Bierkraft

BierkraftBierkraft
BierkraftBierkraft
Brewery, Bar, Eatery, Beer-to-go

191 5th Ave
Brooklyn, New York, 11217-4438
United States

// CLOSED //
BEER STATS
Average:
0
Beers:
9
Ratings:
0
PLACE STATS
Average:
4.34
Reviews:
91
Ratings:
122
pDev:
10.37%
View: Beers | Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by GJ40:
Photo of GJ40
Reviewed by GJ40 from North Carolina

4.18/5  rDev -3.7%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4
A great local bottle shop / pub. They have a nice selection of bottles with some rarer though quite pricy beers. They also have a dozen or so on tap sold by the glass or growler. And there's a sandwich / cheese counter in the back. I just stopped in for a quick look while passing by but I'll definitely be back for a longer visit.
Sep 24, 2013
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.98 by Wattie from Virginia

Apr 25, 2015
 
Rated: 4.14 by Jlabs from New York

Mar 24, 2015
 
Rated: 4.39 by REY_CORTEZ from New York

Mar 16, 2015
 
Rated: 4.54 by AL813 from Florida

Jan 15, 2015
 
Rated: 3.98 by almostjay from Virginia

Jan 14, 2015
 
Rated: 5 by travishardy929 from New York

Jan 06, 2015
 
Rated: 4.5 by slasich from Pennsylvania

Oct 16, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by elephanteau from New York

Sep 08, 2014
Photo of MichaelLamb
Reviewed by MichaelLamb from New York

2.98/5  rDev -31.3%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 2.75 | service: 2.5 | selection: 3 | food: 4
Updated: December 2014. Bierkraft was once my favorite bottle shop in NYC. The prices were always a little bit inflated, but I was willing to over pay a bit in order get beer that I couldn't typically find other places. This place has been on a steady decline over the past few years. The selection has gotten worse, the prices have gotten higher, the staff has become more aloof (with the exception of a couple of really nice guys) and the sandwiches just aren't packed the way they used to be. With so many other great options in the area, it has become increasing difficult to justify spending my money there.
Aug 29, 2014
 
Rated: 4.52 by dangelop from New York

Aug 28, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by sunofneurot from New York

Jul 28, 2014
Photo of amano_h
Reviewed by amano_h from Oregon

4.63/5  rDev +6.7%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | food: 4.75
I stumbled upon Bierkraft after consulting BeerAdvocate and per a friend's recommendation, and I definitely was not disappointed.

I usually shop for beer in Philadelphia (a.k.a. the nation's greatest importer of beer) but decided to give it a break for the week and try New York after hearing rumors that there were bottles upon bottles of Bourbon County Brand Stout stinking up liquor store shelves in the Big Apple.

I'm glad that I was able to partially confirm this rumor -- whereas they didn't have any BCBS bottles on stock, they did serve it on draft -- I'm also ecstatic to report that I found my new to-go place for beer. The selection here is well-thought out, the food is incredible (I got the Serrano as a pairing suggestion with my BCBS) plus the guys here are extremely knowledgeable on beer; I was actually on a quest to find some Bell's Hopslam Ale (which Philadelphia purportedly only received two cases of) in NYC and was very disappointed not to find it here. After sharing my disappointment with the two beer geeks working the draft bar, they reluctantly pointed me toward where I could find two and a half six-packs of it. That made my week, no, my MONTH.

Bierkraft also has a corner where they sell "vintage beer" -- usually nothing too exciting on this corner the several times I've been, but if you're looking to complete a vert, I can see how it might excite you; they also have regular BeerAdvocate and non-BeerAdvocare beer shares here as well, for those of you are into that kind of thing :)
Jul 15, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by SimcoeKid from California

Jul 12, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by rozzom from New York

Jul 12, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by Ant4711 from South Carolina

Jul 08, 2014
Photo of DoubleSimcoe
Reviewed by DoubleSimcoe from Pennsylvania

3.58/5  rDev -17.5%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.25 | selection: 4.25
The world-famous Bierkraft! What's wrong with it? Tiny, cramped and crummy. There are two storefronts, one with beer and another one with tables. A narrow railroad holds a bunch of coolers and shelves with good stuff, but so incredibly overpriced it hurts.

Rockmill, barrel-aged Thirsty Ulver, Port City, Penn Brewing, Voodoo, Midnight Sun Moscow... these are beers you can't easily (if at all) find in NYC. But the regular stuff? Forget about it. $14.75 for a six-pack of Union Jack, and $13.75 for Prima Pils.

They have a bunch of taps for pints and growler fills, but none of them were terribly appealing when I visited. I'll pass on this place, at least until they clean up and control the price situation.
Jul 06, 2014
Photo of MisterBisco
Reviewed by MisterBisco from New York

3.98/5  rDev -8.3%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4.75 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4
The biggest question mark here is "Value."

This is a really well-curated (but fairly small) shop with bottle sales on the floor and growler fills as well as on-premises pint pours in the back (with a lovely backyard to boot).

The growlers are meticulously curated and taken care of, with counter-pressure filling on a tremendous range of beers (from local to far-reaching, from inexpensive to very pricey). 5/5 on this part of their service.

