A Beer Tourist’s Guide to…New York City Part 2: Brooklyn

Yeah, we went there AGAIN. Sue me if you don’t like the list (US law is not applicable here in the UK).

New York City is probably the stupidest place to write about when it comes to indie beer, given there are as many bars serving good beer as there are bars serving…well, bad beer. NYC has had something of an odyssey over the past decade; in our many visits since 2011, it has been a delight to see even the divey-est of bars progress from Coors Light, to Lagunitas, to Brooklyn Brewery, and finally to serving beer from the closest independent brewery to them.

In an ideal world, NYC would get a neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood set of guides like what we provide for London, but the world ain’t ideal. Instead, we have produced one monster summary-style guide with neighbourhood sections, detailing the top places to drink independent craft beer in NYC and designed especially for visitors to the city. You locals already know your shit and don’t half brag about it. We’ll be dropping the guide in three parts, with this the second part: Brooklyn, baby.

Warning: This list may cause debate, even fury. One thing’s for sure: There Will Be Hops.

Williamsburg

TØRST
In many ways the epitome of Brooklyn, TØRST somehow perfectly fuses both edgy and bougie. It’s kinda dark inside, yet the energy is bright, and the beer offerings are unrivalled pretty much anywhere else in Brooklyn. Pick up a bar seat, chat away and enjoy the hospitality. There is also a small plates menu and plenty of other alcohol on offer, though no outdoor seating.

Talea Beer Co
NYC’s premier women-owned brewery is at the top of its game right now, with a particular penchant for lower-ABV IPAs and Sours. The taproom is a large, tasteful space which doubles as a café during the day. It’s a great place to work from and provides some fascinating people-watching at around 5pm as the changing of the guard from coffee to beer takes place. Note, there are also branches in Carroll Gardens (see below) and the West Village (Manhattan).

Beer Karma
This is a teeeeny tiny bespoke beer bar, certainly one for the purists and not somewhere you should ask too many questions. You’ll be able to join in with the inevitable beer chat with other drinkers and whoever is behind the bar, that’s the main guarantee.

TEST Brewery
Brooklyn’s newest arrival at the start of 2025, TEST is already producing full-flavoured beers from across the style spectrum, but their flagships are their hazy double IPAs, which are already rivalling the best in the region. The taproom is slick and minimalist, deceptively large, with a spacious garden too.

Round Table Brewery Tap Room
This is a beautifully decked out space with a sort of colourful “what they thought the future might look like in the 1980’s” aesthetic. The brewery itself is elsewhere in New York State, but the offerings here are very solid, especially if you’re looking to escape the hops. Sours and Farmhouse Ales are the flagship, while there’ll always be lagers and a dark beer or two on offer. A very solid hang out spot, with more competitive pricing than many of the others in Williamsburg.

Keg & Lantern Brewing
This is a sort of haphazard, bustling diner of a taproom around the corner from TØRST that has proudly been there since 2009. It’s large, the walls are covered in beer cans and the they pour their own beers that run a very wide style spectrum and are all decent, without excelling in anything. If you want to see two sides to Brooklyn, head here and to TØRST and see which suits you best.

L Train Stretch (East Williamsburg/Bushwick)

As venues start to spread out quite a bit in Brooklyn, this is less a neighbourhood (though it is broadly Bushwick) and more a convenient crawl along the L Train subway line. The options below are listed in West>East order, starting closest to Williamsburg and heading outwards.

Grimm Artisanal Ales
One of NYC’s best breweries for a decade now, Grimm’s huge, high-ceilinged taproom sits fairly isolated in a mostly residential part of Bushwick (get used to it with Brooklyn!). Styles are all accounted for, everything is a 9/10 at minimum – though so are the prices. Not much more to say – a must visit.

Niteglow Brewery
Quite literally a café by day, this is a tiny room with a handful of their own beers on draft and a funky back room with some unusual seating options. They’re friendly, local and the beer is of a high standard.

Eckhart’s
A shiny new “European-style” beer hall, Eckhart’s is focused on Czech and German style lagers with food to match. More of a formal sit-down type of venue, it’s big, sleek and friendly. You can read more about it in Pellicle Magazine’s recent article here.

KCBC Brewery
The simplest way to put it is that KCBC Brewery is a big fun taproom full of rockers, nerds and beer lovers. It’s a high energy venue with plenty to drink and events galore, so head over and you’re sure to find someone to chat to or something to do. It’s not the best beer in town but for vibe-beer balance, it’s up there.

Evil Twin Brewing
Famed for their experimental beers, this is Evil Twin’s main NYC taproom, though they have another venue in the tourist-heavy DUMBO area (noted below). It’s hype liquid, but worth the visit if you are into weird pastry stuff and want it fresh from the source – plus the site itself is cute, with a sort of greenhouse aesthetic to it.

Prospect Heights

Covenhoven
A beautifully decorated interior, an enchanting little beer garden, loads of choice on tap and a diverse array of drinkers. Once again, you could easily spend quite a few hours here – one of the most appealing beer bars in the city and a must-visit if in the area.

