Big Alice Brewing

We were visiting Brooklyn from Philadelphia and love the craft beer scene. Loved this little gem in Long Island City. The beer was unique and definitely tasty. Loved the atmosphere and the bartenders/​Brewers. When you visit breweries, you like to hear about the beer and learn a little about what they do. They were extremely engaging with their guests and so so so friendly! We can’t wait to head back!

As far as beers go Big Alice is interesting, inventive and they started out making beers on a what amounts to a really expensive home brewing set up. They’ve graduated since I first visited and the space is now a legit tap room. I’ve had a half dozen of their beers in the past few years and some I’ve liked and others eh, they definitely have some creative twists the Honey Brown and the Honey Wit, both made with local honey was good.
They’ve had some misses as well which well, I’m glad that they’re swinging for the fences with some of the interesting twists and I’ll certainly keep trying their interesting takes by putting in different flavors to standard beer types but I haven’t found one that I really love.

Really Really impressed with this place. We visit ALOT of breweries. In fact, almost every weekend we are visiting breweries, and this was one of the best we’ve been to in a while. So many unique, inventive beers. So much flavor, but not too much flavor that they are hard to drink. Street parking, cool view of the bridge outside… a bit tiny on the inside and hard to find a place to drink your beers, but overall very impressed.

Ahead of embarking on the LIC Brewery Tour, I looked forward to visiting Big Alice the most. Their adventurous offering of varying styles looked too good to pass up. Overall, this held true.
You can choose between a flight of 4 or a fight of 6. Being that it was our third brewery of the day, I went with 4: Single Hop Blended Sour (Galena), Sour One, LIC Native White Stout, and Date Night, Bro?
Galena was by far the stand-​out of my flight… and of my day! It was crafted so well — not too tart, not too hoppy. Very easy to drink and enjoy. The Sour One was okay, but I wouldn’t try it again. The LIC Native was… eep! I left it behind, which I rarely do in my beer journeys, but EEP. I think they might need to re-​evaluate that recipe, and my entire group agreed. Date Night was a doughnut-​and-​coffee-​infused stout. Could have been weird, but they pulled it off!
The space itself is nice and welcoming. They have the main area (where you can find the bathroom and a cut-​out staring you down.), and then the back area with the tanks and barrels for tables. You might be able to score some trail mix on your visit. They had little sample cups sitting near the tanks in the back.
Stop in if you want to expand your brew-​palate. You’re sure to find something new and fun!

Big Alice is an awesome small, craft brewery. It’s great for both picking up a fresh and well priced growler or stopping in to hang out at the taproom. The prices are very reasonable.
I really enjoyed the stouts that were on tap. All across the board, I felt they did a great job of utilizing hop and malts to augment flavor.

A great place to enjoy and learn about beer and how it’s made. You can have inexpensive «flights» to taste the variety of different beers available. Then you can take home a growler of your favorite.
These are some of the nicest people. I wish more local bars carried the beers produced in Queens.

I love that they really experiment with beers and I really want to make sure to support them but a few times recently the beers have been less than good. That doesn’t detract too much from the overall experience and we will keep going back because of the experimentation and overall great beers. It’s a great space and the bartenders are always really nice.

Amazing, creative beers that change frequently, and friendly staff. It’s worth the walk!

I was at first charmed by this bare bones upstart microbrewery, but it quickly lost its appeal.
To be fair, everything there is fine. The space is small, but new and cool looking. The lady behind the bar is friendly. The brews all taste the same– all of them «sour”– but not bad.
Biggest gripe was service related. My friend– a true beer expert, who writes for trade magazines– had bought 4 Groupon flight deals. But there were only two of us. So we asked if, instead of getting four free large growlers, we might sub two for anything else like a smaller growler or even a glass. Seemed reasonable, but we were denied. That’s the owner’s right. But such a wasted opportunity– for them– to create a couple of real fans.
So we left. And walked over to the Rockaway Brewing Co.

