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Mets Add New Craft Beer Options

have a beer at Citi FieldLast night was a preview event for the new food options at Citi Field for the 2012.  I’ll get to some of that in a different post, (Or you can check some of the other obvious places, such as the confluence of all Mets and Sandwich news, Tedquarters.  Spoiler alert: We both agree on what was the best new food option.)  First off, the beer changes!

 

The Citi Field Beer List lists Blue Point Lager and Blue Point Toasted.  Those are actually the same beers as far as I know.  It’s Blue Point Toasted Lager.  One has a star and one does not, so I think this means it’ll be available at both the craft beer stands and at some normal places. (Catch of the Day is where it’s been)  Another weird one is Goose Island Sum Blonde Ale.  I don’t think Goose Island makes a blonde.  They make Goose Island Summertime, which was occasionally available last year at Big Apple Brews due to it’s Anheuser-Busch/InBev distribution.

 

Yes, craft beer stands.  Located near sections 105 (That’s by the World’s Fare Market), section 127 (Near the other foul pole) and in section 413 (That’s the Promenade food court area) of the Promenade Level meaning we don’t have to go downstairs from the cheap seats to get good beer.

 

Real craft beers that weren’t on the list last year, or were only available in the Delta Sky 360 Club (The Ommegang may still only be there)  include Blue Point Summer, Blue Point White India Pale Ale (This one’s a new one, premiered March 29th, 2012), Ommegang Abbey Ale, Redhook Pilsner, Six Point Sweet Action, Sierra Nevada, Magic Hat #9, and Widmer Drifter Pale Ale.  Also new is the expanded line of Shock Top ales, the Lemon Shandy, the Raspberry Wheat, and the Wheat India Pale Ale.

 

I’m still going to do a full analysis of Citi Field on Opening Day to take in the options and confirm this list.  Having a craft beer stand is an excellent idea, and having three of them even better.  I’m happy with this expansion, but I also hope this is a first step and not a final idea.  The list has 12 stars on it representing the beers available at the craft beer stands in either cans or drafts.  I imagine some of the more seasonal ones will rotate out, like Blue Point Summer, but the others include Shock Top, Leinenkugel Summer Shandy and Blue Moon, which are macro brews.  Also included are Anheuser-Busch/InBev distributed Goose Island IPA, Kona Longboard Lager, and Widmer Drifter Pale Ale.    The real expansion is the Blue Point brews, and that’s great.  It’ll also be nice to be able to have Magic Hat #9, Sixpoint Sweet Action and Sierra Nevada outside the club areas.   Sixpoint has a large line of cans available these days, so hopefully more of those start showing up.

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Dueling Brews: Another Beer Idea For Citi Field

Terrapin Brewery TapBrooklyn Brewery TapThis is an idea I’ve been bouncing around for a while, and then The Crazy Mets Fan made a comment on Twitter to Matt Cerrone that he should get a pub in Citi Field called Cerrone’s with some nice IPAs.  I chimed in (and you can follow me on Twitter here) that they should do dueling brews.

 

This started as a thought about a variable beer menu at Citi Field.  The best beer bars are not the ones with a good selection, but the ones with a rotating selection of seasonal and small release beers.  The idea was solidified while following the Giants Super Bowl run this year.   Brooklyn Brewery in New York and Anchor Steam in San Francisco made a wager on the NFC Championship game that the team’s brewery that lost would serve the beers of the other brewery.  Brooklyn beers flowed in San Francisco, and it was wonderful.

 

So why not do the same thing at Citi Field?  We know which teams are coming in for each homestand.  Why not have two rotating taps, one serving beers local to New York (minus the Bronx) and one serving beers from the city of the away team.  These two taps would ‘duel’ until one was empty, becoming the winner.  I’m not quite sure what the beer would win besides an announcement that it’d won, but it’d be a fun way to introduce Mets fans to the brews of their enemy and provide the beer-loving masses, who’s size is underestimated, with some nice beer to drink while watching baseball.

