DISH OF THE WEEK: W3 from TRANSMITTER BREWING COMPANY

Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City

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

Wow! I’m not sure how I’ve never posted a review of one of the city’s most interesting breweries. I’ve known Transmitter and the guys who run it for years. Since they first opened in a tiny garage on the border of Queens and Brooklyn. I even made this short video documenting their brewery in the very early days.

Their original brewery was literally under the Pulaski Bridge nestled into an industrial complex. It was very cool for people in the know.

And the beers were also rather singular. Instead of focusing on the latest hops or grain blend, they turned their attention to another of beer’s main ingredients that often gets left out of the big conversations: yeast.

I purchased the W3 when I finally had the chance to visit their newest location in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The space is beautiful inside Building 77 alongside other food and drink producers like Russ & Daughters. While there I picked up a few cans to enjoy at home. Lucky I did because who would have known drinking at home would be the only option for the last few months?

All their beers are coded by letter and number – the letter refers to the style (which they evolve and play off of) and the number is their iteration of that particular style. So you might sometimes find W3 and sometimes W8.

The W in this case refers to Wit, a yeasty wheat beer usually modeled after Belgian styles. This third iteration features hibiscus and orange.

I finally cracked it open on one of the first summer days when we decided to make a salad and blast the AC. It was a perfect pairing and even better than I had anticipated.

In all truthfulness, I’m not generally a fan of hibiscus or anything overly tart. But this worked perfectly for me.

It poured just a touch rouge – a lot less red than I expected. The nose was strong with orange pith and hints of hibiscus. But when sipping it, it’s mostly dry with a pink grapefruit finish after a strong hibiscus note. It evolves with a tiny bit of sweetness at the end and a pleasant floral aftertaste. It went down very easily.

A proper review of Transmitter is well overdue and I hope to be able to properly visit the brewery again soon. But regardless, this beer is very well received, as their logo goes.

Is Transmitter Brewing‘s W3 the best beer in NY? It’s one of my favorite wheat beers I’ve tried in a while. Refreshing, light, with a balanced tartness and a yeasty backbone. 8 out of 10.