For bottles, though, their prices are egregious. They have a remarkably well-curated selection, so if price is no object, this is the place to shop. That said, they easily overprice neighboring bottle shops by 20-30% on nearly all of the shops to which I've compared them.

TL,DR: Go for a pint or to fill up your growlers, but hit up a different shop if you want to stock your cellar.
Jul 03, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by Latarnik from New Jersey

Jun 28, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by Hirshi from New York

Jun 27, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by Jason from Massachusetts

Jun 24, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by dtomes from New York

Jun 23, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by DGSchmitt from New York

May 05, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by nickmantia from Massachusetts

Apr 27, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by Durandal_777 from Pennsylvania

Apr 23, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by offby1 from Washington

Apr 12, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by GRFounder from Michigan

Mar 25, 2014
Photo of KornWallace
Reviewed by KornWallace from New York

4.2/5  rDev -3.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5
This is a renaissance beer store. You enter and on both sides are reasonably priced bottles of some very cool stuff. They have a very nice selection that includes a shelf of hard to find beers or bottles they aged themselves. They have a handful of taps and they have a sandwich shop with some nice cheeses attached to the place. They are also in the process of getting a brewing license to make their own beer. When I went there the staff was not very friendly though. My girlfriend and I were the only two in the store and the two employees there were speaking to each other and didn't even acknowledge us until we started to move a couple bottles we wanted to the counter. At that point they did get some points back when they offered us a couple pulls from the tap even though we hadn't shown any interest previously.

All and all it was a worth while trip and a place I would return to.
Mar 13, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by sirsteve42 from New York

Jan 29, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by stoppertb18 from Massachusetts

Jan 04, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by dbrauneis from North Carolina

Dec 11, 2013
Photo of tabhill
Reviewed by tabhill from New York

4.21/5  rDev -3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.5
After going in tne front door, you walk down a narrow isle lined with bottled beer, much of it specialty beers that weren't too badly priced. The tastings of the dozen and a half beers were free and the guys working the counter were pretty knowledgeable, althogh I couldn't talk them into selling me a growler of either of the Peekskill beers because they were too hard to get (they would sell pints tho). They also wouldn't sell me any growlers unless I replaced my old metal caps with plastic polyseal caps (something I'd been meaning to do anyway).
I really liked the place and will definitely stop in next time I'm in town.
Dec 03, 2013
 
Rated: 4 by WheelsPSU from New Jersey

Nov 24, 2013
 
Rated: 5 by JLapadura from New York

Nov 01, 2013
 
Rated: 4 by acurtis from New Jersey

Oct 22, 2013
 
Rated: 3.5 by Chris_Coughlin from New York

Oct 22, 2013
 
Rated: 4 by djrn2 from New Jersey

Oct 18, 2013
Photo of BKBassist
Reviewed by BKBassist from New York

4.08/5  rDev -6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.75 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 5
First off, there is no better sandwich that can be had at a beer bar in the city. The regular offerings are excellent and the specials are outstanding. Food pricing is NYC reasonable.

Tap selection and pricing is fair. They generally stick to more unique stuff on tap, and almost always have something interesting I've not seen elsewhere. I have had the occasional issue with line maintenance however. The option to do small pours is welcome.

Bottle selection is excellent, but prices are higher than most other bottle shops.

Service is fine, it's mainly cashiering/taking orders as you do your own bussing. I've never really gotten in depth with them on knowledge, so I can't speak to that, but I'll assume since they do some in house brews that are fairly interesting that at least some of the staff is very beer knowledgable.

Atmosphere is fun, if the table layout both inside and out can make for some tight squeezes. Also, the placement of the bathroom door means it swings out into an area where people are standing and my pint glass has been the victim of it's cruel arc. But outside of these things, the patio is great, and it's a great place for day drinking/bigger groups.

Overall, the food and tap selection, plus the patio makes it a must visit. The bottle prices make me tae those purchases elsewhere however.
May 21, 2013
Photo of greenmanwl
Reviewed by greenmanwl from Arizona

3/5  rDev -30.9%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3 | service: 3 | selection: 3
We were very excited to go about ten on a Sunday night visiting (and kid-less!) and we found out as truth what we gathered by checking out reviews; THIS IS NOT A BAR as if it was it would have been open! To have a bar does not mean you are a bar and we'd have made other plans if we knew, certainly to check this place out after reading reviews. Noone mentions this so I figured I would... Take off that they are a bar, they are not no matter how good a selection of beer they might have since I haven't had a chance to check that out due to false labeling... It a appears a store with beer, with a sandwich shop next door that you can get their beer through. Hopefully we'll make time during the day. The bar we did go to was down on 4th; the one we surmised'd be the best of the lot there for our tastes and it was a goodie, from waiter to variation; we stick to Belgian beer pretty much and were not disappointed at the 4th Avenue Pub. Go there if you want a bar, cause Bierkraft isn't one and they shouldn't claim it as such... Will review it later IF we make the time to go...
May 20, 2013
Bierkraft in Brooklyn, NY
Place rating: 0 out of 5 with 122 ratings