Note: The following post describes a crawl we did just prior to Hurricane Sandy.

A few good craft beer spots in and very close to Union Square.  On a recent Saturday, we visited three of them.

Heartland Brewery (35 Union Square West).  Say what you want about this now five-location-chain Manhattan spot.  Their beer is still top-notch.  We enjoyed the Red Rooster Ale on this occasion.  Typically, Heartland serves five year-round beers and another two or three seasonals.

Lillie’s (13 E. 17th Street).  The Victorian-themed spot offers nearly 20 tap beers and, on this visit, Lillie’s had a live band playing Irish music.

Wildwood BBQ (225 Park Avenue South).  More restaurant than bar, this BBQ spot offers 12 tap beers and another 30 or so bottled ones.  The bar appetizers were solid as well (try the Jumbalaya!).  Unfortunately, no photos here as our camera had run out of power.

We badly wanted to go to Little Town NYC (118 East 15th Street), but it was too crowded, so we had to end our crawl early.