THE BEER MARKET (Jonas Bronck’s Pelham Bay IPA at New York Beer Company)

My search for the best beer in New York continues….

I know next to nothing about the stock exchange and finances. I can tell tourists downtown how to get to the NYSE building, but that’s about it. Beer, however, is something I fully appreciate and understand. The folks behind The New York Beer Company, the new craft beer bar in the underserved neighborhood of the Theater District, are attempting to bring those two worlds together. Beer and the stock market.

Sounds strange, but it’s actually kind of cool. A select 12 of their 40 draft lines are on “The Beer Market” which means their price fluctuates depending on how popular the beer is. So if lots of people are ordering a certain beer, the price will rise, and if less people are interested, the price will drop. This sounds perfect for somebody like me who generally drinks the lesser known avant garde beers.

And I was pleased to see that the Bronx based brewery Jonas Bronck’s (named after the borough’s namesake) had an IPA up on the market. And it was only $4.75. I guess people at this larger than expected theme bar (it felt like NASDAQ Disney World in Las Vegas) aren’t ordering this one yet.

But they should. The Pelham Bay IPA is a very drinkable east coast style so it doesn’t have that aggressive bitterness, but a balanced distribution of hop flavors.

The clear, golden beer had a very light and tight head on top. The nose was aromatic with some grapefruit notes. I found the beer quite balanced with a caramel malt sweetness at first but rounding out quickly with a dry bitter grassiness at the end. Again, it was not as hoppy and bitter as a typical West Coast style IPA, but it had some nice lively flavors.

I actually could have had a few more rounds of this, but then I quickly realized I’d be causing my own demise as the beer price steadily increased as my consumption increased. Now I’m slowly beginning to understand how this stock market thing works.

Is Jonas Bronck’s Pelham Bay IPA the best beer in NY? It’s a very nice IPA with balanced sweetness and bitterness. I found it very drinkable and so it earns a 9 out of 10.