 

The first homestand features the Braves and the Nationals.  I don’t know what the availability and distribution rules are for acquiring beer from far away places, but Terrapin is an Atlanta brewery that you can find in New York, so it’d be a good choice.  Washington DC is a little tougher, and perhaps the toughest baseball city.  Baltimore has some options, but that’s a different team.  Shenandoah Brewing bills itself as Washington DC’s only brewery, but as far as I know they don’t distribute to New York.   Flying Dog is nearby, but it’s based in Maryland and equidistant to Baltimore.  On the other hand, AL is junior league baseball and it doesn’t really count.

 

I think this would be a cool idea.  Citi Field needs more distinctive beers outside of the Anheuser Busch distribution agreement and why not tie it to what’s going on on the field?  That’s why we all go there after all.

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The Bisons Beer Dinner, Mets Beer Competitions?

Prost!The Buffalo Bisons are having a Beer vs. Wine II dinner Thursday at Coca-Cola Field.  It’s a rematch of a dinner they had last November.

 

This is a pretty cool idea and a great use of the park during the offseason.  $60 gets you a 5-course meal and a wine and beer pairing with each.  Your vote decides which paired better, and the votes are tallied at the end for a winner.  Of course beer won the first dinner.

 

I’m not going to whine (haha, get it?) about the Mets not doing something similar at Citi Field, although I do think it’d be a fun idea.  I’m not that unreasonable that I demand all my interests to align in one centrally located area within Flushing.

 

Except this isn’t really that much different than an event the Mets already have.  Oktoberfest!  The Mets already have a plan in place for food and drink events, so why not host a couple more?  I’d make a point to go to a “Summer Beerfest” event before a Mets game.   The competition angle is one way to go too.  When the Padres visit in town, pour five Stone Brewery beers on one side, and five Brooklyn Brewery beers on the other. Ask fans to rank their top three beers and then announce the winner during the 5th inning, which would double as a great way to advertise the next competitive beer tasting event.

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More on Citi Field’s Uninspiring Beer List

Citi Field is a first-class venue.  It’s got amazing food, and much of it is local.  The Citi Field beer list is extensive, but it’s also uninspiring.  Beer and baseball go together so well yet most of the beers available, particularly to the general public, at Citi Field are only the typical expanded list of beers available via Anheuser Busch distribution. Some of these beers are pretty good, but it lacks that local flair and originality.  I’m not knocking the Redhook beers; but it seems sloppy to get them through Anheuser Busch when the brewery itself is only a handful of miles away. Even though they’re all over the place now, the Danny Meyer stands are New York creations.  Cascarino’s is a New York pizza place.  Pastrami on rye is a very New York food, and Keith’s burgers are especially homey.  Even McFaddens was first a New York staple.

 

So why was Brooklyn Brewery priced out?  Why aren’t there more Sixpoint beers around the stadium, especially now that they serve the beer in cans? What about some of the other local breweries?  Chelsea? What about Schmaltz Brewing Company which makes the Coney Island Freak line of beer. Interestingly, the Brooklyn Cyclones, the Mets rookie team, plays in Coney Island.  Maybe the Mets could serve Albino Python when the Diamonbacks are in town, or the Mermaid Pilsener to mock the Marlin’s cheerleaders.  What about Harlem Brewing Company’s Sugar Hill Golden Ale?  Harlem is where the Mets first placed, and where the Giants played before them.  Blue Point Brewery is probably the only real local beer outside of the Delta Club.  Their Blue Point Toasted Lager is available at Catch of the Day, but they’ve got other beers as well.

 

This all says nothing of the possibility of finding a partner to brew Mets themed beers.   Brooklyn Brewery has an expanded brewery now, and when they provided beer to Box Frites, it was their own beer called Blanche De Brooklyn that they renamed Blanche we Queens.  Why stop there?  What about a Home Run Apple Lager?  A World’s Fair Oktoberfest?  A Darryl Strawberry Blonde? The possibilities are endless. Maybe Schmaltz would be intrigued by the opportunity to create a Brooklyn Cyclones Ale for MCU Park and Citi Field.

