Let’s Get Hoppy

New York is brutal in many ways. Constantly changing and evolving, and yes, surprising you when you least expect or need it. It’s like running into an ex-boyfriend at Duane Reade while you’re buying Athlete’s Foot powder sans makeup, and just overall not being your most fabulous self.

So after a week of perfectly clear, blue, and unseasonably warm weather in New York, Mother Nature hits us with a monsoon. A perfect day for lounging in bed, nursing your hangover, or sipping a little hair of the dog …

One of my favorite things to do in New York is find little hole-in-the-wall restaurants, shops, and more importantly bars, and hunker down, drink, and soak up the authenticity. It’s even better when you have a buddy or two.

As much as I love wine, (and I do more than most people I know), I also love beer. Beer is the new wine. Chef’s are pairing beer with cheese, plates, and even desserts. So when I frequent a bar on a rainy afternoon a beer is most certainly a must. And just as with wines, I don’t drink the two-buck chuck. I like my beers as complex as my wines, and that’s probably one of the biggest misconceptions about my favorite carbonated beverage …

Now, I just want to put out there that Food and Wine Magazine (my Bible, sort of speaks) calls “hoppy” beers the next trend in brewery. Sorry Food and Wine, but I’ve been drinking hoppy bears for years, not because they’re trendy, but mostly because they’re my favorite!

Hops are added to bear to create a bitterness that counteracts the sweetness of the malt flavoring in the brewed batch of beer. The longer the hops are allowed to remain in the brew, the more bitter the beer tastes. Hops also can flavor a beer either  in a floral, aroma, or citrus way.

So here are my favorite hop beers. Go check out your local pub on this pre-St. Patty’s Day rainy Saturday, it couldn’t be a more perfect day. And check the green beer at the door, become as picky about your beer, as you are with your wine, and toast yourself with a hoppy beer before they become too trendy.

Best Hop Beers

1. Dogfish Head (DE): these IPA pack up to 9% alcohol and for a little girl such as myself, one pint is enough to turn any rainy afternoon into a sunny day at the beach.

2. Captain Lawrence (NY): this is another strong brew, but a little bit heavier than the latter. More spice to its kick.

3. Smutty Nose IPA (NH): Smutty Nose Brewery is probably one of the best most largely marketed boutique breweries, think Magic Hat before they started to mass produce.