New York City Beer Adventure

A few weeks ago we went on a New York City adventure. It was both of our first time there and at first I was a little apprehensive about the trip. You know the stereotype about NYC, rude people, very expensive, cab drivers rip you off, etc! Yes, it’s expensive but most big cities are, it’s just a fact but all the rest wasn’t true. The NYC natives that we encountered were really helpful and nice. My daughter thinks it’s because they talk loud and can sound aggressive that they come off as rude. We took taxis everywhere and it cost less than renting a car for the weekend, less hassle finding parking, and the drivers seemed to know the city, where the fastest routes where. So all in all, it was a great trip. We found some really awesome places for beer too!

The first night we found a beer bar around the corner from where we were staying. The Supply House with 20 taps of local and national beers was what we needed after a long trip. I had a New York brewery beer from Great South Bay blood orange pale ale that was 5% and was really good. It had a great head on it with orange coming through and it had a wonderful orange flavor too. It was disappointing for my husband who is a real hop head, the bartender was pushing Lagunitas IPA but with nothing close to what he wanted he had the Lagunitas. With Lagunitas brewing in Chicago their beers were everywhere we went to have a beer. It’s like that old saying, When in Rome do as the Romans do, we wanted to have some east coast beers. The Supply House had a young crowd that Friday night and we were lucky to get two seats at the bar. The burger we ordered was really good.

The Supply House in Upper East Side.

We stopped by an Irish Pub across the street from the apartment, Ryan's Daughter. I was disappointed with the beer selection so went with a very old standby, Guinness on nitro. The staff was pleasant and the atmosphere was very old world transplanted in the city.

The next day we took the subway to Midtown to The Ginger Man. They have over 65 taps with two cask beer engines. We decided to order food which we shared, a ruben sandwich, a hotdog, and a pretzel. Over the course of lunch, I had two beers, Grimm Neon Lights, a 5.7% Saison, and Hill Farmstead Summer, a 5.2% American pale. Both of these beers were really good and hit the spot as light beers for the warm afternoon.  Larry had The Bruery white oak, a 11.5% wheat wine, he just couldn’t help himself. Even though we get this beer periodically in Colorado, it’s still a nice treat when you come across it.

We then walked a few blocks to Rattle N Hum east. This bar is what we are used to, has that old bar feel like the Falling Rock in Denver. Taking seats at the bar we proceeded to order our next round of beers.  They have 40 beers on tap, over 100 bottles, and one cask ale. I had Founders Rubaeus on nitro, it’s a raspberry ale that is really good but not as sweet as you might think.

Later that night we ventured out and found a bottle shop with 14 taps, City Swiggers. They have been open since 2011 and they sell beers from America along with European and Asian beers. I had a 12 ounce of Grimm Neon Lights and Larry had an IPA from Central Waters Brewing Co from Wisconsin.  You can get growlers of any of the beers on tap. What a cool concept, you can buy bottles of beer, get a pint, and even get a growler to go. Instead of grocery stores selling the large breweries product, it would be nice to have bottle shops open up where you can also get a pint.