The Great American Ale Trail - Christian DeBenedetti [113]
VOL DU NUIT
148 W. 4th St. • New York, NY 10012 • (212) 979-2616 voldenuitbar.com • Established: 2001
SCENE & STORY
Vol Du Nuit is a bar in three parts: a dimly lit back room with a back bar made for slurping moules frites and Abbey ales, a courtyard in the middle for sitting sort of al fresco, and a tiny bar that most people breeze past as they enter the inner sanctum through a covered tunnel. But it’s that one, the street side bar in its diminutive glory that makes this place worth a stop. And though there are plenty of West Village bars that have better beer lists and want to transport you to 1990s Paris or the University district of Brussels, this one succeeds the most convincingly. It’s all about the atmosphere here, which is sort of Ronin meets Amélie minus the gnomes and gunplay. Don’t be surprised if you suddenly want to bum a smoke from the NYU grad students hanging out, write in a leather-bound journal, and bike around some cobblestone streets humming a tune by Björk.
PHILOSOPHY
This no-frills bar is amiable and doesn’t pretend to be more nor less than it is, a great place to have a good Belgian beer and some good, restorative food, and catch up with an old friend or two. It’s an escape in the busy Village, a hideout from the hustle.
KEY BEER
The Belgian ales Orval and Saison Dupont are available by the bottle, and they are both world-class, inimitable brews normal college kids can seldom afford, so you probably didn’t drink them on your junior year abroad. Belgian ales are often better consumed by the bottle rather than on draft, so simply ask for the list and see what’s in the cellar.
PONY BAR
637 10th Ave. • New York, NY 10036 • (212) 586-2707 theponybar.com • Established: 2009
SCENE & STORY
Hell’s Kitchen has long been a hellhole of underlit, overpriced sports bars with dirty beer lines and questionable food—not a craft brew in sight. So the arrival of the Pony Bar was a very welcome change for the countless New Yorkers who live and work nearby. Inspired by an old black-and-white photo of Neil Young, there’s exposed brick walls, a handsome bar, and snatches of Americana (wooden oars, a canoe on the ceiling, old wooden beer barrels, parade bunting, and a forty-eight-star Old Glory). The five-dollar, 14-ounce pours are quite fair (five dollars for 8 ounces on imperials and other big beers) and the vibe is friendly, if a little homogenous. All twenty tap beers are labeled with ABV and brewery; when a new keg comes on tap, the cellarman rings a bell and the patrons cheer “New beer!”
PHILOSOPHY
All of Pony Bar’s craft beers are American and on draft (there are only two bottles, in fact—Budweiser and Bud Light, for the uninitiated). There are no dedicated tap lines; the selection continuously changes, with a preponderance of Northeast gems and a happy hour starting at 4:20 p.m. daily (subtle!). It’s a bar for both the curious and committed craft beer drinker eager to try every new thing; the owners even organize tours to local area breweries. Regulars who try at least a hundred brews earn a cool Pony Bar short-sleeve button-down; and there have been a good many who’ve put in that hard work so far.
KEY BEER
There’s a strong Northeastern regional presence, so look for new releases from Kelso, Sixpoint, Brooklyn, Ithaca, and Captain Lawrence, like a crisp Fresh Chester Pale Ale, to name a good session beer to go with a bite from the bar menu.
McSORLEY’S OLD ALE HOUSE
15 E. 7th St. • New York, NY 10003 • (212) 473-9148 mcsorleysnewyork.com • Established: Around 1860
SCENE & STORY
Every New York beer tour should at least stop, and maybe end, here. Joseph Mitchell’s 1943 book McSorley’s Wonderful Saloon describes this timeless place; Nothing much has changed, and though tourists predictably flock inside, they do so with very good reason. Open since about 1860 and