I feel very lucky to live in the brewery cluster of Western Queens. Hanging out at breweries is great, but Big Alice is special because there is always something new on tap. Everything they make is experimental and small-​batch, so I won’t recommend any particular beer because they’ll have something new on when you visit. With 10 lines pouring, you should go with a friend and get a flight of 6 and 4 and sample everything. Or don’t go with a friend and drink it all yourself, but it’s a bit of a walk to the closest subway…
Like anywhere else in the world, avoid on Saturdays because it gets crowded.

I read this place is small and gets packed quickly, so I got there at about 10 minutes after opening and there was already a tight space. I found out that there is actually a bunch of breweries around and some of the people there had been on a brewery tour, and they said that this was the best brewery they been to compared to the others. I definitely ended up agreeing.
They serve tastings of 6 different beers (your choice) and yes — they are so cheap, yes — you get free snacks, and yes — the service is amazing. They are quite friendly/​patient as you decide from their list, and give recommendations.
I am not even a fan of beer and only went so I could surprise my boyfriend for a date, and we both ended up enjoying it.
Only downer was it was a small space and I ended up standing for about half the time.

Best brewery in NYC! Microbreweries are popping up all over Queens, crafting a new beer revolution and Big Alice is at the forefront. With unique brews like Peanut Butter Chocolate Milk Stout, BA is the best I’ve tried so far. Even though in an odd location, it’s worth the trip for a true craft beer connoisseur.

Its been awhile since I’ve been here but was recently reminded that I never wrote my review. Back in February I came here after brunch since two beer enthusiasts were on hand and after I went to Rockaway Brewery first I realized that there was some kind of beer crawl special check in for an entrance to a sweepstakes prize. Though, keep in mind it takes very little to convince me to go on a brewery crawl. Out of the Long Island City breweries Big Alice definitely without a shadow of a doubt has the most wide ranging variety of beers. The menu was so extensive that they have listed batches from days of yore, present, and eminent to continue to be brewed possibly in the future on their bathroom door and it goes on into the hundreds. I read descriptions of jalapenos, porcini mushrooms, cherry peppers, coriander, dandelions, champagne grape infused beers. Not your average run of the mill ipas or blonde ales for sure!
Not having a lot of time to spare Steph and I split a tasting flight for ($ 15) of 6 4oz pours. Mind you these are what they had in the winter and I’m sure they change and rotate with the seasons. The first of which was the White Coffee Stout — 6.3%: You will never in a million years think this is a stout because its a golden yellow color. But from what I recall the beer tasted buttery with just a hint of coffee on the end. A well-​rounded drink. Not my favorite but very delicious and drinkable.
Smoked Saison — 7.1%: My absolute favorite of the tasting! If you like Rogue’s Voodoo Doughnut Maple Bacon Ale, then this is quite similar but smokier and by far tastier. It smells like bonfire and bacon and I wish I had it here now with me.
Rye IPA — 5.2%: This was a bit funky for me. I normally like IPAs but I did not enjoy the after taste on this one.
Salted Caramel — 6.7%: A little bit bitter but this had an interesting taste. Kind of a bitter fruit taste, possibly mango or pineapple with a hint of saltiness. Nothing I would expect with the name. I was pretty in the middle on this one. It was worth tasting but I wouldn’t want a full glass of it.
Queens Honey Brown — 5.5%: My personal second favorite beer of the tasting. I love brown ales so it was a no brainer for me. Kind of reminded me of the Maple Wheat I tasted at the Long Island City flea recently but nuttier.
Sour Multigrain Stout — 6.2%.: All I remember is that I never associate sour and stouts together. It was intense and I didn’t like it but Steph did quite a bit. Matter of personal preference.
Fantastic brewery though and looking forward to hopefully checking them out again sometime soon. Keep in mind the space is small and it often gets crowded. They are also only open Wednesdays-​Fridays from 5 – 9 (10pm on Fri) and on Saturdays 12pm-​10pm/​Sunday 12pm-​8pm. Also, most importantly they have complimentary trail mix. The kind with the m&ms in them that accidentally make you drunkenly break your lent of no sugary treats.

Good
Beers in
A small space.
Free trail mix in
Long Island City. Flights for everyone!

