A big thank you to the five bars that updated their beer menus most often in June: Puck Fair, Blind Tiger, East Village Tavern, Jimmy’s No. 43, and Fourth Ave Pub. Thank you all for helping the craft beer community in NYC and for making it easier to find great beer.

Puck Fair is an Irish bar that offers way more than your typical no frills Irish bar. It’s almost an Irish bar and beer bar hybrid. It serves the beers most people recognize to appease the after work masses and also has an amazing list of craft beers that surpasses most beer bars. This not only makes everyone happy, but also creates a few converts who are peer pressured into trying a great craft beer.

East Village Tavern’s continually rotating selection of American draft lines is never stale. Make sure to check out their happy hour which, among other things, offers the cheapest glass of Dogfish 90 Minute in NYC.

Blind Tiger has an influx of new beers on tap every Wednesday for their brewery events. They continue to add more new beers to BeerMenus than any other bar.

Jimmy’s No. 43 holds impressive beer events run by the NYC Degustation Advisory Team. The events feature incredible pairings of beer with cheese, chocolate, and bacon. Check the events section to find out more info or go straight to their event on July 1st.

4th Avenue Pub offers 24 rotating craft beer lines offering some of the most obscure beers on tap. If you’re near Park Slope, this is a great place to find something new.

We hope you check out all these bars and reward them for making sure you know exactly what beers they offer.

Many thanks,
The BeerMenus team

Want your photos to appear on BeerMenus? You can now submit photos for bars and restaurants. We’re looking for creative photos that capture the vibe of a bar or restaurant in new and different ways. Is there an amazing bartender who knows about every beer on Earth? A hot bartender? A bar fly who is almost a part of the bar? Include them! Looking to shamelessly get your face on BeerMenus? Feel free to submit photos of you and your mates.

We’ll review submissions and add them to beer menu pages. The best submissions will win a BeerMenus t-shirt.

What are you waiting for? Submit a Photo

Cheers,

The BeerMenus Team

East Village Tavern Welcomes Stoudt’s Brewing Company of Adamstown, PA.

Offering

$5 Stoudt’s all night long! $5 Plates of stinky cheese and crusty bread. $5 Baskets of fresh baked pretzel’s with homemade mustard. Full Food Menu.

6 lines from Stoudt’s Brewing Company…

1) Pils- The driest and most delicate of our lagers. Stoudt’s Pils is characteristic of the traditional European Pilseners. Straw-yellow and assertively hopped with Saaz hops, this frequent medal winner has a refreshing bitterness and refined hop aroma.

2) Weizen – This Bavarian-style unfiltered wheat beer (hefe weizen) is brewed with 50% malted barley and 50% malted wheat. The authentic German strain of yeast imparts a flavor and aroma reminiscent of cloves, bananas and bubble gum. Traditionally, weizen beers feature a medium body and high level of spritzy carbonation, and are served as a thirst quencher of sometimes a breakfast beer in the summer.

3) Smooth Hoperator – This medium bodied copper colored strong lager is in a class all by itself. First released in celebration of our 20th Anniversary. Ed Stoudt calls this beer an “American-style Doppelbock” He believes it to be the first high gravity lager brewed with German Malts and American Hops. This brew has a delicate malty palate up front, which is abruptly overshadowed by the dominating ho presence that can be attributed to 1.5lbs/bbl of hops that were added to this brew for aroma & flavor. A hop lover’s beer indeed.

4) American Pale Ale – This uniquely American beer offers a crisp, medium-body with a light amber color. It is assertively hopped with Pacific Northwest Cascades for a firm bitterness and delightfully floral aroma.

5) Triple – A strong, full-bodied Belgian Abbey-style beer. The traditional yeast strain that is used imparts a rich array of spicy and fruit-like flavors. The prominent clove and melon notes are complemented by the sweetness and alcoholic warmth of the beer. The appealing color of glowing orange makes this brew irresistible.

6) Blonde Double Maibock – A rich, deep golden-blonde lager, Stoudt’s version of the German classic style includes a generous amount of honey for added flavor notes. The full-bodied Mai-bock beer is significantly stronger than Stoudt’s Gold Lager. Brewed with the finest German 2-row malt and a subtle, yet noticeable touch of noble hops, this year-round beer was traditionally made to cut through the chill of early spring.