 

I think the Mets, and Aramark, may underestimate just how many Mets fans are huge beer fans as well.  It’s not just the hardcore fan either.  There are plenty of casual baseball fans out there that could be drawn off the fence and into the park if they were tempted to try a unique beer.

 

Stay tuned, later this week I’m going to talk about what some of the other stadiums around baseball are doing with beer.

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Official Sponsor of the ’69 World Champion Mets

My in-laws owned a deli in Brooklyn in the ’70s.  One of the beers they sold was Rheingold, and a result they had this display board hanging in the deli, and then collecting dust in the basement until this weekend.  The bottom reads: “Enjoy Rheingold here, and at the home of the World Champions”.  Well, in 2011 that deli, and Shea, are gone, The Mets are no longer World Champions, and you cannot get Rheingold at their home. (Check out the Citi Field Beer List for what you CAN get)

 

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The Citi Field Beer List

This is late in coming, but just in time for the latest and longest homestand of the year.    Here is a list of every beer available in Citi Field. I count 60 distinct beers right now, although I suspect I may have a mistake or two that you can certainly help me out with.   Snap a picture or let me know if you see a beer somewhere that I have not properly cataloged here.

 

Obviously It’s sad that the Brooklyn Brewery drafts are no longer available at Citi Field, but recently Sixpoint brewery started canning their beers, and I can only hope those beers find their way to Citi Field in the near future.

The Citi Field Beer List

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What’s New At Citi Field? Keith’s Grill and More!

Unfortunately, the worst part of Opening Day was the play on the field.  Hopefully that doesn’t continue.   There are a handful of changes at Citi Field to note.

 

The bad first.  There are no longer Brooklyn Beers on tap at the Taste of NY center field concourse.  No Shackmeister Ale, no Blanche de Brooklyn, no Blue Smoke Ale and no Sabroso Ale.  Not even a Brooklyn Summer Ale.  You can still get the Brooklyn Lager around the park, but the loss of these specialty brews is disappointing.  I haven’t even seen Brooklyn’s Pennant Ale anywhere, which you think would be a given for a ballpark, never mind a team with Brooklyn roots.  I’m going to try to keep a full list of the Mets beer selections at Citi Field, and hopefully one day will add the stuff that’s hidden behind club doors this season.  If you know a blogger and beer lover that roots for a different team, I’d love to talk with him or her about creating a beer list for other stadiums.

 

The highlight of the changes to me was a new concession stand on the field level in the left fielder corner called Keith’s Grill.  It features a Gold Glove burger which is described as having been created by Keith Hernandez.

“Exactly how Keith eats his burger; A 6 oz. Brooklyn Burger on a toasted sesame bun, w/ cheddar cheese, topped w/ lettuce, tomato, two dill pickles, raw onions mayo & extra ketchup on top, mustard spread on the bottom bun.  Burger served with house made kettle chips & Keith’s favorite candy; a Tootsie Roll Pop”

I didn’t try it; the line was too long and I figured I’d go back on a less crowded occasion, but it sounds yummy.  I heard that their was a new Pastrami on Rye sandwich somewhere, but I think I remember seeing that at the Kosher cart last year.

 

There was two new beers from Hometown Brewery.  A New York Lager and a light.  the NY Lager wasn’t bad, but didn’t seem like anything special.  They were available from a couple of different carts around the park. It seems like it might be contract-brewed by the Lion Brewery in Wilkes-Barre, PA.  Which is where the Yankees AAA team plays and is in Pennsylvania, so don’t be too excited by the NY name.

 

Two new menu items at Blue Smoke.  Chipotle wings are back after a 2010 absence (I learned in 2009 that eating wings in cold weather when your hands are chapped is a bad idea) and also a fried chicken sandwich.

 

There’s an organic dark chocolate frozen yogurt bar at the Burgers and Fries concession from Stonyfield, and also a chipwich at the same place.

 

Box Frites has a sauce, rosemary ranch, which I think is a new choice.

 

There appears to be knishes available at more locations this year.

 

There are probably a couple of other changes that I missed, so be on the lookout!

 

As usual, plenty of advertising  turnover.