We may be going to Brooklyn Saturday or Sunday just for something to do. It looks like there are some craft breweries in the area and the idea is to walk/Uber to as many as we can without falling over. We were to Bay Ridge once but otherwise have no idea about the area. Any tips or pointers about places to go or avoid? Is Governors Island Beer Company worth the trip?
Not a brewery but the Widow Jane distillery and chocolatier place is very nice
The Park Slope Ale House used to be called The Park Slope Brewery when they brewed beer in their basement. They had to move the brewing off site because they couldn’t brew enough in the two stills. I’m not sure if they still brew their own anymore, though.
Of course there’s The Brooklyn Brewery in Williamsburg. It’s not a nice, friendly pub like Park Slope but their beer is kinda will known.
I liked Circa Brewing Company when I was there a couple years ago.
OP reporting back. I learned a couple of things. First, there are two Keg and Lantern locations. Second, when your navigator enters the name of the place instead of the address (which you supplied) in the GPS , you are more likely than not to spend an extra 45 minutes in traffic before you figure out you are going to the wrong one and have to double back to the right one. Which, coincidently, was just around the corner from where you got off 278 (exit 26) due to an accident but you needed to turn left instead of right while going to the wrong location. BTW, Keg & Lantern, Red Hook. had what I thought were the best beers. Good food, too.
Third, some of these places were taprooms, only. No food. No problem, that’s the way many of the breweries are in NJ so we are used to that. Fourth, DUMBO is an area under the Manhattan Bridge. I’d never heard of it before. Fifth, 3rd Street is NOT the same as 3rd Avenue. I knew this but the navigator, who shall remain nameless, Googled and saw a place on 3rd Street with an address number pretty close to that of our hotel on 3rd Avenue that looked good. She put it in Uber and we were off from our location under the Brooklyn Bridge (which we walked over, roundtrip at night - pretty cool). We passed that exit 26 again and I said, “This isn’t right”. The driver, in fair but not great English, said, “Yes, yes. This is what you put.” We kept saying “Something’s wrong” but on went until we approached and went under the Verrazaano Bridge. If you are like me and know nothing about New York, let me tell you. This is waaaay off from where we intended to be going. The driver turned off his Uber app and we went off the books with a cash payment for the ride back. We apologized for the confusion and he said it was alright as we were his last fare for the night anyway. Eventually, we got turned around and dropped at our hotel. I tipped well.
We walked to a neighborhood bar hoping to get something to eat. On the way, we passed a guy who thought we were after him or something and wanted us to walk in front of him,. I never thought that while, walking on the deserted streets of Brooklyn late at night, anyone would be afraid of us. At the local bar (no food, BTW) I realized I left my damn phone in the Uber and the driver was off to his home in Queens and we couldn’t reach him. Oh, well. Several beers later we decided to call it a night but were still looking for something to eat. The bartender suggested a Bodega a couple of blocks away.
We started walking when the navigator realized that she left her brand new gloves back in the bar. We went back and retrieved them from the floor under her barstool. We got some kind of hot wrap things and went back to the room. They were, actually, pretty good. But then again, at that stage of the game, anything would have been.
I had a pretty much sleepless night - thinking about how to get my phone back, heater making all kinds of noises, navigator snoring, food sitting like a brick in my stomach etc. Once awake, the navigator realized she lost her gloves. Again. We wrote them off. Finally, she was able to reach the Uber driver. He was in Manhattan but agreed to bring it me at the hotel. I paid him what the ride would have cost plus a handsome tip.
We closed out the trip with a ferry trip to Governor’s Island. Beautiful day.
Breweries visited
K&L - Red Hook, pier area, best beer (I prefer German style lagers)
Strong Rope - Red Hook pier area, old waterfront warehouse, great view, good beer
Wild East - Gowanus - too crowded, didn’t even get a beer.
Evil Twin - DUMBO - It seemed like half the beers were sours. Busy, loud, kind of high tech(?) - not warehouse vibe at all
Threes - Gowanus neighborhood, pretty good beer, comfortable
Randolph’s - DUMBO - bar that also makes their own beer. Great locale with rooftop bar (not open) with views of both bridges and Manhattan. I’ll go again when its warmer.
Looked for Finback but couldn’t find it.
Local bar
Canal Bar - locals place, friendly people.
There’s more but I decided to leave out the silly string assault, puke(?) in the Uber, crazy bridge toll/parking rates and slight bumper scratch. Its always an adventure.
Thanks for the report back. Maybe you shoulda switched out your navigator for the Uber driver.