FROM SEASON TO SEASON (Blue Point’s Spring Fling and Brooklyn’s Mary’s Maple Porter at Good Beer)

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

I like good beer. I also like Good Beer, the subterranean East Village beer shop that sells a wide range of domestic and international craft beer. Not only is this place a wonderful place to buy beer – it’s also a wonderful place to drink beer. They serve pints and flights from their rotating taps that are used to fill growlers. This is one of those magical stores where you can drink while you shop.

There are tables in the back (in case you’re finished shopping and just want to drink) and cooler upon cooler of bottled beers you’ll want to own. I even purchased Brooklyn’s BAMBoozle, which is only available by the bottle. I’m saving that for a nice dinner one night, so can’t comment on it quite yet. But the bottle is nice.

I can comment on the two beers I tasted while at Good Beer. In addition to being from excellent local breweries, I thought the two sort of bookended the season. April in New York is always that weird time when it could still be cold and rainy or it could be warm and sunny. You just never know. And so, one of these beers would be perfect depending on the unpredictable weather.

The first was from Blue Point Brewery out in Long Island. I’m sort of amazed this is the first beer I’m tasting from them on this journey. It’s their Spring Fling and it’s a beautiful copper ale. It had lots of activity with carbonation and it smelled hoppy with grapefruit dominance. I was expecting a big, bold IPA. But the flavors were much more mellow than the nose hinted at. There were mild bitter qualities on the palette, but they disappeared with a clean, bready finish. The body was quite light and almost weak. But it was a pleasant, very drinkable spring brew.

I got a quick taste of Brooklyn’s Mary’s Maple Porter in Florida of all places. I was pleased to see it on a menu down there and so had to include it in a beer sampler at World of Beer. But I ordered it again here because as the winter fades, this might be the last time I get to fully taste it (it’s part of their Brewmaster’s Reserve series and will most likely not be made again).

The porter was dark and cloudy with a nice tan head around the glass. It smelled of maple syrup (which it contains quite a bit of). Strangely, it almost smelled “sticky” to me. Those smells were combined with milk chocolate and hickory. The beer tasted smokier than I expected with an almost marshmallow finish. Maple was present in the backbone with some cherry and roast flavors at the end. It was a pretty delicious concoction that did not suffer from over sweetness.

Good Beer lives up to its name. But the simplicity of its title does not do justice to the fun and excitement to be had in this modest little beer store.

Is Blue Point Brewery’s Spring Fling the best beer in NY? It’s a nice welcoming of spring with mild bitterness and a light breadiness. 8 out of 10.

Is Brooklyn Brewery’s Mary’s Maple Porter the best beer in NY? It might be temporarily as it will soon disappear, but those rich, maple flavors don’t overwhelm and leave a clean finish earning it a 9 out of 10.