Beer

Learn How to Brew Beer in Five Minutes

Beer expert Charlie "The Pope of Foam" Bamforth explains the art and science of brewing beer in just five minutes. Bamforth is a serious beer buff -- the professor at UC Davis teaches "Malting and Brewing Science" and filmed the video at the school's pilot brewery. See Bamforth's tips after the jump ... More >>

STRANGE BREW

Sample spring's best beers

Back Forty West Hosts a Cassoulet Festival Tonight, and More Great Events

Monday, February 25 Cassoulet Festival at Back Forty West Peter Hoffman will hold the annual Cassoulet Festival at Soho's Back Forty West starting at 6:30 p.m. Alex Raij of Txikito, Mike Laarhoven of Back Forty, Shanna Pacifico of Back Forty West, Nick Anderer or Maialino, and Tom Mylan of the Meat ... More >>

BEST OF NYC™ Readers' Poll

OktoberfestNYC: 6000 Square Foot Beer Garden 16 Day Festival

We may be thousands of miles away from Munich, but that won't stop us from celebrating Oktoberfest. The 16-day Oktoberfest festival will be held from September 22 to October 7. Located at 1 Penn Plaza, OktoberfestNYC will feature almost 10,000 square feet of total festival space, including tented be ... More >>

Budweiser: Why It's My "King"

Beer UP typically examines a craft beer from a small brewer somewhere in the United States. Among many others, I've written about the Left Hand Milk Stout, the Founders Red Rye, and the Troegs Troegenator, but before I continue forward on this quest to drink every brewer in the country, I decided th ... More >>

Wolaver's India Pale Ale: Hey, It Ain't Bad, But...

Our weekly examination of, well, beer.

SUN & SUDS

Bring your thirst to the waterfront

Our 5 Best German Beer Halls

Both spring and soccer season are in full swing, which means that it's time to head to the city's German beer halls for some communal revelry, large-screen sports watching, liter steins of beer, and hearty snacks. Below you'll find our favorite German beer halls in the city.

Top Hops' Ted Kenny on Growlers

After years of working as a bartender and a marketing guy for Anheuser-Busch, Ted Kenny decided to test out his beer chops by opening up a store of his own on the Lower East Side, Top Hops Beer Shop (94 Orchard St., 212-254-4677), where you can grab a pint to stay or a growler to take home. Of cours ... More >>

For the Love of Chocolate

Five New York Beers You Need to Try, According to Joshua M. Bernstein, Author of Brewed Awakening

Sterling PublicationsA beer a day will keep the doctor away, right?​While the craft-beer movement might have had its start out West, there's now no shortage of quality breweries here in New York. Just ask Joshua M. Bernstein, author of Brewed Awakening, a new book all about the origins of the ... More >>

Our 10 Best Beer Bars

​ The craft beer movement, once the province of homebrewers and so-called "beer nerds," has become so mainstream that you'd be hard-pressed to find a bar in New York City that doesn't have at least Brooklyn Lager on tap. But where do you go when you want to find the absolute best brews in the ... More >>

Tomorrow: Our 10 Best Beer Bars

​ It's no secret that the New York craft-beer scene has exploded in the last decade or so. With so many great local breweries (Brooklyn Brewery, Sixpoint, Kelso, Captain Lawrence), it stands to reason we'd also have a bunch of great beer bars. So, what makes for a good beer bar? A large select ... More >>

Brooklyn Brewery's Garrett Oliver On The Oxford Companion to Beer

photo by Michael Harlan TurkellGarrett Oliver makes beer a companion.​When an editor at the Oxford University Press first approached Garrett Oliver, brewmaster at Brooklyn Brewery, about doing The Oxford Companion to Beer, he politely declined. Having already written a book, the prospect of su ... More >>

The Wild Brew Yonder at Birreria

Eataly opens a beer garden high in the sky

Loreley's Doug Darwin Talks German Beer, Oktoberfest and Why He No Longer Enjoys Shotgunning Cheap Domestic Suds

Herr Doug Darwin​OK, so maybe we're feeling a little beery these days, what with Craft Beer Week on its way. That, and a new beer garden opening, like, every other week. We caught up with Doug Darwin, from Loreley, the new-wave German beer hall that started it all. Darwin has been with Loreley ... More >>

