THE Pony Bar’s location just west of the Theater District couldn’t be more fitting. With apologies to the current occupants of the Nederlander, it is the newest (established) permanent floating beer game in New York City — and maybe the only one.
The bar, which just celebrated a month in business, has been drawing people from all over NYC to sample its one-of-a-kind rotating selection of unique American craft beer and cask ale.
“We have absolutely no dedicated lines,” says co-owner Dan McLaughlin. “You could come in Tuesday with a friend and see 12 types of beer you’ve never seen before, and then come back on Friday with a co-worker and see 12 new ones.”
So far, Pony has served up more than 100 selections.
And the beauty part? Everything is $5 a glass.
McLaughlin and partner Pat Hughes are able to work that angle by changing the size of the glass, depending on what’s going in it. The same $5 will by you 14 ounces of Little Thumper Ale but only eight ounces of Shakespeare Stout.
“We always wanted to be price-friendly,” McLaughlin says. “We’re not a velvet rope, $15 martini type of place.”
He’s not kidding — Pony Bar also offers a growler, a 64-ounce bottle of beer that you can bring back for refills.
Despite its bar’s bar aesthetic — “We’re more rock ‘n’ roll,” McLaughlin says. “You won’t hear us playing rap or pop; we’re just not that kind of bar” — Pony is firmly in the 21st century: To keep up with the new selections, you can follow along on Twitter to find out what’s being poured. Every time a keg is tapped, McLaughlin sends a tweet from his BlackBerry to announce the new offering.
If it all sounds like too much to remember (especially after that growler), the bar lets you maintain scorecards to keep tabs of what you’ve tried and how you liked it. Kind of like going to the gym and keeping track of your weights and sets.
OK, maybe not — but recording 100 different beers gets you an official Pony Bar employee T-shirt.
Beyond offering diverse and sometimes strange brews (Magic Hat’s Wacko is made from beets, California Cider Co.’s Ace Perry Cider is from pears), the Pony also organizes weekend tours of local breweries. The first, two weeks ago, was to Brooklyn’s Sixpoint Brewery. For $40, the field trips (next one’s in June) include a bagel breakfast at the bar, followed by the tour, and then it’s back to Pony for an open bar from the featured brewery.
“What Pony Bar is doing is entirely unique for American beer,” says Sixpoint founder Shane Welch. “Most people take comfort in one of nature’s true blessings, deliciously fermented cereal grains. And if it’s local craft beer, brewed with style and finesse, how can you turn that down?”
College student Sarra Kurriger, 22, sure couldn’t. The frequent Pony patron already boasts 13 different beers on her scorecard.
“This place is amazing,” she says, sipping a Sixpoint Otis. “It exposes you to beer you would never try.”
Bartender Henry Joseph, 27, agrees: “The craft-
brewing scene is all about trying what’s new. These people don’t want to drink the same thing all the time, and they are intensely loyal to the product,” he says.
“It’s really all about the beer.”
Pony Bar is at 637 10th Ave., at 45th Street; 212-586-2707, theponybar.com.