The Good Beer Seal was formed to recognize establishments serving artisan suds and to promote NYC as a beer lover’s destination. It was started by the proprietors of some incredible beer bars: Gary Gillis (Burp Castle and Standings), Ray Deter (DBA and DBA Brooklyn) and Jimmy Carbone (Jimmy’s No. 43). In order for the bar to feature this thirsty seal of approval, the list must contain at least 80% craft or special imported beers, a good percentage of the beer served must come from a draft or cask system, the bar must have a strong community presence as well as a good “pub” vibe, and last but not least, serving good beer should be central to the bar’s operating philosophy.
The list of good beer bars includes the usual players – Blind Tiger, Spuyten Duyvil, Against the Grain, etc. – for a full list, click here. The founders wrote a letter to Mayor Mike Bloomberg describing their efforts and he issued a proclamation that July 2009 is “NYC Good Beer Month”. Two major events are lined up so far – a grill-off featuring amateur chefs at Water Taxi Beach in Long Island City to benefit Slow Food NYC and “Good Beer at BAM” in collaboration with Edible Brooklyn and Manhattan Magazines (for tickets, click here). There’s a blog about the project as well and it lists what the good beer bars are serving up in July.
A Thirsty Spirit 