Next Wave Awards Brewery of the Year: Eckhart Beer Co.

Nicholas Meyer readily admits he’s stubborn. How else would one forge ahead opening a brewery amid today’s economic challenges and fickle, category-agnostic consumers? Or, to venture a step further, open that brewery centered entirely around traditional German and Czech lagers when American craft beer has for so long been fueled by a relentless cycle of novelty? For Meyer, his staff, and the many customers who have found their new favorite gathering place at Eckhart Beer Co. in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn, that stubbornness has paid off.

“The hardest part of this process has been sticking to my guns,” Meyer says. “Now, anecdotally, we have people coming in all the time saying it’s so refreshing to see a brewery doing this.”

“This” is highlighting the Platonic ideal of lager from its homeland, and not chasing trends or ticking boxes with the hazy IPA, pastry stout, or fruited sour du jour.

“I’d thought about opening a brewery for a long time and felt like I didn’t have anything new to contribute [to those styles],” Meyer says. “It’s not that I wasn’t into them, but it just didn’t seem like the industry needed more of that.” When the lager-concentrated concept coalesced for Meyer, he thought, “I’d better do this now before anyone else does, and open it in New York.”

Meyer achieved that goal, and he probably doesn’t have to worry about too many other breweries being able to nail the balanced focus Eckhart embodies, between heightened hospitality and painstakingly executed lagers — all alongside other beverage options and a thoughtful food menu served in a well-appointed, welcoming space.

Much of what sets Eckhart apart thrives thanks to the all-star crew Meyer assembled. Operations manager Justin Sirois grew up in the hospitality industry, building a career in multimedia and starting a dedicated homebrewing habit before going pro in the brewing industry. Meeting Meyer seemed like a fated silver lining: recovering from an accident, he shared a hospital room with Meyer’s father. The more they talked, they talked beer; and the more they talked beer, they talked Meyer’s brewery vision.

Credit: Vlad Levine

“I shared that strongly,” Sirois says of Meyer’s passion for a lager focus. “I’d always been so excited by creative beers, but over time, I started wanting to simplify that and make the best versions possible.”

Eckhart’s brewer Adam Wolfe had been brewing in Sydney, Australia and Amsterdam for a decade — traveling Europe to study traditional styles and brewing methods — when he felt the pull back home to the East Coast. The post at Eckhart popped up and, again, had an air of kismet.

“You don’t see breweries just focusing on this style of beer very often, and it’s something I was really focusing on pretty heavily in Europe,” Wolfe says. “It seemed like a perfect opportunity.”

Meyer and Sirois began working together on the Eckhart concept in 2022. Construction on their facility in Bushwick began in April 2023, and their first beer was brewed in September 2024. The early stages of this process entailed fine-tuning what exactly the Eckhart beer program would be.

“There was no doubt in my mind about Helles Lager, any serious lager brewery has to brew a Helles,” Wolfe says. His personal favorite, the German Pilsner, was a lock. Then, he wanted to represent Czech styles; they landed on the “super flavorful, everyday workhorse beer” Czech Pale Lager, then rounded out the lineup with a Czech Dark Lager and Czech Amber Lager.

Credit: Vlad Levine

Eckhart’s core beers also include the Haus IPA, but it’s not this team’s style to brew anything just because they feel obliged. Theirs is a study in balance, flavor, and restraint just like the lagers it shares menu space with. Depending on what time of year you’re in the taproom, you’ll also find Festbier, Kölsch, Italian-style Red Lager, Gose, Grapefruit Radler, Baltic Porter, Czech-style Pils, West Coast Pils, and more.

The brand prioritizes hospitality right alongside brewing. Meyer’s background is in fine dining; he’s served as sous chef at Eleven Madison Park, Blue Hill, and Del Posto and instructed at The International Culinary Center. Any brewery he opened was going to go all-in on service.

Rachel Wood joined the Eckhart team as manager with 15 years of experience in hospitality, much of that being where she says her heart is, in breweries. She notes that Meyer’s vision of “narrow but deep” resonated with her: a dedicated focus, done with utmost intention.

Irene Hernandez joined Eckhart’s hospitality team as assistant taproom manager and lead bartender with her own appreciation for the streamlined beer concept along with some fresh perspective.

“Jared [Ferguson, Eckhart’s chef] and I are both Latinos, so we bring some Hispanic flair to the table,” she says. Hernandez’s main goal is to make sure everyone who walks through Eckhart’s doors feels welcome, beer connoisseur or not.

Wood shares that goal, helping introduce guests to the elevated service and beer traditions at Eckhart. The brewery uses Czech Lukr side-pull faucets to pour their beer. These taps enhance beer’s foam, creating a dense, velvety head jam-packed with aromas like a thick beer smoothie. They require training and technique to master, and manipulate into different pouring styles.

Credit: Vlad Levine

Wood and Hernandez bring Eckhart’s beer culture to life through events, too. On the second Saturday of each month, their all-day Kölsch Service transports patrons to Cologne or Dusseldorf beer halls. Kölsch service is hard enough to come by in the U.S.; Eckhart raises the bar by also offering the Dusseldorf-born Altbier style when in season.

Tying the beer and hospitality together is Eckhart’s noteworthy food program, which draws inspiration from drinking cultures across the globe. There’s crisp pork belly in aji verde sauce and a roasted beet salad with dried cherries, chili crisp, and lemon tahini alongside elevated German beer hall classics like a soft pretzel, bratwurst plate, brat dog — plus the vegetarian spin, a falafel dog, potato pancakes, Katsu-style chicken cutlet, and a decadent spaetzle gratin.

All it takes is a visit to Eckhart to sense that the magic comes as much from the team as it does from the satisfyingly bitter-leaning German Pilsner or refreshing yet malt-rich Czech Pale Lager.

“I didn’t know this was going to work when I started out, but the more we’ve added people to the team, it feels like if you just commit to something and you’re clear in communicating what you want to do, the right people who are also enthusiastic about that will find you.”

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