With the explosion in craft beer bars in New York lately, there’s also been an explosion in variety of how the beers they serve are presented to customers. Some take time with their menu and harness consumers with the knowledge they need to make their decision. But far too many bars and restaurants have overlooked the fact that a proper beer menu is a very important aspect of a good craft beer program.

We’re not talking about which beers they serve, but rather how the bars communicate which beers they serve to their customers. When done right, a beer menu can be a huge time saver for both the customer and the beer server. But when done wrong, it can ruin a customer’s experience, leave the novice beer drinker confused, and lead to unpleasant surprises.

Here are some of our DOs and DON'Ts when it comes to beer menus:

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It’s Wednesday, October 3rd. Here’s our list of recommended beer-related events in and around New York after work tonight:

• Our monthly Clues & Brews Trivia Night is tonight at 7:30pm at Breukelen Bier Merchants (182 Grand St., at Driggs Ave., Williamsburg). Enjoy some craft beer, answer some trivia questions, and win more beer! Winners of each trivia round get beer on the house… and there’s lots of great beer on tap to choose from, like the Southern Tier Pumking, Cisco Pumple Drumkin, and the Nebraska IPA.
  
  
• Blind Tiger Ale House (281 Bleecker St., at Jones St., Greenwich Village) hosts their annual Great Pumpkin Event starting at 3pm, with over a dozen different pumpkin beers on tap. The lineup includes Elysian Great Pumpkin, Nebraska Wick for Brains, Greenport Harbor Leaf Pile, and many more!
  
  
• Celebrate local beer at The Pony Bar UES (1444 First Ave. at 75th St., Upper East Side) as they host Oceanside’s Barrier Brewing tonight starting at 6pm. They’ll have a stellar tap lineup that includes the Bulkhead Red, Evil Giant IPA, Hoplantic Pale Ale, Bumble American Wheat, and many more - a whopping 20 beers in all!
  
  
• It’s Sixpoint Night at Mudville 9 (126 Chambers St., at W. Broadway, Tribeca) tonight starting at 7pm. They’ll be pouring the Resin, Brownstone, Bengali Tiger, and more on tap!
  
  
• George Keeley (485 Amsterdam Ave., at 83rd St., Upper West Side) hosts Founders tonight starting at 6pm. Enjoy the 2011 Imperial Stout, Breakfast Stout, Devil Dancer, and many more great Michigan brews on tap!
  
  
• Taproom 307 (307 3rd Ave., at 24th St., Murray Hill) hosts their own Pumpkin Beer Night tonight at 6pm, too.
  
  
• Lagunitas and Idle Hands Bar (25 Avenue B, at 2nd St., East Village) team up for the bar’s weekly $10 Bourbon and Beer Tasting Series. Tonight, the beers are paired with songs from the band Snot’s Get Some album. From 7-10pm, $10 gets you 2 full beers, a 3-beer tasting flight, a taste of whisky, and an order of tater tots!

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Mugs Alehouse (125 Bedford Ave., at N. 11th St., Williamsburg) has long been a haven for the craft beer drinker in Brooklyn. How long? Well, it opened before Brooklyn Brewery brewed beer in Brooklyn. It survived the rise and fall and rise again of the craft beer trend. Sixpoint, Kelso, and Shmaltz were barely twinkles in their brewers’ eyes when Mugs opened back in 1992.

This Saturday, Mugs will celebrate its 20th anniversary. And to celebrate, they’re rolling out a bunch of great celebratory beers, including one available exclusively at the bar: a special collaboration beer with Brooklyn Brewery.

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It’s Tuesday, October 2nd. Here’s our list of recommended beer-related events in and around New York after work tonight:

• Josh Bernstein, beer writer and friend of Brew York, hosts this week’s free Tuesday Night Tasting at Bierkraft (191 Fifth Ave., at President St., Park Slope). The theme is “Cult Beers.” He’ll discuss some of the most “cultish” beers today, and crack open some rare bottles, including the 2008 Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA. The tasting gets underway at 7pm.
  
