New York City was a wasteland for beer aficionados even into the late 1990s, when great breweries and trendy beer bars had overtaken smaller cities, such as San Francisco, Portland (Oregon or Maine) and, yes, Boston, too. But great beer failed to make big inroads in the Big Apple, the city that’s supposed to set trends, not follow them.

Oh, sure, you could certainly find good beer, mostly in Greenwich Village and in some cool spots over the river in Brooklyn. And I spent countless weekends over the past 20 years scouring Manhattan for its best beer bars. But you really had to go look for good beer back then, whereas in great beer towns, it found you. 

However, New York City’s reputation as a great beer town has certainly changed over the past decade, if recent visits are any indication – including a trip this past weekend.

It began with the Belgian beer movement in the late 1990s. All of a sudden there was a Belgian beer cafe on every other Manhattan street corner serving Chimay and Duvel. But you really have to credit Brooklyn Brewery, too. In fact, the brewery just celebrated a huge expansion last week, with Mayor Bloomberg himself on hand. And its brewmaster, Garrett Oliver, has become a celebrity in the beer world, especially in New York.

Brooklyn beers are found everywhere now, even in Manhattan. Oliver is also at the vanguard of the beer-and-food movement that’s washed over the city. His book “The Brewmaster’s Table” is a must-read for any serious beer-and-food aficionado.

Most importantly, the eye test seems to confirm that New York restaurateurs and consumers are far more sophisticated about beer today than they were just 10 years ago, when Heineken passed for good beer at most Manhattan watering holes.

In fact, to an outside beer-loving observer who’s spent countless hours in Manhattan since the late 1980s, the changes in the marketplace are dramatic. You no longer have to seek out good beer in Manhattan. Good beer finds you … and more on that with the next post soon!

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