New York holiday

Hi, I'm visiting NYC later this year (I'm a Brit who has never visited the US before but taking advantage of the favourable exchange rate) and  am interested in the relative prices of beer and alcohol in general in the US compared to the UK. Also what beers/lager are available in the US? The only US beer I've tried is Budweiser which is OK I suppose but not my favourite.

And what would you pay for say a shot of whiskey or Jack Daniels?  Thanks

Geoff

PS Someone told me that in the states you are expected to tip for drinks in a bar.  Is this correct?

Hmm it's been awhile since I've been out drinking in the city but yes you do tip here. I tend to do a dollar and/or some extra change per round and just leave it up on the bar. In NYC the prices are a bit higher then the tri-state area, I would say on average figure on paying like 2-3 dollars for something on tap, and 5-7 for bottles, spirits and such more like 7-12 dollars depending on the drink, shots probably like 5-7 dollars a shot but again just depending on the place. You should check out McSorley's Pub they do pretty cheap beer (I believe its tap tho!) but it's a cool place, I believe one of the oldest, if not the oldest pubs in Manhatten. I don't really drink alot of beer so I can't help you out with the brands and such I know my British gf has got me hooked on Stella which I can find here every now and then depending on the bar. Enjoy your trip! There's lots to see and do... since it's summer too depending on the amount of time you have here, you should check out Long Island - that's where the beaches and the pretty coastal towns are and if you like wine there are many winneries out East on the North Fork of Long Island - you can spend a day just doing that and get pissed on tastings

Hmm it's been awhile since I've been out drinking in the city but yes you do tip here. I tend to do a dollar and/or some extra change per round and just leave it up on the bar. In NYC the prices are a bit higher then the tri-state area, I would say on average figure on paying like 2-3 dollars for something on tap, and 5-7 for bottles, spirits and such more like 7-12 dollars depending on the drink, shots probably like 5-7 dollars a shot but again just depending on the place. You should check out McSorley's Pub they do pretty cheap beer (I believe its tap tho!) but it's a cool place, I believe one of the oldest, if not the oldest pubs in Manhatten. I don't really drink alot of beer so I can't help you out with the brands and such I know my British gf has got me hooked on Stella which I can find here every now and then depending on the bar. Enjoy your trip! There's lots to see and do... since it's summer too depending on the amount of time you have here, you should check out Long Island - that's where the beaches and the pretty coastal towns are and if you like wine there are many winneries out East on the North Fork of Long Island - you can spend a day just doing that and get pissed on tastings

Thanks. I'll check out McSorley's Pub and I also like wine so maybe arrange a trip to Long Island.  You're right about Stella. Can't beat it. 

I think you can get lots of the same brands in New York. Off the top of my head, you can get Stella, Heineken, Becks, Fosters, Guinness, etc.

You can get Bass, too. Many US microbrews are very good. Most US major beer brands are weasel p!ss. And I know from weasel p!ss.
 
I don't know what bar prices are, but if you checked out booze prices in a liquor store, you'd be amazed. You can get 1.75 liters of generic vodka in my little local for £5.

What? You don't drink generic vodka? Pff!

Thanks for the responses.  Prices don't seem to different to the UK though I never left a tip before over here.

Stoatula, £5 for a 1.75 litre bottle of Vodka sounds fantastic value but I very rarely drink Vodka as I find  even a couple of shots puts me a real down mood.  Same with Gin.  Shame as Vodka's supposed to be less hanover inducing than Whiskey/Bourbon.   

Drink prices in NYC are on par with prices in London, but it can vary from bar to bar.  If you stick to local pubs, beers will be about $4-5.  If you go anywhere remotely cool or trendy...expect at least $7-8 for a beer.  Shots of JD or similar liquors will be about the $7.  Martini's and other mixed drinks, upwards of $10 each.

In most bars you will find a lot of European beers in bottles, Amstel, Becks, Peroni etc.  Fosters is becoming more popular on tap in bars. 

As for American beers that may compare to UK, I agree with the comment about microbrews.  Harpoon Brewery has a good variety.  They make a UFO beer that is a really nice heffeweisen style.  People seem to like Sam Adams on the Ale side of things.

Hi Porschegeoff,

NYC is a fantastic city, and there's lots of Brit's around as well as lots of familiar aspects in terms of food, drink, things and places to do/go.

Seeing as you've mentioned the drinking aspect theres a few things to look out for

1. You have to tip the bar man/maid. This is relatively easy to do earlier on in the drinking session. If you're session gets prolonged, it get's positively harder to do mathematics as the alcohol level increases. From experience, at the end of a night, I just try to focus as best as possible on which piece of green paper has which figures printed on them - then just told the barmaid to take the right notes out of my hand becuase I can't be arsed to find the right one and work out the %age tip. If you order a round and pay liek you do inthe UK, be prepared for a VERY long wait till the bar man/maid even looks at you again and will walk by polishing glasses whilst looking right at you without serving you until you apologise profusely for not tipping them the last time and hope the excuse 'hey I'm from england and we dont tip there' works.

2. One way to kinda help with the above is to open a 'tab' and so keep gettin drinks without having to do the 'who's round is it now then?' thing. The mathematics pain in the ars* aspect still occurs though.

3. I once had Budweiser (yuk!!) on tap and it gave me one nasty headache the following AM - I never usually get headaches when hungover - I put it down to there must be a difference in the water and flavourings they use over there.

4. Be prepared to speak to some locals who'll say 'ahh a brit, yer aaahll just a bunch of drunks' and then get sucked into some crazy drinking games !

5. As for pricing, yeh it's probably pretty much on par with London pricing, but seems cheaper becuase you'll have a handful of those green pieces of paper which all look alike and then in your wasted state think ahh it's only worth half of the pound so that pint only cost 1.80 so i'll have another 1 or 5!

6. Also be prepared for bars to close at stupid o clock 4am in some places. This makes you think you can spend longer drinking and enjoying yourself. It's a ploy. One, it makes you spend more and two, makes it easier to go overboard.

7. Be prepared to stumble around alot more once you decide to leave and have to work out where you are in the grid system of roads (becuase you spent all your cash on the extra pints becuase of the extra drinking hours and realise you cant afford a cab) . It's REALLY easy to end up on West whatever street when you really have been on EAST whatever street. Trust me on this, I speak from experience!

8. Related to point 7, hopefully as you stumble around, the muggers have gone to bed by that time and even the whino's and wacko's will want to walk around you to avoid you, and you'll make it back to your hotel.

I think that's most of the 'general' drinking stuff I can put up for the moment. The other aspects I'm afraid I can't type up in a public forum - they're err, a bit too crazy!

Please note - all of the above isn't necessarily from personal experience!

Cheers! DtM! West London & Slough UK!

Thanks for the advice Dennis.  I'll be sure to leave a tip and I'll give Budweiser a miss.  From what you say, NYC sounds a really exiting place to visit.