Pick of the Weekend: Saison Weekend at Brouwerij Lane

Brouwerij Lane in Greenpoint will host a saison weekend with a mix of American craft beers and imports. Their backyard should be a good place to spend one of the last weekends of summer if the rain holds off. Recently saisons, a Belgian farmhouse style, have been among the most popular new beers from breweries. Here is the beer list:

Cigar City Table Saison
Victory Helios
Perennial Saison De Lis
Brasserie Dupont Foret
Nogne-O Bridge Road India Saison
Stillwater Kopstootje

Adobe Blues, Staten Island

Getting back to our posts on the Good Beer Seal bars is Adobe Blues, the very last one we visited.

This bar was one of the biggest surprises from our adventure. It has a small but well-rounded tap list and an extensive, reasonably priced bottle list. Bar manager Ryan Barker curates the beer and tries to refresh the list regularly to keep things interesting. As with other Good Beer Seal bars, we found that the staff was very friendly and generally knowledgeable about what they were serving. The bar runs a styles club where customers are guided through different beer styles at regular tastings.

Adobe Blues serves solid Tex-Mex fare (great for soaking up that 9% ABV Christmas beer you just had in the middle of July). It’s a fun place to try out some interesting pairings – most bars and restaurants with craft beer aren’t serving Tex-Mex.

The bar is a bit of a challenge to get to, as it is on Staten Island. The best way to get there is by car. Otherwise your best option is the ferry to the 44 bus which stops right in front of the bar on Lafayette Ave.

Adobe Blues is located at 63 Lafayette Ave. on Staten Island and is open Monday through Saturday from 11:30 a.m., Sunday from noon. Closest public transportation is the 44 bus.

Pick of the Weekend: 12th Anniversary at Zum Schneider

This Sunday Zum Schneider in the East Village celebrates its 12th anniversary (impressive in a city where there’s constant bar turnover). There will of course be traditional German beers like Schneider Weisse and Reissdorf Kolsch to pair with Bavarian foods. A live oompah band will play and a pig will be roasted on a spit.

Bronx Brewery Releasing New Beer: Rye Pale Ale

Later this month, the Bronx Brewery team is introducing a new beer, a Rye Pale Ale.

“We wanted to stay within the pale ale category and introduce a beer that showcases another member of the grass family,” said Head Brewer Damian Brown, in an email message. “The unique spicy flavors of the ryle compliment and balance some of the woody, piny and spicy aspects of the top hop varieties in this beer – Crystal and Chinook. Our goal is to brew relatively big and assertive beers, but ones that are balanced and subtle enough to remain easy drinking.”

This beer, which Brown thinks will be great for the late summer months, is the latest in a lineup of beers that includes the flagship pale ale and also a bourbon barrel aged variant of the pale ale. It will debut in New York City on August 23 with a release party at Randolph Beer in Nolita. Brown and brewery General Manager Chris Gallant will be on hand at the release, which will be limited to 140 kegs.

Sixpoint Brownstone Ale Now in Cans

The steady march of Sixpoint beers into cans (or, as Sixpoint calls them, NanoKegs) will continue with Brownstone, a well-balance and smooth brown ale. While Brownstone is not as easy to find on tap as Bengali Tiger or Sweet Action, it is a favorite among craft beer bars in Brooklyn who undoubtedly love the name’s reference to the historic Brooklyn homes. As fans of canned beer and of Brownstone Ale we are excited to see how this turns out. Cans have been vaunted for their ability to protect hop character in styles like Pale Ales and IPAs but have not been used quite as much for maltier beers (some notable exceptions include Anderson Valley Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout and 21st Amendment Monk’s Blood).

Pick of the Weekend: Rated ‘A’ Weekend at Mugs Alehouse

This weekend Mugs Alehouse in Williamsburg is bringing out some of the most highly rated beers from RateBeer.com and BeerAdvocate.com (two consumer beer rating websites). All beers will be rated as either an A or a 90 and above. Not surprisingly, there are some serious beers on this list, like Ithaca Brute, Brooklyn Blast, Firestone Wookey Jack, Allagash Odyssey, and Jolly Pumpkin IO Saison.

Next Week: RockHops Craft Beer Festival in NJ

It’s a bit of a hike from NYC (Mercer County Park, NJ) but RockHops Craft Beer festival, Saturday, August 11, is one of the more unique we’ve seen as of late. A combination craft beer and music festival, RockHops will feature an impressive beer list curated by John Kleinchester of Beertography and beer author John Holl. The list will include New Jersey’s own Carton Brewing as well as several breweries that you can’t find in New York like Schlafly, Lost Abbey and Port Brewing. Holl and Jeff Cioletti, editor of Beverage World Magazine, will lead seminars on how the music and craft beer worlds influence and mirror each other. The music lineup will be headlined by Dark Star Orchestra.

The Connoisseur VIP package is $65 and includes your music ticket, beer, and access to seminars. The $35 ticket includes music but beer is pay as you go. More ticket information here.