Brooklyn Beer Bars Part 7 - Draft Barn
As some of you may know I've been doing a series of reviews of Brooklyn beer bars. Call it a labor of alcoholic love. The last one was posted earlier this week and there are links back to previous posts in the series.
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/696672
This time around I visited Draft Barn.
I wanted to like this place. They certainly mean well and I really believe that the owner wants to preside over a first rate beer bar. Some people might like it very much just as it is. I think you’ll have to make up your own mind.
Draft Barn is located on 3rd Ave. between 12th and 13th streets in an area that’s either western Park Slope or eastern Gowanus. Until they clean up the canal I suggest they go with Park Slope.
This is not a neighborhood that generates a lot of foot traffic. The surrounding area is largely industrial but on the other hand that might change as those big apartment buildings continue to go up on 4th Ave. What looks like an oddball location right now might well look like a stroke of genius 5 years from now. In the meantime it’s a place for pioneers.
The owner is from Hungary and his staff is European. The bottled beers skew to European choices.
Ambiance
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Inside it was a bit bright brighter than your average bar but not unpleasantly so. There are a number of small long tables just right for groups engaged in long tasting sessions. Against the wall are cozier booths for more intimate boozing.
The bar itself is decently sized but not overly large. I’m guessing it could seat 30 comfortably but it’s certainly smaller than you’d expect in a room that size. (If you’ve been to Radegast Hall in Williamsburg the room is comparable but the bar at Draft Barn is half the size.
)Staff
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The single bartender was efficient. It probably helped that there were only 3 of us at the bar.
The Crowd
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There were about 20 people there at about 10:00PM on a Friday night. The average age was about 30, equally mixed between male and female and dedicated beer drinkers one and all. They were a well behaved group, always a good thing when alcohol is being served.
Soundtrack
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Heavy metal, lots of heavy metal. Then for a change, more heavy metal. All instrumentals. It’s the type of fast anonymous guitar music that’s used as a soundtrack for TV shows featuring muscle cars racing through the desert. Now for some people this would add energy and excitement to the room but I felt differently.
On the positive side the volume wasn’t overly loud – conversation at normal levels was possible. But you also had a hard time not hearing the music.
I had the strong impression that the well meaning owner/manager (who was in attendance) loves this stuff. Hey, it’s his place, he gets to play what he wants, but he may want to poll his customers from time to time to see if they like it as much as him.
The Beers
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They have over 250 varieties of bottled beers on hand – you can’t help but be impressed. They were listed in a multi page book that I first took to be a food menu. On the downside, I would have liked a short description of the flavor profile of each one (“intensely hoppy with floral overtones, clean finish”) since I was unfamiliar with the vast majority of them.
There were around 12 drafts on tap as well. Unfortunately, there was no printed beer list. In fact, there wasn’t even a chalk board. I asked what they had available and the bartender began to explain them to me. He was nice about it but the process is a bit awkward – it was like going to a restaurant where the waiter recites a list of 15 specials that each require an explanation. Stuff like that ought to be written down. I also wonder how time consuming this system would be if the bar was crowded.
After he got to the 4th option, Dogfish Head 120 IPA, I stopped him and said I’d have that one. I’ve had plenty of beers from this brewery and I love IPAs. What could go wrong? Plenty.
This is what is known as an extreme beer – here’s Dogfish’s description from their website. http://www.dogfish.com/brews-spirits/the-brews/occassional-rarities/120-minute-ipa.htm
What that meant in this case is that I was served an almost pint of black syrupy brew, cloyingly sweet with overtones of caramel and flowers, and highly alcoholic. I say almost pint because the glass was 90% full. (It had virtually no head.) The price was $12.
After I took my first sip I realized that I had made a major mistake but there was no question of trying to send it back. I had ordered it so I drank it. It took awhile since I had to pause 2 minutes between sips. During the pauses I had a chance to savor the heavy metal music coming over the speakers.
In hindsight the bartender probably should have warned me about the unusual flavor profile of the DH 120. Or he could have poured me a small sample to see if I liked it. And it also would have been nice if he had mentioned that it cost twice as much as a standard craft brew. (Remember, there was no price list.
)Oh well. I’ll accept most of the responsibility here but if they had a printed beer list with short descriptions and prices I could have avoided making that mistake.
(I’ll play devil’s advocate and say that only a place that truly cares about beer would stock DH 120. I give them credit for that.)
