Since opening their burgundy doors earlier this year, Brklyn, the New York-style gastropub located in the ATT4Fun building in Xinyi District (信義) has been a hot spot for craft beer aficionados and people who like to play dress up. On my last visit, I was casually sipping a chocolate coconut porter when a couple dressed in 1920s ensemble — I’m talking flapper dress and suspenders — suddenly stood up from their booth and started spinning and bobbing about. A few sips later, nearly everyone was twirling (thankfully not twerking).
Whether you just want to dance, or if you have two left feet like me and downing porters is what you do best, summer is a good time to visit Brklyn. Ales, porters, stouts — whatever your signature beer is, chances are Brklyn has it on tap. For the rest of the month, they’re throwing a summer beer festival, with a newly imported craft beer from the US debuting every Wednesday and Friday until Sept. 2.
Brklyn co-founder Shawn Kidd says it’s an exciting time to be importing craft beers since the craft beer scene is still in its initial stages, but is expanding at “an enormous rate.” More people are getting into brewing as a hobby, which means an increasing number of craft brewers have been setting up shop in Taipei. Moreover, all of this is happening at a time when thirsty customers are widening their culinary horizons.
Photo courtesy of Up Against the Wall Photography
“We are seeing events focusing on craft beer popping up on a weekly basis, and a lot of new beers [are] landing in Taiwan,” Kidd tells the Taipei Times.
His company East Drinks West is stocking the summer beer festival, and they’re already rapidly clearing out the beers from the fridges in their warehouse.
“I think that’s a good sign of things to come,” Kidd says. “Locals have had the chance to try new beer recently, which is pushing them to want more and more variety.”
Some of the brands debuting at the summer beer festival include Lagunitas, Stone Brewing, Green Flash, Firestone Walker and Dogfish Head. Kidd says that prior to this, he’s only seen Lagunitas being sold in Taiwan. A true craft beer lover, he says that he enjoys all brands of beer, although Stone Brewing’s IPAs are among his favorite hops.
“Stone IPAs are known as the quintessential west coast IPA, packed full of hop aroma, flavor and best of all bitterness — I love the complexity of Stone’s hop character,” Kidd adds.
For those not readily fluent in the language of craft beer, Brklyn is happy to provide pairing suggestions with food from their comprehensive menu. Evil Twin Cowboy’s smoked pilsner, for instance, goes well with barbecue ribs — or as Kidd says, “the smokiness of the pilsner adds to the mesquite of the barbecue sauce.”
Another fine pairing is 886 Brewing’s pale ale with Brklyn’s classic bacon cheddar burger as “the malty character of the pale ale goes great with grilled meat,” while “the light hoppy aftertaste helps cut through the bacon and cheddar cheese.”
Stone Brewing will make its debut at Brklyn today. If you’re feeling hoppy, head over there. Just be careful not to get hit by one of the flappers.
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