Brooklyn Brewery: This is where it all started
Beer is drunk in New York. by obligation (the day they understand how to drink a mixed drink/gin and tonic in a large glass and without tap soda, we'll talk), by tradition (from his Dutch ancestors) or why yes . Before Prohibition, Brooklyn was the world capital of this golden liquid that we love so much, with more than 50 distilleries. In the 1970s there weren't even one left. But in the last two decades, since the opening of the brooklyn brewery , the microdistilleries industry has flourished again throughout the city and with it the bars specializing in tap beer, national, international... There is to choose. If you are over 21 (or have a good fake ID) read on.
CRAFT BEER FACTORIES AND BARS
The opening of the Brooklyn Brewery in 1988 is considered to not only start the renaissance of brewing in the area (there's even a documentary, Brewed in Brooklyn) but also the gentrification of Brooklyn in general . Since then, beer micro-distilleries have sprung up in almost every neighborhood.
If you consider yourself a true beer lover, or have already started making your own in your garage, this is the route you should take and get business ideas. Eye, prior reservation in some places to see the factory and on a full stomach so you can try as many as you can, without falling over.
In Brooklyn...
At **Breukelen Bier Merchants**, **Brooklyn Brewery**, the most famous and pioneer, Shmaltz Brewing Company (the one with the Coney Island Lagers) and Six Point (in Red Hook), the defenders of the l ema Beer is Culture . If you want the tour done, try the ** Urban Oyster ** : they take you through current factories and some of the abandoned ones from the 19th century.
... and in manhattan
Here, too, there's room for huge barrels of beer like the **Chelsea Brewing Co.**, with a restaurant and bar on the Chelsea Piers, or the 508, a gastrobrewery, specializing in finding the perfect match between food and beer. Most recent are The Bronx Brewery , opened in 2011, specializing in ales that can be found in almost any bar in the city, and soon in its new location in the Bronx. is also Bridge and Tunnel Brewery , in Queens, newly opened in 2012, the fulfilled dream of a guy, Rich, who had been brewing his own beer for nine years.
To try almost all the concoctions from these factories and from many smaller factories throughout the United States, there are specialized craft beer bars such as the Barcade **, famous above all for its arcade machines, or Jimmy's N43. Both rotate the sparkling menu so that customers never get bored.
La Birreria: rye and views in the middle of Manhattan
2) BEER GARDENS
In general, they are places to go when the good weather starts and enjoy their **extensive menus of European beers and hearty food (sausages, knuckle...) **. Some have been directly copied from the Bavarian and Central European tradition, such as the Bohemian Hall , in Astoria (Queens), with very long tables and benches, specializing in beer and food, especially Czech . Hence the name.
Another classic, this time German, is the Zum Schneider , in Alphabet City, with authentic Oktoberfest mugs. And there are other more modern ones like the d.b.a , in the East Village or the Spuyten-Duyvill , in Williamsburg, with a small cozy patio where you can try some of the almost 100 craft beers from around the world but bottled (there are few on tap). And there are also beer gardens with views : As the Berry Park , **at biker Williamsburg looking out over Manhattan (amazing burgers)** and The Birreria , the Eataly rooftop bar, Marco Batali's market-restaurant: overlooking the Flatiron and the Empire State, it has its own ales distillery (high fermentation) and a menu of Italian and German beers.
NEIGHBORHOOD CLUBS
They are our favourites: places where you can relax, forget about pairings, if this one is very bitter, that one is very blonde and the other is very dense. Order a can of PBR (or Pabst), the hipster beer of champions (usually $3 or even less) or a Budweiser pitcher to share and play (dirty) beer pong. There will never be as many bars as in Spain, but dark clubs with lonely guys staring at neon signs of beer brands and American football are on almost every street corner in New York.
Here are some recommendations (very personal): Bourbon Street (407 Amsterdam Avenue), Bud Light at 1 dollar a day a week, very fine decoration with hundreds of bras hanging from its walls (very Mardi Gras). The best? His regular clientele who comes with black smoke: John Locke (Terry O'Quinn). In Williamsburg, if you don't want to pretend, there is the Charleston, the most sticky bar in the area with a $3 pint at their happy hour and, for one more, a fairly respectable pizza. And of all these, the club with the classiest is the Mudville Restaurant and Tap House , in TriBeca, with nearly 30 beers on tap from American microbreweries and the best wings in Downtown. Wings and beer, pairing sponsored by Homer Simpson.
Notice to navigators: from February 22 to March 3 is celebrated, really, Beer Week in New York , with events and special prices.
Faucet in the Birreria