If you’re a beer geek visiting New York City, it might be hard to know which bars are worth your while. Sure, there’s Rattle n’ Hum and the Blind Tiger, but after that, things can get a little murky. That’s where the Good Beer Seal comes in.
The Good Beer Seal is awarded to New York City bars that seek out the best in national and international brews and are upstanding contributors to the communities they pour for. The seal is awarded by a panel of beer nerds who know the wheat from the chaff when it comes to Big Apple beer bars. It’s a pretty cool idea with a pretty simple goal – showcase New York as a travel destination for beer lovers from around the world. Right now there are 27 bars that have the Seal.
This month the Good Beer Seal folks are taking it a step further, and have declared July as “Good Beer Month” which features a bunch of beer and foodie events all over the city, all hosted by Good Beer Seal-approved establishments. Some of the proceeds will go to charities like Just Food, Slow Food NYC, the New Amsterdam Market and “other organizations that promote sustainability, through fundraising events.”
The best thing about this idea is that it was created to help the little guys, the independent bars who understand and celebrate what great beer is all about. Anything that helps the good guys gets our seal of approval every time. Consider it Garanimals for drunks!
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Beer & Whiskey Brothers 
im hijacking this thread. I mentioned to Don earlier that my neighbor was starting a micro-distillery in KY called Limestone Branch. I generally just know him by his first name and then I did a simple Google search. We talked bourbon for a long time the other day. It made sense. His last name is Beam.
An excellent idea. How might we promote micro-brewing online in a similar manner?
Is NYC the only city to have this “Good beer Seal?”. Other cities like Pittsburgh, Wash DC, Chicago and such have unbelievable craft beer bars. How would they start something like this?
For now it’s NYC only, but there may be plans to expand it.
NYC is the only city to have it for now I think because its co-founders (now down one sadly, RIP Ray) are based here. Maybe contact Jimmy Carbone to find out how you can spread it to your city / if it’s in the works?
Good advice. I think it’ll spread, as it’s a good way to create a “scene” and let folks find the good stuff.