Great small batch beer selection from a small brewery in an unassuming location. The neighborhood seems like it’d be dodgy at night, but tucked in a small warehouse space is the great and super tidy brewery. Similar to the equally small Transmitter and Rockaway breweries nearby, this is truly a micro brew where the tasting room is inside the brewing room. The staff is super friendly and will talk to you all day about dry hopping and IBUs. The sampler flights are the best way to try the range. A few brews are a bit too adventurous to me like the peanut butter stout and the gunpowder rye, but the jalapeño was fantastic and the simple honey wit was phenomenal. Best selection on the LIC beer route.

Nice small craft brewery. The staff is very friendly and knows their craft. We had a 6 glass sampler and then decided on 1 full
Pour for my husband and 1 small pour for me. I would return when they change the brews. Its out of the way but we drive so it was fine for us

Extremely cool hidden gem! My husband found out about this place because he’s a big home brewer, so he was very excited to read about a Kukicha tea beer they are brewing (I’m a huge tea drinker)! The tea ended up not being available since they have their brews on rotation. However, I absolutely loved the Salt & Pepper beer, which really tasted of pepper (!) and my husband had the Jalapeño Rye, which was not my thing but obviously still pretty cool.
We went impromptu on an early Sat evening and the place was pretty full, with small groups of people hanging out and drinking in the front room and the back of the brewery. Since it’s a tiny space, it is standing room only and feels a bit like an intimate house party (however, I wouldn’t come with more than a handful of friends due to space). Overall, it’s a great place to chill and taste really unique beers. They have a wonderful deal on flights, plus free trail mix! The staff was extremely friendly, and someone brought their very cute pitbull there as well. I can’t wait to bike back there for the cool vibe & great drinks!

4.5 stars…
Big Alice used to only have tasting hours for a few hours on Friday nights. They just recently expanded their tasting room area and significantly expanded the hours so I was able to drop by on a Saturday afternoon. Their still tiny space is right by the water in Long Island City, hense the creative Big aLICe logo. Normally they have 6 beers on tap that rotates every few months but if you catch them mid-​switch you may get an option to try 8 beers in one visit. The tasting room is comprised of a bar with 4 stools, and a handful of other high top chairs and standing room. It’s a very basic space but they do have a TV, some merchandise for sale, and free trail mix which, added to their awesome service, made for a great experience.
The thing that sets Big Alice apart from other breweries is that they really think outside the box and try some really bold flavors in their beers. They also gravitate toward darker beers (stouts, porters, dark ales). When I came I tried a smoked saison and a jalepeno rye that both tasted very much like their namesake. My favorte this time around was the Queens Honey Brown (5.1%) which was described as «malty & sweet brewed with local Wilk Apiary Queens rooftop honey». Although on this trip I wasn’t blown away by any of their beers I really love what they’re doing here and can’t wait to come back and try what they come up with next.

I was really impressed with their beers here. Very interesting flavors and ingredient combinations. I absolutely loved the coffee flavor one. The least hoppy beer, the name I’m forgetting, was spectacular. I would definitely recommend tasting all of their beers on tap — they are all very different and will surprise you.

TOP de long island city ! Sour Stout foi uma surpresa incrivel já que a maioria fica só nos estilos alemãs e claras… espaço pequeno, mas fugindo de uma nevasca, o calor humano ajudou a degustar as cervejas oferecidas no flight. Definitivamente não tem como ir a NY e não ir no Big Alice tomar uma cerveja fresca.

Okay, okay — so I used to have 1 favorite brewery in Queens… now I have TWO. Queens’ beer game is so DOPE right now. Came here for my first time about 2 weeks ago and really had a great time.
Their tasting room is a bit small, but their brewing part is much bigger and that’s totally understood. They also have complimentary trail mix — whoo hoo!
Ingrid S. and I shared a flight of beers which came with 6 different beers and they were all really great.
The beers I had the pleasure of sampling were the following:
+ White Coffee Stout
+ Smoked Saison
+ Rye IPA
+ Salted Caramel
+ Queens Honey Brown
+ Sour Multigrain Stout
This place is such a gem and I can’t wait to return and hopefully try their Cranberry Imperial Stout.