A fond farewell, far too soon, to Mikkeller NYC

Shortly before the 2018 season began, a Denmark-based brewery that was well-known for the quality of its beer opened its doors for a preview event ahead of the opening of its location at Citi Field. In attending that event, I had been really impressed. What had been vacant space since Citi Field opened up nearly a decade earlier was now a large space with an almost-absurd sixty tap lines, and while there were a few screens for watching sports in the place, it was clearly a beer-first joint.

Going to Mikkeller before—and occasionally after—a Mets game quickly became routine. The fact that the brewery was outside the gates of the ballpark actually worked in its favor. While it was physically located in the Mets’ ballpark, going there and being at the game were two separate, but very much intertwined, experiences.

On top of that appeal to the everyday Mets fan, Mikkeller also became somewhat of a second home for us here at Amazin’ Avenue. We had a few of our AARGH meetups there and recorded a few episodes of the podcast, with the best event of all of them having been A Pod Of Their Own’s event to raffle off some great prizes as part of their Dollars For Dingers fundraiser that raised thousands of dollars for the National Domestic Violence Hotline. The folks at the brewery were gracious hosts each and every time we did something there.

Sadly, Mikkeller announced earlier this week that the Citi Field location is permanently closed, as the pandemic ground its flow of customers to a halt. Even though it was only open for two in-person seasons of Mets baseball, the news stung for us and likely did for thousands of other Mets fans, too. The ballpark really had something unique and special going for it, and whatever comes next in that space—if something does at all—will have big shoes to fill.