The Brewery At Citi Field

far shot of the Ebbs Citi Field bar, with a tv above the taps, and a few cans on the bar

I’ve reported on the brewery at Citi Field before, but it’s worth a refresher. The Mikkeller NYC space, owned by Bruce Wilpon and Tomas Larson, was closed early in the pandemic despite Ebbs Brewery, owned by Bruce Wilpon and Tomas Larson, using the space to brew beer. Even as fans returned to Citi Field, and Ebbs beer was present, the space remained closed until Opening Day 2022.

If you remember, the Mikkeller spot, while currently not a great spot to visit when the Mets aren’t home, was a great spot for beer and food. They had a large tap list of Mikkeller beers and also guest beers, with all sorts of great things to try. They made two specialty beers for Citi Field, and a special beer for The 7 Line Army. All those are now gone, as even though the location has now reopened as Ebbs Citi Field.

Our friend Steve Rogers shared this photo of the place before the last game of the first homestand.

Let’s zoom in a bit at that “menu”.

Ebbs Citi Field Menu as of 4/21/2022

Okay, what poorly designed mess of text is that? Why is Watermelon and Mango spelled with a 4? Did they really run out of As? They couldn’t of sprung for a couple more packs of lettering? It’s Ambassador not Abmassador. Those are upside down Vs.

I guess if you’re at a loss of letters you have to abbreviate ,but no one knows HVB means Hudson Valley Brewery without googling Amulet, a sour farmhouse ale. Aval Gold is a cider, Jiant Himacaya is a hard kombucha. And the Interboro is an 11% imperial stout. That’s quite the variety grouped together. Also there are no prices, never mind ABV for anything.

Those numbers after the Ebbs beers are different beers. Ebbs has decided not to name beers, for..reasons. I dare you to figure out the difference between Lager 1 and Lager 3 without a detailed description. Does this mean the bartender has to explain it to literally everyone that’s ordering? Gose 1 has watermelon, which isn’t the standard Gose recipe, so it might be nice to know that?

Ebbs whole aesthetic is this simple “our recipe is just the style and the recipe number” as per their “our story” on their website, which is full of snarky answers and avoiding their own questions. For instance, they’re snarky about what Ebbs means. “It sure does.” they say. Ebbs brand identity was designed by Pentagram, and according to them:

The name “Ebbs” is short, strong and simple, evoking water and New York’s rivers and harbor, as well as Ebbets Field, the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team.

It’s interesting given who owns them and where they started that they’re being coy about the name.

Fountain hard seltzer is also owned by the same people, hence it’s inclusion here. I imagine the “Spritz” option means they’ll water down some wine for you with one of the seltzers.

This also means there are a lot of empty taps. Maybe they’ll expand this by the summer, as things get up and running, but it’s not like Opening Day showing up was a surprise, and they’ve literally operated in this space since 2018. As of 4/21/2022, there have been no additional labels filed with the TTB, which would be required to can more Ebbs beer.

Those prices are cheaper than a beer inside the park, but it’s hard to say I’d actually recommend stopping here instead of just going inside and taking in the park and batting practice. Perhaps if you’re not ready to head home after, it’s good for a nightcap, and hopefully they add some new guest taps going forward.

It perhaps also worth noting that the Citi Field guide on the Mets website is updated to reflect Ebbs being open, though other recent changes have not been added. There was very little promotion of Ebbs going to sudden (re?)open in the space until a few days prior on Instagram.

Thanks again to Steve Rogers for the recon, I’ll head out to Citi Field myself next homestand and will at least walk through the place.

GPT3 Interview With Tom Seaver on Opening Day

photo of Citi Field from the first base promenade, spanning from the LF stands to the RF stands, with a plane flying over head

Bit of a meme in the Machine Learning world this week using an algorithm to mimic a conversation with dead, fictional or imaginary people, so I thought I’d take a spin at interviewing Tom Seaver for Opening Day. Everything after this was either prompt, or if green, generated by OpenAI’s GPT-3.

The following is an interview with Hall of Famer and Mets Legend Tom Seaver. Known as “The Franchise” Seaver led the Mets to their first World Series victory in 1969.

Human: “Hi Tom, Thanks for chatting with me even though you’re dead. Tell me about yourself, how are you doing?”

Tom Seaver: “I’m doing well, thanks for asking. I’m currently enjoying my afterlife in baseball heaven. I’m surrounded by all the greats of the game and we’re all having a great time.”

Human: “Tom Brady tried to trademark ‘Tom Terrific’ a few years back, but was denied because that was and is your nickname. Any thoughts on that?”

Tom Seaver: “I was a little surprised that he would try to trademark my nickname, but I guess he’s just a huge fan. I don’t really have any strong feelings about it one way or the other.”

Human: “The Mets are unveiling a statue of you tomorrow at Opening Day, outside Citi Field. How does this make you feel?”

Tom Seaver: “I’m very honored and humbled by the whole thing. It’s going to be a great day for Mets fans and I’m looking forward to being there in spirit.”

Human: “Any regrets that this wasn’t done while you were still alive?”

Tom Seaver: “No, not at all. I’m just happy that the Mets are finally doing this and that fans will be able to enjoy it for years to come.”

Human: “What are your fondest memories of playing for the Mets, besides the World Series of course?”

Tom Seaver: “There are too many to list, but some of my favorites include pitching at Shea Stadium in front of all the passionate fans and simply being a part of such a great team. Winning the World Series was obviously the icing on the cake.”

Human: “Have you watching any of the games this season? What do you think of the 2022 Mets?”

Tom Seaver: “I’ve been keeping up with them and I think they’re a great team. They have a lot of young talent and they’re definitely capable of making a run at the playoffs. I’m excited to see what they can do.”

Human: “Anybody on the team remind you of yourself a little bit?”

Tom Seaver: “I see a lot of myself in Jacob deGrom. He’s a great pitcher with a lot of potential. I think he has a chance to be one of the best in the game for many years to come.”

Human: “Let’s say you are corporeal for one Mets game, what concession at Citi Field would you eat?”

Tom Seaver: “I’m a big fan of hot dogs, so I would have to go with the Citi Field Classic Dog. It’s a great hot dog and it’s perfect for a ballgame.”

Human: “Thanks for your time Tom. Any last words for Mets fans?”

Tom Seaver: “I just want to say thanks to all the fans for their support over the years. It’s been an honor to be a part of this great organization and I’ll never forget the memories we made together. Let’s Go Mets!”