Happy Thursday. I’m pretty thrilled to inform you that this week’s newsletter includes, for the first time since its inception in February, the announcement of several new beer venue openings in New York City. It’s been a long pandemic, and while we’re not out of the woods yet when it comes to the hospitality industry’s struggles since last March, we could use some sun-shiny brightness during what has been a very rainy month. Here’s hoping it’s a trend to be reporting some good beer-related news here each week.
Also this week: a report back from Washington State’s Inland Empire, and an IPA as Beer of the Week for the first time in a month. Is it hazy? Better not tell you now.
Strong Rope opens new Red Hook location
This Saturday, Strong Rope Brewery will officially open its new brewery and taproom on the Red Hook waterfront. Since late last summer, the brewery has been serving beer outdoors on the site of the new location while construction has been ongoing. The new space, both indoors and out, offers gorgeous views of New York Harbor, the Statue of Liberty, the passing Staten Island Ferry, and the sunset. The space, which is in the same complex that houses the Red Hook Winery, will boost Strong Rope’s production of their New York-sourced beers with a larger brewhouse. Their first beers on the new brewhouse? Trophy Cat, their blonde ale, and Backroad Odysseys, a pale ale.
The new Red Hook location is at 185 Van Dyke Street, six blocks from the Red Hook NYC Ferry stop. From Van Dyke Street, walk down Barnell Street towards the water and the taproom is on the right. The grand opening is all day Saturday from noon-10pm, but the new taproom will also be open Thursday 2-10pm, Friday noon-10pm, and Sunday noon-9pm.
Four new beer venues on the Brew York Beer Map
My map of beer venues in New York City (which desperately needs a pandemic-era refresh with all of the closings, I’ll admit) has four new additions this week:
The Hoptimist opened back in May in the old Beer Shop at Amsterdam and 80th on the Upper West Side. The space offers a locally-focused draft list with ten beers, with lots more by the bottle or can to stay or to go. They’re also hosting tap takeovers on the regular, including one featuring Wild East Brewing next Friday, the 23rd.
After closing their original location near Queens Plaza earlier this year, The Baroness has reopened at Vernon Boulevard and 47th Road in Long Island City. Much like in their former space, you’ll find twelve rotating draft selections focusing on beers from the Northeast to pair with their decadent burgers and appetizers.
We mentioned last week that Seven Bridges would open soon in the former Mission Dolores space at 4th Avenue and Carroll Street in Park Slope… soon is now, as they opened last weekend. Twenty-one draft lines are ready for your drinking pleasure in a space that remains largely unchanged from its predecessor.
Finally, Sweet Avenue officially opens today at 4pm at Queens Boulevard and 40th Street in Sunnyside. The bar and shop is the brainchild of Sunnyside resident and former One Mile House owner Gerry Leary, whose spot will offer a dozen beers on draft and an ever-growing list of cans to stay and to go.
Trip Report: Spokane
I didn’t know much about the beer scene in Spokane, Washington before I planned a trip there. I knew of No-Li Brewhouse, who briefly distributed in New York City a decade ago, but everything else beer-wise in this city of half a million people was completely foreign to me, and it’s a place that seemed to lack any friends or contacts familiar with the place.
I’m here to report to you that the Spokane beer scene is very, very good.
A friend of mine accompanied me on the trip, and of the seventeen breweries we visited, we both agreed that the vast majority were making good to great beer. As with every city I’ve visited with an extensive number of beer makers, there were a few duds, but on the whole, we were really impressed.
We started the trip at No-Li, naturally, since it’s the oldest and most well-known brewery in town. They’re still making very good beer and feature a beautiful patio. Two of our next stops on day one were Lumberbeard Brewing, a clean, gorgeous taproom whose hoppy beer offerings were extensive and extremely dialed-in, and Whistle Punk Brewing Co., a warming cellar-like bar with an extensive list of clean lagers taking from Czech and German traditions. I enjoyed both of these places so much that I revisited them on my last day in town.
We ventured out the next day to the east of town to Liberty Lake, where Snow Eater Brewing had some deliciously gimmicky stouts, including their Moose Trot Peanut Butter Chocolate Stout and the New Moon Coconut Stout. In nearby Spokane Valley, YaYa Brewing Company had a gorgeous bar and a handful of tasty IPAs and mixed fermentation beers.
