It’s been almost exactly ten years since I was last on this block. Back then, this space was occupied by Hogshead Tavern, a pioneering uptown beer bar. Thankfully, Rough Draft, which opened last fall, has picked up where Hogshead left off. It’s a simple, straightforward draft list that’s composed mostly of local beer, a draft cider, and a cask engine that was occupied by the delightful Dutchess Ales Augur Porter on this visit. Rough Draft is a small and charming yet utilitarian beer bar — despite just 10 draft options, if you can’t find a beer you like here, you just might not like beer. Grimm, Fox Farm, Hudson Valley, and Hill Farmstead stack this beer list, and if that’s not enough of a greatest hits list, there are cans of Heady Topper and Focal Banger in the fridge. A beer list this short favors quality over quantity. And best of all, with ten draft lines, the beers turn over faster and the pours are fresher.

A copy of Garrett Oliver’s The Brewmaster’s Table is displayed cover-out above the beer taps. A poster by Em Sauter pairing beer and books is displayed next to a community bookshelf. Yeah, this studio apartment-sized place is a beer nerd’s dream come true. And apart from the cask engine, there is one noteworthy British-like feature of Rough Draft: they don’t charge a premium for short pours. A half-pour is priced at exactly half the price of a full pour. Somehow, this is a novel concept in the U.S. and I wish people weren’t punished so often for moderation. Kudos to Rough Draft for making it easier to enjoy things in moderation.

The Tab:
1 Happy Hour Dutchess Ales Augur Porter $8
1 Happy Hour Fox Farm The Cottage $8

The Location:
Rough Draft
126 Hamilton Place at West 143rd Street, Manhattan
1 Train to 145 St or A/B/C/D to 145 St

I’m probably going to get a lot of flack for publishing this profile, because it’s hard to know for sure to what extent a beer bar that that sells beer to-go can be considered a beer bar. But in the hustle and bustle of Midtown, good beer has been hard to find. The neighborhood’s best beer bar, The Ginger Man, closed during Covid, leaving this spot four blocks from Grand Central as the ideal spot to stop for a good beer before catching a train.

The draft list here is always excellent, and the bar sells mostly single bottles and cans to-go for commuters to grab one for the train ride home. Most of those that do take beer to-go, in my observation on a Wednesday at about 6pm, are having a beer here first, because it’s a great spot to drink, at worst crowded but never rowdy. It almost feels too polished here, but I think that appeals to the folks in dress shirts working nearby than to me in a t-shirt. I pause to consider how many New York City beer nerds would froth over a tap list that included Toppling Goliath, Grimm, Maine Beer Co., Other Half, and Bissell Brothers back in 2017 and would hardly sneeze at it now, yet that’s what’s on tap on my most recent visit.

As a sat at a table near the bar, a couple families came in to take cans home — one with a Great Dane in tow that nearly took up the entire space at the front of the bar. Everybody browses the beers in the coolers, but you’d be hard pressed to find a better selection of vintage bottled beers in the city on the opposite wall — 2021 Firestone Walker Parabola, five versions of 2021 Jack’s Abby Framinghammer, 3 Fonteinen Oude Kriek, and lots more. It’s an embarrassment of riches, yet I’ve never bought a can or bottle here to-go. It’s exclusively served as the place I go to drink beer when I’m in Midtown and devoid of other options. That makes it sound like a place of last resort, but I assure you it’s not. City Beer is excellent, well-polished, and a spot that’s thankfully stood the test of time, in its eighth year. Midtown’s beer scene would nearly vanish without it.

The Tab:
1 13 oz Jack’s Abby Post Shift $10
1 13 oz Toppling Goliath Citrus Sue $10

The Location:
City Beer
200 East 39th Street, at 3rd Avenue, Manhattan
4/5/6/7 Trains to Grand Central - 42 St

It’s entirely possible that I’ve had more beer at The Pony Bar than at any other licensed drinking establishment. Between its original Hell’s Kitchen location and the Upper East Side corner it’s called home since 2011, I’ve had, at minimum, 520 beers there. I’ve definitely had more, but I can account for 520 of them on account of The Pony Bar’s All-American Club, essentially a club that you can join by drinking 100 different beers, keeping track in a passport (or in earlier days, a sheet of paper filed away behind the bar and then a list in a mobile app). Once you’ve had 100 different beers, you earn a nice Pony Bar-branded work shirt. I own two of these work shirts, one from the Pony Bar’s now-closed 10th Avenue location, and one from its current 1st Avenue location. I kept track well beyond those first 100 beers, and the original location awarded a hoodie for drinking 420 different beers.

