Hops on over to Sanders Studios!
The city’s annual celebration of suds, New York City Beer Week, will flow into more than 400 beer-centric events across all five boroughs on Feb. 19. And the highlight of the eighth annual beer-tasting festival — New York City Brewer’s Choice — will take place right here in Brooklyn, at Sanders Studios in Clinton Hill on Feb. 24.
Brewer’s Choice is a celebration of craft beer that brings together brewers and beer-lovers for a night of quality food paired with craft beer, says the event’s co-founder and producer.
“It’s kind of an amazing evening. If you love beer,” said Jimmy Carbone, host of the event, and also of the radio show “Beer Sessions.”
Visitors to the beer feast will easily spot Carbone, who will sport a pink-striped seersucker jacket, an outfit he reserves for special events, he said.
This year’s Brewer’s Choice will feature more than 40 breweries, including six from Kings County, including Brooklyn Brewery, Threes Brewing, Greenpoint Beer and Ale, Keg and Lantern, Other Half, and newcomer Strong Rope brewery. The rest of the beer producers mostly come from the New York City area.
A ticket to the event will allow unlimited samples from the beer vendors, with many of the brews poured by the brewers themselves. Visitors can also sample food from an eclectic group of chefs and food purveyors, including Boerum Hill’s Mile End Deli and Park Slope’s Palo Santo.
“It’s our favorite night of the year. We put a lot into it,” Carbone said.
Brewer’s Choice at Sanders Studios [525 Waverly Ave. between Fulton Street and Atlantic Avenue in Clinton Hill, (646) 232–8857, www.nycbr
Beer in sight
Kelso Beer Company, located right next door to Sanders Studio, will host “Brewpiphany,” a special sampling of home-brews on the night before Brewer’s Choice. In early January, Kelso’s brewmaster Kelly Taylor gave about 50 homebrewers an un-hopped, un-fermented beer, so each could put a unique spin on it by fermenting, aging, or souring the beer as they saw fit. Visitors will sample each of the options and choose a winner.
“The event is all about celebrating the beauty and quality of craft beer,” said Taylor, who is also president of the New York City Brewer’s Guild, organizers of New York City Beer Week.
Brewpiphany at Kelso Beer Company [529 Waverly Ave. between Fulton Street and Atlantic Avenue in Clinton Hill, (718) 398–2731, www.kelso
Shmaltz malts
Shmaltz Brewing Company, a kosher brewing company from Clifton Park in upstate New York, will throw a party to launch the fifth iteration of its annual barrel-aged sour ale Funky Jewbelation. For this version, founder Jeremy Cowan blended together several Shmaltz beers, including its Messiah Nut Brown Ale, its Rejewvenator 2014, and Hanukkah, Chanukah: Pass The Beer, which was aged for an appropriate eight months.
The Well [272 Meserole St. between Waterbury Street and Bushwick Place in Bushwick, (347) 338–3612, www.thewi
Old enough to drink
At the 21st birthday party for its Black Chocolate Stout, the Brooklyn Brewery will serve up 10 different vintages of the seasonal imperial beverage. Visitors can taste the differences between different stouts while listening to a play-list of songs paired to the year of each version.
Brooklyn Brewery [79 N. 11th St. between Berry Street and Wythe Avenue in Williamsburg, (718) 486–7422, www.brook