Craft Beer Week Coming Soon to New York City

Landfelddt / FlickrBottoms up!​While there is no greater craft beer event this autumn than the Village Voice's own Brooklyn Pour, beer geeks should get pumped for New York City's fourth annual Craft Beer Week, occurring from Friday, September 16 to Sunday, September 25. With almost 100 bars a ... More >>

Chick Beer Founder Shazz Lewis Dishes on Making Girly Brews

ChickNo boys allowed​Truth be told, we're a little wary of alcoholic beverages marketed exclusively to women. So when we read about Chick, a just-released beer marketed at the female demographic, we were skeptical at best. What's wrong with regular beer? So we called up founder Shazz Lewis t ... More >>

On August 1, Raise a Glass to Ray Deter

​When d.b.a. owner Ray Deter died earlier this month from injuries he sustained in a bike accident, he left behind a wife, two sons, and countless friends. Next Monday, some of them are holding a benefit in his memory.

Draft Master Lukas Svoboda On Czech Beer, Good Head, and His Year's Supply of Free Pilsner Urquell

Lukas Svoboda: call him 'master.'​Upon hearing of the new Czech restaurant Hospoda, and its all-Pilsner Urquell draft-beer program, you may have been puzzled. Isn't a beer hall nowadays supposed to dazzle with the obscurity and sheer choice when it comes to what's on tap? At Hospoda, one beer ... More >>

WHEATS, TRAPPISTS, AND FRITES

The Belgian beer renaissance is here

Barcade's Joe Stickney Talks Craft Beer and the Best Video Games to Play While Drinking

​ Could there be a better dude bar than Barcade in Williamsburg? Not only is it filled with vintage video games, it also boasts 25 beers on tap and the official Good Beer Seal for carrying quality American craft beers. If you're not a beer geek, don't worry, the staff here is very nonjudgmenta ... More >>

A Thumbnail History of Munich's Hofbrauhaus

kunstgymszbadde.comWatercolor of Hofbräuhaus around 1919 by fledgling Munich art student Adolf Hitler. He would soon be using the beer hall to stage Nazi rallies.​ When I was an elementary school student in Minneapolis, German was a required subject. It was a German part of the country, t ... More >>

David Cichowicz of Good Beer NYC On Ales That Make You Pucker and Brews with Less Booze

Wayne ChowaniecGood Beer NYC's David Cichowicz​This Thursday is Saint Patrick's Day, which in New York is less of a celebration of Irish culture than it is an excuse to guzzle green beer and demand kisses from strangers. Might we suggest forgoing the tinted lager this year and instead opting f ... More >>

Beer: A Genuine Collection of Cans Shows One Man's Love of Suds

Chronicle BooksA glimpse of 480 different beers​Everyone appreciates a cold brew on a hot day, but it takes a true beer lover to amass a collection of 480 different beer cans. And John Russo is that man. Beer: A Genuine Collection of Cans is a just-published book from Chronicle that showcase ... More >>

Co. and Frankies Spuntino Offer Opportunities to Drink Beer This Weekend

apol3/FlickrDrink it, live it.​Between pickles, New Amsterdam, and the Grub/Hester Street festival, there are already plenty of ways to stuff your face this weekend. And now, in honor of Oktoberfest, here are two more.

TRICK OR DRINK?

In Astoria, you can do both

Good Beer NYC Coming Soon to East 9th Street

​If you're still recovering from Craft Beer Week, then you might want to avert your eyes: in two weeks' time, should all go according to plan, Good Beer NYC will open on East 9th Street.

