What are good places to Drink in these U.S and Canadian Citys...

[AussieJosh]

Hello boys and girls.

I will be travelling to the USA next week for some backpacking for almost 6 weeks. Have any of you been to or know of some good micro brew places or just pubs with lots of taps, to drink good beer in any of these citys....
L.A, San Francisco, Vegas, Toronto, Montreal, Boston and New York? If they serve good food also thats even better.

Cheers, and Thanks for any help.

 

[Samuel Adams]

A friend of mine really enjoyed Karl Strauss in San Fran.

Brooklyn Brewery comes to mind for NY.

Enjoy ya lucky bastard !!

 

[doon]

Most pubs in us will have some kind of craft beer on!

 

[lukiferj]

Spent 3 months there around 18 months ago. Can read my blog here http://www.theheavymetaldad.com/


Coupleof beer highlights were Brooklyn Brewery in New York and the Rogue bar in San Francisco. Just about everywhere has craft beer and if you hit up any grocery store you can find some amazing stuff.

 

[Golani51]

PM sent.
Give me a call. Run you through them. New York, Boston,New Hampshire, vermont, and Magog in Canada.

R

 

[Phoney]

Your only craft beer blackhole in those destinations is Vegas. Some casinos have SNPA or dogfishhead pale ale on tap, but that's about it. There was a great thread in here from a couple of years back on America, it helped me a lot on my trip to NY last year. Do a search...

 

[lukiferj]

SNPA is going to be the best you can get in Vegas. I was drinking litre cans of Asahi. On the plus side, you can get tonnes of free drinks everywhere so at least you're not wasting money

 

[adryargument]

If you hit LA and visit santa monica theres a real nice craft beer bar 2-3 shops from the corner of broadway and 2nd street - nearly opposite the pier.
Has quite a rotation on 20 taps with american snacks, boardgames and whatnot.

Halfway between downtown and sunset blvd is Rosewood Tavern - Very quiet when we went but had a nice steak and a very nice tap list / whiskey list -> http://rosewoodtavern.com/

I was in SW america earlier this year and best i could find was Duchessses(sp??) Porter, Sierra Navada and Fat Tyre on regular taps. A surprisingly few places had Arrogant Bastard oak aged for around $9 a bottle.

Off topic:
I would highly recommend going to Arlington in Dallas (Middle of nowhere / Cowboys stadium) and visiting Redneck Heaven.
Awesome beer list and local craft beer is $4 a liter or something stupid. Monday is bikini day, if your lucky it may also be painted bikini day!
I spent 48 hours in that place. Met lots of cowboys, drank lots of live minnow fish, and ended up serving customers handcuffed to a little cutie while i was wearing an off dutie cops police uniform. Very nice people in Texas.

 

[Mardoo]

21st Amendment in San Francisco

 

[bum]

Most pubs in us will have some kind of craft beer on!

^This.

Just think of the breweries you like and try to get to them. Apart from that, don't bother planning it too much. Just go to some bar - you'll find something awesome in any venue that isn't full of arseholes. It ain't hard.

 

[Charst]

Spent a week in Montreal, you must go to Le Chavel Blanc.
Small brew pub in the city, block from Rue St Denis (its the main drinking strip in the city)
Fantastic beer, some belgian orientation but they make ipa and stuff too, what i think about when i dream of opening a brewpub.



Diew di Ciel make great beer, and if you dont smash all the Unibroue you can get your hands on well just hand your tickets over now.

I did a tour of McAuslan and they had a great range too.

If you find yourself in the old port, you probably will its the touristy area, walk a block to this little grocery,
"Le Quarter" 321 rue notre-dam est montreal. $7 caged and corked Unibroue beers, grab some plastic cups and take it down to the water and people watch. **** im jealous.

Also id jump on the bixie bikes for easy travel, you have to sign up with a credit card but if you return the bike to another station within half hour the rides free, legally dont need a helmet either. Bixie Stations are everywhere and theres a great app that tells you where they are and how many bikes are available.

have a great trip.

 

[mckenry]

I know all the best places in every one of those towns. I'm too jealous to tell you though!
Enjoy it.

 

[kalbarluke]

Do the Anchor Brewery tour in San Francisco. Book in advance. Free tour finished with free beer. Awesome.

I found the west coast had a lot more big IPA's and the west coast had more Belgians and "push the envelope" beers.

Have fun, you lucky bastard.

 

[Spiesy]

Aaah.... New York.... my wife and I spent an amazing 2-weeks there a year and a half back, and we sought out the best NY beer bars, pizza joints and burger joints - taking advice from articles, friends and locals.

Brooklyn Brewery is pretty cool in NYC, but as far as bars go, these bars are AWESOME for beer fans - strongly recommend:

The Blind Tiger (in Greenwich, my favourite - and "the village" rocks), McSorely's Ale House (LES, oldest beer bay in NYC), DBA (East Village, I think - a little expensive and pretentious, but very impressive beer menu). Harefield Road (Williamsburg, Brooklyn) has a great range of beers on tap in a nice setting.

Also, in NYC - check out The Corner Bistro, for the best burger in NYC (washed down with a McSorely's Ale) and Grimaldi's Pizza for the best NY pizza - the new Grimaldi's in Chelsea was better than the old one under the Brooklyn Bridge - and way less crowds.
Fette Sau, in Williamsburg is awesome, if you want to order your meat by the pound, and hang off some nice bar taps made of knives.

 

[mahonya1]

Check out Sam Adams and Harpoon breweries in Boston. Both have free tours with a decent amount of free beer and even a glass to keep at the end. Get on one of the early tours at Sam Adams though, it gets busy.

 

[Bats]

My wife and I went to a place called OG's in LA.

It is a Brew Pub that obviously brew their own and have a very large selection. All can be sampled by buying a sampling paddle.

It is also a Pizza and steak restaurant. Great feed, great beers.

 

[rehab]

I hit up Blue Palms brewhouse (Hollywood BLVD down the opposite direction to Madam Tussauds etc) and was well looked after. Had my first Pliny (on tap even) and did fresh taste offs vs other beers where I found Ballast Point Sculpin to be the best on tap that night. I also had Hurricane deck IIPA and a fair few other great brews after selecting them off the rotating menu of 30 odd taps on the big screen.
They also had a bitchin fridge of rare-ish releases from great breweries also. Didn't waste time eating as our Hotel had a restaurant down stairs anyway.

 

[newguy]

http://www.blogto.com/toronto/the_best_pubs_in_toronto/


It's been a while since I've been to Toronto but thankfully it seems as though the microbrewery scene there is better now. I had a quick look at the links in the article above and they all look pretty good. Too bad your trip doesn't include Edmonton or Calgary - we have some really great taphouses that have recently opened.

 

[AussieJosh]

Thanks for all the great ideas guys! I got in to LA today and am staying on Venice beach, so i am going to look for some good places to drink around here. I will also check out that place in Santa Monica near the pier.

Im a bit jet laged but i need a good brew!

 

[Charst]

There's also a good site called beer mapping or something to that effect, it is a google maps type thing with every brewey bar etc on it. Give me heaps of places and you can see what's close.