Our annual Good Beer event is here! Join us in the Financial District this Thursday, July 20, for a tasting of more than 75 beers paired with food from some of our favorite local restaurants. Purchase tickets here, and read about five beers (as described by their makers) you’ll find at the event below:
Greenport Harbor Blackberry Parfait (6.8%)
“Blackberry Parfait is part of a series of limited and experimental beers we launched in the spring. Made in small batches at our original brewery and focused on pushing the boundaries of craft beer, the OG series is Greenport Harbor getting back to what started it all. Here blackberries bring a sweet, jammy, slightly tart earthiness to the IPA base, which is led by a two-part hop addition of Mosaic and Loral. These varieties were selected based on the fruit flavors and aromas they impart. Followed by a helping of lactose, all these elements come together to produce a smooth-bodied, creamy, desert-like IPA.” Pat Alfred, head brewer
Finback Brewery Double Sess (4.8%)
“Double Sess is our take on a Belgian witbier brewed with Szechuan peppercorn, chamomile, ginger and orange zest. The idea behind the beer is to pair the floral and spice characters of the peppercorn and ginger and balance them with chamomile and orange zest. It’s an approachable beer with subtle spicing. I think wheat beers have a broad range to be paired with foods because they aren’t super aggressive and the floral, spicy notes can be played off of in a lot of different ingredients. I would think they work well in cocktails for these reasons, too. The beer cocktail being served at Good Beer combines Auchentoshan American Oak, a Scotch whisky with a smooth vanilla and coconut flavor, and our Double Sess. It then gets topped off with a little chamomile honey syrup, grapefruit juice and Amaro. It sounds delicious and I’m excited to have a few.” Basil Lee, co-owner
Kings County Brewers Collective Bride of Beach Zombie (4.0%)
“Bride is the follow-up to another KCBC summer-sour favorite: Beach Zombie, a sour beer we make using strawberry and guava. For the Bride, we brewed the same light-bodied base Berliner weisse as the original, with about 30 percent wheat in the grist that we then kettle soured with a lactobacillus blend. Then after primary fermentation finished, we hit it with over 900 pounds of two fruits, the Alphonso mango from India and passion fruit from Peru. The Alfonso mango has this incredible, over-the-top intensity that we really liked, and the passion fruit adds a unique dimension to the tropical aromas and also amps up the acidity. The resulting beer is incredibly juicy and packed with fruit flavor, but finishes relatively dry and sour. It also has this vibrant, neon-orange color. Basically, it’s The Mimosa of Beers™. (We didn’t actually trademark that, but maybe we should?)” Zack Kinney, co-owner
Interboro Spirits & Ales feat. Indian Ladder Farms Cidery & Brewery Super Local IPA (6.1%)
“This is the second in our Super Local IPA collaboration series with Interboro. Our intent for these beers is to bring our farm ingredients to this excellent city brewery to showcase the potential of New York State farm grains and hops in producing juicy IPAs. The first IPA we made together was with 40 percent oats and was hugely popular. The difference this time is that we used our wheat instead of oats, yielding lower sweetness and a lighter body. We hopped it with our Nugget, Cascade and Brewers Gold, and then dry-hopped it again with Brewers Gold. It pours hazy yellow with a white head, offering up aromas of stone fruit, citrus and banana smoothie. Tasting it, you will find a round, tangy mouthfeel with a slight bitterness but nice clean finish.” Stuart Morris, co-owner
Threes Brewing Kicking & Screaming (5.2%)
“This is our 100% foudre-fermented pilsner. It’s useful to think of it as a bridge between our clean lagers, the saisons and funkier wood-fermented beers in our portfolio and something uniquely its own. It started out as a beer we brewed on a whim but has quickly become one of the team’s favorite beers: moderate herbal and citric hop elements come together with a mildly malty center and a lightly tannic, subtly oaky yet crisp finish.” Greg Doroski, head brewer and partner
