What is a Beer Book Blitz?

In 2015, I was in a friend's bakery. At the counter was a stack of "Brooklyn Beer Books."

I picked one up. The rest is history.

Well, it's a little more complicated than that.

I figured, at the time, that this would be a piece of cake. Lots of the bars in the book were in my neighborhood, and the summer still stretched out in front of me. So what if I missed a few out in the Rockaways?  Heck if I only used 4 or 5 of the coupons, I'd still come out ahead of my $28 investment.

As it turned out, I procrastinated, and found myself in the middle of December having used only one of the coupons, at my favorite local beer garden, Lock Yard. So, with 27 beers and less than that many days remaining (all beer book coupons expire at the end of the year), I scrambled.

I made a valiant effort, dubbing my adventure a "Beer Book Blitz," but I couldn't get to all of them - several bars had shuttered their doors.

Nevertheless, I had fun, logging my beers on the Untappd app, and posting on social media. Friends and family were either entertained and/or concerned.

A month or so later, in 2016, the website that presented this little adventure, Brokelyn, posted that the new beer books were on sale.

I rushed to the website where, I learned, that there was no "South Brooklyn & The Rockaways" edition in 2016. Just North and Middle Brooklyn.

Living in south Brooklyn, the 2015 book was very appealing, as there was a nice scattering of familiar establishments from which to choose. I pondered this new conundrum: would I take advantage of the geographical location if it were less convenient. Brooklyn's a big place. I couldn't even fathom trying to get the "Upper" Brooklyn book. Why no "Lower" Brooklyn? I tried to find out, but it was one big "Fuhgeddaboutit!"

So I bought the 2016 Middle Brooklyn book, tried to get some friends to go in on it with me, but ended up being solo again. Plus, it was two more beers for two more bucks.

Although I did manage to dispatch two of the coupons in the fall, I once again faced the prospect of 28 beers in December. I started earlier, but only got to about half of the places in the book. Still, Beer Book Blitz II was a mild hit on my social media and people seemed more excited about my frothy adventures.

And here we are in 2017, another Beer Book is in the mail, but I really wanted to commemorate the adventures a little more formally, so I have endeavored to do two things:

1) Go back and recap the first two years of the Beer Book Blitz, piecing together what I can

and

2) Documenting the 2017 adventures which will hopefully be less blitz-y and more successful. Plus I have three great friends joining me. They saw how much fun I was having and have hopped on board.

So, this will be the place marker for the new chapter. I will backdate old posts commemorating past Beer Book Blitz adventures, and post new adventures as they happen.

Cheers!

Volume 2, Conclusion

My second year of the Beer Book Blitz concluded on a Thursday. I took the day off and planned accordingly.

I started first at an eatery in Red Hook, called Hope & Anchor. The beer selection wasn't great, but I was able to wet my whistle with a Hofbrau Dunkel.

Getting to Red Hook involved taking a bus, so I bused back to Gowanus in Brooklyn and discovered Threes Brewing, a shining example of a place I have returned to numerous times, had I not discovered them in the Beer Book.

The bar and beer garden was still closed that early on a weekday (about 1:15 P.M.), but they have a coffee shop attached with a small tap and shop built in, so I was able to launch my as-yet-unknown love affair with Threes Brewing with their Chronic Myopia IPA. 

From there, I headed to Building on Bond, an establishment in Boerum Hill that had been too busy with the Sunday brunch crowd the last time I had tried to go. Again, this was more of an eatery with a decent beer selection than a beer-centric place. Nonetheless, I tried something new (to me), a traditional English ale called Old Speckled Hen. I wasn't terribly impressed. 

From there I headed to Fort Greene, but No. 7 Restaurant was closed, so it was on to Clinton Hill, where I was delighted with Mekelburg's, which looked like a basement grocery, until you find the taproom in the back, serving up a wide eclectic assortment of New York microbrews. 

I enjoyed a Short, Dark & Wired, from Other Half Brewing.

From there, I was going to head to The Emerson, but it wasn't open, and Covenhoven in Crown Heights was also still shuttered. By the time I had reached Covenhoven, I could have waited twenty minutes and gone in, but I was bladder-full, cold, and it was getting dark. I decided to try one last place in Crown Heights, and finally found warmth, a bathroom and a beer at Catfish, a New Orleans-themed establishment.

I rounded out the night with a Rockaway Black Gold Nitro Stout.

And that concluded the 2016 Beer Book Blitz. 16 out of 30 establishments. That was 2 more than 2015, but still a little underwhelming - considering the places that weren't open. Planning is key! Nonetheless, still a valiant effort for this old man. 2017 looked to be a better year!

Volume 2, Day 4

I took a day off from work to knock out some more Beer Book coupons.

Again, however, I learned the hard lesson of not planning properly.

