July is good beer month was a blast! So many great events, our town is really becoming a craft beer destination.
Last night was the final event of good beer month. Edible Manhattan hosted Good Beer Edible. It started with the sixth annual Good beer seal awards. Eight bars got the seal this year. When you see the Good beer seal at a bar you know that they are independently owned, have at least 80% craft beer pouring, clean lines and are dedicated to community and good beer. Congratulations to them all. It was my honor this year to participate in the nomination of bars for the good beer seal.
After the awards ceremony we enjoyed samples from over thirty breweries and cideries and from over twenty food establishments. Great beer was being poured but Doug and I were really intrigued by the local (New England) ciders being produced. From sweet to dry, still to sparkling, there were some really tasty options. I've really been digging cider lately.
There was excellent food but I could only eat about a quarter of it. Vegetarian me. But what I had was delicious, Samosas, Mac and cheese balls, pretzels, good stuff.
Good beer month may be over but I still have my Good Beer passport. Only $35 and you get a pint from over 30 bars. It is good until the end of August and we have been doing our best to get to every bar on the list. It's a good excuse to try bars in different areas of the city that we don't get to as often as we like.
Having lived in new York most of my life, I have seen the changes in the beer and home brew community. More beer bars with excellent selections and more and more people home brewing. These are great things and it makes me proud to be a part of our beer community. You should be proud too.
Special thanks to Jimmy Carbone and Astrid Cook for all that they do. And thanks to all of you for supporting your local beer bars and home brew shops, you are what makes all of this happen. Good beer month may be over but as far as I'm concerned, every month is good beer month!
Drink what you love!
John