More Beer In Battery Park

For the last few years we've looked forward to the opening of the Victory Beer Garden in Battery Park as a sure sign of the approach of warm weather. I was happy to find it open already on a warm Friday afternoon (May 10, 2013), and serving up Victory's German Helles, Headwater Pale Ale, Hop Devil, and Summer Love.

Victory malty Helles.

This year I had to enjoy the first visit to the beer garden solo, as B.R. was busy giving an address to the 11th annual Canadian Brewing Awards in Victoria, B.C.

After some relaxing book reading with my Helles, I decided to stroll through the park a bit and enjoy the perfect spring weather. To my great surprise, I stumbled upon Table Green in the middle of Battery Park -- another open air beer garden!

It's reported that the company, which also operates in the Chelsea Market, opened next to Castle Clinton in July of 2012, but we totally missed it. They have three local beers on draught -- currently it's Captain Lawrence Kölsch, Empire I.P.A., and Coney Island Mermaid Pilsner. They also have local wine on tap, and offer a menu of light food.

Wine taps left, beer taps right.

While the Victory beer garden is tucked away in a nook by the Staten Island Ferry station, almost out of sight, nestled by tall thick green hedges, the Table Green garden is wide open and offers a view of N.Y. Harbor, with the Statue of Liberty visible in the distance. Though Tavern Green might be catering more to tourists waiting for their boat to Ellis Island or the statue, with beers priced at $3 more than at Victory's spot, it's definitely a sign of progress to have more places in the park to relax with a brew on a beautiful warm spring evening!

Table Green.

Statue of Liberty to the right, gargantuan cruise ship to the left.

Victory Beer Garden Open Again

It's become a much anticipated sign of summer -- the re-opening of the Victory Beer Garden in Battery Park, at the southern most part of the park, next to the Battery Gardens restaurant and beside the Coast Guard station!

This year they've done a very smart thing and created a gate into the garden from the most heavily trafficked pathway near the garden. In the past, the beer garden was quite hard to find unless you already knew that it was there. Hidden behind thick, high hedges, and with the entrance located behind the garden away from the pathways, it was no wonder that this gem of a watering hole was always so undeservingly empty.

On our Memorial Day visit, the garden was more busy than we've ever seen it. In fact, we wondered if we would find a seat, as we searched the tables for an opening, beers in hand. We spotted a large table with empty seats near a senior gentleman sitting alone in the shade of a tree by the hedges. We didn't even have to ask if the seats were free before he invited us to sit. After starting a friendly conversation, our table mate informed us that he'd just finished a walk from 110th St. down to Battery Park, walking the roughly 8 miles via Broadway -- no doubt he was thirsty!

B.R. and I both had the Summer Love ale, which was satisfying and refreshing -- malty, without being too heavy, and with plenty of hop flavor. Our new companion, who was on holiday from Australia, looked to be having a Victory Lager, which is what B.R. had next. The Lager was a bit more bitter and had a deeper amber color than the style which inspired it, the German Helles.

When asked what our Aussie friend thought of the American beers that he'd tried, he said that he'd quite liked them, finding them more flavorful than the average Oz-brew. When pressed for a favorite he mentioned Blue Moon. When he offered to get us a round, I insisted that we get him a round, he being a guest in our city. I asked what he'd like, and he allowed me to choose for him. So, considering his liking Blue Moon, I got him a Witte from Ommegang. And, as expected, he liked it very much!

I went for the Headwaters Pale Ale, which hit the spot on a very warm, muggy afternoon. Its soft, malty body -- unbothered by any aggressive, biting hop bitterness -- went down slowly and gently, like a lazy summer sunset.

And nature was gladly represented in the beer garden. A tiny orange spider, seen at the end of the superimposed arrow above, set up shop on our bikes with an impressive web, created in the short time that it took for us to enjoy our two beers! We carefully collected the spider onto a nice big leaf before riding off, sparing him a bike ride.

Also on tap at the beer garden was Hop Devil, and, as in recent years, other breweries' beers in bottles and cans, such as Sierra Nevada Stout and some Sixpoint varieties, to accompany the standard outdoor grilled fare -- hot dogs, hamburgers, and the like.

Victory Beer Garden Open In Battery Park

Springtime? What springtime? It's summer already! That means that the ever awesome Victory Brewing Beer Garden is OPEN in Battery Park! This surprisingly under utilized and fairly obscure gem is nestled away behind bushy greenery, as if they were trying to keep it secret. It's next to the Battery Gardens restaurant and the Coast Guard station's parking lot (just west of the Staten Island Ferry terminal).

We plan on hitting the beer garden tonight (Friday May 27, 2011) at 6:30pm with some pals. Feel free to join us for a nice Victory Witbier, or whatever else suits you.

 The nearby Castle Gardens, originally named Castle Clinton, used to be a popular beer garden back in the 1800s. Victory plans a proper launch in June. In the meantime, the NY Times reports on the beer garden explosion in NYC these days!