April 24, 2008 1:00 PM PDT

BeerMenus.com, where have you been all my life?

A helpful search for my favorite hard-to-find brew.

(Credit: BeerMenus)

BeerMenus.com, I've been dreaming about you at night. And now you've jumped into my world. We're a match made in heaven.

Here's how it works. Much like a boozier version of Menupages, BeerMenus aggregates bars' beer lineups so that you can search for a particular establishment or for a particular beer to find out where it's on tap (or bottled) and for how much. For those of us who prefer their beer to be a bit more esoteric than Bud Lite or even Stella Artois, this is a godsend. I searched for my favorite variety, Allagash White (a delightful Belgian-style white ale brewed in Portland, Maine), and BeerMenus gave me a list of ten establishments where I could find it along with a Google Maps mashup.

For even more hops-and-barley fun, BeerMenus indexes special events at bars as well. That's something that Going, Upcoming, Yelp, and their socially prolific brethren already handle, but it's still a nice feature.

The nifty little site, which just launched Thursday, currently only extends to New York's prolific bar scene, and within that, it still only has about 150 Manhattan bars' menus available. And unfortunately, at the moment I'm across the country in San Francisco so I can't actually do a field test. I'm guessing it's generally accurate, but beer menus do tend to shift around more frequently than food menus do--that's an area where social-networking features like comments and reviews could help.

But really. Think about what could happen if this expanded: frequent travelers could learn where to find their favorite brews in unfamiliar cities, or learn where they can try out a nice pint of a regional favorite. The site also has plenty of room for recommendations, discovery features, and reviews--like a Snooth for beer.

You'd never have to drink a crappy beer again.

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Add a Comment (Log in or register) 5 comments (Page 1 of 1)
Great!
by sussexjoe April 24, 2008 1:55 PM PDT
I started "the brew club" at work, and living just out of NYC, this will be a very useful resource! Thanks!
Reply to this comment
a similar one to check out
by hexjones April 24, 2008 2:31 PM PDT
Check out beermapping.com We have much of the country mapped. You can find breweries, brewpub, beer bars, and beer stores. There are also great forums for chatting and beer events, etc. It would be great if we could combine the two.
Reply to this comment
Any Specials?
by Bryce Mirtle April 24, 2008 10:02 PM PDT
The only thing they need to add are the beers that have "Happy Hour" pricing & their respective prices. It sounds good to me, I just wish they would get this going on the West coast!!
Reply to this comment
Unique and Rad
by alexandergordon April 25, 2008 8:20 AM PDT
A great resource -- nowhere to go but up. Definitely need a social networking aspect to keep up with rapidly rotating taps at high volume places like Ginger Man, Hop Devil, Blind Tiger etc. The best thing is absolutely being able to search by beer, and have a vague idea of pricing. If this takes off maybe it will balance some of the pricing on craft beer, which would be good for breweries' sale and converting more macro drinkers. If they partner with anyone it should be Beer Advocate, which already has the social aspect ...
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  • About The Social

  • CNET News.com's Caroline McCarthy is a downtown Manhattanite who believes that, despite popular opinion, the Web can actually help your social life. She's happily addicted to fun social media tools from Twitter to Yelp to Facebook, sends an inordinate number of text messages, and has a tendency to waste time at the office reading restaurant blogs. Here, she explores all facets of the Web's gregarious side, as well as the unique tech culture in her home city of New York. (Don't call it Silicon Alley.)

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