NYC Beer Week // Brooklyn Beer Crawls

It’s NYC Beer Week — a week like none other when seemingly every city brewery and beer bar host myriad nightly events showcasing the best of NY beer. Everything from trivia nights to beer pairings to special release parties, to a beer trolley(!) — the city truly won’t sleep when there’s so much beer to be drank. Full event list can be found here.

So, in honor of the week, we’re sharing some of our favorite Brooklyn paths on which you can explore some powerful swaths of the NYC Beer scene. There’s something in here for everyone…

 
Backyard at Threes Brewing

Backyard at Threes Brewing

 

A) Gowanus/Park Slope - Legit crawl. No Uber needed.
Subway: Atlantic Avenue-Barclays — B, D, N, Q, R, 2, 3, 4, 5, LIRR 

  • Stop 1) St. Gambrinus Beer Shoppe533 Atlantic Ave: Small-ish beer bar and store with terrific draught/can/bottle selection

  • Stop 2) 4th Avenue Pub, 76, 4th Ave: Stellar beer bar, with excellent selection

  • Stop 3) Pacific Standard, 82, 4th Ave: Good beer bar, heavy focus on California craft beers, with a cool high school library feel (we know, that seems contradictory, but it works), especially in the back. Games here too, if interested. [UPDATE, PACIFIC STANDARD HAS RECENTLY CLOSED]

  • Stop 4) Threes Brewing, 333 Douglass Street: Excellent brewery serving up 24 beers on tap. Lots of their own excellent beers, but also a number of really good guest taps. Lots of space. Good food. 

  • Stop 5) Strong Rope Brewery, 574A President Street: Very good, not-as-well-known brewery. Not sure they distribute at all, even locally (never seen their beers in stores). Not a ton of space, almost feels like the front bar is part of their storage room and brewhouse. That gives it character though. 

  • Stop 6) The Gate, 321 5th Ave: If you're interested in ending at a dive bar, this might be a good spot. Definitely a dive. Great back patio in warm weather (though less so in late February). Definitely a nice beer selection.

  • Stop 7) Park Slope Ale House, 356 6th Ave: Also a nice beer selection. Also a bit divey, and with decent pub food and a pool table, if you're so inclined.

Tons to hit, and under a mile and a half distance, so actually fully walkable. (PS, there's a Dinosaur BBQ right off this path, if you're interested in shoveling BBQ in your face).

Oh look, a map

-------------

 
At Other Half, new friends are easy to find…

At Other Half, new friends are easy to find…

 

A1) Gowanus/Park Slope/Carroll Gardens - Mostly crawl, one Uber needed

Subway: Atlantic Avenue-Barclays, Same lines as above 

Almost the same as above, but lose the last two bars and take a short Uber to Other Half, which is always awesome (if crowded).

  • Stop 1) St. Gambrinus Beer Shoppe, 533 Atlantic Ave

  • Stop 2) 4th Avenue Pub, 76 4th Ave

  • Stop 3) Pacific Standard, 82 4th Ave [UPDATE, PACIFIC STANDARD HAS RECENTLY CLOSED]

  • Stop 4) Threes Brewing, 333 Douglass Street

  • Stop 5) Strong Rope Brewery, 574A President Street

UBER TO:

  • Stop 6) Other Half Brewing Co.: Great brewery with strong IPA focus. Definitely gets crowded, so another option is to flip all this and start at Other Half

New map.

----------------

 
At Tørst, everything is sleek and polished…including the beer lines.

At Tørst, everything is sleek and polished…including the beer lines.

 

B) Greenpoint/Williamsburg -- Mostly Crawl, with some optional activity (might want an Uber from stop 5 to 6, but not necessary)

Subway: Nassau Avenue, G Train

This is the one you should take if want to destroy your livers, never go home and ruin your lives. We might suggest not to do that, but hey, who are we to tell you what to do? Go for it!

  • Stop 1) Torst, 615 Manhattan Ave: Pristine, simple and sleek beer bar, formerly owned by the Evil Twin Brewmaster. Fantaaaastic beer selection. Some small bites.

  • Stop 2) The Diamond, 43 Franklin Street: Dark, cool vibe. Good Beer list. And Shuffleboard! Maaaaybe Uber here from Torst, but it's only about a half mile.

  • Stop 3) The Gutter, 200 North 14th Street(Optional) Craft beer. Bowling. So...there's that. Put as optional because this will obviously be a time suck. So avoid if you're not into that.

  • Stop 4) Brooklyn Brewery, 79 North 11th Street: Classic NYC brewery. Very solid beers, terrific atmosphere. Good for groups.

  • Stop 5) Mugs Ale House, 125 Bedford Ave: Great dive bar with excellent craft beer selection, pretty good pub food.

PERHAPS UBER TO:

  • Stop 6) Spuyten Duyvil, 359 Metropolitan Ave: Excellent Belgian-focused craft beer bar. A few draughts. Mostly bottles.

  • Stop 7) Fette Sau, 354 Metropolitan Ave: Killer Barbeque Joint. Soak up all the beer. With a really nice local tap list to give you more stuff to soak up.

  • Stop 8) Barcade, 388 Union Ave: Drink a great selection of craft beer. Play video games. Everyone wins.

IF STILL CONSCIOUS, PERHAPS UBER TO:

  • Stop 9) Interboro Spirits & Ales, 942 Grand Street: Really really good beers (and I think they distill their own gin too). If I remember correctly, kind of a few-frills taproom, but spacious enough for the group. And, again, really solid beers.

  • Stop 10) The Well, 272 Meserole Street: An awesome cavernous hall with up to 60 very un-slouchy beers on draft, plus over 150 bottles and cans available at any given time. And their back patio plays host to any number of events — from concerts to beer festivals. This is not a place to be missed. So, if you don’t make it to stop 11…maybe stop back in another day.

Mostly walkable, if you like, but a few places you'd definitely consider Ubering. Hey, another map! Slightly different approach to this below. 

-------------

 
Spuyten Duyvil — bringing a taste (or three) of Belgium to NYC

Spuyten Duyvil — bringing a taste (or three) of Belgium to NYC

 

C) Greenpoint/Williamsburg/Bushwick -- More Ubers/More Breweries/All good group environments

Subway: Honestly, just Uber here. Then start walking.

  • Stop 1) Brooklyn Brewery, 79 North 11th Street

  • Stop 2) Spuyten Duyvil, 359 Metropolitan Ave

  • Stop 3) Fette Sau, 354 Metropolitan Ave (Optional, only if you're all in the mood for BBQ)

UBER TO:

  • Stop 4) Interboro Spirits & Ales, 942 Grand Street

  • Stop 5) The Well, 272 Meserole Street

UBER TO:

  • Stop 6) KCBC, 381 Troutman St: Just a really good brewery with a really welcoming vibe, and some really excellent beers

Another map! And, of course, if you want more, definitely think about adding Mugs or Barcade back onto this.

And there you have it. We’ve got more where these come from. Stay tuned. You’re welcome. Godspeed…