Covenhoven

Bar, Eatery, Beer-to-go

730 Classon Ave
Brooklyn, New York, 11238-4223
United States

(917) 449-6793 | map
covenhovennyc.com
PLACE STATS
Average:
4.39
Reviews:
12
Ratings:
39
pDev:
6.15%
View: Place Reviews
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Photo of Billolick
Reviewed by Billolick from New York

4.35/5  rDev -0.9%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.75 | selection: 4.75 | food: 4.25
Not much can be added to the multitude of reviews for this quality place, especially after Slander dissected and described it!

Know that its dimly lit, hip crowd. narrow room and offers seating outside in front and in back in the garden, as well at indoor tables, and at the bar...lots of options.

True boutique options on tap and in a load of cans and bottles, available to stay or to take home. Also make your own cheese plate up if you are hungry for a bite..we had 2 or 3 cheeses n crackers/bread and felt it was a worthy option.

Only negative was the bartender we dealt with was kinda short and not seemingly overly interested in explaining how the whole cheese and bread thing worked. A little more warmth and info would have been appreciated.....
Jan 16, 2024
 
Rated: 4.32 by dbrauneis from North Carolina

Dec 13, 2021
 
Rated: 4.21 by slasich from Pennsylvania

May 16, 2020
Photo of Jacobier10
Reviewed by Jacobier10 from New Jersey

4.3/5  rDev -2.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.25 | food: 4.5
Walked into the dimly lit bar late afternoon. There's seating in the front and the bar is in the back with coolers filled with bottled beer, meats, and cheeses opposite from it. You can grab a baguette and make your own meat and cheese board, which was very enticing, but I got a sandwich instead. More on that later.

16 taps with great, mostly local options. Good mix of hoppy ales, lagers, and sours. I asked the bartender what her favorite of the two lagers on the board was and she gave me the Machine Czech Pilz from Bunker Brewing in Maine. She wasn't wrong, it was a delicious Pils.

I brought it outside and grabbed a seat at one of the small tables set up in the garden out back. What a difference a small outdoor space like that can make for a bar in the middle of a big city. A table of three girls playing Cards Against Humanity next to me. A Hasidic Jew and his friend enjoying a couple of sours at another table. A guy and a girl on a date at another one. A tiny snapshot of Brooklyn.

Now that I had had my lager fix, I went back inside to the bar and ordered a Gruyère & arugula grilled cheese sandwich and a Hill Farmstead Florence (wheat saison). I brought my saison back outside and the bartender brought out the grilled cheese to me a little later. The cheese was sandwiched between two thick, buttery slices of bread with a little fig jam in there for sweetness. Absolutely delicious! The beer paired well with the peppery arugula.

A nice little sanctuary away from the noise and commotion. I'm coming back for that meat and cheese board next time!
Oct 03, 2019
 
Rated: 4.25 by ndrwmngn from New York

Jan 26, 2019
Photo of JamFuel
Reviewed by JamFuel from Sweden

4.48/5  rDev +2.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.25
Brooklyn has almost too many places to visit, but Covenhoven was a treat.

Fairly dark room with seating at the front and bar at the back along with plenty of fridges for take away beer. Vibe is laid back and the music isn't overbearing.

The taplist is really nice, well curated and about 16 strong. Lots of locals, and a couple I had never heard of. Good mix of styles as well. Then there are plenty of bottles and cans to satisfy most beer fans. Service was quick and friendly and the bartender was a deadringer for Stephanie Beatriz from Brooklyn 99.

Foodwise, I only had the pretzel, but it was very good. The other food also looked very nice.

Overall, a great bar with a really nice beer list and great service.
Jan 05, 2019
 
Rated: 3.79 by mltobin from Connecticut

Oct 07, 2018
Photo of hops_for_thought
Reviewed by hops_for_thought from New York

4.5/5  rDev +2.5%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.75
Fantastic tap selection, great local representation and staff. Well curated fridges spanning pretty much every style/geography, either for on-site consumption (small charge) or take-away. Backyard is quiet and relaxing (I've only been during afternoons), haven't tried the food.
Jul 30, 2018
Photo of Brianh427
Reviewed by Brianh427 from New York

