Spuyten Duyvil

AskMen's Top Cities for Men in the U.S.

Filed under: Dining, Luxury Travel & Hotels, Spas, Spirits, Men's Style

Manhattan's skylight and city lights during the early evening.

AskMen, the men's lifestyle site, has published a list of the Top 29 Cities to Live In for men. The AskMen experts ranked cities based on various criteria, including the percentage of university-educated women and lifestyle factors (such as the cost of a luxury automobile). Professional life factors were also considered, such as the number of vacation days guaranteed by law in each city.

Luxist and the Luxist Awards has featured many establishments located in each of the top ranking U.S. cities that made the AskMen list. Indeed, these cities are home to some of the country's best brew pubs, spas, dessert spots and places to go for a dip and play blackjack at the same time.

New York City (#1 on AskMen's List of the Top 29 Cities to Live In).

According to AskMen, there's no place on earth that makes men happier to be men than New York City. "The Big Apple is always reinventing itself and never fails to surprise us with what comes next," according to AskMen. "Since the financial crisis, the high-gloss bottle service bars have been replaced by cozy speakeasies, and designer tapas bars have been replaced by burgers and suckling pig, which is definitely a step in the right direction."

A Luxist Favorite: Spuyten Duyvil

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Best Brew Pubs in America

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Spirits

Luxist readers nominated their favorite brew pubs around the country as part of the Luxist Awards for best in entertainment. One brew pub is located in Vemont and the only way to sample its beer is to go there yourself. The second brew pub has won countless awards while the third one features hand-crafted beer. The fourth brew pub brews its award-winning beer on the premises while many consider the beers made by the final brew pub among the best in the world.

The Alchemist Pub and Brewery

Waterbury, Vt.

About halfway between Manchester, N.H. and Montreal, Quebec sits the sleepy town of Waterbury, Vt., home to The Alchemist Pub and Brewery. The geographical details may seem trivial, but the only way to get a beer at this Luxist-nominated brew pub is to go there yourself – all ales flow from The Alchemist's own basement brewery. The only beer that's "to-go," they like to say, is the beer in your belly.

Perhaps things would have been different if the The Alchemist had been founded a few decades earlier – the brewpub is located Waterbury's original post office, which would have made for quite the convenient distribution network. Instead, the building was renovated and reopened as a brewpub in 2003 by proprietors Jennifer and John Kimmich. The pair has been brewing handcrafted beer onsite ever since, using only the best imported malts and domestic hops.

Every Friday, new casks of beer are debuted, but four stalwarts are always available on tap alongside the newbies. There's Donovan's Red, a medium-bodied and malty ale named after Waterbury's 19^th Century Irish restaurant. Light beer drinkers will appreciate the appropriately-named Lightweight, a crisp pilsner that took third place at the 2006 World Beer Cup. For hops lovers, Holy Cow I.P.A. is an aromatic blend of six different malts and five different hops. And finally, there's Pappy's Porter, a dark and deep ale that's great for bitter New England evenings in the winter.

Gallery: The Alchemist Pub and Brewery in Waterbury, Vermont

Beer Taps at The Alchemist Pub & Brewery

Beer and Food at The Alchemist Pub & Brewery

Art on Display inside The Alchemist Pub & Brewery

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Spuyten Duyvil: World's Finest Beer in Brookyln

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Spirits

Spuyten Duyvil is nominated for best brew pub award by Luxist

Plan a night out at the Spuyten Duyvil in Brooklyn, NY and you might miss the very attraction for which you came. The brew pub, whose storefront is encased in red wrought-iron bars and includes scant mention of its own title, is among the best in the Big Apple, if not the world. All of this makes it an obvious choice for a Luxist nomination in the best brew pub category.

Located in the shadow of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and between the Lorimer and Bedford Avenue stops of New York's L subway line, Spuyten Duyvil is just the sort of unassuming hotspot that would be a favorite in Brooklyn's Williamsburg district. Just a few feet from an ultra-hip concert venue called The Knitting Factory, it's a place you've probably been invited for an after-party if you went to college in the Northeast over the past decade and had a friend in a band.

Gallery: Spuyten Duyvil in Brooklyn, New York

Stride through the front door, past hipsters with more flannel than a Seattle lumberjack convention, and you'll be transported to an old-style Belgian kitchen with a Brooklyn twist. Mismatched chairs dot the bar's seating areas, while a host of maps depicting historical Canada and Chicago dot the walls. Enjoy one of Spuyten Duyvil's dozens of obscure beers, and don't be disheartened if Lagunitas is the only one with which you're familiar.

On a pleasant spring or summer afternoon, head outside to the back porch to enjoy your drink (just be prepared for the cigarette smoke emanating from the European tourists camped out there). Most of all, don't be afraid to ask the laid-back bartenders for beer selection advice – you won't be the first person bewildered by their expansive selection.

Vote for the brew pub that you believe is the best of breed. The voting period runs through April 30 and winners will be announced on May 1.

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