorado breweries [Gabe Toth, Pellicle]
On pairing beer and chocolate [David Nilsen and Zadkiela Rios, Bean to Barstool]
One Last Thing
I’ve been off ex-Twitter for well over a year now, and it’s unfortunate that it took an election to finally push people over the platform that I’ve been using all that time: Bluesky. Anyway, if you want to, you can follow me there, and also, if you happen to run a brewery, consider starting an account for your business! It would be really nice to see more beer content on the platform.
Cheers,
Chris
I find myself in the City tonight, and my hotel is a couple blocks from Greats of Craft. I'm not really familiar with Foam Brewers -- are you a fan?