Nestled in the East Bronx is Gun Hill Brewing Company, named one of the state’s most underrated breweries by Thrillist. The menu boasts a handful of award-winning beers — the Spirit 76 pilsner and Void of Light stout are both worth trying — along with more experimental drinks customers are unlikely to find elsewhere, like Henny Colada sour IPAs and stouts made from graham cracker and marshmallow. Canned beers are available for takeout, too.

Anchoring the northernmost borough’s beer scene is the Bronx Brewery. This decade-old brewing company sells its most popular beers across the city, but the taproom is worth a special visit for its limited-run releases and sprawling backyard, open seven days a week. The brewery recently opened a taproom in the East Village, too, with a food counter slinging step-above smash burgers.

Named for its home neighborhood Long Island City (LIC), Big aLICe distinguishes itself with easy-drinking pours brewed with less common ingredients, like doughnuts from Astoria brunch spot Comfortland or locust honey and cara cara orange puree. IPA haters will find lots to love here, too, with refreshing beers like its Thanksgiving cranberry sour and lemongrass kolsch. Big aLICe also operates a taproom out of Industry City in Sunset Park.

In 2017, Fifth Hammer joined Long Island City’s vibrant beer scene. Beers are broken down into fun, easy to decode categories — “the bright bunch,” fruited sours, and “the hop zone,” among others — making it easy to sift through the 20 beers on tap. The brewery allows customers to bring outside food into the venue (we recommend Taiwanese dumpling spot Yumpling, five blocks away), while food trucks and pop-ups operate out of the space on weekends.

Torch and Crown opened this massive brewery early in the pandemic, becoming the only large-scale brewing operation in lower Manhattan. (The company previously operated out of a production facility in the Bronx.) To note: This Soho brewery can feel like a breeding ground for bros on weekends, but for those who persevere, smooth sours and sippable West Coast IPAs await. There’s plenty of indoor seating, along with tables out front and in a covered side yard.

Grimm is responsible for some of New York’s cutest beer cans, and in this case there’s some merit to judging a book by its cover. This taproom and brewery in East Williamsburg is home to some of New York’s most coveted sours, brewed with boysenberries, tart cherries, and a rotating cast of in-season fruits. There can be more than 20 beers on tap at a given time, and don’t hesitate to ask the friendly bartenders here for a recommendation — or sample — before committing.

What this East Williamsburg brewery lacks in size it more than makes up for with its steady supply of barrel-aged sours and single, double, and triple IPAs. Commit to a full pint, or opt for a couple four-ounce pours as part of a flight. Looking for something lighter? Try a canned cocktail, or pop open one of Interboro’s 500 milliliter beer bottles, only available at the brewery and perfect for sharing.

A restaurant manager, an advertising executive, and a molecular biologist walk into a bar. It sounds like the punchline to a joke, but it’s the founding story behind this brewery and taproom, which has been finding fans in Bushwick since 2016. Kings County Brewers Collective, often abbreviated as KCBC, serves several of its own beers on draft — a strawberry sour, a barley wine called Fellowship of the Bling — plus a couple of pours from other local brewers.

The CEO of this Gowanus beer company stepped down earlier this year, after likening the city’s coronavirus vaccine mandate to the Nazi regime, but the brewery he left behind remains a top pick for Brooklyn beer obsessives. There’s a big backyard, around 20 beers on tap, and one of the borough’s best burgers, courtesy of the Meat Hook butcher shop, which operates out of the space. Cans from Threes are sold in bars and bodegas across the city, but the brewery provides a chance to try them all in one place, plus a rotating menu of limited-release ales.

Brooklyn beer nerds have been griping about the trek to Finback (based in Glendale, Queens) for the last decade, and during the pandemic the popular brewer finally caved, opening this second taproom in Gowanus with beer, dumplings, and coffee. The brewery is best known for its single, double, and triple IPAs, but there’s usually a stout or a sour on tap and cocktails.

Strong Rope, located down the street from Threes Brewing, is a solid bet for those looking to skip the crowds at Gowanus’s biggest brewery and try some excellent beers in the process. Blonde ales and lagers are the move here, especially in the warmer months when customers pour out onto the brewery’s patio. Strong Rope operates a second location along the Red Hook waterfront.