Image via Complex Original
This coming weekend marks the start of the annual NYC Beer Week. Originally launched in 2008 as NY Craft Beer Week and then taken over last year by the New York City Brewers Guild, NYC Beer Week—a “week” that runs 10 days from Friday, February 21 through Sunday, March 2—offers up a bounty of beer-centric events sure to please every beer drinker in the city. While you can choose to hang out in your local haunt and probably score some 2-for-1 pints, you may want to venture out and discover a new NYC Beer Week event that will etch forever in your mind what it is to be a true beer drinker of NYC. These are my top ten picks where you can embrace your inner beer geek…or just impress your friends with a lot of great beer.
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Blue Ribbon Bakery Kitchen and KelSo Beer Co.’s Louisiana Seafood Boil
Date/Time: Monday, Feb. 24, 5 p.m.
Location: 35 Downing St.
Cost: $75 (reservations required)
Website: blueribbonrestaurants.com
You should go: If Mardi Gras is an annual rite of passage. Or this year’s trip to N’Orleans got canceled due to weather.
Blue Ribbon Bakery Kitchen will offer a four-course dining experience titled, “Beer Week on the Bayou,” centered around a Louisiana Seafood Boil. Dishes will be paired with beers presented by KelSo Brewmaster Kelly Taylor. Some of the courses include: Gumbo Royale with Recessionator Doppelbock, a winter lager beer shake, and various charcuterie and pils. Also expect a range of limited-release KelSo beers.
Beerded Ladies Presents: New York Beer & Brewing History Panel at Covenhoven
Date/Time: Monday, Feb. 24, 7 p.m.
Location: 730 Classon Ave.
Cost: $25 (plus Brown Paper Tickets ticketing fee)
Website: DrinkLocalNYC.com
You should go: If you like to think while you drink.
Get a sneak peek at Brooklyn's newest craft beer bar, Covenhoven (slated to open to the public next month), while learning about what’s happening in the local beer scene from both a business and historical perspective. Grab a pint and pull up a chair as a panel of beer experts explore NYC's rich brewing history, from the defining waves of European immigration through Prohibition and into today's slow food movement, painting a picture of a tenacious, deeply rooted and well satiated industry. Panelists include beer writers, bar owners, brewers and other industry insiders.
Classic Food & Beer Pairings with Jimmy Carbone
Date/Time: Tuesday, Feb. 25, 7 p.m.
Location: 43 E. 7th St.
Cost: $45 (plus Eventbrite ticketing fee)
Website: jimmysno43.com
You should go: If you aren’t afraid of surprises and love a great deal (expect one-offs of expensive and/or rare beers).
Jimmy's No. 43 will explore their take on classic food and beer pairings. Earlier this month I consulted Jimmy about some of his favorite pairing for Complex. Jimmy went a step further and decided to pair classic foods with “last bottles” from his cellar. Typically when the proprietor chooses bottles himself, you really get the best beers. Jimmy’s choices will be paired to a menu created by guest chef Annette Tomei with ingredients sourced from Myers Produce (of Brooklyn and Hardwick, VT). Plus, as with many of the events at Jimmy’s No. 43, there will be industry special guests from his Beer Sessions Radio program in attendance. Five courses, five beers.
Dinner With Other Half Brewing at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que
Date/Time: Tuesday, Feb. 25, 6 p.m.
Location: 604 Union St.
Cost: $64.95 (reservations required)
Website: dinosaurbarbque.com
You should go: When you hear “beer” you think “braised ribs.”
One of the best new breweries to spring up in the city in the past few months teams with one of Brooklyn’s most established barbecue joints. This is a no-brainer…unless you’re vegan. Six beers, five courses, including a “welcome” beer, smoked chicken tostada, sweet tea-brined catfish, smoked hog and more.
NYC Brewer's Choice
Date/Time: Wednesday, Feb. 26, 6 p.m.
Location: 80 Wythe Ave.
Cost: $65 all-inclusive (plus Eventbrite ticketing fee)
Website: nycbrewerschoice.com
You should go: If you consider yourself a beer geek, a locavore, or a newbie seeking a crash course on the coolest beer peeps in the area.
