Profile: Chelsea Brewing Company

I discovered Chelsea Brewing Company last September when it hosted the Manhattan Cask Ale Festival. I was skeptical about CBC because I've always found Chelsea Piers to be kind of disturbing. This sports complex on the Hudson River always seems deserted and overpriced; I pass by wondering who patronizes its New Jersey-facing driving range and its late-night glow-in-the-dark bowling events. Having last visited Chelsea Piers in 2002 for a junior prom, I was surprised to find this secret cozy bar huddled between the driving range and the docks. Inside, a hundred or so Manhattanites sipped small glasses of various ales and chatted about stocks, subway art, and weekend trips to Beacon and the Hamptons. I appreciated the diversity of the crowd and the oddity of the gathering of such different people in what was an otherwise abandoned sports complex, isolated from the nearby Meatpacking District by the imposing West Side Highway.

You can escape CBC's crowds and conversations by stepping outside onto the dock, where you can sip your beer and watch the barges pass by along the Hudson River and see the lights switch on and off in nearby New Jersey. I've always loved places on the water, and I found the serenity here surprising for Manhattan. On quieter nights, when Cask Ale Festival-goers seek evening drinks elsewhere, I appreciate the quiet at CBC and the opportunity to remember, vicariously, the days when New York thrived around its ports. With a calm spring breeze passing through, you can sit for hours on CBC's dock watching small yachts dock, reminiscent of the Great Gatsby days, and their occupants debark for a night in Manhattan.

In colder months, CBC is scarcely populated--at times I've taken my chances and checked it out, only to be one of four or five customers watching basketball or CNN on the big TVs in silence. CBC is at its best in warmer weather, when you can step outside and away from the hectic bustle of New York. On a crisp night, grab some friends and head down to Chelsea Piers, where a deck for quiet conversation and reflection awaits.