MANHATTAN, NEW YORK
This giant cultural mecca still trails smaller cities for brewpub happenings. Alongside Heartland (whose five regular offerings are reviewed in Beer Index), by 2004, the only other Big Apple brewpubs were Pier 59’s bustling Chelsea Brewing Company (which bottled lemony wheat straw Checker Cab Blonde Ale, Dry Irish Stout, and Sunset Red), upscale Times Square Brewery, and uptown West End Bar. The last two stopped brewing operations by ’07.
On 42nd Street just West of Broadway, luxuriously modern designed TIMES SQUARE BREWERY attracted nearby theatre patrons, white-collar businessmen, and curious tourists alike until closing in 2007. First floor includes right side bar area, wooden chair-table back dining area, and kitchen serving pasta, pizza, burgers, crab cakes, and salmon. Floating stairs lead to mezzanine, brew tanks, and second floor dining area spectacularly overlooking Broadway.
In September ’05, sampled wheat-husked grass-hay-dried grapefruit-tinged Pilsner, lighter-bodied cereal-grained corn-sweetened lemon-tangy Blonde Ale, and phenol red-fruited mango-hinted Pale Ale as well as coffee-dried cocoa-chalked grape-date-draped Dunkel. Best bet: Sugary lemon-candied 9% alcohol Belgian Golden Ale, with its syrupy honey-raw medicinal pungency and bold Duvel- like charisma.
Visited Thanksgiving eve ’05, Columbia University-bound WEST END BREWERY (now defunct) offered outdoor front deck, right side bar with brick divider to left dining area, sequestered backroom section, and private downstairs lounge with brew tanks. Though brewing operations stopped in ’06, vintage Columbia sports photos line dining space where appetizers, steaks, burgers, plus Italian and Mexican cuisine are served to customers at wooden tables and booths. Brewer Neill Acer (now running Pearl River’s Defiant Brewery), renowned for food-drink pairing, volunteered corn-wheat-based West End Golden Lager, with its buttered popcorn waft and syrupy malt vault, plus terrific cinnamon-nutmeg-fronted orange rind-slithered West End Christmas Ale.
Treasured 2nd Street dive, d.b.a., is a dingy hangout with yellowish exposed ductwork, busy right side bar, and rustic backyard beer garden.
Visited April ’06, with former music editor (and pal) Chris Uhl, quaffing cask-conditioned Sixpoint Bengali Tiger and Victory Moonglow Weizenbock. Dazzling liquor selection included a dozen bourbons, twenty single malt Scotches, twenty vodkas, ten gins, and fifteen rums.
Brought Anaheim band, the Willowz, to d.b.a. April ’07, quaffing Sly Fox Panacea Barleywine, Greenpoint’s Kelso Chocolate Lager, and Belgium’s Kira Witbier while my West Coast buds discovered luxurious Samuel Smith Taddy Porter and Imperial Stout.
Afterwards, stopped at nearby basement grocery, Dual Specialty Store, which had a selection of 500 beers, and bought Australia’s Bluetongue Traditional Pilsner.
During May ’07, quaffed Defiant Vunder Bock, an approachable hand-drawn moderation with subtle bruised cherry frontage, casual fig-date recess, and slight sugar plum nib. January ’09, tried hand-drawn cask-conditioned Stoudt’s Double IPA, a creamy red-fruited sweet-spiced alcohol-burnt cognac-soothed stunner with candied apricot, apple, cherry, and grape illusions.
Visited pint-size East Village beer joint, Against The Grain, January ’07, for exquisite food-ale pairing hosted by Brooklyn-brewed Sixpoint Craft Ales. Thirty discriminating patrons squeezed into brick-walled wood-tabled bar to sample Sixpoint’s piney grapefruit-embittered Sweet Action Cream Ale alongside beet salad with goat cheese/ pumpkin seeds; creamy cappuccino-like paragon Otis Oatmeal Stout alongside oysters with cucumber habanero mignonette; rye-plied Righteous Rye Ale alongside sausage-sauerkraut; and plum-sugared cherry-banana-bruised dessert Encore Dubbel alongside Les Freres cheese atop country bread. Awesome. All ale selections fully reviewed in Beers A-Z section.
Finally got to visit midtown Manhattan craft beer haven, The Ginger Man, September ’08. Featuring 66 tap and 160 bottled beers, this exquisite wood-furnished bar had light menu (sandwiches-salads-desserts) to go with libations such as Ommegang Rouge, Blue Point Sour Cherry Imperial Stout, and three seasonals, including Smuttynose Pumpkin, Cape Ann Fisherman’s Pumpkin, and Elysian Night Owl Pumpkin (all reviewed in Beer Index).
One week after stopover at Ginger Man, went to nearby East Side pub, David Copperfield’s House Of Beer, originally opened ‘round 1996. A beautiful mural featuring Copperfield at a small table with a frothy pint adorns the 74th Street brick frontage of this small York Avenue space. Several red wood tables oppose left bar with several beer insignias, trays, and bottles lining walls. Alongside burger-sandwich menu were choice single malt Scotches and of course, select microbrews on tap or bottled, including Stone Arrogant Bastard, Ipswich Stout, and several Dogfish Head brews. Downed Four + Punk’n Ale with bowl of French onion soup.
Quickly, David Copperfield’s proved most essential in finding the best tapped beer in Manhattan, visited dozens of times for an endless beer-ale variety. Case in point, June 2010’s month long IPA fest, where I discovered excellent Nebraska Hop God, Brooklyn Blast!, Founders Devil Dancer Triple IPA, Lagunitas New Dog Town Pale Ale, Ballast Point Sculpin IPA, and Oskar Blues Gubna Imperial IPA, plus middling Two Brothers Resistance Oak-aged IPA. All these beers are listed with reviews on Beer Index.