I recently found myself with an evening free in New York City and spent that time in the usual way: the pursuit of beer. I was equipped with some rudimentary intelligence on the New York beer scene so, putting on as many articles of black clothing as I could find in my bag (to better blend in with the natives and study the local beer habitats in their natural state), I left my hotel in the neighborhood of the World Trade Center and headed north.

My first destination was the Soho Brewery on Thompson Street. Finding Thompson Street, I turned and was soon guided to the right location by a large neon sign stating ‘Brewery’ hanging on the side of a building down the way. Unfortunately, upon arrival, I found that this was the sole remaining manifestation of the Soho Brewery; the building was dark, the door locked, and the passing citizenry began to eye me with suspicion as I tried to peer into the windows. I later learned by observation that this last activity would have passed completely unnoticed if I had only accompanied it with grunts, moans, incoherent ravings, and wild gesticulations with my arms; as being and/or acting insane seems to be completely acceptable behavior on New York streets.

Unfazed by this disappointment, I continued north past Washington Square and soon passed the Greenwich Pizzeria and Brewery on the corner of 6th Avenue and 10th Street. This was a serendipitous discovery as my brief perusal of the Internet had not mentioned the Greenwich Brewery. However, having other destinations in mind, I marked the location and continued north to the Zip City Brewery, located on 18th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues. It being a Monday night, the crowd at Zip City was sparse and somewhat surly, even by New York standards, due to the impending 4-0 defeat of the Yankees in Game 2. I took a seat, at a location somewhat removed from the more rapid baseball fans, and ordered a pint of the Oktoberfest. When it arrived, I determined that some of the evident surliness in the bar might well be due to the quality of the beer. The Oktoberfest was murky and somewhat bland without any of the sharp maltiness I would have expected. I followed this up with the Rötbusser, which was described as being made with malt, wheat, oats, and honey. Not unexpectedly, the Rötbusser was cloudy, but it also lacked any of the characters I would have expected from the various adjuncts. Working my way down the list beer list, I next tried the Hefeweizen and this was the undoubted highlight of my stay at Zip City. Living up to its description of ‘an authentic German weizen,‘ it was pleasantly phenolic with a slight sourness. Zip City sells its alt beer in 22 ounce ‘bombers,’ but when I tried to procure one as an offering for CBS’ own Roger "Give Me Alt or Give Me Death" Deschner, I was informed that the last bottle had just been sold. The sight of one of the bar’s previous occupants heading out the door with a case of bombers in his arms proving the truth of this, I gave up and headed out myself.

I then backtracked to the Greenwich Brewery, where I arrived to find the baseball game mercifully over and any hardcore fans who might have been watching there either departed or gone into hiding. Greenwich had three of their own beers on tap (at least I think, their menu listed their in-house selection cryptically as Tap #1, Tap #2, etc. with a footnote at the bottom suggesting that one should ask your server for seasonal selections) along with a selection of about half a dozen other micros. I ordered Greenwich’s stout which was very nice. It arrived with a respectably creamy head and a nice, but not overpowering, roasty flavor. The bartender told me that they were serving the last of their summer ale, so I ordered a pint of this with my dinner. The menu at the Greenwich was fairly extensive and included many selections beyond the pizza suggested by the restaurant name. I had the grilled portobello mushroom sandwich on olive bread which, in spite of the somewhat incongurous ingredients was excellent. The summer ale turned out to be a moderately hopped American pale ale, where the brewer had resisted the common tendency to add fruit and/or wheat to make a summer brew. All in all, a pleasant beer.

In spite of other promising locations nearby, the need for a clear head the next morning required an early retreat to my hotel at this point. However, I would certainly recommend a stop at the Greenwich Pizzeria and Brewery to anyone in the area.