Gold Star Beer Counter
This is Prospect Heights in a nutshell – a friendly, buzzing neighbourhood bar with a great beer selection, perched on the corner of some very leafy, residential streets, populated almost entirely by those with remote jobs or on parental leave. Even if you don’t have a laptop or a pram with you, they’ll let you in. This is a particularly nice spot on a sunny weekday afternoon, as they put picnic tables out and it’s a quiet corner with excellent Brooklyn people-watching.

BierWax
This cosy bar is an NYC local fan favourite; it has a fantastic beer selection and spins vinyl all day long. It’s open at Midday too, which means you could easily post up for a while and feel very at home (yes, there are a couple of sofas).

Beer Street South
Down the road from BierWax, this has the opposite aesthetic – a big, metallic place with giant windows that makes you feel a little like you’re in a school canteen. The beer list is admittedly excellent but other than that, it feels like you could be anywhere in the world.

Hops Hill
A teeny one-room bar with capacity for about 15-20 people, it’s certainly low key but has a very competitive selection of NYC indie breweries.

GOWANUS

Sort of the Blackhorse Beer Mile of NYC, if you’re from London you’ll know exactly what to expect. Four breweries all within a five minute walking distance, a distinct daytime-evening atmosphere shift, and not much else in the area to look at.

Threes Brewing
A long, thin chaotic interior and a giant beer garden, Threes is possibly the most popular taproom in the whole of NYC. One big advantage it has over the others in the area: its food offering. Be strategic with this one, and if you’re a group on a weekend it is wise to try and book ahead.

Wild East Brewing Co.
Less well-known outside of NYC but with a very passionate cult following, Wild East specialises in non-hoppy styles. This is where to get your premium sour beers, your lagers and your stouts. The people who work there are particularly friendly and willing to give tasters, given their beer can be unfamiliar to some. It’s also very spacious, though doesn’t have outdoor seating (unless you can snag a spot on the 3-4 picnic tables out front.

Strong Rope Brewery
Nearly as big as the above two but with a very different layout, Strong Rope has more of a gastro-pub energy. The beers are innovating and often experimental, and while it’s often busy, their flagship location is down in Red Hook in south Brooklyn – a huge space right on the water – so this is a little lower key.

Finback Brewery
Somehow even bigger and even busier than all the others on this strip, though with no outdoor seating at all, Finback is legendary for their Hazy IPAs, and everyone knows it. If you come on a quieter day, the taproom is a colourful delight and you might even get a spot on one of the sofas. If you come on a weekend, be prepared to queue for your beer.

Carroll Gardens

Other Half Centre Street
This is Other Half’s iconic OG taproom, where they still brew a decent amount of their beer. It is not a glamorous locale (despite the majority of Carroll Gardens being very pretty); it’s over-shadowed by a huge underpass and opposite a dilapidated car park. Inside, it hasn’t changed much in over a decade; it’s low key, with barrels for tables and some TVs dotted around the walls. You’ll almost always find a seat unless there is a special event on, so don’t panic – just come and enjoy.

Queue Beer
Literally around the corner from Other Half, Queue Beer popped up in 2023 and has been a magnet for indie beer nerds ever since. It’s a smart, square room with plenty of seating, and the tap listings are mostly of the ever-changing, rare, “look at this on Untappd” ilk. If you do take that cursory look at the app, you’ll see they also have a permanent, highly rated draft offering called “Canal Champagne”. Order it without knowing what it is, judge it fairly, then ask for details.

Bar Great Harry
When you dreamt of the beer bar scene in New York, perhaps influenced by drinking-hole-oriented TV shows of yesteryear, Bar Great Harry is what you manifested. This dark, dreamy dive takes local to another level, with patrons addressing each other by name, remarking on the bartender’s new haircut, and plentiful shots being handed out among regulars. If the atmosphere wasn’t enough, the beer list is very local and indie-driven (if not “hype”), and their prices are easily the best in the city, with most beers coming in at 7-8 dollars – and even cheaper with $1 off everything during a healthy pre-7pm weekday happy hour.

Talea Beer
A similar vibe to the Williamsburg location (see above), though with a funkier layout and a bit smaller.

Others

While Brooklyn has the above clusters, it is also home to some more isolated breweries and beer bars that we’d consider must-visit. This is them.

Randolph Beer (DUMBO)
DUMBO (Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass) is somewhere you’re likely to visit as a tourist to NYC. It has a very slick Evil Twin taproom as mentioned above, and it also has this – a gigantic, multi-level taproom with loads of games and noise. It’s not for everyone, but it’s certainly for some people who want a slice of a very “American” experience.

Brouwerij Lane (Greenpoint)
If you find yourself up in the “Williamsburg For Adults” known as Greenpoint, this very small, very chilled out pub has a big selection that is notably affordable by nyc standards; you can bring your own food in too.

Part Three will be dropping in April 2026, when we will cover Queens and “the rest”.