The Grown Ups' Table

If the too cool for school crowds at Brooklyn Brewery are a bit much for you after a long week, you should know that the Captain Lawrence Brewery out in Pleasantville, NY is just shy of an hour away on Metro North.  Oh yeah, and it’s free (minus the train ticket, of course).  I went there recently on a little day date adventure and have to say had quite the afternoon.  After the train ride, the brewery is about a 10 minute walk from the station, and while it’s not rolling hills and babbling brooks along the way – you’re not darting cars or crossing highways either – so, no need to rent a Zip Car or anything for this out-of-the city excursion.

After the short walk, you’ll come to the brewery, which is a fairly non-descript building without flash of any kind.  I’m not going to oversell the ambience inside either, which is pretty bare bones, but homey and had an honest vibe.  Four walls, an old rug, and framed newspaper clippings that chronicle the brewery’s impressive start and young founder Scott Vaccaro are the central décor in the front room, which also houses the bar (hello, most important part anyway).  Anywhere from 5-6 of Captain L’s brews are on tap (they can’t serve you more than two of each brew type, but hey 10-12 samples of these puppies goes a long way).  Personally, I very much enjoyed the Nut Brown Ale available last Saturday.  Liquid Gold and Pale Ale was also flowing freely last weekend, and apparently the taps change frequently.  Be prepared: I didn’t happen to see any food on-site, so you might want to stash a snack in your bag to keep you stable.  I think they sell Dipsy Doodles and other chips circa 1993 for a buck a piece (but who knows how long they’ve been there).

You’re free to roam around the back room, which is cavernous and filled with massive, steely equipment, vats, tubes and appliances all used to make the drink in hand.  Looking around, it sort of felt like a boozy museum installation.  A few high top tables and stools are situated back here as well, if you can snag one don’t let it go, since seats are few and far between. 

The guys behind the bar range in age and style (from grizzly to hipster), but not in their knowledge about what they’re serving up.  At any given time you can eavesdrop on conversations about limited edition bottles, what brewery is cooking up something exciting, and little secrets about where to go back in the city for a good drink.  All in all, well worth the trip that included a short train ride, afternoon stroll, a welcoming scene, and new beers to experience or learn about that you can chat over with your date on the train ride back to NYC. 

Consumpt • aholic definition:

Consumpt: Definitely great beer, good variety (and if you can throw any credible knowledge at the bartenders they might let you try some cool, unlisted stuff not on tap)…and it’s free.

aholic: probably won’t visit all that regularly given the time dedication, but could see visits once every so often to shake things up in my downtown/Brooklyn routine rotation.