Calling all beer aficionados willing to hop on the LIRR for a good brew. Edible East End (the shore-based sister to this magazine) and the Brooklyn Brewery invite you to the Bellmore, Long Island craft beer bar Effin Gruven on Thursday, April 26, to celebrate the Nassau and Suffolk County rollout of the latest Brewmaster Reserve release from the brewery. (Register for the free tasting here, as space is limited.)
Garrett Oliver, the celebrated brewmaster and editor of the new Oxford Companion to Beer, created the Reserve Series for seasonal, limited-edition, tap-only beers that allowed him to continue spinning off creative riffs on traditional beermaking, without it distracting from his higher volume offerings (what the brewery calls its perennial offerings), and as a further complement to the seasonal, small-release bottle-fermented beers like Sorachi Ace (made with a rare, lemony Japanese-bred hop), Brooklyn Local 1 (a combination of “Belgian flair, Brooklyn fortitude”) and Mary’s Maple Porter (made with Empire State syrup), that restaurants might offer as part of beer dinners or for tables that want to pair beer—instead of wine–with their courses. A new Brewmaster Reserve is released every quarter or so, and lucky restaurants and beer bars have been pouring them for eager patrons.
At Effin Gruven, we’ll try the new Brooklyn Gold Standard, according to the brewery, “unusually hoppy an unfiltered lager made with Spring in mind.” Part of the collaboration between Edible magazines and Brooklyn Brewery around the region, including in Boston, New Jersey and Queens, these Quarterly Carousels are celebrations of food, drink and stories. The Effin Gruven event will feature selected locally made bar snacks curated by Edible. (Thus far confirmed makers are Hormans Pickles, North Fork chips, Taste of North Fork, Uncle Jerry’s Pretzels, Slant Shack beef jerky, and Cornell oysters.
The April 26 tasting is also a chance to try Effin Gruven, mentioned briefly in Ben Keene‘s Long Island beer bar roundup for Edible East End, but admired by beer lovers in Nassau and Suffolk Counties alike. Keene added that Effin Gruven is “a very no-frills bar with a deep selection of craft beers, especially from the Northeast.” Edible East End beer contributor Niko Krommydas had this to say: “I love Effin Gruven. Joe, the owner, possesses immense passion for New York beer and his bar, displayed through his local-dominant beer list, and frequent rotation of his drafts.”
We hope to see you there.
The Quarterly Carousel at Effin Gruven, Thursday, April 26, 7-9 p.m. Admission is free, but space is limited. Register here.