Jeremy Cowan of Shmaltz Brewing Company Talks Geektoberfest, Jewish Celebration & How Sour is the New Bitter

Jeremy Cowan​Jeremy Cowan started Shmaltz Brewing Company back in 1996 out of his San Francisco apartment. Now, the beer is brewed in upstate New York and includes the line of HE'BREW craft kosher beers and Coney Island Craft Lagers. Cowan is busy this week as NYC Craft Beer Week is in full sw ... More >>

What's Happening This Week: Beery Dinners, Bouillabaisse Banter

As you may know, our weekly dining and drinking newsletter features all the coolest epicurean events in the city. Sign up for it here! Victory Beer Dinner Colicchio & Sons Tuesday, September 28t at 7:30 p.m. In honor of NYC Craft Beer Week, Colicchio & Sons will host a beery pairing dinner with Dow ... More >>

What's Happening This Week: Mystery Wine; Good Beer

As you may know, our weekly dining and drinking newsletter features all the coolest epicurean events in the city. Sign up for it here! Mystery Dinner Spina Restaurant Tuesday, July 27 at 7:30 p.m. As part of its Mystery Dinner series, the restaurant will offer a $65 four-course pairing menu featuri ... More >>

Eater Names Seven Worst Places to Drink Outdoors

Astoria's Bohemian Beer Garden.​ Last week we named the 10 best places to drink outside; our top three are the Frying Pan, Me Bar, and Bohemian Beer Garden. Today, Eater has a list of the seven worst places to drink outside, including Radegast Hall and Beer Garden, the Bowery Hotel, and Dos C ... More >>

Beer Brewers Take Heart: Brooklyn Homebrew Opens in Gowanus

Suemedha SoodBrooklyn Homebrew plies its wares.​ New York City's only homebrew supply store, Brooklyn Homebrew, opened Tuesday in its new Gowanus location on 8th Street at Third Avenue. Up until now, the store has been operating out of a one-bedroom Sunset Park apartment--the home of owners Da ... More >>

Fork in the Road's Beer List Spawns Discussion Thread on 'Beer Advocate'

​Fork in the Road's recent "Our 10 Best Beers" has spawned a lively discussion thread on Beer Advocate, the website and magazine beloved of many American beer drinkers.

Our 10 Best Beers

​ When we got the idea to do Our 10 Best Beers, little did we realize what a shark tank we were jumping into. While wine drinkers, cocktail swillers, and those that drink their spirits neat are a very vocal and cantankerous bunch, the vast majority of beer fanciers just sit back, foamy quaff i ... More >>

Beer Here! A Report From the Brooklyn Homebrewers Tour

Josh Bernstein spells it all out.​ On a gorgeous Sunday afternoon, 23 beer lovers met in Sunset Park to embark on a day of heavy drinking. Waiting for everyone to arrive, beer writer Joshua M. Bernstein held a sign he made out of trash that said, "Hey! It's a HOMEBREW TOUR." Bernstein playe ... More >>

Kasteel Cru: A Real Champagne of Beers

yumsugar.com​Miller High Life may have billed itself the "Champagne of Beers" back in 1903, but that was before a handful of breweries started making actual champagne-style beer. Most beers made with saccharomyces bayanus, the champagne yeast, are ales. Lager yeast doesn't agree with champagne ... More >>

The Early Word: Provini for Italian Beer

Re Ale from Birra del Borgo​ Provini, a new Italian restaurant in Park Slope (opened by the owners of Bar Toto and Bar Tano), serves standards with a Roman focus, like bucatini alla amatriciana (hollow spaghetti in a tomato, onion, and guanciale sauce). But the real draw is the Italian craft b ... More >>

Drink this--Watermelon Beer

At the Fancy Food Show's Food Fete last night, we discovered this craft beer from San Francisco's 21st Amendment Brewery. Watermelon wheat beer has just become available in New York in the last two weeks. The brew is an unappetizing-sounding mix of wheat beer fermented with fresh watermelon and add ... More >>

'Rejected' Valentine's Day Heartbreak Haven

Tasting New Beers from Shmaltz Brewing Company

Saturday 3:29

HOP HEAVEN

Drink up with 52 award-winning breweries

Hop State Pride

A roundup of New York's great microbreweries

Hopped Up

Hardcore brewing dudes make peanut butter beer in an NYC tenement apartment

Hide and Seek: A Camouflaged Bar Amid Yarmulke Shops

Who Loves Ya Baby? The Bald Owners of This Southside Bar Do

Room Service: Drink Wine and Beer in a Low-Key Atmosphere

Garden Party

Outside is the perfect setting to cure all that ales you