My second beer was a Brooklyn Black Stout. After the DH 120 it tasted like Aquafina Flavorsplash. I’m not really a stout drinker but I liked this one. It too had a slightly sweet finish (this time around the bartender warned me) but it was very drinkable.
As I said, there were 10 other beers on draft and if I had the patience to walk the bartender through the various descriptions and asked for samples I have no doubt I could have found some really good beers. I like the owner’s dedication and I’m going to come back for a rematch.
Extra Points
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They’ve got an extensive menu of pub food and central European specialties. I’ve got a real soft spot for this type of food and on my next visit I’ll give it a try.
http://www.menupages.com/restaurants/...
Draft Barn
530 3rd Ave (Between 12th & 13th St
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Radegast Hall
113 N 3rd St, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Draft Barn
530 3rd Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11215
By Bob Martinez
on Mar 25, 2010 02:13 PM
View »
This series is a great service to all of us outer borough beerhounds. Thanks, Bob, for taking the time to write up your experiences so meticulously. I'm looking forward to reading through your past reviews.
I'm in complete agreement with you on the Dogfish 120. I struggled through a pint of it once at a bar in Manhattan: never again. I know some people who really enjoy it, though.
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DFH 120 is VERY well known (infamous) beer. Woe is the person who orders this randomly. Actually, I would have like to have seen that....It really should be served in 10oz. snifter and not a pint glass. All things considered, a $12 pint of it is both too cheap and too much of that beer. Maybe they don't know better or maybe they're trying to get rid of it....(or you! It's like 20%ABV!)..
The other one is actually Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout. Another very well known beer. Little late in the season for it, but great brew none the less. Another one better out of a snifter.
Kudos to this place for offering both on draft. Actually, I don't think I've heard of a place in the city that has offered DFH 120 on draft before. That's kind of wacky.
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Yea! DFH 120 on tap? In a pint? I'll have to go check that out.
The staff in all these places are Russian or other former Soviet republics, so they may not know much about IPAs.
Bob, I think the owner also my have a couple other beer bars in Brooklyn. There is a little known place in Sheepshead Bay called Draft. It's on ave U. Interior like the Draft Barn, same music situation, too. Draft has a great menu. Mostly sausage, which they claim they make there. I think the menu was similar at the Draft Barn.
Kebeer, in Brighton Beach is also really good, more in the food direction with less (but good) selection of beer. I think it may be the same owner, too.
After the first shock and a few days, don't you want another 120?
Keep up the good work.
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Draft Barn
530 3rd Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11215
Kebeer
1003 Brighton Beach Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11235
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I'll tell you what - you can have my DFH 120. I've had enough to last me a lifetime.
I did know about the other Draft Barn and I liked the idea that the owner was trying to expand his empire. I'm assuming he got a really good price on his rent and a long term lease on the place. If that's the case he can use the profits from his other ventures to subsidize the 3rd Ave. location until the neighborhood catches up with him.
I stuck my head briefly into Kebeer after Sietsema reviewed it just to check it out. The atmosphere was a bit unusual; not off putting but not what you'd expect a beer bar to be. I'd try it some time if I can think of a reason to go to that neigborhood. It's colorful enough there but Russian food, unlike Central European food, doesn't appeal to me.
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Draft Barn
530 3rd Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11215
Kebeer
1003 Brighton Beach Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11235
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One tip i think i picked up from another post on this board - they have these delicious (if very salty) pumpernickel croutons things that im not entirely sure are on the menu. We were there enjoying a couple of pints and a saw a basket of them in front of someone else on the bar which triggered a memory of reading about them here.
They were very intense, but really good and an excellent complement to some brews. they sort of reminded me of a fresh, uncrunchy version of the brown pumpernickel chips you get in gardetto's snack mix.
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Another great review and really good reading as well. I agree with jaingmaster's sentiments that your series is a great service for those of us lucky enough to be in your beer universe.
The heavy metal music described above is enough to dissuade me from Draft Barn. I don't get places that play music to the point of intrusion. I stopped in a while back to the Dram Shop on a weekday evening to check the place out, but the music was so loud that I gulped down my beer and left without ordering the hamburger I had been anticipating. I asked the otherwise friendly young lady behind the bar to turn down the music, but she said she coudn't. Ironic, given that there were only two other customers in the place at the time. Oh well...
Thanks again for a terrific series.
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Draft Barn
530 3rd Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11215
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