NEW DATE: December 1st, 2012

Tickets are still available here - http://nyccraftbeerfest.com/tickets

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Unless your living under a rock, you probably know that the folks behind the NYC Craft Beer Festivals are throwing another beer fest soon, this one the “Winter Harvest” Edition, which will be held at Pier 57 on November 10th.

We were lucky enough to catch up with two of the brains behind the festival, Robert Howell from Hand Crafted Tasting Co. and Jim Pickett, Beverage Consultant from PipeLine Brand Agents to chat about the upcoming fest.

BeersIn: How did you become involved in the craft beer industry?

Robert:  Our event planning company does very large outdoor music festivals like Rock the Bells, Governors Ball, and Dave Matthews Band Caravan, and our guests love their craft beer. When two days of DMB caravan got cancelled due to Hurricane Irene, we decided to create some events we could do indoors and this is how the Inaugural NYC Craft Beer Festival was born.

BeersIn:  Tell our readers about the NYC Craft Beer Festival that was held in March, what do you think made it such a success?

Robert:  We knew we had a great deal of knowledge about creating events. We also knew that there were many people in NYC who knew much more about Craft Beer than we did. We sought these people out and asked a lot of questions about why some Beer festivals worked, and in what areas other event planners succeeded, or didn’t. We met with all the distributors, the leading Craft Beer aficionados/bar owners/ and bloggers. We asked a ton of questions. People in the craft beer community want these events to succeed as it helps everyone, and it spreads the love of Craft Beer. Everyone is so open and helpful. People like Jimmy Carbone of Jimmy’s No. 43 in the East Village, Chris O’Leary from BrewYorkNewYork, Beer Union, and the entire reporter team from NJ Craft Beer.com contributed a great deal of knowledge, and this input, and their suggestions helped us succeed. The Craft Beer Community is amazing, and their passion is unlimited.

BeersIn:  Promotion has begun for the NYC Craft Beer Festival – Winter Harvest , what can beer lovers expect from this event?

Jim:  We are sticking to our mantra of – Seasonal, Unique, Limited Release.  Our Holy Grail is if we can get all 3 of those characteristics in each beer.  We ask the brewers and distributors to provide us with their best available offerings and start the selection process from there.  Our goal is no less than 75 top notch Breweries and 150-200 beers represented.  Our Connoisseur Lounge will feature flowing taps and several bottles of Very Limited and other World Class beers. We are also hoping to debut a few new beers if those opportunities are available.

BeersIn:  What did you learn from March’s event that will make Harvest Edition even better?

Robert:  One of our secret sauces is our expertise at queue management, and the reduction of lines. Some queues are unavoidable like when GA queues for the opening, but by having enough staff, this line clears in minutes. We also make sure there are enough “pour points” to insure that no one has to wait too long to get their taste of any one particular beer. Also, while we love our previous, historic Lexington Armory location and may return another time, it’s a military facility and as such has limited bathroom facilities for women. Our new location at Pier 57 will allow us to bring in additional facilities in an effort to reduce the bathroom waits, especially for the women.

BeersIn:  It looks like you have a great list of brewers already signed onto the event.  How many total breweries do you expect to have when all said and done?

Robert:  We expect approximately 75 brewers, and over 150 Beers

BeersIn: Tell us a bit about the venue.

Robert: The NYC Craft Beer Festival – Winter Harvest will take place at Pier 57, at 15th Street and the Westside highway. This is the same location as the Food Network’s Wine & Food festival, and we are excited to use the space to highlight Winter Seasonal Beers for our Craft Beer Loving guests.

BeersIn: There are so many beer events out there lately, especially in NYC. How do you differentiate?

Robert:  Our large festival expertise gives us a lot of experience in managing queues and preventing lines. We also cater this show specifically for a crowd that is all about the beers. As Jim mentioned previously, on the main floor we stick with Seasonal, and in our Connoisseurs Lounge (which is limited to 150 people per session) – Unique, Limited Release. Our tastings are all about the beer (though we do have food vendors so people can fill their stomachs with delicious things), but our focus is really on the beer. It’s really no frills. We don’t go after the Beer pong, flip cup crowd.

The guests we attract are walking around with small notebooks, and making personal tasting notes, and chatting with their friends about the flavor profiles, mouth feel, and other descriptors of the beer. As for the other beer events, we think it’s great that so many people are taking an interest in Craft Beer, and there are so many different opportunities to learn about the many unique characteristics of craft beers, and how they’re made.

