Best Beer Bar Experience

Pints of Breakfast stout at Fat Pout in Chicago was a nice suprise and the 4$ price tag was even better.

 

Family vacation in Key West couple of years ago--first family vacation in over twenty plus years, which was nice...until Hurricane Isaac threatened. A lot of the island shut down, cardboard everywhere like zombie apocalypse, with the exception of a Chinese restaurant and a beer bar (Krawl off Duval). Water flooded the streets in the southernmost part of the island and though there turned out to be no real danger, the novelty of drinking beer in the face of presumed danger was an experience.

While the beers weren't rare, the lines were clean, the draft list was broad (a lot of stuff we don't have in PA) and the bartenders were incredibly nice. The place was vacant save my brother, dad and I, and they probably wanted to close up shop, but didn't. Hit that place up several days in a row and the owner/workers never ran out of stories.

So, maybe not "best," but probably my most memorable experience.

 

Making a day of beer drinking at The Old Bay in New Brunswick NJ in the late 80's and being allowed to hang after the place closed and talking beer/getting comped many beers with bartender/beer guy supreme Chris. D. and a good buddy. Then stumbling across the street to the Hyatt around 4am and crashing. Good times.

 

Nearly half a century ago a buddy and I were spending our first Christmas away from home and settled in at the Western Bar in Amsterdam. Just about everything else was closed. We were feeling kind of blue. The bartender brought us a plate of some fritter like things and said that the Dutch ate these on Christmas and then he spent most of the evening talking with us, making us feel at home and filling us with Heinekin for free.

 

At the George V while visiting Bath, England.
Had a couple of pints in a classic English drizzle at Halloween time while planning our next adventure. Perfect.

 

Family and I went to dinner and a movie one afternoon, we caught the movie first and then looked for a restaurant nearby. We decided on a place just across the street that was a restaurant and brewery. I'm pretty sure it's local to CO but some of you may have heard of CB & Potts. In any case, I ordered an American hamburger meal and I washed it down with their house IPA. Everything was quite scrumptious! I also tasted their blonde ale that my mother ordered and it too was very nice. We liked the food, drinks and atmosphere and we had a really good time.

The thing I remember about the IPA is how fresh and organic it tasted, almost like finding an evergreen tree with a spigot and pouring it straight from the tree.

 

Where? I'm in extreme western mass

 

I'm going to guess that many folks who have been to or frequent the Blackback Pub in Waterbury, VT may be able to echo some of this...
Me and a buddy were in Waterbury for the weekend in early April, and we popped into the Blackback on a Saturday afternoon for lunch. We got there just after noon, and it was pretty quiet...about three other people in the place. We sat at the bar and the barkeep began chatting with us. We were shocked to see KBS on tap, so we each got a pint of that to start. Another fellow came in, sat at the bar and the barkeep immediately turned the television over to a soccer game for him...we were quite happy, as we were both soccer fans. We got to chatting with the fellow, who was a British expat who lives in VT, and a bit about the area. The KBS went down too smooth and it was time to get something to line the stomach...the barkeep suggested a couple of things including a cheese/meat plate and we took her advice on that. We were shocked when a couple of minutes later the chef came out of the kitchen and explained the plate to us and then suggested beer pairings. Wow. So, it was Allagash Four to accompany this cheese and meat. Not too shabby.
We stuck around for about three hours, the barkeep and the British expat chatted with us the whole time. We had some fantastic beers, amazing food and great afternoon. Hats off to those fine folks in Waterbury!

 

My favorite places:

Sunset Grill and Tap - Allston, MA
Mystic Station - Malden, MA
Lord Hobo - Cambridge, MA

Always a great time at these gems.

 

Max's Taphouse in Baltimore. Bar tender was super friendly and knowledgeable and split two bottles of beer with my friend and I that we both never had before. Additionally, this guy next to us split a bottle he purchased with us as well. I have never experienced such friendliness and sharing (I do live in New York after all). It was busy too, so kudos to that bar tender, Max's and that random 60 something year old dude!

 

As far as local, if anyone is in Buffalo you gotta check out moor pat. Shawn and Jackie are awesome bartenders. But for a singular experience I would have to go with churchkey in DC, specifically the downstairs bar. The bartender was super knowledgeable and overheard conversations and gave us samples without us even asking

 

Union Barrel House in Scottsdale, AZ. I live in MD but was out there visiting a buddy for some golf a few months ago. Bars with extensive and good tap lists in MD are few and far between. The UBH was not crowded, had 36 interesting taps and the price was great. Had a Lagunitas Waldos ale and a BBA Barleywine. Both were great. Loved the place.

 

Monk's Cafe in Philadelphia. My first trip east and my beer bar bartender told me to go since I like Belgians so much. Such a cool time, funny and witty server, awesome space (if a little small). Still the trip highlight for me and my friends.

On the same trip, hit a Biergarten called Radegast in Brooklyn (near Brooklyn brewing) that I heard about in a magazine. Cool place with a few things going on: indoor bar, the outside garten with grill next to it, food, polka band, and German/Belgian beers for your consumption. Just was a fun afternoon over there.

 

413 for life my friend!!

 

Visited Toronado in San Diego earlier this year. Was out on business and I had only had a few hours, so I went there alone on a weeknight. Amazing offerings and very friendly staff. I ordered a pint of The Pupil from Societe, arguably one of SD's finest IPAs. Outstanding. Turned out that the guy sitting next to me was a brewer at a local place, and he invited me to visit his tasting room up the street. As I asked to settle up, the bartender comped me the pint. What a great vibe. I left her a tip 2x the price of the pint. Can't wait to get back there.

 

In NYC, had a really great time at Covenhoven, which has great taps, excellent to-go bottle selection and outdoor area. Also can't beat Torst for selection, and the atmosphere is very fun

 

Brick Store Pub's Belgian bar, and cellared beer menu. Located in Decatur, GA

 

In Chicago thee places have been wonderful experiences:

*Quenchers
* Map Room
* Hopleaf

Places I like but are not always the best experince (because of the staff)

*Bangers & Lace
* Local Option

NYC:

*Owl Farm
* The Sampler
* Pine Box Rock Shop (although not billed as a beer bar)
* One Mile House
* Barcade (williamsburg)