SingleCut Offers Up Some of New York's Best Brews

Pete Zuk​

Brewery Name: SingleCut Beersmiths 
Type of Brewery: Retail Brewery

Location: Astoria, New York

Website: http://www.singlecutbeer.com/
Facebook: SingleCutBeer
Twitter: @SingleCutBeer
Instagram: @singlecutbeer

Background: One of my wife’s oldest friends lives in Astoria, so we always like to visit and catch up. Unfortunately, school prevented a lot of our travel, so we decided that now (after graduation) was the best time to visit. My wife’s friend had told me about this brewery that had opened up called ‘SingleCut,’ and said I should check it out. Astoria has a lot of fun spots to check out, so it only made sense that a brewery would open up there. It is also still a manufacturing area, which is what allows neighborhoods to have fun things like breweries.

I had started to hear about SingleCut from Shane, and I recently got to try their beer down in DC. This trip seemed like the perfect chance to check out this hop-forward brewery.

Growlers: Yes (also crowlers and cans).

The Beers: SingleCut had a number of beers on tap when I visited. These are the ones I managed to try:

• Full-Stack Double-Dry Hopped IIPA (Double IPA - 8.2%) - Very soft and balanced IPA. Has a lot of bright citrus and stonefruit character without being too bitter.

 

• Mo’ Shuggie Soulbender IPA (IPA - 7.2%) - This was my favorite from the afternoon. A dank hop bomb with a great peach finish that just keeps you wanting to take another sip.

 

• Jenny Said IIPA (Double IPA - 7.7%) - They say this is brewed with “new fangled hops.” If this is where hop growing is going, it is a good thing. Tons of mango and peach, with pleasant dank flavor on the back end.
  
  
• Kim Red Raspberry Sour Lager (Berliner Weisse - 4.2%) - Super tart raspberry juice. Really great beer if you love sours. The cranberry version might be the most sour beer I have had all year.
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• Strange Shadows From the Flames Stout (Smoked American Stout - 7.2%) - This is a smoked stout with honey. Really surprising. It tastes like liquid chocolate. There is a slight smoke hint on the flavor but it really just plays up the chocolate character of the beer.

Vibe: Sometimes you walk into a place and it just has it right. The music is good, volume is nice, setup is nice, it seems clean, and you say, “hey, we can stay here for a few hours.” SingleCut has all of that going for it. It’s a very low-key bar. They have a large collection of vinyl records, which they rotate throughout the day. The music is at just the right volume--you can listen if you want, but still have a conversation without forgetting what you were saying. The brewery has a nice rock-and-roll theme with that classic aroma of hops just tossed into the boil.

The beers are all wonderful, and they brew a wider variety of styles than I have been exposed to. Today, you usually hear about a brewery only if they have a good IPA. And that is the most popular style right now, but it gets to be a little much when places don’t offer something for everyone. I have walked into many breweries with 12 beers on tap, and 11 of them are IPAs or some form of really hoppy beer. That isn’t even great for a hop fan. You try 3-4 hoppy beers and you can’t taste it after a while. And if you don’t like hops, you don’t enjoy the brewery. My wife hates hops, and a brewery visit gets nicer if she has the chance to choose between multiple non-IPAs. That’s the mark of a great brewery. Yes, they can do one thing well, but what else can they do? SingleCut is another example of the type of brewery I love, where I find them for the hops but like them because of everything else.

Other than the tap list, there are the normal selections of games for people to play. And the staff was really attentive and helpful if you had questions of wanted to try anything. Overall, just a great Saturday drinking experience. They also had a projection of a fish bowl on one wall. I don’t know why, but I felt that was a bonus for me.

Dogs: Yes.

Price ($ to $$$$$): $$. Overall reasonably priced. You can easily spend a full Saturday afternoon here without breaking the bank.

Food: They have a small kitchen featuring BBQ and some tacos. Definitely a good snack to keep yourself going if you plan on being there for a while.

Final Thoughts: This is my new favorite brewery in New York. It has all the great beer I want in a fun, casual environment.

​-- Pete

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