Not sure what happened to my original post, regarding this, but I was asking what were some good spots to find some local/regional beers in Manhatten, that we probably can't get in Charleston, SC. The wife is headed up there next week for a convention. I'd be looking for anything DIPA, barrel aged, or scotch ales. Thanks!
Did Rumpkin (yes, I know it's not local and it came out a little bit ago) make it out to NYC and is there any still sitting around? It's a long shot, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask.
How do I know what's available at what shop? I've tried checking out the websites of some of the higher rated places, but they don't list what they have in their inventory. With that said, what are some local favorites that she should look for?
Many good shops are in the Lower East Side area and are within walking distance of each other. I've seen McEwans Scotch Ale at Whole Foods Bowery (the beer is hardly local, but might be tricky to find near you - I don't know). That Whole Foods has a small beer section inside the main store area, but make sure to direct your wife to the separate entrance on the left corner where they have an entirely separate self-contained beer shop. They have a great selection. Down the street is New Beer Distributors. It's easy to miss on the street because it's got a warehouse vibe. Be wary of old bottles here. Great selection of international beer and you can buy singles from any six pack (which would probably be a great asset to your wife in transporting beer back to you). From there she can go to Top Hops which is more of a boutique with a well curated selection of singles. Shops use beermenus.com to list inventory, but Top Hops is the only one of these three that use it for bottles. Don't expect bottle lists to be totally accurate though (but I think Top Hops is good at being accurate). If you see something there that you know you want you can call to make sure it's there. All three shops do growler fills. Going to these three stores is the most efficient way of covering a lot of beer ground in NYC. Alesmith's Wee Heavy might be a good choice as well, but keep in mind that it's a big bottle (and not local either). I don't think I can help you much with the other two styles.
Great, thanks for the responses! I'm just trying to give her enough info to go on, so she doesn't get lost. I don't think she'll have a car, but she is staying near Madison Square Garden, so I guess she'll be around the subway. I presume that would help too.
Beer Culture is not too far from MSG. The points I made about Top Hops would hold true there. They don't have a very large selection, but you can get singles and the prices are good.
Yeah, I checked BeerMenus, also new to me (most places down here don't use that, that I know of), Beer Culture has a good bit of NY stuff. Definitely telling her about that place.
Been using BeerMenus, great site! How is Carmine St Beers? They seem to have a good bit of NY beers. Would that be a pain for her to get to?
I've never been to that store and can't comment. It would be easy to get to via subway or taxi. A word of caution about beermenus: it's fabulous for bars/taps in NYC, but if a bottle shop has a ton of stuff listed there it might be because they never remove an item once they've sold it.
