Looking for the original Bar Towel blog? You can find it at www.thebartowel.com.

We have a trivia question in order to register to prevent bots. If you have any issues with answering, contact us at cass@bartowel.com for help.

Introducing Light Mode! If you would like a Bar Towel social experience that isn't the traditional blue, you can now select Light Mode. Go to the User Control Panel and then Board Preferences, and select "Day Drinking" (Light Mode) from the My Board Style drop-down menu. You can always switch back to "Night Drinking" (Dark Mode). Enjoy!

New York/Manhattan/Brooklyn

Discuss beer travel and regional information, including the best bars and places to check out around in Canada and around the world, and other chat that is not specific to Ontario.

Moderators: Craig, Cass

Philip1
Posts: 331
Joined: Mon Dec 20, 2004 1:10 pm

Post by Philip1 »

Beer and burgers: how Brooklyn, New York, is brewing up a storm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2012/o ... -beer-food

Interesting comments below from Brits who've tried American craft beers.

Philip1
Posts: 331
Joined: Mon Dec 20, 2004 1:10 pm

Post by Philip1 »

Beer and burgers: how Brooklyn, New York, is brewing up a storm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2012/o ... -beer-food

Interesting comments below from Brits who've tried American craft beers.

Philip1
Posts: 331
Joined: Mon Dec 20, 2004 1:10 pm

Post by Philip1 »

test

Philip1
Posts: 331
Joined: Mon Dec 20, 2004 1:10 pm

Post by Philip1 »

Beer and burgers: how Brooklyn, New York, is brewing up a storm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2012/o ... -beer-food

Interesting comments below from Brits who've tried American craft beers.

Philip1
Posts: 331
Joined: Mon Dec 20, 2004 1:10 pm

Post by Philip1 »

No idea why my post won't work. One last try.

Beer and burgers in Brooklyn

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2012/o ... -beer-food

User avatar
dale cannon
Posts: 331
Joined: Fri Jun 08, 2012 11:46 am

Post by dale cannon »

In terms of beer destinations, if you had one night in Manhattan, how would you spend it?

One place?

Hop around?
That's the way she goes. Sometimes she goes, sometimes it doesn't. She didn't go. That's the way she goes.

User avatar
Cass
Beer Superstar
Posts: 3828
Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2001 8:00 pm
Location: Toronto
Contact:

Post by Cass »

Couple other updates from a weekend in NYC & Brooklyn...

New hot spot for beer (think it's the top rated in RB now) is Torst in Brooklyn. Just about a 10-15 min walk up from where Spuyten is. Cool Scandinavian style design, wooden tables and walls complemented by shiny tile. Diverse beer list from all over, mostly specialty stuff all served in wine glasses. Not a place for pints.

There's also an outpost of the Rosamunde Sausage Grill (2 in San Fran) on Bedford, just south of the main strip. Great lineup of beers & delish sausages.

Stayed this time at the Hotel Le Jolie which is right in Williamsburg. A great alternative to Manhattan - felt like staying in a neighbourhood rather than the insanity of downtown. Would recommend for sure.

Also, I realize that it's going back to DC next year but went to the Brewer's Association Savor event and it was awesome. 75 breweries, each with two beers and each beer paired with a unique hors d'oeuvre. Really 'classy' festival - great venue, not about mass drinking, diverse crowd and not too busy. Not a cheap ticket but worth it.

nickw
Posts: 231
Joined: Mon Sep 13, 2010 8:56 pm

Post by nickw »

My favourite beer bar in NYC (I haven't been back since Torst opened), Proletariat, had a rather intriguing Instagram post a few days ago:



Pretty excited to see that there.

atomeyes
Beer Superstar
Posts: 2153
Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2011 1:39 pm

Post by atomeyes »

realized that i didn't post my findings from a year ago. whoops.

Best bar: Mission Dolores in Brooklyn. zero attitude, really neat, amazing beer on tap. We were there for an Evil Twin takeover, which was great.

Spyuten Devul: not sure why it gets as much hype as it does. Mission Dolores crushes it.

Bierkraft: right beside Mission Dolores. take-home growlers, bottle fridges or order a pint and drink inside or outside. some really good offerings on tap but, after barhopping in NY, you realize that almost every bar/growler store has variations on the same 20 draught. strange that you don't have amazing diversity in NY. anyways, it is a great place to check out.

