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This Friday, Feb 20, the hops celebration that is NYC Beer Week begins, which means there are more than enough tap takeovers, beer-paired dinners and tastings to keep New York buzzed for days. But beyond big annual events like the Ruppert's Cup and Brewers' Choice, it can be hard to spot the top-notch happenings among the seas of suds. Use our day-by-day guide to find the must-attend events throughout the ten-day fête:
Friday, Feb 20
Opening Tap
To kick off the suds-soaked week, beer bars across the city are each tapping a different specialty keg. Make the rounds and crawl through various neighborhoods to find 100 rare, one-night-only brews like KelSo's dry-hopped Industrial IPA and Transmitter's Brett Farmhouse Ale.
Saturday, Feb 21
Barrel-Aged Beer Festival at Bronx Ale House
Taste your way through a half dozen local barrel-aged beers from craft brewers like Gun Hill (who's celebrating its first anniversary later in the week) and Goose Island. For $30 you'll get six-ounce samples of Gun Hill's Barrel-Aged Void of Light, Carton Pumpkin Cream Scobeyville Wood and Goose Island Bourbon County Stout and a take-home tasting glass. If you need a few extra ounces, pints will be on offer at regular price.
Sunday, Feb 22
Brewers' Round-Table at DBGB Kitchen & Bar
While you're throwing back pints, pick the brains of brew experts like KelSo Beer brewmaster Kelly Taylor, Bronx Brewery co-founders Chris Gallant and Damian Brown, the Peekskill Brewery head brewer Matt Levy and DBGB's own Rory Douthit during this panel discussion led by Brooklyn Magazine editor-in-chief Mike Conklin.
Monday, Feb 23
Radiant Pig Wing-Eating Contest at Northern Bell
Cheer on contestants during the chicken competition and throw back pints of NYC-based Radiant Pig Junior IPA or Gangster Duck American Red Ale, then ask head brewer Rob Pihl questions about the suds and nosh on your own set of flappers.
Tuesday, Feb 24
California Tap Takeover at Good Beer
The Good Beer crew channels the sunny state, tapping nearly a dozen kegs from Alpine and Green Flash. The lineup includes hoppy pours like Duet IPA, Nelson IPA, Captain Stout and Hoppy Birthday Pale Ale from the former and Jibe IPA, Soul Style IPA and East Village Pislner from the latter.
Wednesday, Feb 25
KelSo Beer Dinner at Applewood
Dig into all things beer during this five-course meal paired with KelSo suds. The all-inclusive $115 ticket includes plates like beer-cheese soup flecked with hops-salt, malt-smoked pork sausage, beer-steamed clams and even beer sorbet on brown-sugar–malt shortbread, plus all the pints to match.
Thursday, Feb 26
Canadian Invasion at Mission Dolores
Starting at 7pm, toast with brews from ourNothern brethren at the self-proclaimed "weird beer bar." Suds at the tap takeover include Parallel 49, Steamworks and Howe Sound—all hailing from British Columbia.
Friday, Feb 27
Food + Enterprise
This three-day event is packed with workshops, speakers (Jimmy's No. 43 owner Jimmy Carbone, Baldor Specialty Foods CEO TJ Murphy) and networking sessions with food-industry pros, so you can connect with farmers, entrepreneurs and local food advocates in one day or over the course of the weekend.
Saturday, Feb 28
Winter's Grind at Arrogant Swine
At this beer-and-brat bash, chefs from Acme, Fletcher's Brooklyn Barbecue and Fritzl's Lunch Box will hand-crank a dozen sausage varieties (northern-Thai turkey, oak-smoked bratwurst, chicken tikka masala) to wash down with 25 local beers (Other Half, Singlecut, Greenpoint Beer & Ale).
Sunday, March 1
Superf*ckingyawn at Threes Brewing
At noon, the brewers will launch their latest beer, Superf*ckingyawn, an imperial pale ale while the Meat Hook (the beer hall's current food tenant) roasts a lamb for the celebration. Tune into live bluegrass by The Tumble and pile-up your plate. Admission is free, but the $50 ticket gets you a plate and two pints.