Grimm Artisanal Ales

In East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, a husband-and-wife duo is brewing some of the most delish stouts, IPAs, and sours I've ever tasted.

You, too, can try them at the brand-new Grimm Artisanal Ales taproom on Metropolitan Avenue. The tap room has draft beers, bottle pours, beers to go, and even Mediterranean food from Samesa, a popular Brooklyn restaurant.

Lauren and Joe Grimm refer to themselves as "the planner" and "the doer," respectively, and started making beer in their apartment in Rhode Island about 12 years ago. They eventually borrowed space from a small Massachusetts brewery, where they worked as nomadic brewers until they officially opened their own space in New York on June 30, 2018.

Lauren says they started out making Belgian-style triple IPAs, which became really popular. They dreamed of having their own space to brew but didn't have the upfront cash to make it happen. Grimm Ales finally found its home thanks to two loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration, which named Joe and Lauren its Young Entrepreneurs of 2018.

Lauren says they can't thank the SBA enough. She and Joe started talking to the SBA about three years ago, thinking it might not go anywhere. But the administration told them to put together a project and officials would see what they could do.

That project is now a fully functional brewery that brews six times a month and introduces new beers all the time.  have a three vessel 30-barrel brewhouse on site, four 60-barrel fermenters, two 90-barrel fermenters, more than 100 red and white wine oak barrels, and a 30-barrel foeder.

Plus, the taproom is open to the public Thursday through Monday.

Joe says their beers are constantly changing. Nothing is available all the time, which has actually worked out pretty well. Joe and Lauren hope people have enough faith in what Grimm produces that they know they can have something fun without worrying about whether they'll like it even if they've never had it.