Yeah, Gold Star would be a great option. They had bottle pours of Cuvée Saint-Gilloise when I was there last Thursday. Appears to still be on the menu. They have tons of 3F and other Lambic too.
I partially revisited these two bar hops earlier in the year. Hibernian didn't manage to scratch any itch for me that time, but watching the bartender work at McSorley's was great, and the pale beer there was surprisingly good despite the very negative reputation.
Going to McSorleys once or twice this trip for a beer and (surprisingly) the chili, is non-negotiable for Em. Something about that place just clicked for her, which is great she was happy and I respect. Agree, that bar tender(owner?) is great. When it was slower he took me all over to see the photos and hear the history you’ve probably all heard and seen online. But it was new to me and really appreciated. The woman working one of the times we went last trip was super nice as well. All in all we enjoy visiting there. Though, it does help that we’ll be going to Proletariat next door ha We should have the time to do the bar hop as recommended last time during this trip.
Pretty epic trip as we knew it would be. Day 1 - Got into the city and hotel around 2:30 or say and walked straight to Dae Day coffee. Grabbed Citra pours at Othe Half Rock after. Enjoyed the Citra lineup a lot. Hop Monastery won for us. Shot over to Tanner Smith for dinner and a drink. Her margarita was quite good. We enjoyed this spot and took our time. Walked over to As is after. Which was sort of the least favorite spot to us. Em had asked if she could taste something. Which I get isn’t so much a thing at a lot of places in NYC, which is fine. But the dude was pretty snippy about it at her. Grabbed an Evil twin Even more foggier window collab…what the fuck is this supposed to be? Nursed that malt mess for a bit ha. Grabbed another pour, that was pretty good then left. It was nice out for walking. So checked the area out a bit. But we were also beat from driving for 4 1/2 hours. Grabbed a few other tasters at OH we hadn’t tried and grabbed sleep at the hotel. Day 2 - Headed out for daily Cold Brew and grabbed a quick breakfast sandwhich at Cafe Metro. I wanted to check out the Thursday boot shop so headed into Flatiron/Greenwhich village. Found what has to be the best Halloween shop I’ve ever been to for props and gore. I am a huge horror fan and had a lot of collectibles and whatnot I got in the 90’s. So this place kind of hit. Huge Texas Chainsaw fan here. I remember also meeting Kane Hodder at the original spooky world in Berlin, MA in maybe 93? Never had time to do the conventions but know some folks who do that have endless stories and pictures. But I digress. Grabbed the train down to OH Centre st. Enjoyed some other pours we hadn’t had there. The J Wakefield stout was pretty nuts. Then our obvious plan was Queue. To which we fng forgot isn’t open until 3 and it wasn’t even 2. So we did it wrong and meant to do Strong Rope first for the view at 2, then oh and Queue. Shot over there in an Uber and learned don’t drive a nice car with nice wheels over there, and this literally has to be where bodies were dumped after hits. That’s one hell of an area in the water ha. The view really is something else. The ipa I grabbed wasn’t good, but we just hung out. Her lager was pretty good. Shot back over to Queue. Only ones there and the owner was a nice guy. Had two half pours of Hill Farmstead. Susan and Double Nelson. We chatted with him probably more than drank. Place had a great list. Hoping to go back again. Em had a rec to grab Mexican at Miti Miti in Park Slope. This did not disappoint at all. It was nice to just hang out and break up the day. Grabbed a ride over to Threes. I’ve always enjoyed this place and really enjoyed what we tried. The Galaxy IPA’s were great. We both really enjoyed the Dark lager. Bar tender was really nice and again enjoy that NYC seems to offer to pick up a pour or two on them. We noticed this last time. Made our way to Finback which is always solid. Our only let down was the Mexican lager she grabbed wasn’t just a little too sweet for us. There was also some large work group who showed up as we walked in and jammed up the one bar tender. But, she was really nice and just running around. Earned her good tip for sure. Made our way up to Evil Twin. Someone had gotten into some shit and taxed or whatnot at the end of the street so a little cop entertainment. Their private party was just ending at 8 snd they told us to join so headed in. Met some nice folks from Atlanta. Enjoyed our sours and decent stouts. Again tried the foggier…nope. I’d say their IPA’s just could use some work. Grabbed a ride over to Blind Tiger. Stayed here for the evening. Chatted with a great local who knew the film, skate, music scene of the area and ironically where I’m from and some great people crossover. I grabbed a can of focal seeing there was no Heady and I think they had crossed it out. Said dude ordered a can of Heady seeing my focal. Bar tender laughed and says well wouldn’t you know it I do have one more. We all laughed and said dude was cool enough to say give me another small glass I know he wanted to order the Heady so I’m sharing. Which was cool and how we met. I bring this up as he had some good recs to try there and when Em dug in a