I visited the original Pony for the first time on May 9, 2009, after being the designated driver for a day of wine touring in Orange County for a friend’s birthday. My friend riding shotgun turned down the radio to announce we were “going to the bar” and that “we should all buy Chris a drink for putting up with us all day.” My first beer was an Avery Ellie’s Brown, and it became the start of a beautiful friendship. The present-day Pony hasn’t changed much over the years. The concept is still a lineup of American craft beer that always rotates, all priced identically. Back in 2009, those beers were $5. Today, they’re $10. Back in 2009, the beer menu behind the bar was entirely manually updated and hand-drawn. Today, it’s entirely digitized. Back in 2009, there was a small menu of sandwiches. Today, they’ve got a more varied menu of burgers, tacos, wings, and other beer-friendly foods. Back in 2009, they didn’t offer packaged beer or anything other than beer on draft. Today, they have a lineup of “Dan’s Cans” and several cocktails on draft.

Dan’s Cans are curated by owner Dan McLaughlin, who last week personally drove down cases from Tree House Brewing’s Saratoga location to sell at the bar. He’s been heavily involved in the bar from its start, and he was quoted heavily in a recent article about the Upper East Side’s beer scene. McLaughlin’s Upstate roots have been an influence in the decor of the bar, which explains the canoe attached to the ceiling and the Saranac-branded oars on the walls (he also owns a bar up in Schenectady). In full disclosure, Dan noticed me sitting in the bar on the surveillance camera and told the bartender to buy me a beer on my most recent visit, knowing that I’ve been a loyal customer for a whopping 17 years. Here’s to hoping there’s 17 more.

The Tab:
1 14 oz. Spider Bite Pilsner (Happy Hour) $8
1 14 oz. Two Brothers Pinball Pale Ale $10

The Location:
The Pony Bar
1444 1st Avenue, at 75th Street, Manhattan
Q Train to 72 St

It had been nearly ten years since I last visited The Double Windsor, and I’m ashamed of myself for that oversight. How could I resist a horseshoe shaped bar for that long? It’s one of my favorite features of a bar that is brimming with character. And children.

Yes, we’re on the edge of Park Slope, and there’s probably a good reason for the “no strollers” sign on the front door. A family is camping out at the long communal table in the center of the room. I’ll admit, I’m kind of jealous that a 6-year old is enjoying a high-end grilled cheese with smoked Gouda and aged Cheddar on sourdough. That would’ve ruined Kraft Singles on white bread for me permanently at that age.

I’m also jealous of the guy across from me at the bar drinking a Heady Topper from the can (as the can itself and the menu here commands that you do). I could order one myself, but there’s too much other good beer on the draft list that I haven’t had, like the Dutchess Arcadia Pale Ale.

The Double Windsor is a well-worn beer bar at this point. It opened in 2009 and was part of the early wave of craft beer bars that preceded New York City’s brewery boom. Heck, most of the breweries on the tap list didn’t exist when they opened, but the approach remains the same: good food and good beer in a bright corner spot a stone’s throw from Prospect Park. For their fifteenth anniversary in 2024, the beer buyer curated a tap list of beers that were around when they opened, with classics like Bear Republic Racer 5 and Victory Prima Pils. They also collaborated with Barrier and KCBC for the occasion. There’s still a Kelso of Brooklyn tin tacker on the far wall by the bar.

I’m not going to go nine years without another visit to The Double Windsor, that’s for sure.

The Tab:
1 Modist Supra Deluxe Lager $8
1 Dutchess Arcadia Pale Ale $8

The Location:
The Double Windsor
210 Prospect Park West, at 16th Street, Brooklyn
F/G Trains to 15 St - Prospect Park