bigears

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I'll be in New York for a few days holiday in January and I'm keen to take in some good beer bars while I'm there. I'm staying in the tourist area around Times Square and I've been searching the web for potential hangouts. So far I've found the following (listed in rough order of proximity to our accommodation)
House of Brews on West 46th and also on West 51st.
Collins Bar on 8th Ave.
Stout on West 33rd.
Blind Tiger AleHouse on Bleecker St. (Greenwich Village?)

Any comments on the bars above or any suggestions of where else to visit? Ideally I'm looking for a mixture of places that either

1. Serve both good beer and macros (to keep my less adventurous fellow travellers happy) and
2. Somewhere I can escape to on my own and talk with like minded beer nuts.

Níall, Dublin.

Glibbidy

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I have always been partial to the Ginger Man and Burp Castle.

DSean

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Doublecheck if Blind Tiger is still around. They lost their liquor license for awhile when I was there (left 6 months ago).

You should also check out:
Galway Hooker [next to Ginger Man on 36th St]

Collins Bar and Stout both kind of suck in my opinion. Mostly because they have the atmosphere of a meat market.

Hop Devil Grill has a great Belgian Bar. It's at St. Marks and Avenue A, I believe. Actually, if you go there, you should go to McCormack's at 6th St and 3rd Ave. It's a great old historic bar.

If you get a chance to go to Brooklyn, Spuyten Duyvil in Williamsburg is awesome.

Paddy Reilly's at 28th and 2nd Ave is a lot of fun. Good music, good times. It's an all-Guiness draft bar. They have other stuff in bottles, but only Guiness on tap.

If you're in the West Village (i.e. Blind Tiger), go to the White Horse Tavern. It's where Dylan Thomas uttered his famous last words "I've had eighteen straight whiskies, I think that's the record . . ."

All of this is from memory, so double check any addresses and make sure the bar still exists.

What are you looking for out of a bar? There's a ****-ton of bars up there, so you've got plenty of options.

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bigears

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Thanks for the replies guys, I can now add a few more to my list. It's also good to know that I don't need to break my neck to get to Collins Bar and Stout.

I'm not short of Guinness in Dublin, and European beer is accessible too - what I'd like to find is a bar with a good selection of local (or at least US) craft beer that I can't get over here. We get a limited selection of some of the bigger US craft brews like SN, Anchor, Sam Adams & Goose Island but there are so many more I'd like to try, especially on tap.

As regards the Blind Tiger, from what I've read on the web it seems to be open again.

Cheers,
Níall

olllllo

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I just happend to have this list to see which of the Top Beer Bars of the World that I've been to. You can find the list and reviews here:
http://www.ratebeer.com/RateBeerBest/table.asp?title=Best+Beer+Bars+2007&file=bars_plac es_2007.csv

2. Spuyten Duyvil Brooklyn, New York
25. Barcade Brooklyn, New York
40. Hop Devil Grill New York, New York
51. The Old Toad Rochester, New York
53. David Copperfields New York, New York
55. The Ginger Man (NYC) New York, New York
62. Mugs Ale House Brooklyn, New York
63. d.b.a. New York, New York
80. The Brazen Head Brooklyn, New York
88. Peculier Pub New York, New York
93. McSorley’s Old Ale House New York, New York

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NateKerx

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If you're feeling a little adventurous and want to venture out of the city for a night, both of the bars listed in Brooklyn are absolutely fantastic and well worth half an hour or so on the train.

mugs- good bar food too
http://www.mugsalehouse.com/

spuyten devil
http://www.spuytenduyvilnyc.com/

In manhattan I like the belgian room at hop devil grill

http://www.belgianroom.com/

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DSean

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Ha, I've been to all of those that are in the City. d.b.a. is a great bar. I want to say it's 2nd avenue and 3rd Street. The Brazen Head is one of my favorites - I can't believe left it off. They have a cask ale festival that is absolutely amazing!

Peculier is a bit of an NYU meat market - not a bad place to meet a PYT for a one night stand, actually.

I've been to Copperfield's, but honestly don't remember it.

I didn't notice that you were visiting from Ireland. In that case, I'd really recommend hitting up the Blind Tiger (assuming it's back), d.b.a., the Ginger Man, and if possible, the Brazen Head. Those are by far the best bars for high quality and craft beers from around the world. They all get pretty crowded, mostly due to the fact that they're such good bars, so try to get there early to stake out a table (or show up late - they're all open until 4 on the weekends).

And while you're in NYC, make sure to get a Gray's Papaya meal - 2 hot dogs and a papaya juice for less than $3. Best. Drunk. Meal. Ever!

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DSean

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Oh! If you make it over to Brooklyn, there's a great bar in Park Slope (I think) called the Lighthouse Tavern (or something similar). They have really great craft beer and cask ales.

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bigears

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Cheers everyone for the advice - I'm looking forward to hitting as many as I can, so little time

MikeRLynch

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I've put this up before, but because McSorleys was mentioned again...
http://www.geocities.com/thelastknght/mcsorleys.html

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