Drink Like A Local In NYC With These 5 Breweries - The Takeout

"A couple of years ago, a beer writer friend of mine discovered the New York State Brewers Association (NYSBA) app, which has a sort of passport feature: You could pull up a big map of every brewery in New York, and check off each one you've visited. You could only "stamp" a brewery if the app detected you were there, so there was no cheating."

"There are various niches - if you like fruity sours, there are now several Talea taprooms, while fans of super traditional European-style lagers can hit up Eckhart Beer Co. in Bushwick - but I tried to gather together five breweries with a good mix of easy lagers and burning IPAs, and which are popular with locals and less so with touristy crowds."

"Choosing one is tough, and the big fish is Brooklyn Brewery with its hoppy magic tricks, but Grimm Artisanal Ales in East Williamsburg is also consistently brewing interesting beers. I'm personally a longtime fan of its Grimm Weisse wheat ale, a refreshing and very fizzy German-style beer. Grimm also experiments quite a bit with pilsners, including a sharp-tasting Oofaloof pilsner aged in oak (pictured above) and a Glittering Image pilsner flavored with fruit and spicy pine needle hops."

A New York State Brewers Association app offers a passport feature that displays a map of every brewery in New York and only allows stamping when it detects a visit. There are over 400 breweries statewide, encouraging paced visits to avoid hangovers and emphasizing moderate drinking at tasting rooms. New York City's craft-brewery activity is largely centered in Brooklyn but different neighborhood scenes exist across the city. Niches include fruity sours at multiple Talea taprooms and traditional European-style lagers at Eckhart Beer Co. in Bushwick. Grimm Artisanal Ales in East Williamsburg brews experimental pilsners and a fizzy Grimm Weisse wheat ale.

Read at The Takeout