Don’t think I’ve seen a more picturesque reflection in a brewery’s windows before.

Not a bad setting for drinking beer.

You can take the boy out of New York, but he’s still gonna order a Cream Ale.

First of many stops this weekend in Big Sky Country.

When in Rome. Or Missoula.

Yes in My Beer Yard

This week's newsletter is the annual Oktoberfest Guide, complete with a rundown of all the ways to celebrate Oktoberfest here in NYC. brewyork.substack.com/p/its-the-an...

Almost every beer trip has a brewery I return to. On this trip, it’s Stompbox in Davenport. Even if some of the beer names and thematics feel… strangely familiar. Beer is fantastic.

Cheers to the good reply guys. This is a good reply guy.

Ever walk into a brewery that just screams — in the best possible way — let your freak flag fly? That’s Wake Brewing in Rock Island, Illinois. Loved it there.

“West Coast IPA.”

Never miss an opportunity to visit Pivotal Brewing Company when I’m in Rhode Island. One of this state’s best-kept beer secrets.

It’s pumpkin beer season in New England.

Back at brewery #49, Rhode Island’s oldest, where there’s still a beer named after a legendary local news anchor who last anchored a newscast 20 years ago and passed away a year later.

My Amtrak train conveniently stopped in just the right position for me to take the cover photo for this week's newsletter just five minutes before it was scheduled to publish.

On a four-night trip to Providence, I have plans to visit exactly one new brewery. Love to just hang out and visit the classics.

Visiting New Jersey’s newest brewery today, Skinny Flowers Brewing in Fort Monmouth. Brewery #3840!

It’s that time of year again! Hop harvest is upon us here in New York and the techniques that Chris Holden from The Hop Guild has learned over the years is paying off. The yards are looking great and first year Vista were absolutely bursting. Exciting stuff!

Okay, you insatiable SOBs have convinced me to go to @salfordbeerfest.bsky.social. Got one of the last 3 tickets to the Friday early session, too!

As @willcleveland13.bsky.social writes, Canandaigua, already the beer mecca of the Finger Lakes, is getting *another* new brewery. Need to get up there before it gets too cold.

In this week's newsletter, I explore Red Ales, the new @barcade.bsky.social FiDi, and a brewery in Haines, Alaska.

"This is not a Blue Moon." (hand inserts orange) "Now it is!" why are you advertising that your beer has assembly required

Barcade #FIDI is officially open! You'll find our 4th #NYC location here at 10 Cortlandt Street in Lower Manhattan. Our largest location yet has over 80+ arcade games and pinball, 24 lines of craft beer, a full bar and a full kitchen! #Barcade #NewYork #Manhattan #Arcade #Pinball

NEW: The Commerce Dept just announced that aluminum can lids and ends ARE aluminum derivatives and WILL be included in the Section 232 tariffs effective today. That tariff currently stands at 50%. Brewers Association warns this "could contribute to higher packaging costs" for US craft brewers.

I believe I’ve determined what my 4,000th brewery will be.

Overheard at the brewery taproom about a visiting dog: “yeah, his dad won best in show at Westminster. We picked him up from a Ralph Lauren ad shoot.”

Happy to see the Guardian has an obituary for Martyn Cornell out today. He deserved that. Even if it does feel bitter-sweet to read it. www.theguardian.com/food/2025/au...

In the newsletter this week, I wrote about my recent beer experiences in Wroclaw and Vilnius -- and am once again reminded how small the beer world can be.

Folks, if you visit Vilnius, Lithuania and don’t visit Alaus Biblioteka, you are doing yourself a huge disservice.

What’s a MIPA?

Jealous of everyone at These Hills this weekend. Promise I’ll give it another go next year. Still a bit traumatized by last year’s cancellation and fractured metatarsal happening mere hours apart.

Add Craft and Draft in Vilnius to my list of shoehorned-in breweries. Impressive that they can brew in such a compact space and… store folding chairs on top of a brite tank?

Legitimately impressed with my first brewery visit in Lithuania. Lots of modern stuff, very well made.

Steal this idea: a pineapple sour called This Sh*t is Ananas

I recognize that nothing about oat or cream necessitate hazy, but this is the least hazy Oat Cream IPA I’ve ever had.

“We have five beers on draft from Other Half and we just released our birthday collabs with Civil Society and Orchestrated Minds,” are words I just heard in Wroclaw, Poland. The beer world is flat.

Oh no. We’re fucked.

Having my second Grodziskie of the day. What a world.

Sure, just a totally normal thing to see on the wall of a bar in Wroclaw, Poland.

I’ve never encountered a place quite like the taproom I’m at in Wroclaw where all the tables are either too high or too low. Currently hunched over a table lower than my knees after sitting at a high-top that made me feel like a child sitting at the adult table.

Not that it’s a bad thing, but I seriously can’t escape Other Half no matter where I am in the world. A taproom here in Wroclaw is doing an Other Half tap takeover this weekend.

Starting the trip with a flight at Piwnica Świdnicka Wrocław. It’s quite touristy, but it’s a brewery in a 750-year old building. I couldn’t resist. Brewery #3833 and my first in Poland!

Your beer recommendations in Wroclaw, Warsaw, and Vilnius would be much appreciated!

I don’t care what the calendar says, it’s Festooning season.

The end of an era at brewery #2. Hope the new owners keep the spirit of the place alive.

San Diego Asheville Portland Denver

Once again, a suburban New York brewery is hosting their beer festival with no option to arrive in anything other than a car. I’m begging our local breweries and festival organizers to be responsible and do better. I laid out my case in a newsletter last summer:

Was having too much fun to take many pictures at yesterday’s Pizza Party at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center on Staten Island. In its 5th year, this has become one of my favorite beer events.

Drinking a West Coast IPA out of a 22-ounce bottle. It’s 2012 all over again.