Greenpoint Beer Festival | Red Star Bar

Red Star bar and Brooklyn native John Forté hosted the all-day Greenpoint Beer Festival

Red Star bar hosted the all-day Greenpoint Beer Festival yesterday, featuring music from Brooklyn-born musician John Forté, and we were there to partake of the many (many!) delicious brews on hand. Red Star turned out to be a total winner of a venue, too—huge, comfy, off the beaten track, and that perfect kind of sports bar that's free of sports bar obnoxiousness. Oh, and incidentally it's rumored to serve the best burger in Greenpoint. The more you know!

From our tasting notebook: We liked the Red Wagon IPA from Fire Island Brewing Company (a crisp IPA for everyday drinking), the Maple Oat Ale from Peak's Organic (gorgeous maple nose with no maple sweetness, really surprising and refreshing), Joe Mamma's Stout from Keegan Ales (brewed with coffee and milk and absolutely delicious), the Chocolate Lager from Kelso (really rich with cocoa back notes, but the lighter, bubblier mouth feel of a lager), and Brooklyn Brewery's special Brewmaster beer. Also notable was the Gulden Draak triple from Belgium, marking the first time this beer has "been to the States." (Look for the dragon-headed beer pull.) This was a sweeter beer, dark brown with toffee notes.

So many beers!