My first two stops in the early afternoon were Bar Chord and Sycamore in the Ditmas Park section of Brooklyn.

Alas, after a long trek via bus, and on foot, both places were not open for business in the early afternoon. Sycamore was, but only the flower shop section of the flower shop-bar combo.

So, I headed toward Windsor Terrace and finally made it to Hamilton's, where I had an Old Rasputin from North Coast Brewing:

From there, I found The Adirondack, which was just opening, and I was delighted to have a tasty beverage from Grimm Artisanal Ales, their Cube Cuvee #2:

I wrapped things up at Krupa Grocery in Prospect Park South, enjoying a Bush Fire from Beau's All Natural:

And then this happened at Krupa's:

I had other errands to run, so that wrapped things up for the day. There was one more day of blitzing remaining in the year.

An "Early" Start, Volume 2

After a late start in 2015, I was determined to get a jump on 2016, and, after purchasing my Beer Book, did just that. Sort of.

I started October 15 in Park Slope with a two-shot, beginning at High Dive, where I enjoyed a Roadsmary's Baby from Two Roads Brewing:

From there, I went down the street to Alchemy Restaurant, where I enjoyed a Coney Island Freaktoberfest!

Volume 1, Day 5: The Last Beer

My dream of knocking out the whole book was clearly overambitious.

New Year's Eve was upon us, and I had time for one more beer, on my way home, at Red, White & Brew.

I sent the old year packing with a Blizzard of Hops from Troeg's.

And that was the end of my first Beer Book Blitz. On five of the last six days of the year, I had 14 beers in 14 bars.

It was my rookie season, I aimed to do better in 2016!

Volume 1, Day 4

I actually took the day off from work to conduct the Beer Book Blitz. I waited too long and figured I needed to put in some more effort.

Alas, when I got to Coney Island, both Freak Bar and Ruby's were closed for the season.

So I improvised and rode east, but the place I rode to in Sheepshead Bay, Anyway Cafe,  was also closed. Grrr.

Finally, after ten miles on the bike, I found a place open, Draft Barn on Avenue X. There I enjoyed a Mother's Milk from Keegan Ales:

From there I headed back to Coney Island, hoping Peggy O'Neill's would be open, finally. It was. I had a burger and washed it down with a 1609 Amber Ale from Coney Island Brewery.

And then I rode home:

Bill Cohen Tattoosday biked 17.1 miles with Strava.

December 30, 2015 · Strava · 

Report

Start and Finish

miles 17.10

hours 1:46:51

mi/hr 9.59

Elevation gain (ft) 75

But I wasn't done. I wandered over to Pippin's Pop-Up Pub and had a pint of Guinness:

And then called it a night after a Sixpoint Sweet Action at The Kettle Black.

That was it for December 30!

Volume 1, Day 2

After an initial slow start to the first day of the Beer Book Blitz, I was determined to have a little more local success.

I live in Bay Ridge, so I wanted to take care of the closest bars, on 3rd Avenue.

I started at The Harp Bar where I had a delicious Founder's Breakfast Stout:

From there I went to the Windy City Ale House, a Chicago-friendly sports bar, where I had this tasty Forbidden Root, which is one of those root beer-like brews.

And I wrapped up the afternoon at Ho' Brah, with this Pumpkin Ale from Smuttynose Brewing.

All the while, I was wondering how I was going to get more beers under my belt. Turns out, the weather was going to lend a hand.

Launching the Beer Book Blitz - Volume 1, Day 1

So, aside from using one of my beer book coupons at Lock Yard some time over the summer, I was looking at 27 coupons (out of 28 total), with six days remaining in 2015.

I decided to try to knock out as many as I could with what time was left in the year. It just so happened that I had recently become a fan of Newcastle United and they were playing my daughter Shayna's favorite team, Everton.

Me and Shayna enjoying the match

We knew the game was going to be on at Longbow Pub & Pantry, where I also had one of my beer book coupons. Killing two birds with one stone, as they say. I used my Longbow coupon for either a Tripel from Allagash Brewery or a Yeti from Great Divide Brewing Company (I had both). The Yeti is one of my favorites.

I was just getting a handle on the task before me.

Once the match was over, Shayna headed home and I stopped at the Yellow Hook Grille and had a Single Digit Dubbel from Smuttynose Brewing.

Yellow Hook Grille later closed in April 2016.

After a less than spectacular experience at Yellow Hook - the beer was fine but the ambiance was barely tolerable, I aimed for my third stop, Zito's Sandwich Shoppe, and I learned my first Beer Book Lesson: If you wait until the end of the year, the place may no longer be there.

As seen from the evidence below, where Zito's had been was now a restaurant called Bon Chovie.

It was an inauspicious start to the inaugural Beer Book Blitz, but I still had 9 coupons left for Bay Ridge and Sunset Park, so I was optimistic.