Welcome to the all New York City edition of Brew & You!

But this is a Los Angeles focused column, you say? True but in the past year, Eagle Rock Brewery has collaborated with Flagship Brewery of Staten Island and Monkish Brewing has paired up with craft beer darling, Other Half Brewing (Both for canned IPAs, coincidentally).

Plus, it is always good to check out another city, compare and contrast, and find out where to go for beer the next time you travel to the City that Never Sleeps.

Plus, plus, who knows what breweries might distribute to California in 2017. Which hopefully will be SingleCut Beersmiths because they were the brewery that most impressed me while I was on the Isle of Manhattan.

The Big Apple’s craft breweries are generally found in the other four boroughs. True, Heartland Brewery is in a pair of spots (one being the Port Authority bus terminal), but Los Angeles has a Downtown advantage for sure. Where NYC has us is in the transportation department. The Subway may be crowded and humid and jam packed, but it is still a darn efficient way to get from Time Square to Greenwich Village and combined with taxis and ride sharing beer travel allows for further beer adventures than driving around Los Angeles. There is even a bottle shop/growler fill store at Grand Central Terminal, Beer Table To-Go which has the very cool idea of adding a little “last bottle” collar to beers that are going, going and gone.

Here are 5 beer spots to visit (yes, I hid a listicle inside this post):
1. Top Hops – On a hidden gem of a street, Orchard just off the Delancey Street station. TH has very large menu board that not only tells you the beer style and ABV, but also when the keg was tapped.
2. Jacob’s Pickles – On the Upper West Side near Central Park, they have an impressive beer list which includes a New York beer flight.
3. Rattle & Hum – West – Surprising to find a good beer bar in the same building as a Holiday Inn, but this spot is where you go to watch sports and have a multitude of choices.
4. UrbanSpace NY – The Vanderbilt location is in a food hall, but practically every mini-restaurant inside had interesting beer choices. I had Rockaway ESB with an excellent Mac n Cheese.
5. The Filling Station – Tucked into the Chelsea Food Market is this combo olive oil, spice and beer seller. Get a growler to go or get a pint with food.

I missed a few spots that will go on the list for next time such as Torst, the Evil Twin gastropub; Spuyten Duyvil the classic NY beer bar; and Good Beer Co. a bottle shop and taproom. That just means that I have jump started planning for my next trip.

The Beer of the Week comes from one of the very few New York City breweries to send beer our way. Sixpoint Ales has been distributing cans and kegs west for only a short time. I sampled a heather accented beer, Rune, while in New York and enjoyed the strong herbal notes. The next beer to look for in cans is 5 Beans. What they call a Bazaar Porter. A coffee beer that might replace your morning joe.

Your Homework is to Google “NYC Beer Bloggers.” Not because I don’t want you to read Brew & You or other California beer blogs, but to get a sense of what is going on across the country. It can be real easy to get lost amidst all the new beers and breweries that are in Los Angeles now (and in the coming months). I suggest starting with NY Craft Beer Guide and Brew York New York.

Find more of Sean Inman’s writing on his blog, Beer Search Party.