Edible Brooklyn Beer Event at BAM

Summer in New York is finally here. Humid with constant afternoon thunderstorms, it's the kind of summer New Yorkers dread, the kind that leaves you sweaty, sticky and loathe to enter the subway system with its stale air and over air-conditioned cars. It is also the kind of weather that leaves me with no desire to cook anything beyond simple salads and icy drinks. This probably explains why I made the same melon smoothie for breakfast every day for a week straight.

Clearly I am a creature of habit, which is why events like Edible Brooklyn's Good Beer at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music), was the perfect antidote for a rainy Wednesday evening. Restaurants from all over Manhattan and Brooklyn came out offering delectable nibbles with beer pairings from local breweries. I tried pickled beets from Great Performances caterers paired with Ithaca Cascazilla's beer. From Ici, a Brooklyn restaurant I've been meaning to try but have yet to get around to, I had cornbread with summer squash and raw milk Vermont Cheddar. Jasper Hill Farm, a family farm from Greensboro, VT, was there with their complex yet subtle Vermont Ayr and Cabot Clothbound Cheddar cheeses.

A vegetarian I am not and I nearly swooned over the weiner schnitzel with cucmber and potato salad. I had two servings but consoled myself with the fact that the servings were bite sized. Schnitzel & Things may just be my new favorite truck that has joined the food truck craze taking over the City. Jim Lahey's Chelsea pizza place, Company (Co.), was outside (also in a truck) dishing up their margherita, popeye, and flambe pizzas. I was lucky enough to get there early and secured a slice of the flambe paired with a tasting of Southampton Publick House Doublewitte beer.

I am sure I am forgetting what other nibbles I may have had (or perhaps a deliberate omission in an effort to not portray myself as a complete piglet) but overall a successful and educational event. Other than learning that I can indeed consume numerous bites of Wiener Schnitzel while simultaneously balancing a full glass of beer (finally, the multitasking skills I learned in law school came in handy) I also learned these interesting facts about beer and New York. Something to think about the next time you decide to have a beer...

• Bloomberg declared July the "Month of Good Beer"
• In 1900, Brooklyn housed almost 50 breweries.
• The last brewery closed in Brooklyn in the 1970's.
• The borough is now experiencing a renaissance of sorts, with three breweries open in Brooklyn and many in the outer regions of Long Island and Upstate New York