little in the list she did realize the indeed had Cantillon Sang Blue. Which we obviously grabbed the bottle of for pours and shared with said dude and friend. Ended up being a great night there. No clue how people drink DIPA until 4am. God NY is another beast. Day 3 - Headed out for coffee and Essa bagel. Finally went to the Natural History Museum and saw my dinosaurs. That was a great spot. Jumped into central from there to get our fall pictures of the bridges and whatnot. It was great and not too crowded. Walked back to the hotel from there. Checked out 5th Ave in the way. A bazillion people. Freshened up at the hotel and headed to Grimm. All of the pours were excellent. Love their wild stuff. Grabbed a pizza as well as folks said to try it. We loved it. Again same bar tended we met last trip and also bought a few pours. Place will never disappoint and a cool roof deck to check out. Met some nice folks there as well. Shot over to McSorleys just because ha. The corned seat up by the window just happened to open up which was nice so grabbed a light and dark to split and some chili. Always get a kick out of that place. But we were there for Proletariat. Excellent pours all around. Same nice bar tender we met before. Recommended some great pours and Belgian bottles to open. He also, then broke out and opened the 2025 Cantillon Cuvée St-Gilloise. Which we really enjoyed. Overall had a great time of different pour. There is a bunch of stuff in the neighborhood we will try next trip. Em had an itch to get back to Blind Tiger so we ended up working our way back to try some other stuff. I think given she found some stuff to try and being able to have less responsibility for a few days, equals capitalize the time ha. Friday was food, coffee and Treehouse Charlton halfway home. We had another awesome time and realize you can only fit in so much with time. Our biggest hurdle was traffic getting around both train and uber from Brooklyn to Manhattan. I left out the more boring just sight seeing nerdy she that we did as well ha. So we’ll add another full day into the next trip. Traveling kills it too and we may grab the train next time. Cant say enough thank you’s for all the help!
Please excuse the fat finger, typos. I was trying to get this post up quickly. Forgot to add, we made it to Talea. It was ok, but also closing for an event. The woman working was so sweet. We’ll get to Gold Star next trip. It was just a little too far out.
Hey dude, we had planned to hit up Strong Rope, Queue, OH in one order due to opening times and completely forget our plan! Thus, screwing it all up. So pivoted our stops. Which made me admittedly forget to message you! It was also early on a weekday ha. Next trip will do!
Yea I've had some hit/miss service at As Is, especially during busier hours they act like they're doing you a favor pouring you a beer. But last time I went after getting out of a late movie it was nice and quiet and the bartender was awesome and happy to chop it up about random beer shit.
Great recs all over this thread. I've got an afternoon to do as I please on Tuesday, and I'm going to center it around the Wild East/Threes/Strong Rope/Finback zone. Could folks recommend anything else in walking distance? I'm specifically looking for a great coffee shop to sit and write, a cool gallery or museum (post-modern a plus), a couple interesting streets to stroll and a lunch that's not carby. Many thanks.
Roots Cafe is right there and I think fits your needs. Four & Twenty is excellent if you want a coffee and amazing slice of pie. Petite Dumpling on 5th is above average and could be good for your lunch. 5th avenue in general has a ton of restaurant options.
Just a couple weeks off. 209Station has bottles of Sang Bleu and Ashanti retail today. It’s a small beer store by prospect park. I’m sure others stores around the city got some too.
I had a fun afternoon in Brooklyn on Tuesday. First I hit Threes on Douglass and had a bunch of great pours. With that coffee shop attached, I could have camped out all day. But I had other business to attend to, which was Wild East. That might have been my favorite brewery visit in a long while. In my advanced age, I really appreciate some lovingly brewed lagers, and that's exactly what they served up. Barkeep was killer, keeping my water glass filled and making great conversation. If I wasn't on foot, I would have taken plenty home with me. Luckily, my daughter now lives in Astoria, and I'll be making regular visits.
Somewhat random question -- I'll be in NYC over New Years and would love any recommendations on (preferably) Manhattan spots that will be open on New Years Day, will show the college football quarterfinals, has a decent-enough food selection, and (duh) will serve good beer. I'm sure there are quite a few potentials, but I'm just seeing if anyone has a favorite. Thanks!
Blind Tiger. They have TVs now and show the more widely watched games. The food is definitely serviceable - sandwiches are solid. Plus you have a million other options for food within a block to eat before and/or after. edit: saw you said NYD, not NYE. I’m pretty sure they will be open, just double check. Get there early if you want a table.
You can also try Fools Gold. I’ve watched the Jets there on numerous occasions (I’m an idiot). Great beer list. Serviceable food.
