Friday Happy Hour: Our Favorite Bars of All Time

Thirsty yet?

Does this happen whenever you walk into your favorite bar?

You’re probably not as funny as Norm Peterson, but you probably feel more at home in your preferred drinking establishment than you’re actual place of residence.

The Writer’s Bone crew got together and discussed their favorite watering holes recently. Here’s what they came up with:

Oblivion Taproom

Orlando, Fla.

Danny Degennaro: Stupidly good selection of rare brews, great food, awesome service, and free pool.

Hemingway's Lounge

Hollywood, Calif.

Hassel Velasco: Great drinks, better atmosphere. The walls are lined with books and typewriters.

Captain America

Dublin, Ireland

Lisa Carroll: Reaching back to my “drinking” days I'd have to go with this bar where I was schooled in Gaelic. I was studying at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in the summer of 1990 and we went out to Captain America’s and saw a sign that advertised their 4th of July party "Great American Crack!" I was in shock that “crack” was legal in Ireland. Little did I know it was supposed to be "craic," which is Gaelic for “fun.” Funny thing about Ireland is that Bud is an imported beer! Thank God I love Guinness, Smithwick's, and Harp!

Ulysses

New York City

Daniel Ford: I could have easily chosen Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden in Astoria, N.Y. or the Connolly's on Madison Avenue that the JCK magazine crew used to frequent.

However, I have to choose Ulysses on Pearl Street in Downtown Manhattan. Great beer, great atmosphere, and live music on Saturday nights. The other Ford brothers came down for my birthday one year and that's the bar we went to. I also once saw the U2 cover band, 2U, there one Saturday night and they rocked my face off. Great memories.

But it is a bitch to get to if you live in Queens.

Rí Rá Irish Pub

Burlington, Vt.

Matt DiVenere: This is the perfect spot to start your night. Moderate prices, pretty good DJ, cheap jello shots, and PBR pounders. Did you stick to the floor when you walked around that place? Yes. When you went to find the bathroom in the basement, did you feel like you would never see your friends again? Of course. But it is glorious. And I'm a sucker for a good Irish pub.

And recently they just added a second bar in the back of the establishment called The Whiskey Room, which only has the finest whiskeys. And I'm not talking Jack Daniels and Jameson. It's fantastic.

Happy Hour Archive

Friday Happy Hour With Cigar City Brewing in Tampa, Fla.

By Sean Tuohy and Daniel Ford

I always knew cigars and scotch were a great combination, but wasn’t too sure about cigars and beer.

Thanks to Tampa Bay’s Cigar City Brewing—whose beers include “Wandering Pelican,” “Jai Alai,” “Florida Cracker,” and “Puppy’s Breath”—I’m pretty sure all my reservations about the pair are eliminated.

Sean Tuohy sat down with the brewery’s owner and founder Joey Redner to find out more about the company and its history.

Cheers!

Sean Tuohy: Give us a little background on your history and how you started brewing.

Joey Redner: Cigar City brewing grew primarily out of my desire to have a packaging craft brewery in Tampa and basically being tired of waiting for someone else to start one.

ST: For someone not from Florida, why did you pick Cigar City as the name of the brewery?

JR: Tampa was the cigar capital of the world for a century. At peak production more than 50 million cigars were rolled, by hand, every year.

ST: For a newbie what beer would you recommend them to start with from Cigar City?

JR: Invasion Pale Ale.

Yeah, we'd drink this on a deserted island.

ST: What was your biggest mistake brewing?

JR: We once had a batch of beer that just did not attenuate properly and we thought it would finish conditioning in the bottle. It didn't. And it was not yummy.

ST: What is the process of making a new beer? Take us through the steps from the time the idea light bulb goes off until it’s bottled.

JR: It usually starts with the spark of a putting a twist on something classic or traditional style wise or looking to a culinary inspiration. From there the ingredients are discussed and debated to try to get the end result inspired by the original idea. It is often a multi-step feeling out process to get it just right.

ST: Could you describe your beer in one sentence?

JR: We brew beer we like to drink.

ST: If you were in Prohibition times, do you think you’d be bootleggers?

JR: Absolutely. No doubt about it.

The sweet smell of Puppy's Breath...wait, what?

ST: What does the future hold for Cigar City? Will we be able to find Cigar City around the world?

JR: Probably not around the world, but hopefully around the Southeast.

ST: If you were stuck on a deserted island with just one case of one of your beers, which one would it be and why?

JR: Invasion Pale Ale. It is just a great all around drinking beer.

To learn more about Cigar City Brewing, check out the brewery’s official website, like its Facebook page, or follow the company on Twitter @CigarCityBeer.

Happy Hour Archive