New York's best beer events in 2015

Cap off the beer-soaked celebration with a boozy brunch featuring live music performances, breakfast bites from local vendors and, of course, NYC brewers' beer.

This suds shindig returns for its tenth year with unlimited two-ounce pours of more than 150 brews from 75 breweries across the country, such as Abita, Long Trail and Dogfish Head. Hops-heads can also attend expert-led seminars that highlight home-brewing techniques and introduce up-and-coming microbrewers from New England and the Mid-Atlantic, then sop up the booze with snacks like Tater-Tot nachos and gouda-bacon sandwiches.

Breweries (Coney Island, Harlem Brewing) and restaurants (Bareburger, Swine) from all five boroughs come together for this patty fest, where you can sip more than 120 suds and nosh on unlimited bacon bites like chocolate-and-bacon-covered pretzels and beer pancakes with maple-sriracha syrup. Work off your gluttony with rounds of whiffle ball, inflatable bungee run and life-size Jenga on the stadium concourse, or learn home-brewing basics and butchering techniques at complementary demonstrations.

This all-you-can-drink tasting includes more than 100 event-exclusive small-batch beers by 33 New York area breweries such as Gun Hill Brewing Co., Finback Brewery and Grimm Artisanal Ales, plus a performance by rock band Stolen Rhodes. Sip unlimited 2-ounce pours and pick the brains of craft brewers, then choose your favorite suds from the home-brew contest and take home a commemorative tasting glass.

The NYC craft beer renaissance continues its sudsy, chaliced, sniff-before-you-sip domination with this waterfront festival under the Brooklyn Bridge. More than 75 state and city brews will be available, with unlimited pours from Staten Island's Flagship Brewing Co., Hudson Valley's Naked Flock hard cider and Ommegang from Cooperstown, NY.

Raise a glass to local beermaking at this seventh annual snacks-and-suds–filled festival showcasing more than 20 craft breweries, including Ommegang, Greath South Bay and Sixpoint. Mix and match limitless ice-cold brews with pairable summer bites from the likes of Gramercy Tavern, Jimmy’s No. 43 and the recently opened Bill Baker’s. The best part? For the first time, you can purchase bottles and cans to take home.

Join New York's band of local brewers for this second annual beer block party, which raises funds for even more pints-guzzling at Beer Week in February. Get your first taste of new releases from guild members including Long Island City’s Big Alice Brewing, Ridgewood’s Finback and Kelso Beer Company in Prospect Heights, as well as a selection of hard-to-come-by bottles like Gun Hill’s award-winning Void of Light stout. Five full-size craft pours are yours for an additional two Hamiltons, or you can pay as you go. Beyond brews, test your luck with raffles and your skills in a beanbag-toss tournament while noshing on bar snacks from Randolph Beer and Crescent & Vine.

From 19th-century Munich comes the booze-drenched fall tradition of Oktoberfest, and from Washington, D.C., comes the first-ever NYC edition of the popular District Oktoberfest pub crawl. From noon to 10pm, your pass grants you access to a 12-ounce cold one and discounted grub at eight watering holes. Start your trek on the Lower East Side at German beer bar Paulaner, where you’ll munch on a gratis soft pretzel, then down limited-time festival pours, like the Pennsylvania-sourced Victory Festbier at Dempsey’s and the Spaten Oktoberfest at the Copper Still. After the suds soak in, get down to the sounds of live Bavarian polka.

Bottoms up at this weekend-long brew fest, pouring unlimited tastings from nearly 75 breweries nationwide, including Dyckman Beer Co.’s Café con Leche Milk Stout, a chai-spiced cider from B. Nektar and Irish Yankee Beer’s Sunbird Red Ale. Then soak up all that booze with baked empanadas (mac and cheese, beef) from Dos Toros Taqueria.