What it's all about …
Bottom line, Beerlord.com is about New York Beer Culture. It's here to tell you
about the best bars, upcoming events and to bring the beer lovers of New York
together. If that sounds dull, might I recommend a visit to prohibitionists.org.
Yes, it's real.
Know that Beerlord isn't a directory of all New York Beer Bars; only the best have
been selected. When you go into a Beerlord worthy bar, it has a nice atmosphere and
bleeds a love for great beer. Whether it’s the row of bottles organized by country,
detailed descriptions of the aromas and flavors, proper glassware, well planned
Oktoberfest celebration or seeing the owner carefully sipping an Orval on the back
deck, you will know you’re in the right place to have a great beer and a great time.
There are several types of spots that some might find conspicuously absent, so I feel
I need to describe my reasoning in omitting them.
1. Restaurants that serve Great Beer.
The focus of the spots placed on Beerlord must be the beer, not the food. Which
isn’t to say that some of the bars listed here don’t have great food. For example, Jimmy’s 43 is teetering on the cusp of being more restaurant than bar, but just
barely hangs onto its spoton Beerlord. Whether food is served and the
quality of the food will be noted on the pages, but did not effect the selection.
If you’re looking for a restaurant with great beer, try the following:
The Spotted Pig (314 W 11th St, Manhattan): This well known gastropub
has some cask beers made specifically for it. A burger, garlic fries and a mug of
Spotted Pig Bitter could very well be the best meal in town. It’s busy, busy,
busy though, so get there during off hours or be prepared to wait.
Resto (111 E 29th St, Manhattan) : An excellent sit-down restaurant with great
German and Belgian beers on tap. Despite there being a bar to belly up to, it is
quite obviously placed there only for people waiting for their seat.
Café Katja (79 Orchard St, Manhattan): A cozy Austrian restaurant that serves
several tasty beers in the proper glassware.
Despite having more than a bit of Irish in his blood, The Beerlord is not a big fan of
pubs. While I do enjoy the occasional Guinness, I can’t say it’s ever what I want
to drink all night long. That and a smattering of InBev products are often times
your only choices at these omni-present haunts. And despite varied ownership,
they all look exactly the same.
However, if you are a Pub fan, might I recommend the following:
The Upper West Side’s Emerald Inn (205 Columbus Ave, Manhattan) has your
Guinness on tap, along with excellent Irish food.
The Ear Inn (326 Spring St, Manhattan) goes all the way back to the 1830s and
even has a ghost associated with it. Unfortunately the ghost either doesn’t like
good beer or she hordes it all for herself, leaving the public with mediocre choices.
McSorley’s (15 E 7th St, Manhattan) survived through prohibition and you
should check it out for the history alone. However, they brew their own beer and
really shouldn’t. Have a pair of mugs, look around and then walk down the street
to Jimmy’s 43 or Burp Castle
If it’s just a great pour of Guinness you’re looking for, Beerlord highly recommends
The Sixth Ward (191 Orchard St, Manhattan). The owners brought in a
representative from Guinness to make sure everything was hooked up just right.
There is no denying the Guinness is delicious, but the other selections are not
so good.
3. Sports Bars.
With the exception of major soccer events, The Beerlord prefers any bar
flat-screens to remain mute. There are people, however, that love watching
sports in bars and I’m not completely judging them. If you're looking to watch
a game while having great beer, might I recommend 200 Fifth (200 5th,
Brooklyn). It's a big place in Park Slope with excellent beers on tap.
Finally, Beerlord is not and never will be finished adding bars to the site. New spots
will always be checked out and a few currently in existence still need to be added.
If you know of a bar you think we've missed, e-mail me at toby@beerlord.com and
I'll look into it.
manhattan
Stuck in Midtown?
West Village Romance
West Village Awesome Eats
- blind tiger ale house
- the spotted pig (314 W 11th St, Manhattan)
- the otheroom
Learn Your ABCs
Lucky 7s
Lower Triangle
brooklyn
Crawling in the Gutters
The Ultimate Bar Tour
Water to Wasteland
Worth the Long Walk
Yo! Beerlord
