QUEENS FOR A DAY (Barrier Brewery’s Mare Undarum at Queens Kickshaw)

My search for the best beer in New York continues….

SADLY, QUEENS KICKSHAW IS NOW CLOSED.

Aside from the two famous beer gardens, Queens has not had quite the beer culture that Brooklyn or Manhattan has, yet the time has come. As neighborhoods like Astoria and Sunnyside have welcomed in young middle class families in the last few years, we’ve seen a growing group of local, sustainable restaurants and with them come artisanal coffee, pseudo speakeasy cocktail lounges, and craft beer.

The first time I walked in to Queens Kickshaw, which is just outside my subway station in Astoria, I exclaimed, “I feel like I’m in Brooklyn!” Queens Kickshaw tries to do a lot – they offer expensive specialty coffees, a full menu of grilled cheese sandwiches, and a pretty killer beer list. It really shouldn’t work, yet it does. The food is good, the atmosphere is hip and comfortable, and it ends up being a great place to hang out any time of day. Right here in Queens.

I came by in the mid-afternoon to use my last Craft Beer passport coupon. Queens Kickshaw was offering two options from Long Island’s Barrier Brewery: a new Brown Ale and a Belgian style IPA called Mare Undarum. Upon doing some research the name does not refer to some Belgian lass, but rather a large plain on the moon.

The owner, also poured me a sample of the brown ale in a shot glass. I’ll have to explore this brew a little more, but it was a bit watery and bland. Not sure if it’s because I had been drinking their intensely flavored IPA first, but the brown ale didn’t taste like much.

The IPA sure did. It had a crisp, golden color with some active bubbles but not much of a head. I got grassy, piney notes on the nose with some summer fruits, like peach and apricot. The mouthfeel was pleasant. The hops were balanced and a lot more mellow than most IPA’s we drink in this country. It had some floral bitterness, but finished smooth and with some subtle toffee flavors.

It’s a very drinkable IPA, one that I could easily drink multiples of. If somebody was new to IPAs or not sure how they felt about the bitterness, this would be a great entryway into that world. Not to mention into the burgeoning world of Queens gastronomy.

Is Barrier Brewery’s Mare Undarum IPA the best beer in NY? It’s an interesting Belgian IPA that’s smooth, flavorful and utterly drinkable earning it a 9 out of 10.