Monthly Archives: March 2012

A visit to the Sweetwater brewery in Atlanta, part 2

Pub Crawl Brooklyn Road Trips

Some photos from the brewing and bottling portion of my visit.  I had never before seen a bottling facility of a microbrewery.  The local NYC microbreweries do their bulk bottling outside of the tri-state area (where real estate is much more affordable versus in the five boroughs).  Even for the size of Sweetwater (who proclaimed to be the 27th largest craft brewer in the U.S.), this operation seemed elaborate to me.  The entire bottling room was two stories high and nearly two football fields in length.

This room holds the aging vessels.
Part of the bottling room. At the very back of this photo, empty bottles enter the room . . .
The bottles are filled with beer at the station at the top of this photo and then wind their way around to the room to the bottle labler, also toward the top of this photo.
A (sort-of) close-up of the bottle filler

 

A close-up of the bottle labler
One filled and labled, the bottles get placed into standard cases of 24 bottles and the cases are moved out of the bottling facility for distribution.

What are your thoughts on Sweetwater and its bottling facility?  Leave a comment here.

A visit to the Sweetwater Brewery in Atlanta, part 1

Pub Crawl Brooklyn Road Trips

A visit to the Sweetwater Brewery entailed some sampling at the indoor bar and hanging in the outdoor area.  Some photos from the occasion.  The photos from the brewery tour part of the visit will be available later this week.

The crowded indoor tasting room, the bar offered six 8-oz pours for only $10.
The main outdoor tasting area. The weather was great, even for late March in Atlanta!
In the background, is the line of people waiting to get in. On a nice weather day, it gets crowded quickly!

I just wish Sweetwater’s beer were available in NYC!  Check back later this week from some photos of the brewing and bottling process.

A visit to Meehan's Irish pub in Atlanta, GA

Pub Crawl Brooklyn Road Trips, Pub Crawl NYC Reviews

A recent weekend trip to Atlanta gave me a chance to visit Meehan’s in Downtown Atlanta.  Very spacious (for NYC standards anyway!), Meehan’s offered quality regional craft beers (love the Sweetwater offerings) as well as good bar and pub fare.  If you are hanging out in Downtown Atlanta after work or before a sporting event at nearby Phillips Arena or the Georgia Dome, definitely stop in at Meehan’s.

Pics from the recent West Village NYC pub crawl

Pub Crawl NYC Reviews
After the Blind Tiger (maybe our fave Manhattan bar), we visited the Village Tavern
And when you're done at the Village Tavern, how can you NOT then visit Daddy-O, just across the street!
The small dining section at Daddy-O
The last place of the evening was The Brooklyneer at 220 West Houston Street.

What are your thoughts on this crawl?  Did we miss out on any must-see bars in that section of the West Village?  We want to hear from you!

A visit to the Downtown Bar & Grill in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn

Pub Crawl NYC Reviews

The Downtown Bar & Grill, at 160 Court Street in Brooklyn, is a solid beer bar and an integral part of any Cobble Hill craft-beer focused NYC bar crawl.  The 20 taps are all quality and experience frequent rotation.  The Downtown Bar & Grill offers over 400 bottled beers as well.  The food menu offers a mix of bar appetizers, sandwiches/burgers and other pub fare.  The long bar area is located on the right, with a seating area opposite the bar separated by a three-foot high wall.  With its location on the northwest corner of the Court and Amity Streets intersection, the Downtown Bar & Grill’s floor to ceiling windows offer plenty of opportunities for sunny afternoon imbibing and people watching.  The Downtown Bar & Grill, a must visit.

 

The 20 taps at Downtown Bar & Grill on a recent Sunday evening.

A visit to The Vault at Pfaff's

Pub Crawl NYC Reviews

Located one level underground at 643 Broadway (at Bleecker), The Vault at Pfaff’s is a hidden gem of a bar/lounge.  Over the past decade, this location has played host to several types of nightlife establishments (a lounge and a nightclub, among others).  I hope that The Vault at Pfaff’s sticks around for a while.  The layout consists of a main bar area along with a few smaller, more intimate rooms attached to the bar area (see photos below).  The hours of operation are 6pm – midnight, Monday – Thursday and 6pm – 2am, Friday and Saturday.  From 6 – 9pm, a happy hour offers reduced prices on certain bar appetizers, beer/wine and cocktails.  The friendly staff makes this place a must visit.

The main bar area also offers tables for parties of two or four
One of the intimate, smaller rooms off from the main bar area

Have you visited The Vault at Pfaff’s yet?  Share your thoughts on this spot here.

This weekend's St. Patrick's Day pub crawls in NYC

Pub Crawl NYC Announcements

Check out these upcoming crawls:

March 16, 17 and 18 in Manhattan, organized by pubcrawls.com: http://pubcrawls.com/saint-pattys-pub-crawl-nyc.php

Saturday, March 17 in Manhattan, organized by barcrawls.com: http://barcrawls.com/newyork#/shamrock-shuffle-nyc

Saturday, March 17 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, organized by Murphguide.com: http://tickets.murphguide.com/Events/ShowEvent.aspx?eventId=15478

Did I omit a crawl?  If so, send me a comment here and I will gladly add the crawl to this list.

Pictures from a recent Astoria NYC bar crawl, part 4

Pub Crawl NYC Reviews

After Sweet Afton, we moved east along 30th Avenue until we hit the bar Canz at 40-11 30th Avenue, just east of Steinway Street (there’s another location of Canz on Third Avenue in Manhattan).  The draw here is part sports bar and part due to the quantity of beers available.  Over three dozen on draft and many more canned beers (as the name of the bar would imply).  As one of the crawl participants remarked to me, Canz felt like being at Hooters.

Long bar on leftside, with multiple rooms for seating in the back
Large tap beer selection, but I didn't see anything too hard-to-find.

That was the last stop on the Astoria NYC bar crawl.  It was a fun time and I look forward to my next Astoria visit.

Upcoming 2012 St. Patrick’s Day pub crawls in NYC

Pub Crawl NYC Announcements

For those looking for Saint Patrick’s Day NYC bar crawls this weekend and next weekend, check out some of these upcoming events:

Saturday, March 10 at the South Street Seaport in Manhattan, organized by Lindy Promotions: http://www.lindypromo.com/fliers/120310_SouthSt12.jpg

March 16, 17 and 18 in Manhattan, organized by pubcrawls.com: http://pubcrawls.com/saint-pattys-pub-crawl-nyc.php

Saturday, March 17 in Manhattan, organized by barcrawls.com: http://barcrawls.com/newyork#/shamrock-shuffle-nyc

Saturday, March 17 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, organized by Murphguide.com: http://tickets.murphguide.com/Events/ShowEvent.aspx?eventId=15478

Did I omit a crawl?  If so, send me a comment here and I will gladly add the crawl to this list.