If this doesn’t please the beer snobs, nothing will.
The Brooklyn Tap House is opening at Myrtle Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant before the new year, and it’s promising an eye-popping selection of 140 mouth-watering brews.
If you can’t find it here, chances are, it doesn’t exist.
“It’s all about beer,” said co-owner Steve Escobar. “There will be liquor also, but the whole thing is about just the beer; enjoying beer food and a beer environment.”
The range of draft beers is so broad that it requires an eight-tier system — based on region — to simplify the ordering process; for instance, the first tier features five all-Brooklyn brews, while the fifth tier comprises five imports. There’s an eighth tier that’s a wild card — take your chances with a rotating group of unnamed brews.
“Sometimes you go into the bar, there are so many beers the customer has a hard time deciding what he wants,” said co-owner Hugo Salazar. “We want people to enjoy selecting the beer.”
Salazar and his partners’ commitment to beer doesn’t end at the selection — the tap house keeps its kegs directly behind the taps so that the beer is always cold.
“Most places have their kegs in the basement and their lines draw them up from there,” boasts Salazar. “With our system, the space between the keg and where you get the beer is no more than a foot or two.”
The best news? No matter how many drafts are offered, the menu will never swell to include the likes of generic brews such as watery gruel from Anheuser-Busch or that once-trendy Holland lager in the green bottle.
“ ‘No crap on tap,’ that’s our motto,” said Salazar. “We’ll have it bottled, don’t get me wrong, but it will be not on tap.”
It may be all about the beer, but that doesn’t mean the Brooklyn Tap House’s menu is nothing but stripped-down bar-fare. Chef Vince Visceglia is working hard to make the bar the go-to spot for classy tapas plates, as well as drinks.
“Everything here is done by hand,” said Visceglia. “It’s all organic and it’s made with a lot of love. We have wings with three different hot sauces, which are made with chipotle peppers from scratch. I’m making ketchup and mayonnaise from scratch. Our goal is to be a destination for dinner, drinks and a great night.”
Beyond great beer (and food), Brooklyn Tap House will include many standards of the modern tavern, including big-screen TVs, a jukebox and a backyard fire pit.
Brooklyn Tap House [590 Myrtle Ave. between Taaffe Place and Classon Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant, (917) 202-1801]. Opening in early January. For info, visit www.brooklyntaphouse.com.
Reach reporter Colin MIxson at [email protected] or by calling (718) 260-4514.
