Beers of NYC & Vegas

[rockeye84]

Hi All,

In vacation in New York City at present, finding the selection of craft beers outstanding, almost every different pub, bar or eatery I go to has a different selection of craft beers from American brewers/breweries that I've never heard of. All really tasty! Hardly see corona, coors & your usual swill on draft.

Went thru the Brooklyn Brewery yesterday, decent tour with a generous tasting session, without too much of the 101 brewing for dummies & more on the story of how their operation started, their continued success & the craft beer movement in the US and around the world. They claim to be the biggest craft beer exporter in the US, also received free beers & barware to take home, other merch was well priced, hats tees etc. If your in the big apple it's worth a visit.

Was in Vegas last week, I found it an absolutely awesome place! Gamble & drink beer any time of day where ever you like, no street drinking laws apparently, copped a fair few wifs of erb on the strip too. Walk-in bars, eateries & resort/casinos serving ya usual swill, a few well known crafts available Sierra Nevada, Sam Adams, Brooklyn etc. Went to a few higher end restaurants, the beer list more comprehensive, but after all Vegas is more catering for you're average punter.

Got 4 more days here, if you can suggest any beer related venues are a must see in NYC, plz chime in.


Cheers
Rocki

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[Bribie G]

Half yer luck.
What's your opinion of Brooklyn Lager? Is it a Classic American Pilsner,?
Apparently Coopers have the gig to either import it or brew under licence. Hopefully the former as they usually screw up their BUL as they have done with Carlsberg.

 

[rockeye84]

If your referring to Brooklyn lager with the green label, the one mainly seen in Aust. Story goes that it's a Vienna style lager, recipe was found in notes written by one of Brooklyn breweries founders grandad, notes were found when his grandad passed, his grandad was a 4th gen brewer, they used the same grain bill and changed it up a bit by adding some American hops. Pretty cool story of its true.

Yeh coopers are some how in on it, pretty sure they r brewing under licence but not 100%, had so many questions but for got to ask that one lol.

But yeh I like all of their beer, was such a great experience.

 

[Dave70]

The handbillers in Vegas really go on my tits after a while.

Here you go.

http://ny.eater.com/maps/best-beer-bars-new-york-city

 

[rockeye84]

Yeh few of them ay. Jus ignore & walk away.

 

[Spiesy]

In NYC our favourite beer bar was the Blind Tiger in Greenwich. McSorely's Ale House is also worth a visit (LES), the oldest operational bar in NYC, complete with sawdust floors and mugs of their own brews. If you like burgers, give The Corner Bistro a go - McSorely's on tap when I was there a few years back, awesome burger. And for good BBQ, Fette Sau in Williamsburg is a winner - not far from Brooklyn Brewery, from memory. Best pizza joint was Grimaldi's - there's two of them, one in Brooklyn and one in Manhattan (Chelsea, I think?), the Chelsea one was best when we were there, the Brooklyn one is the famous one.

When my wife and I visited a few years back, we made a map of recommended bars, brewers, burger and pizza joints - the quintessential food and beer spots of NYC, here it is:

Spiesy's Guide to NYC - Google Maps

 

[Spiesy]

DBA is also awesome, and just around the corner from McSorely's.

If in Brooklyn, check out Harefield Road in Williamsburg - it will likely be full of hipsters, but good beer.

 

[Mall]

Heartland Brewery on 43rd near Times Sq. is a must go to and Smith's Bar on 42nd I think it is.

For another Brooklyn brewery experience I tried "Other Half Brewing", 195 Centre St. Brooklyn; G Train will get you there.

There are 3 Heartlands from memory all Manhattan...

 

[Mall]

Brewery and Brewpub map: http://beermapping.com/maps/maps.php?m=northeastern#lat=undefined&lng=undefined&z=11

 

[Bribie G]

I see that Brooklyn Lager isn't yet on Coopers Website (the others, such as Carlsberg and Sapporo are) so maybe they haven't tooled up yet to make the stuff.

 

[rockeye84]

Not sure birb, got a couple of bottles BB lager @ home, sourced a case thru a mate that owns a pub, as I'm yet to see it in any bottleos in my area (regional WA), my bud with the pub said he can also get 50L kegs thru his distributor, he also said its they the same mob that suppies him with coopers, I may be mistaken but I'll check out the bottle label & juice me mate for more info and let ya know.

Cheers for the beer leads, will do me best with what time I have to try as many beers as I can, went to HB Burger for lunch (Homeland Brewery's burger restaurant) decent burgers with all their beer on draft.

Only got to have 1 pint, had a big day of being a tourist planned, had apricot ale, pretty well balanced, not overly apricot, if no one told you it was apricot beer it would be hard to tell, will try to get back to try the rest. Snapped a pic of the beer list.

 

[rockeye84]

Here's a few snaps of the Brooklyn Brewery from my tour, they only brew 35% of their beer here, mainly their seasonal's & staff inspired brews, they let every employee design their own beer every quarter, just for cellar & bar sales. They rent brewery space up the road from a mega to produce the large scale brews, they have just purchased a site to build their own large scale brewery and quadruple their output to just over 1 million barrels per year.

 

[spog]

Good tips ,as the big family trip starts in NYC after chrissie .
What about Ommegang in Coopertown= Game of Thrones beer,they may sell you a Dragon .
Please post more of your beer experience there so I can plan the " boys" itinerary .

 

[rockeye84]

Went to Virgil BBQ near time square tonight, sporting all the BBQ staples brisket, pulled pork, ribs, Mac n cheese etc, awesome food & beer prices, left fully blocked for $55 inc tip, cheapest night out yet!

Decent beer list, I had the grapefruit IPA, was tasty, could taste the grapefruit, added nice fruitiness plus an extra punch of bitterness.

 

[yankinoz]

For pizza: Joe's in Greenwich Village. Get plain cheese. It's more about the crust and a touch of sauce than the toppings..

There are several other very good microbreweries in the same neighborhood as Brooklyn Brewery. I hope at the latter you tried Sorachi Ace, a saison brewed with Sorachi hops. If not, find it on tap in a bar.

In bottle shops look for Ballantine IPA. It's about an 80% successful attempt by Pabst to recreate a legendary beer from an extinct brewery. But avoid Ballantine XXX.

McSorley's contracts out their beer, and it's a nice malty ale. The place has a history and renown. Until the 70s the pub was men only, and the woman owner only came in after hours. Their motto was "Good ale, raw onions (on their cheese platter), no ladies. The neighborhood regulars also glared a lot at visiting college students. There followed years of picketing before McS tossed in the towel and admitted women.