Burp Castle

KBrennan1000

Massachusetts

3.51/5  rDev -11.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 2 | selection: 4 | $$$

I loved the theme/atmosphere of this place. My girlfriend hated it. We spent the better part of our time here debating the appropriateness of shushing. I think in this setting it's totally warranted and I got a kick out of it. Where my argument fell apart was with the bartender (I would have scored the service even lower but I'm giving the other bartenders the benefit of the doubt). She spent the whole time talking to one patron and largely ignoring everyone else. When she poured me the Saison Dupont instead of the Dupont Monk's Stout, I heard her say to her friend that it was my fault for not enunciating properly. My feeling is that if you listen to more than one word of someone's order you'll have more success. So in her case, I agree with my girlfriend: being shushed by this particular bartender was very annoying. But with a different bartender I bet I would really really like this place. I generally prefer quieter bars. Lots of hipster college kids here though. The selection was small but high in quality. A bit pricey, too. Side note, this place had some of the best/nerdiest bathroom graffiti ever. Doctor Who references, Harry Potter references, math nerd humor. Great stuff.

02-05-2012 16:11:20 | More by KBrennan1000

jjboesen

Maryland

4.43/5  rDev +11.6%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | $$$

During a recent (January 2012) East Village Pub Crawl, I sought refuge from the frigid night in here; though called Burp Castle, this unique little venue seems more like a monastery. Beer and monks!

You enter a hushed and dimly lit room adorned with murals and a well worn Persian rug. In the background is the melodious hum of a Gregorian chant. The weathered wooden bar is small, yet intimate. Garbed in the trappings of a monk, the alert bartender solemnly inquires as to which one of the twelve taps of Belgian elixir you will have. I whisper, “Maredosus tripel, please.” This procedure is to be done sotto voce as Burp Castle is a place that mandates a quiet contemplation. “Sssssh,” admonishes the bartender-monk to any patron daring to interrupt the solace of the Castle with loud conversation. This will not be allowed. Sssssh!

It may be considered over the top by some; however, if you consider drinking excellent beer to be a religious experience, then this is your venue. Is Burp Castle a unique place to quaff great beer in a truly unusual atmosphere? Yes! Ssssh.

01-24-2012 17:17:00 | More by jjboesen

tobelerone

New Jersey

4.16/5  rDev +4.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

Very cool, very unique beer bar. Very small and quiet. Always interesting selection of maybe a dozen taps from the US and all over the world (this week they have Hitachino Nest, Mikkeller, Delerium, Allagash and bunch of other stuff I forget). Bartender dressed in Monk's robes. Fair prices. If you're a craft beer fan you definitely need to stop by here at least once. More likely often if you can because the tap list changes frequently and you never know what's gonna pop up.

First time I was here (last year) I came with a fairly big group (about 10) and there was another big group here of really touristy/fratty disposition. My group was pretty mellow but the bartender had to repeatedly tell the others to quiet down, not something you see very often in a bar in NYC. Needless to say they started getting louder and flat out bullied the bartender, a slight/hipster sort of fellow. These brawny frat boys intimidated this guy into the ground. Also not something you see in a bar anywhere really. My friend who tends bar downtown had a similar situation, and though his large size didn't hurt, the baseball bat he pulled rapidly and menacingly from under the bar did the trick with alacrity.

10-05-2011 04:14:36 | More by tobelerone

Rifugium

Pennsylvania

3.41/5  rDev -14.1%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 3.75 | service: 2.75 | selection: 3.5 | $$

Not quite the most clever name ever, but this is a clever, quaint little place. And I mean little. In the Lower East Side, NYC, adjacent to two other beer bars (Standings and Jimmy's No. 43), this place is almost unnoticeable from the streets, but serves exclusively good craft/micro beer, though not too many selections. I didn't see a menu when I was in there, so I don't think they serve food at all. Nice atmosphere, but the bartender was pretty inattentive...I was one of about 4 people in there, but the others were regulars and got all the attention while I was left in the desert. I'd like to pop back in here at some point, but if the quality of the service hasn't changed, I'll have no problem passing it over.

04-29-2011 13:23:15 | More by Rifugium

TheBrewo

Michigan

4.4/5  rDev +10.8%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

We visited the Burp Castle after seeing a Saturday night show. We got there around ten, and came into a busy environment. The front door opens to the florally carpeted bar area, which is enclosed in but a single room (excluding a small, gated outdoor patio). The bar itself is on a corner, and creeps around the room at a ninety-degree angle. Seating between twelve and fifteen, the bar is wooden, with ornately carved structural elements of support, and accents of patterned metal shapes. The rest of the room is taken up by roughly fifteen two-person wooden tables, which each have a thick lip, so as to, presumably, curb any spillage. The walls are decorated in sweeping frescos of various scenes, including a Belgian beer cellar with monks and patrons, and a shipwreck scene. The wall behind the front door is painted in castle stones, with a small stone gargoyle sitting in the only window. Decoration is otherwise sparse, with a placard behind the bar reading, "No loud talking allowed. -Whispering Only- By Order of the Brewist Monks." The lighting is moderate, with low hanging lanterns, lamps on the bar, and candles on the bar and tables, bringing light to the space.

There is really no food to speak of, but they do have free Belgian style French fries on Sundays, Mondays, and Wednesdays from a local eatery, for an hour and a half.

