Manhatttan Beer Bars – Part 1
By Nick Ciavatta
Over my many years of drinking beer in New York City, I've developed into
a bit
of a beer conouseur - nay snob, to be honest. From the seedier bars in
Manhattan's East Village where bottles of Budweiser and Miller Lite were slung at
rapid- fire pace to stumbling twenty-somethings, to my love affair with microbreweries, such as the now defunct Soho oasis, the Manhattan Brewing Company,
which brewed their delicious Ales, lagers and wheat bears right on the premises.
These days I find myself drawn to what “The Ale Street News”, the most
widely circulated beer newspaper in America, calls “Beer Bars.” A beer bar is an
establishment that may or may not serve liquor, but their main focus is on microbrewed beer, or beer brewed in small batches.
For this story I visited three“ beer bars” in Manhattan – “The Ginger Man”
11 East 36th street, “CB6” 51st Street, and “The Blind Tiger”, 281 Bleecker Street.
I began my “research” at “The Ginger Man”, which has a long, beautiful
wooden bar, high ceilings, and beer taps as far as the eye can see. I sat down with a
pint of “Captain Lawrence Double IPA”, an India Pale Ale. India Pale Ales were
first brewed by the British in the early 1700’s, as an answer to a difficult problem:
spoilage. They had no refrigeration and they discovered that if you added more
hops and alcohol to the mix, the beer kept longer. I’ve tasted many beers from the
Captain Lawrence Brewery in Pleasantville, New York, and to date, have not been
disappointed.
Two sips into the aforementioned pint, “Ginger Man” owner Bob Precious
wandered in. I ended up at a table with Bob, Christian Burns, a new partner in the
business, and Melani Hoffman, director of operations.
Out conversation turned to the history of “The Ginger Man”, which opened
its New York location in 1995, and is named after Irish author J.P Donleavy’s book
by the same name. Suffice it to say that Bob Precious was living the life of the main
character, more or less, when he was in college and thought that it would be a great
name for a bar.
As we conversed, a wonderful cheese platter materialized featuring Irish
Blue Cheese, English Cheddar, and French Camambert, followed by a Bratwurst
platter – the perfect food pairing for a hearty ale, in my opinion.
The concept of “pairing” food with beer is becoming a popular trend I’ve
been told by more than a few servers and bartenders lately. In fact, the menu that
night suggested pairing Stone IPA, Rodenbach, or Wolaver’s Organic Pale Ale with
the cheese platter and Spaten Lager and Franziskanner Weisse with the brats. The
once lonely lager and Ale now have a healthy relationship with food.
As the friendly management team enlightened me on the process involved
with beer selection, I wondered how I could apply for this important post.
Unfortunately, the job is already taken by General Manager, David Urbanos, who
has the difficult task of traveling to different breweries to taste many different types
of beer to determine which brews will be featured in the bar. It’s very serious
business, according to Bob Precious, and an expert with a very discriminating pallet
is crucial.
The next stop on my sojourn, was the popular Greenwich Village bar, “The
Blind Tiger”, which unlike “The Ginger Man”, serves beer and wine, but no liquor,
as the old location on Hudson street did – which is now a Starbuck’s. I won’t go into
that history here. In the interest of journalistic integrity, I have to admit that I have
been to the Blind Tiger many times, and I hope that I can remain an objective
reporter.
“The Blind Tiger” is a corner bar that was actually built with the beams and
floors from a 19th Century farmhouse, and the wooden benches and fireplace give
the room an almost “ski-lodge” type feeling. The counter itself is not huge, but is
shaped like the letter “Z” which makes it very easy to talk to your fellow beer buffs.
“The Blind Tiger” also does food and beer pairings like Point Reyes blue
cheese with Sierra Nevada Porter, Irish Cheddar with Slyfox O’Reilly’s Stout, or
Tomme De Berger with Sierra Strickland Triple Ale. The Wednesday Happy Hour
special usually includes a huge cheese platter from Murray’s cheese shop which is
right across the street at 254 Bleecker Street.
Some “beer bars”, including the Blind Tiger, have “brewery nights” where
they feature several different beers from a particular brewery. I’ve been to the
Sierra Nevada night and the Captain Lawrence night, and was very pleased both
times. And you should never be shy in a true “beer bar” to ask for a little taste of
whatever brew interests you. Katie Deedy, bartender extraordinaire at The Blind
Tiger is very nice and extremely knowledgeable when it comes to the beer selections.
She enlightened me about the “Dogfishhead 90 Minute IPA” via Randall. I’ve had
the 90 Minute IPA before, but I wasn’t sure what “via Randall” meant so she
explained that the beer is actually poured over a strainer full of hops in the back
room of the bar which adds more of a “hoppy” flavor to the already hop drenched
beverage. The owner David Broderick, manager, Allan Jestice and head chef,
Louise Leonard are genuinely nice people who really know their beer.
The Blind Tiger also offer’s “Louise’s Bloody Beer” invented by Chef Louise,
which is a beer lover’s “Bloody Mary”, featuring a strong Ale, tomato juice, secret
spices and lots of garnish, but not a drop of vodka. And speaking of things “bloody”,
the food menu features “The Bloody Beast”, roast beef, red onion, horseradish and
cheddar on a roll with a bloody mary dipping sauce. The inventive menu also
features the best grilled cheese sandwich this reporter has had in New York City.
Beer bars like the Blind Tiger and the Ginger Man also offer “vintage”
bottled beer which is beer that is aged like a fine wine – on it side, and not
refrigerated. “Fontein Schaerbeekse Kriek” is an example of a vintage wine aged in
an oak cask and costs around $60 for a 1 pint 9.4 fluid ounce sized bottle.
The third stop on my journey was CB6, which is a very homey basement bar
with a very impressive beer selection. The first thing I noticed was the chalk boards
above the bar with the draft beer selections written in colored chalk (this seems to
be a tradition with beer bars, and it makes sense because the beer menu is
constantly changing). The meaning of the name “CB6” is a secret I was told by
Manager and beer selector, Mark Roof – something the owner Bill Hogan came up
with.
CB6 had some selections that I hadn’t seen at the other two bars like
“Snapper Head IPA”, “Mother’s Milk Stout” and “Shipyard Pumpkin Ale.” The
bartenders here are also very knowledgeable about the beers, their history and how
they are brewed. Their food menu is not as creative as the two other establishments,
but the nachos, wings and calamari were excellent and my friends and I invented
our own “pairings.” CB6 has only been open since January, but they do have plans
to add cask ales (ales that are poured from a non-carbonated cask) to the menu. In
October they will have an “Oktoberfest” featuring several different related beers.
Other notable beer bars in Manhattan include “The Waterfront Ale House”,
540 2n’d Avenue, and “DBA, 41 1st Avenue. I feel it my journalistic duty to continue
my research for a possible “Beer Bar Part 2.”