Which Bar Has the Best Beer List in Beacon, NY?

If you're looking to order a beer, Beacon is the place you need to visit in the Hudson Valley.

With so many new bars and restaurants open in Beacon, deciding where to grab a pint can be a bit overwhelming. On a recent tour (er, drunken pub crawl) around town, I made it my mission to discover the bar with the very best beer list.

Beacon is home to some world-class breweries. Sour lovers flock to Hudson Valley Brewery right on East Main Street, while hops fans line up at Industrial Arts to stock up on their world-famous IPA, Wrench. Locals, however, opt for the quiet, out-of-the-way vibe of Two Way Brewing.

With all of this great beer being produced in Beacon, you'd think the bars would be stocked with some of the finest ales and lagers in the world -- and you'd be right. On a recent trip to Beacon, we toured several establishments and were blown away by their on-tap offerings.

Melzingah Tap House describes itself as a "gathering place for craft beer enthusiasts," and that couldn't be more true. The bar, run by Kevin & Dana from the Barking Frog had some heavy hitters on the men during our visit. Cans of Heady Topper from the Alchemist Brewery in Vermont, Founders KBS on tap and a selection of Suarez Family Brewery beers made it difficult to leave.

Our next stop was Wonderbar, an upscale spot located just off the lobby of the movie theater. This cozy little bar was a pleasant surprise. Although Wonderbar is more focused on cocktails, the limited beer menu still included some winners like the Von Trapp Vienna Lager and Logical Conclusion from Threes Brewing. A bonus was complimentary still or bubbly water, which was a nice way to stay hydrated as we prepared for our next stop.

Just up the street is Draught Industries, which is a place that needs to be on every Beacon pub crawl list. The long, skinny bar surrounds happy drinkers with walls of old, rustic brick. While their tap list was impressive with beers from Toppling Goliath, Hill Farmstead and Grimm, visitors shouldn't forget to check out their rotating can selections. During our visit, Draught had Focal Banger from The Alchemist, which I actually prefer over Heady Topper. There were also some incredible offerings from Equilibrium, Hudson Valley Brewery and Foam, a great little brewery in Burlington, VT.

As we continued our crawl we hit Beacon's newest bar, The Vinyl Room. Recently relocated from Wappingers Falls, the Vinyl Room was packed with a young crowd and loud music. The record store/bar appears to have focused more on cocktails after their move to Beacon, but still had a wide variety of beers on tap.

If you think a hybrid brewery and record store is unique, you won't have to travel far for another great bar/business mashup on Main Street. Happy Valley Arcade Bar is exactly as advertised. The bar and retro video game arcade doesn't take itself too seriously, and how could it? With the sounds of power pellets getting munched and high scores being broken, the wide-open space is an adult playground. Old-school laminate booths are scattered around with plenty of places to sit and relax, that is if you can tear yourself away from the games. There are beers that will satisfy everyone from the casual drinker to the serious beer fan. On our visit, they had Blue Moon, Coors Light and Heineken as well as beers from Industrial Arts, Sloop and cider from Hudson North.

As you can probably guess by now, it's pretty impossible to decide which bar actually has the best beer list in Beacon. Luckily, you can't walk a few feet down Main Street without passing someplace that serves great beer. I think anyone visiting Beacon would be doing themselves a disservice if they just stuck to one location. With so many new bars and restaurants, and even more on the way, the city is the perfect place for a good, old-fashioned pub crawl.

If it's been a while, beer lovers should get out and explore Beacon. It's truly become a drinker's paradise.