Strong Place - i haven't been. heard great things about it.

Barcade: idunno...would rather go to Get Well.

rejtable
Bar Fly
Posts: 632
Joined: Fri Nov 12, 2010 2:05 pm

Post by rejtable »

Thanks to all for the comments from previous trips. Just got back from 4 great nights in NYC (followed by Portsmouth, New Brunswick, Portland then Vermont!).

In New York, I hit the following:

Bierkraft: good bottle lineup, neat place to have a pint out back;
Blind Tiger: very busy on a Sunday afternoon, but was a great spot with lots of interesting taps;
Swift Hibernian Lounge: just ok tap list, but you really feel like this is a great local spot while in there;
Brouwerij Lane (Brooklyn): got a heads up on this place from the bartender at Torst when he heard that my wife wanted shots of Manhattan at night. Like Bierkraft and so many other spots around town a mix of bar/bottle shop. Great tap list, lots of bottles to choose from and a super cool patio/garden out back. And just outside was a great quai to look out at Manhattan.
Brooklyn Brewery: Place was insane on a Saturday afternoon. I hate the setup of standing in line to buy tokens then standing in another line to get the beer. I wouldn't go back.
Pony Bar 10th ave: Solid tap list and great pub food. Very busy on a Friday night.
Ginger Man: not a bad tap list, pretty solid bottle list. Lively late on a Thusday night;
Rattle N Hum: loved this spot. Great tap list, bunch of kegs, solid bottles and a great liquidation rack for bottles in the back;
Top Hops Beer Shop: like Bierkraft and Brouwerij Lane, solid little tap list, decent bottle selection;
Torst: really cool spot, awesome tap selection (Pannepot on tap, yes please) and some well chosen bottles. We were in early on Saturday so it wasn't busy. Bar staff offered up some great local pointers (see above);
Whole Foods Bowery: best bottle selection/price equation I could find in NYC.
Gourmet Market: stopped in here before jumping on the Highline, I can't find it listed anywhere, but 4 great casks and another half dozen well chosen taps. Was a great spot.

There was also one other bottle/bar place I stopped in at between Pony Bar and Times square that was solid, but I forget the name.

Loved the beer scene, although I found the lack of really great bottle shops a bit bemusing. All the beer store/bar places had decent to good bottle selections, but I wasn't blown away by any. I didn't care much since I wasn't looking to carry around bottles all day, but for a city with so much of everything, I find it odd that I couldn't find a real kick-ass place to shop for bottles.

sprague11
Seasoned Drinker
Posts: 1907
Joined: Fri Sep 19, 2008 1:37 pm
Location: Newmarket, ON

Post by sprague11 »

Rattle n Hum was where we situated ourselves on the new york branch of our honeymoon 2 years ago.
"A good light beer is one that doesn't taste like piss!" - Frank d'Angelo

User avatar
El Pinguino
Seasoned Drinker
Posts: 1440
Joined: Sun Jan 02, 2005 6:02 pm
Location: Downtown TO / Galapagos Islands
Contact:

Post by El Pinguino »

Hi guys,
Off to NY for a work event in just over a week. Will be confined to the Upper East Side.
Looking for reco's.
On my list so far is the (new) Pony Bar and City Swiggers. Anything else in the area?
It's also the weekend of the NY Craft Beer Fest, so I may be able to get out to that on the Sunday, but time is tight...

jrenihan
Posts: 175
Joined: Thu Jan 12, 2012 9:36 am

Post by jrenihan »

Nothing on the UES comes to mind, but you are a short subway trip from Ginger Man. The vibe is nothing to write home about, but you can't complain about the beer selection. I find it typically has a similar draft list to Blind Tiger, and they can have some pretty nice bottles sometimes as well.
Ren

User avatar
El Pinguino
Seasoned Drinker
Posts: 1440
Joined: Sun Jan 02, 2005 6:02 pm
Location: Downtown TO / Galapagos Islands
Contact:

Post by El Pinguino »

Thanks Ren.
I'm trying to keep things as compact as possible location-wise as I know my free time will be very limited.
Hopefully I can hop on down for a few though.

nickw
Posts: 231
Joined: Mon Sep 13, 2010 8:56 pm

Post by nickw »

There's also Pony Bar's UES location, 401 E 75th St

And I like The Stag's Head, 252 E 51st St

Post Reply