I’m back! And I had a bloody brilliant time. Without a doubt, the highlight of the trip was sampling delicious craft beers and locally roasted coffees everywhere we went. Arriving in our Williamsburg apartment we were greeted with a six pack of Brooklyn – always a good way to start a holiday. We packed in 12 bars and around 20 different beers. Add to that 7 fantastic coffee shops, several top notch fast food joints and one especially delicious fine dining experience and that makes for one heck of a tasty adventure. I found some of the must see sites of Manhattan hugely underwhelming…but I fell completely in love with Williamsburg. We were lucky with the weather – a couple of days of glorious sunshine to break through the bitter cold. There was a scary moment (well – half hour) where we made some dubious transport decisions on route to the Long Island ‘burbs and found ourselves in one of Brooklyn’s most dangerous areas. And I failed miserably to take as many photos as I should have done. But it was an amazing holiday and without a doubt, I wish we could have stayed longer. In fact, I already can’t wait to go back some day. But til then, here’s a sneak peek at some of the beer and coffee based fun NYC has to offer. I’ll add a list of my fave beers/bars at a later date too!

So – there are lots of bars worth a visit if you find yourself in the Big Apple. We used the Craft Beer New York app to find our nearest high rated establishments when we felt a thirst. Luckily for us, there were several 4 star bars within a minutes walk of our apartment but we also visited some amazing places on Manhattan too. The Pony Bar in Hell’s Kitchen started us off on the right foot. Proletariat in the East Village proved to be a stylish haunt with a good range of beer. On the Lower East Side, Top Hops was so good we went back a second time, and Marshall Stack provided a couple of our favourite beers of the trip. In Greenpoint, you have to check out Torst. Whilst not my favourite venue in terms of atmosphere (full of fashionable types for two parties on the Sunday evening we visited) the beer selection was mind blowingly good. A really unusual range of top quality beer. Lovely stuff. And finally, back in Williamsburg, a massive high five to Lucky Dog for being a down to earth dive bar with a fab selection of beers and an equally awesome set of people too. Oh, and for providing amazing food and perfectly acceptable beer, it would be rude not to mention the incredible Roebling Tea Rooms and in a similar vein, for the best sausage on the planet and a great selection of craft beers…Rosamunde’s Sausage Grill – gobble gobble gobble. Oh and, ahem, Dumont Burger. The best start and end to a vacation in Williamsburg a girl could ask for – especially since the lovely lady behind the bar made me some wonderful ginger, lemon & honey tea to ease my throat.Beer recommendations: Six Point Hi Res (DIPA – 11%), Victory Hop Ticket (hoppy wheat – 4.5%), Great South Bay Blood Orange (pale ale – 5%) and several fabulous Evil Twin beauties including Yang (imperial ipa – 10%) and the collaboration with Stillwater & Stone, Perfect Crime (red wine black smoked saison – 9.6%).