Brew diligence

The wine lover

The words terroir and Botrytis are part of your leisure-time vocab. You prefer to linger in the basement at Jadis (42 Rivington St between Eldridge and Forsyth Sts, 212-254-1675), sipping aged French reds while snacking on cheese plates. Other times, you can be found indulging in serrano ham tapas and eclectic Iberian wines at the hip and hectic Bar Carrera (175 Second Ave at 11th St, 212-375-1555).

Rodenbach Flemish red-Grand Cru at Blind Tiger Ale House

Photo: Beth Levendis

VISIT: Vintage and off-kilter brews reign at the reopened beer mecca Blind Tiger Ale House(281 Bleecker St at Jones St, 212-462-4682). A massive beer list featuring 28 drafts, 50-plus hard-to-find bottles, a couple of cask ales and a cellared beer selection could convert hard-core oenophiles into hops disciples. Spend a well-lubricated night sampling beers paired with the kitchen’s grub or fromage from Murray’s Cheese. Brooklynite winos will make much ado about The Diamond(43 Franklin St between Calyer and Quay Sts, Greenpoint, Brooklyn; 718-383-5030). The comfy drinkery (in the yard, matches of rubber-ring quoits—a horseshoes-like lawn game—are often underway) specializes in medium-strength “session” beers. Meaning: The focus is less on getting schnockered than relishing the flavors of the eight rotating drafts and the gravity-poured cask ale.

DRINK: At the Tiger, ask what’s fresh and seasonal and hope for offerings from breweries like Dogfish Head and Rogue. At the Diamond, savor the sour-cherry-esque Rodenbach Grand Cru and whatever’s new on tap.

The serial dater

When testing the romantic waters, you like to impress by trundling upstairs to the East Village’s hidden jewel box Angel’s Share (8 Stuyvesant St between Third Ave and E 9th St, second floor; 212-777-5415) for Asian-inflected cocktails, or play it cool at the throwback-style neighborhood hang Brooklyn Social(335 Smith St between Carroll and President Sts, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn; 718-858-7758), home of a fine old-fashioned.

Allagash white with Leafman's Creek at Wells Ales & Lagers

Photo: Jodie Love

VISIT: The dim lights up the courtship factor at The Rook (85 Ave A between 5th and 6th Sts, 212-673-1775), a subterranean beer hall with a black-and-white tile floor and pressed-tin ceiling. Here, cohorts and potential twosomes slide into wooden booths or plant themselves in the candlelit back room and deliberate over the more than 50 international beers and seven drafts—and each other. If these suds are too salacious, cross the East River to Wells Ales & Lagers (303 Bedford Ave between South 1st and 2nd Sts, Williamsburg, Brooklyn; 718-963-3435). This handsome bar, modeled after English pubs, is chockablock with two-tops—and ten drafts and about 100 bottled beauties. If the date’s a winner, you can buy several brews from Wells’s to-go fridge and relocate to, ahem, cozier quarters.

DRINK: Order the Rook’s floral Ommegang Witte or decadent Young’s Double Chocolate; at Wells, share wine-size bottles of Victory V Saison—an ambrosial Belgian—or the potent Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye.