Category Archives: BEER PUB

CRAFT HOUSE KITCHEN & BAR

BEER PUB

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SUFFERN, NEW YORK

Just up the hill from the center of town, CRAFT HOUSE KITCHEN & BAR joined the microbrew revolution in January ’15 (but closed down during 2018). Located at a green colonial homestead on Lafayette Avenue, this quaint Suffern pub’s Old World design comes straight out of the pre-Prohibition Roaring ’20s. With its retro-styled mahogany setting, Edison bulb lanterns, sturdy wood shelving and stainless steel-handled refrigerators, Craft House’s ambiance truly recalls a vintage alehouse.

Accessing the back door entrance near the side patio, I grab a seat at the charming 8-seat bar mid-afternoon March ’15. Featuring a private banquet room and spacious dining area, the homey confines suits families, brew crews, booze hounds and food lovers. Salmon Salad is highly recommended alongside various Americana dishes (burgers-sandwiches-pasta).

The quickly revolving 12-tap setup on this day includes two previously untried Empire State libations. The first, soft-toned Captain Lawrence Frozen Flowers, offers botanical elderflower sugaring, polite citric-quince fruiting and dry-spiced nuances. For a resounding changeup, briskly citric-embittered Long Ireland Balor IPA brought lemony grapefruit-peeled orange rind sharpness to pungent hop astringency.

Happily, two Saranac reps walked in before I departed, offering the fabulous Saranac Immortality Imperial Amber, likable Imperial IPA and sessionable Summer Pils (all reviewed at Beer Index).

Craft House’s initial beer dinner showcased Captain Lawrence and the next highlighted new Wappingers Falls brewery, North River. Happy Hour is Monday thru Friday from 4 to 7 PM.

www.crafthouseny.com

 

POOR HENRY’S PUB & RESTAURANT

BEER PUB

MONTVILLE, NEW JERSEY

Definitely one of Jersey’s best beerpubs, POOR HENRY’S PUB & RESTAURANT has been in business since 1975. In a fieldstone-bricked ranch (with aquamarine trim and sidewalk cafe), this Old World tavern on Route 202 could be defined as an Irish-styled pub, dive bar, gin mill or family restaurant. Each description fits the otherwise inconspicuous establishment well.

Founded by Kenny Garrity, Poor Henry’s originated in nearby East Hanover and served Guinness Stout to experimental palates. But while that Irish bar ceased to exist, the newly established Montville gastropub continues to flourish. During 2011, Garrity’s son, Jesse, expanded the draught selection and brought craft beers onboard.  

Featuring outstanding pub fare (prime rib, burgers, pasta, fish) and a quickly revolving 23-tap selection, Poor Henry’s is divided into two distinct sections. To the left, a home-styled dining area with 4-seat tables serves lunch and dinner while the rectangular right side bronze-topped bar (with multiple TV’s and blackboard tap listing) maintains a bustling sportsbar appeal.

On the side walls, several road signs and auto licenses mix with several craft beer banners from Dogfish Head, Full Sail and Ithaca (plus a green-clover neon sign promoting Heineken and a Guinness ad). The extraordinary bottled specialties on this February 2015 sojourn included Brooklyn K Is For Kriek, Victory Oak Aged Horizontal Barleywine, Clown Shoes Peace Money Can’t Buy, Lost Abbey Inferno Belgian Golden, Guinness 1759 Amber Ale eith Smoked Peat, Epic Elder Brett Saison and Allagash Midnight Brett.

Grabbing a seat at the bar for a short mid-afternoon jaunt, I down fudgy dessert treat, Neshaminy Creek Coconut Mudbank Milk Stout (reviewed in Beer Index). Afterwards, I return for dinner with wife in tow and the bar has gone from practically empty to completely crowded. So we took a dining table and order two delicious mainstay menu items: Faroe island dilled salmon and Pizza with bacon, sauteed onions and mozzerella. Alongside the food, I consume four samplers of previously untried libations including sessionable Green Flash Jibe IPA and collaborative Du Claw/ Cigar City Impey Barbicane Moongun Amber as well as  Wild Beer Induna Cru Saison (with apples) and Du Claw Hell On Wood Bourbon-aged Barleywine.

As much a friendly neighborhood hangout as a great destination spot, Poor Henry’s warm, rustic charm will please everyone with its fresh food, interesting brews and cozy atmosphere. 

www.poorhenrys.com

AMBULANCE BREW HOUSE

BEER PUB,

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NANUET, NEW YORK

Since its Grand Opening, June 12, 2014, AMBULANCE BREW HOUSE has fascinated local beer geeks and curious out-of-towners. Located at a refurbished red brick ambulance facility on Main Street in the bohemian village of Nanuet, this amiable small tavern relies on fabulous rotating taps, take-out growler fills and light pub food to attract its avid followers.

Inspired by Taps Bar & Lounge (a busy beer pub near the Tampa Convention Center) during a 2011 business trip, entrepreneurial electrical contractor Denis Maher decided to start his own pub up north. A native of Ireland who came to “the land of opportunity” during the ’87 Irish recession, Maher wanted a “cold look” for his craft beer haven.

Ambulance Brew House’s charmingly vintage stone-walled interior creates a dank cave setting with its caliginous dungeon likeness and composite tile floor. On the other hand, its antique wood decor, Dutch-doored rear kitchen, arched love booth and ample serving station provide simple Country Inn rusticity.

A closed-in front deck with four tables offers a street side view while the backyard Biergarten features five picnic tables, stringed lighting, shady trees and a gray shed (with chalkboard beer list). At the kiln-dried white pine bar, twenty taps serve rare, one-off, seasonal and locally popular fare.

On my initial August ’14 afternoon jaunt, my daughter and I (with Roscoe the dog in tow) grab a table at the front deck  to consume five previously untried libations. The Rolling Stones’ maddeningly malicious “Gimme Shelter” plays in the background as I settle into a well-rounded selection including Italy’s Del Ducato Nuevo Mattina saison, Astoria, New York’s Singlecut Kim Hibiscus Sour Lager and three California offerings – Knee Deep Simtra Triple IPA and Speakeasy’s Metropolis Lager and Syndicate #2 Strong Ale (all reviews in Beer Index).

On a two-hour dinner visit two days hence, my wife and I shared vegetable quesadillas, ricotta-cheesed pizza (with pesto) and nachos while getting knocked out by six outstanding elixirs crafted by Rushing Duck – a local Chester, NY brewery celebrating its 2nd Anniversary. First up, Rushing Duck’s Bauli Saison was a soft-toned farmhouse ale with white peppercorn herbage, kaffir lime tartness, mild coriander spicing and subtle citrus zest. Next, Honey Seeker Belgian Strong Ale brought abundant honey sinew to sugary fruit juicing and gin-like alcohol burn while Kroovy’s tangy fruiting contrasted sharp juniper hop bittering and resinous pine needling. 2nd Anniversary IPA, a bold medium-full body, brought sharp piney fruiting to wafting perfumed cologne.

For dessert, outstanding Dog’s Bullocks, a bourbon barrel-aged barleywine, fortified its soft-toned honeyed fruiting with mild oaken vanilla. And the distinctively hybridized Count Koala Chocolate Quad combined fruity Belgian yeast spicing with heavy mocha profundity.  (Full reviews at Beer Index)

Mid-September ’14, traipsed over to Ambulance once again. This time, five superb bourbon barrel-aged elixirs from Massachusetts’ Jack’s Abby were really impressive as I munched down Pecan Orange Salad,  a refreshingly crisp lunchtime snack featuring goat-cheesed mesculin greens, pecan, orange, cranberry and orange ale vinaigrette.

I doubt there was any better way to celebrate the start of autumn than with Jack’s Abby Barrel-Aged Framinghammer Baltic Porter Series, which included a Four Roses bourbon-barreled ale plus enticing vanilla, coconut, coffee and peanut butter and jelly flavored offerings. Each delightful brown-bodied porter provided elegant warmth, majestic mocha succulence, bittersweet vanilla luster and lilting bourbon nuances. (Full reviews at Beer Index).

Returned late September ’14 with pal, Dennis, for Sunday lunchtime round of five sour ales and one hybridized wheat ale. Chris, the affable barman, served us worthy fare such as The Bruery Tart Of Darkness Sour Stout (aged in oak), Gun Hill Barrel Aged Void Of Light Stout, Barrier Gosilla, Mystic Table (farmhouse) Beer and Swiss-made BFM 225 Saison as well as Westbrook White Thai Belgian Wit (reviewed in beer Index).

Since then, Ambulance has become my second home and over one hundred beers have been happily consumed here.

www.ambulancebrewhouse.com

JIMMY’S GRILL

BEER PUB

NAPERVILLE, ILLINOIS

Arguably Naperville’s best craft beer pub, JIMMY’S GRILL is situated down the hill from my alma mater, North Central College, and across the street from established downtown staple (and college hangout) The Lantern. An L-shaped black marble-topped bar welcomes brew hounds to this veritable sportsbar (with TV’s at all corners). Classical wood columns and pristine oak furnishings adorn the red brick interior while windowed doors lead to the umbrella-laden front deck. A rear dining area suits families and private parties.

On a hot Saturday afternoon in mid-July 2014, a few of my long-time college pals join me at a table near the side entrance to drain a few local suds emulating from the 16 available tap handles.  Happily, Jimmy’s revolving taps included a few previously untried libations (and the coolers were filled with well-selected bottled fare).

Hailing from Chicago, Half Acre Daisy Cutter, the brewers’ flagship offering, brought forth a sharper citric acidity than most pale ales, draping champagne yeast and bark-dried oak atop lemon-peeled grapefruit rind, pineapple, mandarin orange, tangerine and mango illusions.

Even sharper and woodier, Ale Asylum Hop-a-licious loaded resinous pine hop bittering inside floral-bound orange rind, grapefruit, tangerine and peach tones.

A bizarrely concocted collaboration between Colorado-based New Belgium and Indiana-based Three Floyds, Lips Of Faith Gratzer, revived an ancient Polish smoked dark ale style with its oak-smoked wheat, burnt wood char and dry mocha malting overriding wispy cola, walnut, Baker’s chocolate, cocoa powder, black coffee and crisp tobacco notions at the milk-soured lactic finish.

www.jimmysgrillnaperville.com

BAVARIAN LODGE

BEER PUB

Restaurant Review - Bavarian Lodge — Backyard Oktoberfest

LISLE, ILLINOIS

Exquisitely rewarding gastropub, THE BAVARIAN LODGE, may have the best beer selection in Chicago’s affluent northwest suburbs. Matching the elegant splendor of an Alpine hunting lodge with the cozily rustic warmth of an English pub, this genteel Ogden Avenue hotspot clearly puts the tiny village of Lisle on the map. Beautiful wood decor, vintage art deco, gold-foiled ceiling tiles, stain-glass tulip lamps and multiple beer plaques line the low ceiling pub area and a stone hearth reinforces the antique lodge-like setting. A separate intimate dining area suits families and large parties.

Serving an amazing selection of 38 rotating tapped beers and 150-plus bottles alongside generously portioned authentic German cuisine, The Bavarian Lodge blew away Du Page county’s craft beer competition on my initial visit, July 2014. Sitting at the U-shaped bar for dinner with my college pal, Scott, I ordered the delicious potato pancake appetizer and liver dumpling soup with the ample Roast Duck platter. Local denizens recommended the Weiner Schnitzel, Kassler Rippchen (wood-smoked pork chops), Schweins Hax’N (pork shank), Hungarian ghoulash and bratwurst.

On this busy Wednesday evening, one admirable cask-conditioned bourbon from Michigan’s famed New Holland Brewery (made in Dragon’s Milk beer barrels) is available to quaff along with special one-off ‘new arrivals’ such as Germany’s Alpirsbacher Klosterbrau Pilsner and Plank Heller Weizenbock, Belgium’s Dieu Du Ciel Rosee D’Hibiscus, Stone ‘Crime’ Bourbon Barrel Aged Ale (with dry-hopped chili peppers) and Three Floyds Backmasking Oatmeal Stout.

For starters, I order three previously untried brews from Indiana mainstay, Three Floyds. Renowned mild pale ale, Three Floyds Zombie Dust, brought beautiful floral-fruited IPA-like zest to mild resinous pine bittering, contrasting wheat-honeyed caramel malting with spruce-tipped ruby red grapefruit, orange rind and pineapple tartness. Three Floyds Space Station Middle Finger Pale Ale offered a dry-hopped floral citrus bouquet to honey-spiced pale malts. Three Floyds War Mullet, an enticing Imperial IPA, received an ultra-dry piney hop bittering and brisk juniper bite for its juicy citric tropicalia.

Dinnertime fare included Czech Republic’s Praga Dark Lager, a mocha-based medium body gathering burnt caramel, creme brulee, toffee, molasses cookie and honeyed pumpernickel illusions, as well as adjunct pale ale, Dogfish Head Rosabi, a mild wasabi-spiced elixir with red rice graining softening its hesitant horseradish heat. (Full reviews are in Beer Index).

bavarian–lodge.com

THE DOG & CASK

BEER PUB
  

Rochelle Park, New Jersey

An intimate gastropub replacing the ever-popular Bistro 55 during winter ’13, THE DOG & CASK provides Route 17’s busy Bergen County thoroughfare with its first serious beer-centric locale. Set inside a tan chalet-styled edifice, its high-ceiling interior features vintage reclaimed wood furnishings, a centralized yellow-wooded 12-stool bar, private left side lounge and right side dining room (with lodge-styled hearth). Pristine glass shelving, 6 TV’s and a blackboard beer list consume the pristine bar.      

 

Ambitious gourmet food, homemade desserts, fine wines and high-end liquors complement the revolving 16-tap/ 2-cask beer lineup (and more predictable 20-plus bottled fare). Sure the portions ain’t large, but each menu item is a culinary delight prepared by experienced chef, Jason  Ramos. Alongside four fine ten-ounce beers, my wife and I shared appetizing mason-jarred seasoned pickles (dill-pickled sourdough, carrot, onions and anchovies) as well as crostini-breaded Creamy Mozzarella (with fennel-jammed black olive oiling). The dinner selections looked equally as mouth-watering.

During our 2-hour April ’14 stopover, I quaffed two mocha-drenched dark ales, one sour-fruited saison and one amber lager. The latter brew, sessionable Neshaminy Creek Churchville Lager, brought pale-malted grassy hops to lemon-rotted raw honey and went well with our appetizers. Then, Sixpoint Seison brought orange-soured lemon-grapefruit rot to Belgian saison yeast and bold American hop pining.

As for the after-dinner elixirs, busy He’brew Death Of A Contract Brewer Black Ale contrasted stylish dark chocolate-coffee bluster with piney hop-charred grapefruit and pineapple tartness. Better still, exquisite River Horse Coffee Oatmeal Stout flawlessly loaded roasted coffee bean goodness all over sugary chocolate malts and clean-watered freshness. (Full reviews at Beer Index).

A relaxing upscale venue perfect for business meetings, local family functions and craft beer enthusiasts, The Dog & Cask sticks out like a sore thumb amongst its corporate-industrial suburban setting.

www.thedogandcask.com

BLUE RIBBON TAVERN

BEER PUB

CHESTNUT RIDGE, NEW YORK

Just a few minutes away from my Jersey home (across the border in Rockland County) lies friendly neighborhood joint, BLUE RIBBON TAVERN. An unfancy barn-like beer pub with good food that’s proud home to one-ounce bourbon flights, this casual wood-furnished dive with a quaint sportsbar atmosphere is located at an unassuming mini-mall in Chestnut Ridge (five miles north of Pearl River’s Defiant Brewing). Dispersing craft brews since July ’13, its ever-changing dozen-plus taps are spread across the long bar top.

Since it’s the Friday before St. Patty’s Day, tonight’s dinner special is Swiss-cheesed rye-toasted cornbeef with mustard, a good choice to pair with probably the nuttiest Black IPA I ever quaffed.

My wife, daughter and I sit at one of the five tables along the blue-marbled white-based wall across from the 12-stooled wooden bar (with four TV’s, busy liquor shelves and dozen-plus tap handles serving craft beer). A chalkboard lists today’s featured taps and a few dartboards fill the right wall along with shelved tap handles and other ephemera.

John Lennon’s plaintive “Imagine” and Creedence’s rampaging “Travelin’ Band” blare in the background as I consume cornbeef and drift into a bite or two of my wife’s juicy Steak Sandwich and daughter’s crisp Santa Fe Chicken.

After downing Defiant Polar Vortex Black IPA, a richly black chocolate-malted, hop-charred, walnut-roasted bitter with distant grapefruit-dried pineapple fondue undertones, ice water gets consumed to soften my palate for a winningly peculiar witbier.

Bringing an unexpected plastique grouting and floral dusting to the typical Belgian-styled lemony orange spicing, Empire White Aphro elegantly works advertised lavender-perfumed ginger and white-peppered coriander adjuncts into its fruitful vanilla-daubed honeyed wheat base (picking up peachy banana-clove-bubblegum wisps).

For dessert, I thoroughly enjoyed enduringly mellifluous Cricket Hill Brewmasters Reserve #2 Bourbon Barrel Aged Porter, a richly textured mocha-sugared oats-charred full body seeped in Four Roses bourbon oak and graced by mocha latte, caramel latte, vanilla and toffee tones.

A few weeks later, my wife and I share cheddar-cheesed bacon-crisped ABC Grilled Cheese and Swiss-cheesed onion-sauteed Peppercorn Bison Burger. These hearty items went well with superb Ellicottville Chocolate Cherry Bomb, a richly creamed Imperial Stout with black cherry-pureed blackberry and blueberry tartness enhanced by ascending vanilla sweetness and contrasted against embittered hop-charred nuttiness.

Phone: 845 356 4477

www.brtavern.com

1249 WINEBAR

BEER PUB

WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT

Established as a master wine sommelier, cultured Portuguese entrepreneur, Nelson Veiga, opened upscale bistro 1249 Winebar and its neighboring The Good Life Wine & Spirit shop in Waterbury during January 2012. Beguiled by the onslaught of craft beverages and authentic foods inducing health-conscious post-millenial savants, Veiga totally embraced the bourgeoning spirits and culinary revolution.  Besides 1249 Winebar’s exquisite wine menu and locally sourced cuisine, the heavenly hotspot also serves many of Connecticut’s best microbrews on tap or in bottle.

Residing at the fifth largest industrial city in the Constitution State, this fabulous earth-toned gastropub (southwest of Hartford) features a tucked-in 8-seat main bar, elegant dining room (with slate-walled panel, leather-backed booths and wine racks), quaint second-floor Sky Bar martini lounge and black-trellised front patio.

On my initial post-noon February ’14 visit, my wife and I grab a booth near the pristine maroon-hued left wall to try a few previously untried ales alongside wonderful hand-prepared food. Cicerone-certified beer manager, Liz Pliska, comes by to offer her services while lounge Jazz plays in the background. Six upstairs taps and three downstairs taps provide fresh local suds to the growing crowd of families, friends and aged hipsters. Homemade pasta and burgers, bakery-fresh bread, a raw bar, Echo Farms veggies and artisanal desserts satiate a wide variety of good tastes.

We share the 1249 Frittata (eggs with mushrooms, peppers, onions and bacon) and Bita A Portuguesa (steak with poached egg, potatoes, prosciutto ham and wine-sauced burgundy reduction) while getting acquainted with a few hungry destination-bound out-of-towners.

On tap, Greenwich-based 1757 GW Beer (based on George Washington’s original pale ale recipe) brought light caramel toasting to honey-spiced grassy hops for a light-bodied opener. Afterwards, I settle into Narragansett Autocrat Coffee Milk Stout (which combines Natty’s bittersweet stout with Autocrat coffee). Its  brusque barley-roasted hop char embitters lactose-sugared black chocolate and cappuccino coffee tones quite efficiently.

Before leaving, I stop next store at The Good Life to pick up more local brews for home consumption.

www.1249winebar.com

BALLOU’S RESTAURANT & WINE BAR

BEER PUB

 

BRANFORD, CONNECTICUT

In the rustic shoreline village of Branford just down the road from the Long Island Sound, BALLOU’S RESTAURANT & WINE BAR opened May ’12. Set inside a tan colonial edifice with white trim, white columns and roomy front deck, this homey establishment is owned by married couple, Steve Kaye and Debbie Ballou, whose humble beginnings include being a busboy and waitress at IHOP. Across the street from boutique-styled Indian Neck Liquor Store, Ballou’s Branford location competes favorably with their initial award-winning Guilford establishment.

Upon entering, the cozy two-room brown-walled space features a 10-seat bar (with 16 tap handles and small TV), 15-table dining room, pristine walnut furnishings and several wine racks. Though specializing in desserts, coffee, cheeses, fondues, panninis and flatbread pizza, its assorted comfort foods go well with the fine hand-picked wine selection that serve as Ballou’s calling card.

Nevertheless, seasoned beer geeks will find ‘beer guy’ Jeremy Antunes’ craft draft offerings extremely appealing as well.

Visited January ’14 just hours after a heavy blizzard, Antunes tends bar and chats up a storm this snowy afternoon while introducing two new brews. The first, Thimble Island India Pale Ale, crafted a few streets away from this humble pub, brought lively stone-fruited spicing to sharp grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering and finished with a juniper-hopped wood parch.

Another local offering from southbound Stratford, Two Roads Route Of All Evil Black Ale allowed wood-smoked chocolate seeding and charcoal-burnt hop bittering to anchor plastique apple-skinned grapefruit-mango-papaya tropicalia. (Full reviews in Beer Index)

Happily, the food was just as worthy as the beer and wine choices. Creamy lobster bisque, chipotle chicken pannini and Turkish goat-cheesed flatbread pizza (with dried fig, prosciutto and field greens) were wholly enjoyed.

Anyone with champagne taste on a beer budget or large expense account will appreciate Ballou’s spirited menu and close attention to detail.

www.ballouswinebar.com

PIES & PINTS PIZZERIA AND PUB

BEER PUB

MIDDLEBURY, CONNECTICUT

In the northernmost New Haven small town of Middlebury, PIES & PINTS rule the roost. Boasting the happy slogan “Something For Everyone,” this glorified pizza joint offers take-out food, gourmet pizzas, homemade flatbreads, seperate ice cream parlor, three distinct dining areas and great draft beer selections from near and wide.

Open 2011, Pies & Pints’ gold-hued white-trimmed exterior features a small canopied patio space while the interior gets broken into a tan-walled open-kitchen dine-in pizza station, rustic left side barroom and hearth-warmed back lounge. Leather and wood furnishings fill out its entirety while antique fans, copper-pressed ceiling tile and an olden piano provide elegant antiquity to the saloon (with three serving stations containing 20-plus beers).

Stain-glass windows, five private booths, four TV’s and nifty collectibles crowd the space as well.

On our initial perusal, my wife and I get situated at the long rectangular 12-stool mahogany bar for lunch on this brisk Saturday at noon in early February ’14. We share a delicious eggplant parmegan pizza while the couple down a few seats enjoy calzone, pasta and salad.

I quaff three hoppy delights and one local winter ale before heading north to four previously unexplored brewpubs that just opened for business within the past two years (Manchester’s Top Shelf; Bloomfield’s Back East; Bristol’s Firefly Hollow; East Windsor’s Broad Brook).

Dry-hopped Belgian pale ale, Ommegang Hop House, placed grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering above candi-sugared sweetness and floral white peppering. New England Supernaut IPA brought woody dryness to sharply perfumed floral hop resin and tangy grapefruit-orange juicing.

Better still, Evil Twin Molotov Cocktail provided barleywine warmth to orange-bruised cognac sweetness and exotic tropicalia for a devilishly complex Imperial IPA.

Locally brewed Back East Winterfest Ale added raw-honeyed herbal spicing to wintry fig-dried pine nut, fern and spruce notions. (Full reviews at Beer Index.)

By St. Patrick’s Day ’14, Pies & Pints will open a brewpub in nearby Waterbury. It’ll serve six proprietary beers alongside thirty well-chosen outside tapped selections. So the future’s so bright…

www.piesandpints.biz

BRONX ALEHOUSE

BEER PUB

    

BRONX, NEW YORK

Inconspicuously perched a half-block down from Jerome Avenue’s elevated train tracks in the Kingsbridge section (bordering Riverdale), BRONX ALEHOUSE became a respected roadhouse-styled craft beer landmark upon opening, 2009. Owned by a few disenfranchised Manhattanites not willing to pay high midtown rents, they quickly went north to the upper Bronx to build their humble saloon. And now, Bronx Alehouse boasts possibly the fastest rotating drafts in the city.

A black-windowed frontage with weathered signpost welcomes neighborhood families, local businessmen, young hipsters and out-of-town beer freaks as I journey inside this cozy wood furnished joint during late January ’14 for Sunday brunch. Its red-bricked wood-paneled interior features rustic slotted wood floors, private left dining, 14-stool center bar, antique gas fireplace and several squeezed-in right side tables.

The Rangers and Devils square off for a historic hockey game at nearby Yankee Stadium on one of the four centralized TV’s at the bar as Weezer’s novel pop charmer, “Sweater,” emulates from the jukebox. I quaff a German Wheat Ale, hybridized Vermont brown ale and local IPA on this initial afternoon trip. For brunch, the massive Fried Chicken & Waffles (with honey-buttered Virginia ham and fried eggs) truly sufficed. Bronx Bomber sliders are also a local fave and complementary popcorn gets served to all the happy diners.

During my 2-hour stay, several of the 17 drafts ran dry and got replaced by similarly styled offerings. A long promenade of one-offs, seasonals, specialties, hybrids and oak-aged elixirs crowd the pro-active tap menu (which give interested customers an actual measure of kegged tap beer remaining). 30 bottles and 10 canned beers were also available, including Cigar City Florida Cracker Belgian White Ale.

Ettaler Benediktiner Weizen’s soft doughy buttering draped spritzy lemon zest and orange-dried banana-clove-bubblegum illusions. Long Trail Belgian Brunette brought dark-spiced dried fruiting to the fore but lacked expectant nuttiness. Bettering both, Singlecut Billy Half Stack IPA loaded bitter juniper hop pining atop grapefruit-peeled peach, pineapple, quince and orange briskness. (Full reviews in Beer Index)

Looking for a cool, unassuming vibe at a local metropolitan watering hole, then this here’s your answer.

www.bronxalehouse.com