"They got bars in New York that never close And bars where the people take off their clothes And bars where the young folks dance all night And bars where a fella can pick a fight If you want to you can spend the night, behind bars" - Talkin' Big Apple '75 - Loudon Wainwright III

If none of that takes your fancy, or even if it does, you can also spend the night in a bar that has 66 taps and over 130 bottled beers.

Given that the US has been at the forefront of craft brewing in recent times it would have been criminal not to visit some of New York's beer bars. My territory was limited to the well beaten tourist paths of Midtown Manhattan as I knew I would have little time to do even this area justice. I ws keen to sample plenty of local brews and to focus mostly on my favourite styles, pale ales and IPAs. Of course these happen to be styles where many US micros excel.

On arriving Monday afternoon lunch and a pint were on the agenda. The venue of choice was House of Brews who have two bars in and around the Theatre District. The first item that caught my eye on the menu was DogFish Head 60 Minute IPA. DogFish Head are a much hyped brewery and I was looking forward to trying this beer, and while it was suitably hoppy I found it a little lacking in the aroma department. While it was a very good beer it didn't quite live up to my inflated expectations. Next up was another iconic American brew, Brooklyn Lager. This is an amber lager with citrus hops and is a very drinkable session beer. The outstanding beer of the day was from a local brewery - Captain Lawrence Pale Ale, one of the most balanced, fresh and crisp pale ales I've tasted.

Heartland Brewery is a chain of 6 brewpubs in the Manhattan area. We stopped by a couple during our visit, including their bar on the ground floor of the Empire State Building. It's as much a restaurant as a bar, if not more so, which doesn't help the atmosphere. They do however have a solid selection of their own beers. Given that a sampler tray was available this was an ideal way to get a feel for their wares. The beers ranged from the bland Cornhusker Lager which caters for the masses - inevitably this is their best selling beer - to the well crafted Farmer John's Oatmeal Stout. This is a 3 time medal winner at the Great American Beer Festival. Although not very roasty it tasted of creamy dark chocolate and espresso and hit all the right notes. Another beer worthy of note was the Indian River Light. This is most likely the first 'light' beer that I've ever liked and seemed like a cross between a lightly hopped ale and a wit, with an orangey hue and a light hint of orange and coriander.

The beer highlight of the trip was a visit to The Gingerman. This is one of New York's best known beer bars and it promises a lot. With 66 draught beers, two rotating cask beers and over 130 bottles it didn't disappoint. We arrived there on Thursday evening about 6PM. Unfortunately we soon found out that this is probably the busiest time to turn up and there wasn't an empty seat in the house. No matter, we struggled on and decided to study the menu. This took a while as it was a photocopied A4 pamphlet, printed on both sides with their latest selections. I started with Boulder Hazed & Infuzed, an unfiltered, dry hopped pale ale. This was a nice opener but another beer soon caught my eye. I had heard of Sly Fox Brewing due to their series of single hop IPAs. The current selection in the series was Sly Fox Magnum IPA. This beer is a hophead's delight, with a wonderful copper/ruby colour and enough malty sweetness and caramel to stand up to the earthy hop flavour. It was deceptively drinkable given I found out afterwards it clocks in at 7% ABV and over 100 IBUs! Also worth mentioning were two local brews, Ithaca Pale Ale from Upstate New York and Blue Point Toasted Lager from Long Island, a malty toasty amber lager. At the end of the evening I ordered a second pint of Sly Fox Magnum IPA, the only time I had repeated an order but it was very much worth it.

Compared to my last visit to New York a couple of years ago the selection in non specialist bars is improving. Practically everywhere we visited had Sam Adams on tap with Sierra Nevada quite widespread. Pilsner Urquell also cropped up quite a bit so there was always an alternative to the mass market lagers.

If you're planning on visiting the observation deck of the Empire State Building here's an alternative - visit one of the rooftop bars such as 230 Fifth instead. You'll save on queues and admission fees and the biggest advantage is you actually get to see the Empire State itself towering above the skyline. Even with the poor selection of overpriced beer ($9 for a bottle of Stella is the best you'll get) you're still winning.

House of Brews, 363 West 46th St and 302 West 51st St
Heartland Brewery - 6 locations including Radio City (1285 51st & 6th) and Empire State Building (350  5th Ave)
The Gingerman, 11 East 36th Street

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