  
• It’s Rare Beer Night at Rattle-N-Hum (14 E. 33rd St., at 5th Ave., Midtown) starting at 4pm. They’ll be pouring an impressive list of hard-to-find beers all night long (as long as they last, that is), including Hill Farmstead Ephraim, Goose Island Bourbon County Stout, Mikkeller It’s Alive, and some rare bottles, too.
  
  
• The Pony Bar (637 10th Ave. at 45th St., Hell’s Kitchen) is back in action with their fall events tonight with Stone in the house starting at 6pm. Stone’s man about town, Dennis Flynn, will be in the house while you enjoy eighteen draft lines, including the Old Guardian Belgo-Barley Wine, Vertical Epic 11.11.11, and Saison du Buff!
  
  
• Enjoy brews from Avery tonight at Bar Great Harry (280 Smith St., at Sackett St., Carroll Gardens) from 6-10pm. Enjoy some big, rare brews from the cellar like the 2010 Mephistopheles and 2011 The Beast, plus DuganA, Ellie’s Brown, and more all quite reasonably priced at $5!
  
  
• Good Beer (422 E. 9th St., btw. 1st Ave. and Ave. A) hosts Brooklyn’s KelSo tonight starting at 6:30pm, pouring a great lineup of local beers like the smokey Fuku, Barrel-Aged Belgian Pale Ale, and the Industrial Pumpkin till 9pm.
  
  
• Top Hops (94 Orchard St., at Broome St., Lower East Side) hosts Bronx Brewery tonight at 7pm, as they pour the brand-new Zinfandel-Aged Pale Ale, their traditional Pale Ale, and the Rye Pale Ale.
  
  
• This week’s Ten Buck Tasting at Jimmy’s No. 43 (43 E. 7th St., at 2nd Ave., East Village) celebrates Oktoberfest beers. $10 gets you six tastings of beers, including Flying Dog Dogtoberfest, Schneider Edel Weisse, and Schlenkerla Marzen. The tasting gets underway at 7:30pm.
  
  
• Radegast Hall (113 N. 3rd St., at Berry St., Williamsburg) hosts an Oktoberfest beer tasting tonight at 7:30pm. They’ll be pouring the Schneider Edel-Weisse, Ayinger Oktoberfest, Hacker Pschorr Oktoberfest, and more, along with live music from Emily Asher!

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Astoria, Queens sports nearly a half-dozen bars and restaurants with strong craft beer selections, but apart from a single beer distributor, there was hardly a place to buy specialty craft beer by the bottle. This was a gross oversight considering that by the end of the year, three breweries will be operating in Eastern Queens. Thankfully, Astoria Bier & Cheese (34-14 Broadway, at 35th St., Astoria) has filled the retail void - and now offers another spot for beer geeks to grab a pint, too.

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It’s Monday, October 1st. Here’s our list of recommended beer-related events in and around New York after work tonight:

• It’s VSK (Very Special Keg) Monday at Blind Tiger Ale House (281 Bleecker St., at Jones St., Greenwich Village). At 5pm, they’ll tap a rare or unique keg of the bar’s choosing. This week, it’s the Hill Farmstead Ephraim, a once-a-year Imperial IPA from the tiny Vermont brewery.
  
  
• Laughing Dog of Ponderay, Idaho takes over the taps at The Owl Farm (297 9th St., at 5th Ave., Park Slope) today at 5pm. Enjoy their beers and learn that there’s more to Idaho than potatoes!
  
  
• ReBar (147 Front St., at Jay St., DUMBO), holds their monthly “Kick the Keg” event starting today through Wednesday, getting rid of September’s beer lineup so they can get October’s beers on! $3 will get you pours of beers like Stone 16th Anniversary, Blue Point Toxic Sludge, and more until the kegs kick!
  
  
• Perilla (9 Jones St., at W. 4th St., West Village) kicks off their Oktoberfest Monday Night Beer Dinners featuring Weihenstephan with a four-course tasting menu that includes bratwurst with the Vitus Weizenbock and German Chocolate Cake with the Dunkel. Dinner is $60 and served all night long starting at 5:30pm; reservations are recommended.

Follow us on Twitter for ongoing updates, like us on Facebook to spread the word, and check us out on Foursquare for great lists of beer bars, stores, and breweries!