An embarrassment of riches – Part 1
As a small-town Canadian boy who’s been living in New York City for just over three years, I still find myself shaking my head sometimes at all of the things that I now have access to. The best musical theatre in the world, top notch dining at virtually every price point, from a 2 dollar taco de lengua all the way up to a 275 dollar tasting menu at Thomas Keller’s Per Se restaurant (I have consumed loads of the former… the latter is waiting for a substantial raise). We have access to some of the worlds greatest museums, including the Guggenheim, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art and an entire island covered in great architecture. Whether you’re into a top notch music scene or shopping that can’t be beat, New York City really is one of the greatest cities in the world.
Although often overlooked, this abundance of choice extends to the craft beer scene as well. When I first moved here, the most amazing thing was simply the sudden access to all of the classics that I had been reading about for years. Stone, Dogfish Head, Rogue, Bear Republic, Anchor, Allagash and Southampton – these went from being obscure and difficult to obtain to being available year-round and virtually everywhere. I can remember clearly my first visit to the city, when I interviewed for my current job. The night before the interview I spent several hours hanging out at the dingy, overstuffed Blind Tiger Alehouse over on Hudson St, just soaking up the atmosphere and chatting with a bunch of locals who weren’t necessarily beer geeks but did appreciate a drink of good craft beer. When I took my current position 8 months later I was really looking forward to seeing what it would be like to explore a city with a vibrant beer scene. My first night here (before my luggage had even arrived – thanks Air Canada!), I met up with two Ratebeerians at Spuyten Duyvil in Williamsburg for a few drinks, and from that night on, I knew that there would be something very special about NYC.
Unfortunately, my arrival coincided with closing of the Blind Tiger… a decidedly unfortunate turn of events. Despite this, my new apartment was a mere 200 yards from a bottle shop with a greater selection than the entire province of British Columbia could muster. It is difficult to state just how welcome a development this was. Before leaving Canada I had gone for a long stretch of drinking only pale lagers and long-neglected low/non-alcoholic beers from the grocery store… a pretty sad state for any craft beer fan.
The next year or so was spent mostly running through beers that, to an American craft beer fan, would be considered run-of-the-mill or routine, but that to me provided a window into a world that I had been reading about but never really experiencing. Whether it was finally getting a handle on the diversity that exists within the IPA category, trying out as many imperial stouts as I could get my hands on or seeing what the classic IIPAs had to offer, that first year really allowed me to see everything that I had been missing.
After about a year or so, I started to notice that it was getting a bit more difficult to find new beers around the city. I could often go for multiple visits to beer bars around the city without seeing anything new. As luck would have it though, my original NYC beer bar experience would be reborn when I caught wind that the Blind Tiger Ale House would be reopening in a new location. Although there were some early difficulties with getting the reopening off the ground, eventually it did reopen in late 2006, and to my mind it was a turning point in the craft beer scene here that we enjoy today.
The Blind Tiger is currently the premiere beer bar in the city. Like any good beer bar, the real indication of the quality of the bar is not seen in a single visit or a single tap list, but rather in how that bar contributes to the beer scene in a given city. In only two years they have become an institution, hosting ~30-40 individual brewer events (the lists to which are shown here) a year and a few other special events (VSK – Very Special Keg, Vermont in NY, Christmas in July, Anniversary Party). They have brought in whole new breweries to NYC (one of which I’ve already written about here) and they have often hosted the most innovative breweries in an environment that celebrates craft ale and doesn’t apologize for what it is or for what it isn’t.
While I do feel that the re-opening of the Blind Tiger was a real turning point for NYC’s craft beer scene, by no means does the story end there and next week, I will continue to outline some of the changes that have occurred here over the last two years and where I think things will continue to go in the future.
3 Comments to “An embarrassment of riches – Part 1”
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Interesting blog. I would just like to say thank you for introducing me to the Blind Tiger in NYC. I have visited a few times since and absolutely love the place. My last memory being a Bear Republic tasting session which was just awesome. The place changed the way I thought of American beers in general and I discovered a whole new World of beer. Which leads me on to my jealousy of your
availability to an abundance of truly awesome beers from breweries all over the USA and even the World.
When I lived in Great Britain I was blessed with some great beers which were available to me every week. My story is opposite to yours in a way.
I may not have had the quality choices of NYC but it sure was better than the baron desert that is Nova Scotia where I live now. Although improving at a snails pace
I hope that one day the province of Nova Scotia wakes up and the alcohol laws change, maybe one day it will come true.
Looks good so far, Joe! It almost makes me regret moving to Denver. Actually, I’m lying, but good job none-the-less.
@notalush I’m looking forward to exploring a bit of Denver. We booked our tickets today, so we’re definitely coming. 27th and 28th of January… get your red carpet ready.