Back in town, Iron Goat Brewing Co. impressed me with their Saison du Chevre and Lucky You Pilsner (plus a much-needed and very tasty pizza). Up at The Hidden Mother Brewery, they specialize in locally-sourced ingredients (that’s easy when you’re close to some of the largest hop and grain-growing regions in the U.S.), and their Mediatrix IPA was a lovely West Coast-style hop bomb while we listened to some live music perched on a mobile stage across the street from the taproom.
When there’s a brewery in town that took the gold medal in the American IPA category at GABF last year, you have to visit. We spent a good chunk of a hot and smoky Saturday afternoon sipping Perry Street Brewing’s impeccable beers (including the award-winner that will be described in detail below). Next, it was off to River City Brewing, where the bartender suggested their River City Red. I was skeptical, but it was a lovely balance of biscuity malt and mild hop character. Naturally, I took him up on his next suggestion: to visit Humble Abode Brewing, a spot on the north side of Spokane that served up a fantastic Lupuliner series of NEIPAs and a Jalapeño Pale Ale that had all the great green character of the pepper without the heat.
Spokane is a place whose residents are truly spoiled by its beer scene, even as their city gets overshadowed by other cities in the Northwest. The people were kind, the beer was delicious, and the natural surroundings make it the ideal city for daytime outdoor adventures and nighttime brewery-hopping.
Brewery Tracker
Total brewery count: 2,285
New breweries in 2021: 210
Breweries visited in Washington: 117
Rank of Washington among all states: 4th
Brewery Visit of the Week
Brewery #2271, Whistle Punk Brewing Co., Spokane, Washington (Visited 8-Jul-2021)
I felt like I had just walked into someone’s basement when I stepped into Whistle Punk. But it took just a couple more steps in before I realized I had walked into someone’s really cool, beer-filled basement. Behold! Five lagers on draft! A motherfucking Cream Ale! A PUB MILD ON CASK! A SIDE-PULL CZECH-STYLE PILS SERVED IN A TUBINGER DIMPLED MUG!!! What beer sorcery is this?
Yes, they had a very competent West Coast IPA and Double Dry-Hopped NEIPA, too. But I was here for the lagers and the cask ale. And wow, they truly excel at this stuff. The Helles Lager was bready and floral, the German Pilsner had honey and earthy notes, the Pub Mild gave me visions of a quiet, carpeted pub where you can hear every pump of the cask. I long for more breweries like this that can expose beer drinkers to styles that many breweries don’t have the skill or patience to make. Whistle Punk doesn’t take any shortcuts on those lagers, and it shows.
Since Whistle Punk was suggested to me and my friend by nearly every taproom bartender in Spokane, before and after our first visit there, I made it my last stop in town, too. Lucky for me, I came back on Side-Pull Sunday, where that Czech Pils was just $4 a pour. It was a glorious way to end my trip.
Beer of the Week
IPA
Perry Street Brewing (Spokane, Washington)
American IPA
6.3% ABV
In my experience, when your brewery’s IPA is just called “IPA,” you’re either doing something horribly wrong or fantastically right. In the case of this 2020 GABF Gold Medal winner, Perry Street is doing things fantastically right. It pours with a lovely golden hue with nary a bit of haze to speak of. The hop bill on this is something of dreams: Citra, Mosaic, Simcoe, and Strata, all Pacific Northwest hops grown for this delightful Pacific Northwest beer. Lots of tropical fruit and dankness, but with a clean, crisp finish. I know I’m regularly nostalgic for the years when more IPAs had these descriptors, but it’s still such a pleasant surprise when I find a West Coast IPA as perfect as this one.
Long Read of the Week
Let’s go with something light and fun this week: a profile of one of my favorite breweries in the Philadelphia area, Forest and Main Brewing. Anne Wallentine tells their story — and her own — on Pellicle. If you find yourself in Philly’s western suburbs, this gorgeous brewery is absolutely worth a visit. I sat on the lawn drinking beer with a friend on a nice day back in April and thoroughly enjoyed it.
One More Thing
Here’s Riverfront Park and the Expo ‘74 United States Pavilion in Spokane lit up at night. It’s without a doubt one of the most gorgeous urban parks in the country, and that’s before mentioning the Garbage Goat and Big Red Wagon.
Cheers,
Chris