Come on out June 12th, and support East Village Tavern and Stoudt’s Brewing Co!

Read more about Stoudt’s

In New York state, breweries cannot sell beer directly to bars. Breweries are required to sell their beer to a distribution company that then sells the beer to bars. A brewery’s fate is largely in the hands of their distributor. Currently, if a brewery isn’t well represented by their distributor, it is often almost impossible for the brewery to switch distributors. A new bill up for vote in the New York State Senate is offering small breweries the ability to end their relationship with a distributor if they fairly compensate the distributor to exit the agreement. The bill would give small breweries the ability to choose the best distributor for their beer and still make sure that distributors are fairly compensated.

What would this bill do for you, the craft beer lover? Small breweries could avoid getting stuck in contracts where their beer is lost in the shuffle and would be free to get the best representation. It would likely help more small breweries make it, increasing the diversity and availability of great beers in the market.

Scott Vaccaro, of Captain Lawrence Brewery in Westchester, NY, recently wrote an email urging beer lovers to support the legislation:

Dear Beer Activists,

Please read the information below, provided by the New York State Brewers Association, concerning an important piece of legislation which, if passed, would help ensure greater access and choice for consumers of craft beer in the Empire State.

New York Craft Brewers need your help!

We are asking for your support of the NY Craft Brewers’ efforts to pass an important amendment to the laws governing beer distribution in New York.

Under current law, it is very difficult, expensive and sometimes practically impossible for small brewers to switch from one wholesale distributor of their beer to another. The laws now in effect were enacted about 15 years ago to protect beer wholesalers from unfair distribution contract termination by large, multinational breweries. Wholesalers were legitimately concerned because all too often when a brewery moved its brands, the former wholesaler went totally uncompensated for all the time and effort spent in building sales of those brands.

In 2008, however, the beer and brewing landscape is very different. Although there are fewer wholesalers, those remaining are much larger companies and while multinational breweries certainly exist, the rise and proliferation of small, local craft breweries means that many brewers are smaller than the wholesalers they do business with.

Yet, these small craft brewers are required to operate under the same “franchise” laws that were created to protect the wholesalers from large brewers. Unfortunately, today these same franchise laws are being used by wholesalers to lock in the distribution rights and restrict access to market for these small brewers. Clearly, this is not good for small brewers, but it’s also very bad for consumers because it means less choice in terms of fewer brands and fewer breweries available on store shelves.

S 6101 proposes a change to that law so that any small brewer that is less than 5% of a wholesaler’s business will have the ability to terminate a relationship with a wholesaler providing they pay fair compensation to that wholesaler, i.e. what the brand has transferred for with other wholesalers over the past 12 months or a minimum of 2 times gross profit. Thus, S 6101 relieves small brewers from the franchise laws but importantly would continue to compensate the wholesaler for value of the brand rights if they are terminated.

On behalf of the New York State Brewers Association, please call or email your New York State Senator at his or her Albany office as soon as possible and urge them to support S 6101. This bill has already passed the Assembly and could come up for a vote in the Senate at any time.

Senators’ contact information can be found at http://www.senate.state.ny.us/senatehomepage.nsf/senators?OpenForm

If you are unsure of who your Senator is, please visit: http://www.senate.state.ny.us/sdlookup.nsf/Public_search?OpenForm

KEY POINTS TO INCLUDE IN YOUR COMMUNICATION:

I am a craft beer drinker and it upsets me that some craft beers are being held hostage by the franchise laws.
The small craft brewers in New York State are not only making great beer, they are making a contribution to the state’s economy.
The franchise laws as they exist in NY today are a burden on this growing industry and a restraint on small brewers being able to develop their business.
I urge you to amend these laws and vote yes for S 6101.
Thank you for your support of New York’s craft brewers and consumers.

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Thank you for all your support in the past. Right now we could really use your help more than ever to secure the future of our brewery. If you have the time please contact your State Senator and voice your support for S 6101.

Thanks,

Scott Vaccaro

Captain Lawrence Brewing Co.

99 Castleton St

Pleasantville, NY 10570

914-741-2337

www.CaptainLawrenceBrewing.com