Other Half - Brooklyn, New York

Collaborations have become a big thing in the craft beer scene. Over the past couple of years I have had some very good ones, and some pretty ordinary ones as well. One name that seems to consistently crop up, collaborating with the finest European craft breweries is Other Half. I have had the pleasure of several spectacular Pales and NEIPAs which they have contributed to.

If the objective of this type of collaboration is to establish their reputation in the UK, then it has certainly worked with me!

When I was planning my recent business trip to the New York area, the first name on my proverbial "team sheet" was a visit to the Other Half Taproom in Brooklyn.

Brooklyn was a relatively downtrodden Borough 20 years ago, but has become rejuvenated recently, and is now hipster-central.

Other Half is located less than half a mile across the Brooklyn Bridge from downtown Manhattan, and is less than 200 yards from the nearest subway station. 

Having done my research, I knew that there is a serious buzz about the brewery, with their weekly can-releases on Saturday mornings typically drawing crowds of 400-500 fans, who queue around all four sides of the surrounding City block.

I arrived at opening time of Sunday lunchtime, to discover that 15 out of the 16 beers on tap were either Pales, IPAs or DIPAs, almost all in the New England style that I have come to love so much! Seems about the right mix to me!

The Taproom is relatively small and functional, with seating for around 50 people.

My visit was furthered enhanced by meeting the delightful Sam and Katie, owners of the Vessel Taproom in Exeter, UK, and we spent a very pleasant few hours hitting the beers hard.

I worked my way through most of the menu, and wandered out, more or less in a straight line several hours later, in search of food (there is none on offer at the Tap).

Of all the Taproom visits I have made this year, this was the most anticipated and the closest to a genuine pilgrimage, and I wasn't disappointed.