SingleCut Beersmiths opened in 2012 as the first brewery in Queens since Prohibition, and its Astoria taproom on 37th Street still pours the music-obsessed lagers and IPAs that founder Rich Buceta brews a few steps behind the bar.
The room is a working brewery taproom rather than a bar with guest taps: the beer is made on site, and the names carry the founder's music fixation, from the Billy IPA series to the 19-33 Lagrrr! that nods to the building's address. BKMAG and Wikipedia both trace the brewery's reputation to its focus on lagers, a slower, more demanding style most craft breweries skip.
The taproom is built into the working brewery rather than walled off from it, so the tanks are part of the view and the beer travels only a few feet from fermentation to glass. The space leans industrial with a long bar, communal seating and a Steinway piano that turns it into a small music room on the nights the brewery programs live sets.
Reviewers on Untappd and Google Maps rate the lagers as highly as the better-known IPAs, which is unusual for a craft taproom and exactly the reputation the brewery set out to build. The trip out on the N and W trains is part of the visit, and regulars treat a Saturday afternoon flight followed by a few cans to go as the standard run.
The lineup spans the sessionable Billy 18-Watt IPA to the heavy Billy Full-Stack Imperial at 8.6 percent, alongside the lager program that built the name. Brownstoner has covered the taproom's live music and the Steinway piano that turned the space into a small music room as well as a brewery.
What to order: a flight that pairs a crushable lager against one of the Billy IPAs, since the contrast is the brewery's whole argument, then a can or two to carry out from the cooler. The taproom leans on the beer rather than a full kitchen, so plan food around it.
The crowd is Astoria locals, beer travellers making the trip out on the N and W, and a music crowd on nights the piano is in use. Best time to go is an early Friday evening or a Saturday afternoon, before the weekend taproom fills and the flights back up.
Who it is for: lager drinkers, IPA hunters, and anyone who wants beer poured at the source. Who should skip it: a cocktail crowd or a group that needs a full dinner menu, since this is a taproom built around what is in the tanks.
SingleCut matters as the brewery that reopened Queens to commercial brewing and then stayed independent while bigger names sold, which is why its taproom still reads as a destination rather than a chain stop. For more beer-led rooms, see our guide to the best craft beer bars in New York, browse the full New York bar guide, or compare it across the citywide craft beer bars roundup. In Greenpoint, Tørst in New York is the move for a curated guest-tap list.
