NYC Craft Beer Week, 2009

When L.P. Muffin first moved to New York and we started dating, we quickly formed the conclusion that, as a beer town, it was nowhere near the caliber of Philadelphia. We didn't seek out much craft beer on our New York weekends after that. All of that changed, however, when we read about NY Craft Beer Week 2009. To briefly recap the process: $35 bought us each a passport, which we were able to use at each of the 83 participating bars. Each bar had three beers on special for the duration of the week, and each passport entitled the holder to purchase either a $2 pint or two $1 half pints of the featured beers at each bar. The half-pint option came in handy as we were joined in our adventures by a series of friends. Each passport could only be used once at each bar, which encouraged us to try a variety of venues. I hadn't been on a proper bar-hop in a long time, but over the course of a long weekend Mr. Muffin and I made a respectable effort.

We began on the inauspicious evening of Friday, September 11th at participating bars in Carroll Gardens and Park Slope, Brooklyn. The best of the lot was a friendly little place on Court street called the Court & Spark, where the owner/bartender gave us samples of his homemade dragonfruit caipirinhas as well as the Checker Cab ale and spinach and artichoke dip we ordered. Mr. Muffin's roomates and a good friend of mine joined us for a klezmer concert and post-concert bar hopping as well.

Saturday was our most ambitious day of participation. I took notes as we made our rounds:
"No hangover, but started slowly. We strategized a bit to try to get the most from our day of beer, hopefully trying to aviod undue suffering. Started with a hearty plate of steak and eggs, then on to Bar Matchless (in Williamsburg, Brooklyn). Blue Point Blueberry for me and a sample of the festival beer. Then on to The Gutter, a combination bar and bowling alley, at which we learned of the existence of Trog Ivan, a Belgian-Croatian conspiracy theorist and exposer of the evil Cobourg and his world domination. Ivan's Facebook contains descriptions of mind control techniques and instructions on how to avoid them through facial exercises. L. P. friended him. We moved on to The Gibson, as Brooklyn Brewery was closed. Met friends and went to a wonderful performance by Fall on Your Sword, then on to a bar in Greenpoint called the Black Rabbit."

Sunday was our day to visit bars in Manhattan, after a breakfast of dim sum and a play called The Tenement. It was a lovely day and we crisscrossed Lower Manhattan, ultimately meeting up with friend and fellow blogger R.C. for half price burgers. My favorite beer of the day was probably Two Brothers Cane and Ebel Rye Ale, served at a completely empty bar in the East Village.

The only real disappointment of my weekend, beer-wise, was that none of the bars we visited featured Coney Island Craft Lagers, my favorite New York beers. The featured beers were not always memorable or worth the $6 and up they usually cost, but part of the fun of an event like craft beer week is visiting venues that might (or might not!) be worth a return trip. The weekend gave us a much-delayed opportunity to explore the New York beer scene, and it was well worth the investment.