4.08/5  rDev -7.1%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5
Cool spot with a cozy back yard. Nice amount of local offerings & a good bottle selection. Definitely don’t miss out on the tasty grub. I loved the grilled cheese. Service was friendly. Reasonably OK with kids, which is nice.
Jan 04, 2018
Photo of Rutter
Reviewed by Rutter from Finland

4.11/5  rDev -6.4%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.25
On a friday night the place was packed full and the air was too hot to comfortably stay inside. The selection was great full of excellent beers though, so no doubt this is a top class place when its less crowded.
Dec 07, 2017
Photo of frozyn
Reviewed by frozyn from New York

4.25/5  rDev -3.2%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5
A great place to have a beer and relax, especially in the backyard during the warmer months. The 16 taps offer something to please everyone and the fridges across from the bar have a great selection of bottles and cans, often both to stay or to go (though that's not always the case, so check first!), but as others have noted the prices can be a bit high for some items. This place gets quite busy during peak hours, so I usually prefer to come in right after work for a beer or two, or come during the early weekend afternoon hours. The bartenders are friendly, if not always overly chatty, but they're always on the spot with recommendations and notes about the beers.
Oct 12, 2017
 
Rated: 4.93 by CreightonSM from New York

Apr 19, 2017
 
Rated: 4.36 by DoubleSimcoe from Pennsylvania

Jan 27, 2017
 
Rated: 4.58 by blisscent from Rhode Island

Jan 16, 2017
 
Rated: 4.4 by BubbleBobble from New York

May 27, 2016
 
Rated: 4.73 by Skellbop from New York

Apr 24, 2016
 
Rated: 3.97 by Urk1127 from New Jersey

Apr 19, 2016
Photo of ONovoMexicano
Reviewed by ONovoMexicano from New Mexico

4.22/5  rDev -3.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.25
Excellent selection of beers on tap and to-go in bottles and cans. They do growler fills but only of glass bottles.

I found some outstanding beers here and spent a lot of money really quickly. It's one of those places where you might as well just hand them your bank account info as it's pricey but worth it.

A bit of a smaller space but going off-hours means you will likely be able to drink in peace. Another NYC gem.
Apr 18, 2016
Photo of neckbeardahab
Rated by neckbeardahab from New York

4.88/5  rDev +11.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5
probably the best bottle shop in New York right now.
Oct 06, 2015
Photo of PlayitAgain
Reviewed by PlayitAgain from New York

4.46/5  rDev +1.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.75 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
Covenhoven is the ideal spot for grabbing a low key beer with a few friends. Selection of bottles and taps is always good, and they occasionally have some real gems. Decor is very no-frills. Good music selection, and the backyard is a plus. They offer bottles to go, but the take away prices can be a little hit or miss.
Aug 26, 2015
Photo of bgold86
Reviewed by bgold86 from New York

4.73/5  rDev +7.7%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 4.75 | service: 4.75 | selection: 4.75 | food: 4.5
Great selections night in and night out, one of my favorites in the area. Staff are super cool and accommodating. They sport a really nice grassy outdoor area in the back, currently my favorite in Brooklyn! You can also pick bottles to go, their selection is really well balanced and there are many bottles you won't find anywhere else!
Aug 01, 2015
 
Rated: 4.08 by DerekE4750 from New York

Jul 29, 2015
 
Rated: 4.33 by Zekenyce from New Jersey

Jul 04, 2015
 
Rated: 4.38 by Canada_Dan from Colorado

Jun 30, 2015
 
Rated: 4.21 by jammery from New York

May 27, 2015
 
Rated: 4.01 by WheelsPSU from New Jersey

May 02, 2015
 
Rated: 4.54 by benzalman from California

Apr 21, 2015
 
Rated: 4.3 by Spreetaper from New York

Feb 16, 2015
Photo of slander
Reviewed by slander from New York

4.28/5  rDev -2.5%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5
Sunday, post an offensive BBQ session in Red Hook, working our way back towards Bed-Stuy, with the suggested stop along the way somewhere south of Atlantic. What? No, we’re good, I know how to to from the from to there, got it. Lord of parking, I, it''ll be front row center ‘cause, well, yeah...

Narrow and deeeeeeepish, the front corridor holding mix & match tables (3 shortys, 1 long one, 3 shortys, 1 long one) to the far side on shared benching and colored leather chairs in orange, green, tan, & brown. The space done with the outer wall in beige & white with retro beer trays mounted (cool Rhinegold Gil Hodges tribute tray), and the inner wall showing a sprawling two-tone green fields mural (although I’m pretty sure it had been done over the last time I was in). Track lighting running the length of the room to both sides of center.

The front wall is a roll up paneled door, open now to take in the Classon. I should caution you not to sit out front on the benches there and rudely chain smoke if there are people seated at that first table inside, lest Ben absolutely not throw your cigarettes into the street, officer (We’re seated more than halfway back tonight and there’s a nice breeze here).

Off to the rear and around the bend, a small wood bar with a plank wood base; seating for 6 on mix & match stools & chairs. A pair of 8 tap towers with non descript handles butting up against each other on the bar, and a small food prep area to the rear where all the kitchenings happen, which is pretty much an array of pretzels & chips; other foodings (sandwiches, meat & cheese, pickled veggies, olives), coming soon. My recent revisit found 3 pretzels & 6 varietals of a bag of chips, I’m wondering when the sandwich and stuff will ever kick in. Barback wall is all blackboard space. Taps are listed in colored chalk at both ends, plus foodings and things (a shark, planets) drawn in.

4 double wide coolers run the wall adjacent to the bar; bottles, bottles, bottles, oh, the goods. Take ‘em to go or drink ‘em in (Bottles have a $2 capping fee to drink in house, reasonable). Empties and some beer books for sale lining the top, and a framed map of Prospect Park over a self serve water cooler forward. And a single table to the rear rear occupied by people playing Uno (Hey! Quiet down back there!) Track spots over the bar and bottle coolers.

16 taps, more than ½ of them from the greater Gotham area (Other Half Citra IPA, Grimm BFF, Brooklyn Weisse, Finback IPA & BQE Imperial Stout, Barrier Saisoff, Defiant Belgian Tripel, Docs Sour Cherry Cider, Carton Boat Beer), and the remainder a mix and match of craft (Evil Twin/Crooked Stave Ryan And The Gosling, Maine Mean Old Tom, Bells Amber, Founders Porter, Two Brothers Domaine DuPage, Bear Republic Red Rocket Ale), and a single import in the mix (Schneider Edel-Weisse). I drank the Other Half Citra IPA (because of awesome) & Evil Twin/Crooked Stave Ryan And The Gosling.

Neat little backyard space and I mean, a little backyard space. A single table for share and a raised area lawned with a trio of baby tables and some chairs surrounding. Went last night for the Ballagash event and drank a whooooooooooole lot of Nancy. Owner Bill out and about, he does a nice job here. I have deemed their pricing to be reasonable, draftwise, and even the bottles were not shock. I dig. Yeah, I could do time here.
Jan 28, 2015
 
Rated: 4.34 by StoutBoi from New York

Jan 04, 2015
 
Rated: 4.25 by 2Xmd from New York

Nov 21, 2014
Photo of JohnG190
Rated by JohnG190 from New York

4.5/5  rDev +2.5%
Small but nice selection of bottles. Outstanding draught selection offered daily.
Nov 18, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by MichaelLamb from New York

Nov 09, 2014
 
Rated: 5 by pamml from New York

Sep 21, 2014
 
Rated: 5 by rojapa from New York

Sep 05, 2014
 
Rated: 4.44 by dangelop from New York

Aug 28, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by Hirshi from New York

Jun 27, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by dtomes from New York

Jun 23, 2014
Photo of MisterBisco
Reviewed by MisterBisco from New York

4.36/5  rDev -0.7%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.25
Terrific new addition to the Prospect Heights/Crown Heights area. Extremely nice and welcoming owners.

The atmosphere is more "coffee shop" than it is "bar" - it's the kind of beer hall to go grab a delicious pint and have a conversation with friends than it is a noisy pub. Right up my alley.

Their selection is really great. They have 16 taps, mostly focused on local and regional beers. Honestly, my biggest frustration in going is not being able to try more things off their menu at one time.

They are also a bottle shop, and while they don't have a massive selection of bottles, their selection is really well curated and their prices are right on par with other bottle shops in the area. You can also pay a $2 capping charge to open any bottle in shop to drink on premises.
Jun 08, 2014
Covenhoven in Brooklyn, NY
Place rating: 4.39 out of 5 with 39 ratings