Arguably the best beer event of the year, NYC Brewers Choice returns this year with 25+ brewers pouring their own specially made beers. This year, co-producer Jimmy Carbone challenged the brewers to make beer with locally sourced ingredients. Some of them include:
Blind Bat Brewing with Hell Gate Golden Ale using Valley Malt barley grown by O’Mara’s Farm, Canastota, NY, and coriander grown in Centerport Long Island by brewer’s farmer wife Regina with Seed Sower Farm. Long Island Potato Stout—a Dry Irish Stout brewed with organic potatoes grown by Fred Lee of Sang Lee Farms in Peconic, NY. Sixpoint Craft Ales with a special batch of Sweet Action made using 100% NY State ingredients. Greenport Harbor Brewing with a Cali Common using Valley Malt. Cuvaison—a Belgian strong using merlot grapes from NY State Winery of the Year and Greenport’s neighbor in Cutchogue, McCall’s Vineyard.
This event is also very food-focused, with ten chefs bringing food from venues such as Reynard and Luke’s Lobster.
“Bridge & Tunnel” Night at Barcade Jersey City
Date/Time: Thursday, Feb. 27, Noon
Location: 163 Newark Ave.
Cost: Pay-as-you-go
Website: facebook.com
You should go: If you’re weary of finding the same beers in every bar you visit. And if your “Bell” has officially been rung out.
Not to be confused with Bridge and Tunnel night (as in the Queens brewery), this is brilliant counter programming to NYC Beer Week. For the second straight year, Barcade Jersey City is featuring beers from craft breweries not available in New York, including Kane, Great Lakes, and NJ Beer Co. So get your PATH on (or make your way over a bridge or through a tunnel) to try some beers you won’t find in NYC this week.
Bronx Beer Night at Bronx Ale House
Date/Time: Thursday, Feb. 27th , 7 p.m.
Location: 216 West 238th St.
Cost: Pay-as-you-go
Website: bronxalehouse.com
You should go: If you’ve been meaning to visit the 5th Borough…the one that doesn’t require ferry service.
Shockingly, not everyone in this city lives on an island. Venture up to the mainland and meet the brewers from The Bronx Brewery, City Island Beer Co., Gun Hill Brewing Co., and Jonas Bronck’s Beer Co. NYC Beer Week warrants stepping outside your comfort zone, and it’s a faster trip to the Bronx Ale House (located right next to the 238th St. 1-stop) than anything you have to take the G train to get to.
Women & Beer First
Date/Time: Friday, Feb. 28th, 8 p.m.
Location: 502 Franklin St.
Cost: Pay-as-you-go
Website: 502franklinbar.com
You should go: If you like women…or are one.
Maybe I’m getting all girly here, but this looks like a really cool hang-around-and-drink outing. No pressure, no agenda. Just a ton of cool beers at one of the best beer bars in the Clinton Hill/Bed Stuy section of Brooklyn. Being promoted as a celebration of “the women of craft beer…that recognizes the integral and deeply rooted role women have played in the brewing industry,” Glorietta Baldy will offer tap specials on a diverse selection of lady-brewed beers, with several of the talented brewers in attendance. The event will also feature local female home brewers and industry professionals representing some of the most popular craft breweries worldwide.
NYC Craft Beer Festival Spring Seasonal
Date/Time: Friday, Feb. 28, 8 p.m. (7 p.m. VIP); Saturday, March 1, 2 p.m. (1 p.m. VIP) and 7 p.m. (6 p.m. VIP)
Location: 68 Lexington Ave.
Cost: $45—$125
Website: nyccraftbeerfest.com
You should go: If you want to drink a lot of beer, your liver be damned!
If you haven’t imbibed enough this week, there’s no reason to pace yourself at the Spring Seasonals event at the Lexington Armory. Let’s face it, these events have some decent food and the beer is solid, but mostly you go there to get hammered. It’s a true beer festival, where lines for the men’s room are long, but to the ladies’ not so much. Go forth and drink from more than 150 craft beer offerings. Although if you do want to be safe, go ahead and spring for the $125 VIP Connoisseur Lounge, where the lines are typically quite short and the chefs top-drawer.
Four Brewery Launch at Valhalla
Date/Time: Monday, March 3, 6 p.m.
Location: 815 9th Ave.
Cost: Pay-as-you-go
Website: valhallabarnyc.com
You should go: If you’re a new beer seeker who wants to quadruple your pleasure.
Sarene Craft Beer Distributors are bringing in four new breweries for a simultaneous launch at Valhalla. Only one of these brewers (Yonkers Brewing) has been available to the city’s beer drinkers, so expect a great scene when Yonkers is joined by Central Waters Brewing (from Wisconsin), Ohio’s Thirsty Dog Brewing, and D.C.-area Port City Brewing, whose Optimal Avenue, Manhattan Wit was named the country's best Belgian-style white ale at last year’s Great American Beer Festival. While technically this event takes place the day after NYC Beer Week ends, you’ll want to have an excuse to drink in March, too.