The Brew Noob

Sometimes you want a beer on draft, and the best place for that is in a pint glass (or pitcher) in the bar.  Other times you need to take your beer along with you, and for that we need six-packs and bottles of beer.  Recently LivingSocial posted a question to it’s readers to find the best to-go beers in NYC, and it got me thinking…

When I first started drinking beer I still lived in the auto-centric city of St. Louis, which meant much of my beer purchases would take place in the supermarket or convinience store.  As my tastes grew a bit more specialized I spent more time in micro-breweries and bringing home growlers.  Even after I moved to DC, most of my beer exploration came through the combination of grocery stores and bars, with few specialized outlets that cater to beer lovers like me.

New York City on the other hand has a unique culture around their Bodegas, the modern equivalent of the cornerstone and precursor to today’s convenience store.  While the Bodegas don’t offer much in the way of groceries compared to the supermarket, they sometimes sport decent beer cases, making beer drinking at home less of an endeavor.

Of course for truly unique beer tastes, I still seek out specialty stores which offer more diverse selections of beers.  A few of my favorites living in Brooklyn are:

• Bierkraft - A beer mecca in Park Slope with a refrigerator case, tasting classes, and multiple taps for growlers
• Eagle Provisions - Local Polish grocer has a large selection of beers from around the world, and from nearly all 50 US states
• Trader Joes - Sometimes you just need to pick up a quick sixer to go, you know?

What are some of your favorite places to grab beers to-go?

Live in NYC? Vote for your favorite beer by Heartland Brewery and get a free beer!

via brewyork:

No, this isn’t some sort of news story about awful voter fraud. But Heartland Brewery is giving you a coupon for a free beer (with food purchase) if you vote for your favorite Heartland beer in their poll on the brewpub chain’s Facebook page.

They’ll post the coupon for the winning beer…

Sounds like a Good Place to buy Beer.  I’ll have to check this new East Village Beer shop soon.

Instead I’ll be sharing bottles of Dogfish Head at the new Park Slope craft beer Meetup, along with other Brooklynite’s.  But here’s some other options for my fellow NYC beer geeks:

via brewyork:

You’re going to love this weekend if you’re a cask beer fan. With two big cask events going on in the New York area, you have the option of 25 different cask-conditioned ales to whet your whistle.

But if you prefer your beer cold and out of a can, we’ve got you covered there, too.

Read more on Brew York, New York (FHGGTT88BKTY)