BeersIn:  How do you feel about “Harvest” beers, such as Pumpkin and Oktoberfest brews, going on sale so early in the year?

Jim: I think it’s gotten out of hand.  From what I understand it has all become a race that was started by some of the bigger brands.  The earlier they come out, the more likely they are to lock-up the valuable shelf / tap real estate and consumer sampling.  I personally LOVE Harvest and Holiday beers when they are done well.  They are some of my favorite styles and can be an even deeper showcase of American ingredients and the Craft Beer Industry ingenuity.  But they are coming out WAY too early.  Which means they run out way too early.  I want to drink Harvest Beers in Sept / Oct / Nov and Holiday Beers in Nov / Dec / Jan.  Not July or August.  They are called SEASONAL for a reason.  Stick to the correct season.

BeersIn: Best beer you’ve drank in 2012?

Jim:  Dogfish Head Noble Rot, Great Divide Espresso Yeti, Southern Tier Oak-Aged PumKing

Robert: Founders KBS

BeersIn: Things your most looking forward to in the local beer scene? Nationally?

Robert: I’d like to see American Craft Brewers create more great tasting beers with an alcohol by volume between 3-4.0%. That way I could quaff for an entire football game without having to tap out, and switch to water. To paraphrase something I read by Chris Lohring, from Notch Brewing, I’d like to see more beers that “allow you to keep your wits, or take longer while trying to lose them.”

Thanks so much Robert and Jim – We look forward to the festival!

For brewer and ticket information visit the NYC Craft Beerfest website.

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11/21/12 Update!! Due to Hurricane Sandy, the NYC Craft Beer Festival has a new date and location!

NEW DATE: December 1st, 2012

Tickets are still available here - http://nyccraftbeerfest.com/tickets

After an outstanding turnout at their Spring and Summer events, the NYC American Craft Beer Festival & Brooklyn’s Waterfront Summer Craft Beer Festival, Hand Crafted is rightfully expecting the Harvest Edition to sellout in advance – So purchase your tickets ASAP!

There will be two sessions to the event on November 10th – 12:30PM – 4PM; and a 6-9:30PM session.  Approximately 150 American, Winter Craft Beers will be tasted from as many as 75 breweries.

Tickets can be purchased at their website – General Admission, VIP and Connoisseur tickets are available.

More information coming soon!

The New-York Historical Society presents Beer Here: Brewing New York’s History. This exhibit surveys the social, economic, political, and technological history of the production and consumption of beer, ale, and porter in the city from the seventeenth century to the present.

The exhibit concludes with a beer hall that features a selection of favorite New York City and State artisanal beers. The beer hall hours are:

Tuesday-Thursday and Saturdays: 2pm–6pm
Fridays: 2pm–8pm
Sundays: 2pm–5pm

Address for the Exhibit is:

New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
at Richard Gilder Way (77th Street)
New York, NY 10024

Beer Here: Brewing New York’s History is proudly sponsored by Crown Holdings, Inc. Additional support is provided by Brooklyn Brewery and Heartland Brewery.

Learn more about Beer Here at the New York Historical Website.

Chelsea Brewing Company

Free brewery tours every Saturday from 2 to 6 PM with $4 pint coupons given at the end of the tour.

The Chelsea Brewing Company is a 12,000 square foot restaurant & microbrewery. Chelsea Brewing brews up to 20 handcrafted premium beers, including the Checker Cab Blonde Ale, and a Sunset Red Ale.

Brooklyn Brewery’s flagship Lager is just one of many in a well-known lineup of craft beer.  They also brew a Brown Ale, Pale Ale, Pennant Ale, Pilsner, and the Brooklyner Weisse.  Brooklyn Brewery is also well known for their seasonal offerings, such as the Oktoberfest, and the Post Road Pumpkin Ale.

The Core beers of Saranac are the Pale Ale, Pomegranate Wheat, Adirondack Lager, Black Forest, Black & Tan, India Pale Ale and the Brown Ale.

The Seasonal offerings vary.  Currently, Saranac is offering a 12 pack collection called the “12 Beers of Winter” featuring the Winter Lager, Black Lager, Rye IPA, Big Moose Ale and the Saranac Maple Porter.