This brewery has an open-pour policy!
Brooklyn’s newest brewpub will open its doors in Dumbo tomorrow night. Randolph Beer on Prospect Street brews its own ale on-site, and will allow patrons to pour their own pints from a wall stocked with 24 different brews, said one of the pub’s co-founders.
“We go by the ‘Beer ATM,’ it’s sort of what it’s been labeled, as we have 24 beers on draft. It’s pretty self-explanatory and visually stimulating,” said Dave Plate, who lives in Williamsburg and runs the brewery with Hari Kalyan.
From beneath a sign labeled “Beer Yourself,” customers can use a Randolph debit card to unlock one of the two dozen taps, and the card will keep track of their purchase by the ounce. A handful of Randolph Beer’s own in-house brews will stay on the wall full-time, while the rest will change more quickly than the seasons, said Plate.
“We’re always looking for the most appealing, coolest, freshest stuff,” he said. “The only beers always on the wall are our in-house brewed staples, the rest of the 18 lines always change, they are hyper-seasonal.”
Randolph Beer Dumbo is the third Randolph taproom the owners have opened — the first welcomed beer lovers in Manhattan in 2012 and the second opened in Williamsburg in 2014, but this is the first spot to brew beer. The 5,500 square-foot industrial space, just five blocks from the Dumbo waterfront, features a seven-barrel brewhouse, an observation deck where visitors can look over the tanks, plenty of seating, and classic bar games including pinball and shuffleboard.
Another highlight of the brewery is its focus on pairing food with beer. The menu suggests the best brew to go with your pretzel, burger, or hummus plate — and if the right beer does not exist, then the brewers will make it, said Plate.
“We’re going the extra mile to make sure we put food and beer pairings front and center,” he said. “We’re going as far as when we sit down to brew a beer for our in-house recipes, we just don’t look at the market and say ‘IPAs are hot, let’s make an IPA,’ — we come from the starting point and say, ‘Is this a beer that will pair with something on our menu?’ Beer pairs well with food, and we want to make sure that we create that match and have that concept front and center. The brewing process for us starts in the kitchen.”
Randolph Beer Dumbo [82 Prospect St. between Pearl and Jay streets in Dumbo, (646) 383–3623, www.rando