The beer menu is quite respectable, with twelve taps and about three times that in bottles. The taps are predominantly Belgian, in going with the style of the place, with a good variety stretching across the spectrum of Belgian beers. We each started with a glass of Gouden Carolus Tripel. We must have kicked that keg, because they wiped it off the board and immediately replaced it with something different. In the time we sat there they replaced three different beers that had been finished, and each was replaced with something entirely new (and Belgian!), which is super cool. For the second round we got the St. Bernardus Christmas Ale (me), and a Young's Double Chocolate Stout (the fair lady), respectively. They also serve some wines, but that selection looked rightfully meager. The bartender was quite knowledgeable, and was dressed in a traditional monk's garb. Thinking back, he actually seemed to be the only one working there.

Overall, we had a great time at the Burp Castle. The selection was great, if you are a fan of Belgian beers. Although there was no food, it seemed appropriate. The environment and atmosphere is quite unique for a first timer. There is no music, so the sounds are composed of conversation. If the volume of the crowd, or of a particular individual, gets above a reasonable volume (as is warned by the plaque), the bartender immediately, and loudly, shushes the patron/s. He is quickly joined by the rest of the crowd, which makes for a fun, and strangely awesome, ambiance.

11-28-2010 21:26:22 | More by TheBrewo

david18

New York

3.9/5  rDev -1.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3 | $

I can't believe this is the place that my homebrew club meets and i've never reviewed this place.

Very interesting place and on probably the best beer block in new york, which also inlcudes McSorely's, Jimmy's 43 and Standings. Burp Castle is the simplest of the bunch in terms of decor. One very dark, relatively small room. Very interesting but not too big tap list. Not even sure they have bottles.

The place is very belgian, serving a majority of belgian beers and keeping the place monk-quite, actually shushing patrons every few minutes.

A definite must on anyone's manhattan short list.

01-15-2010 22:23:58 | More by david18

Jesstyr

Virginia

3.59/5  rDev -9.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 2.5 | selection: 4 | $$$

I ventured to Burp Castle on the Friday after New Years, following the great reviews of so many.

What I found was a great spot, with a really calm and cool atmosphere, a nice place to hang out and enjoy beer. I loved the sign to halt loud conversation. This place carries some really unique beers, stuff I'd never heard of, to create a very diverse selection.

What it had in diversity, it lacked in top quality beers. Clearly I had time things incorrectly, because a couple of the top beers were out of stock (Nocturnum, St Bernardus Christmas Ale), and the tap list lacked the top tier beers I've come to love. I settled on a Marsedsous, but reluctantly.

What was most disappointing was the service, which was disinterested and, if knowledgeable, not interested in sharing that knowledge. Obviously I rate this place on the scale of a normal bar, hence the decent score, but I was truly disappointed. I'd go back after checking the tap list and ensuring a better selection (and with an appetite for pommes frites).

01-04-2010 20:35:49 | More by Jesstyr

Cadyfatcat

New York

4.2/5  rDev +5.8%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

A great place with a good selection on tap, a plethora of bottles, and a very laid back warm atmosphere - doesn't seem to have any air conditioning but that doesn't matter. Interesting attentive staff, good people - a good time altogether.

This place is not like most bars in manhattan that feel they have to blast your ears off with music and make it so your voice is always hoarse at the end of the night from shouting at the person six inches away from you. The music is kept in the background for mood, and the regulars will all concurrently let go a loud shhh! if the bar gets too loud and they can't hear the conversation.

Now for the beer: small bar, yet they have 12 respectable taps, last time I was there they had a framboise on tap, some wittekerke white, which I had never had before and is interesting to say the least. They had a fair amount of german pilsener's and true german oktoberfest styles, some belgians from chimay and delirium. Some micro american ales and a couple of stouts. The list of bottles is very diverse and they might have a selection of about 40-50. So not too shabby. But I stick to the taplist usually, which has always been a nice eclectic mix.

Prices are a little better than average for this quality of beer in NYC. Highly recommended...stop by for a drink.

10-31-2009 21:06:26 | More by Cadyfatcat

mltobin

Connecticut

3.84/5  rDev -3.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3.5 | $$$

Located in the east village is Burp Castle.
The bar is not an incredibly large one, but an interestingly decorated one with murals of monks on the walls.
They have 10-12 taps I recall, they had Samichlaus, Tripel Karmeliet, Youngs Double Chocolate Stout, Corsendonk Brown, and Allagash White, among others when I was there. Bottles from Belgium, the U.K. and Germany are also available, Sam Smith, Kwak & Rodenbach are some that they carry. As mentioned by other reviewers, the bar promotes a theme of not raising your voice or yelling, so it is nice for a mellow conversation with a chum. I did enjoy my brief stop here, in which I enjoyed a Delierium Tremens, which was pleasant as always. If you find yourself in the East Village, this is a good spot to check out.

09-06-2009 12:58:20 | More by mltobin

Nickls

District of Columbia

4.13/5  rDev +4%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$$

(From notes)

Like some other reviews I've done lately, this one has been a long time coming. This is one of my favorite places in Manhattan. Quirky, unique, and terribly shitty bathrooms. Love the murals of monks in funny situations, along with the somewhat interesting 'hushing' of the crowd.

The selection on tap is quite nice, and while it certainly can skew to Belgian and Belgian-style brews, there are several lines devoted to quality US micros. Bottled selection is nice enough, but won't find anything really rare.

Brews are kept well, but tend to be a bit pricey relative to other beers bars in the city. But what the hell, I'm not really concerned because the pull of the place is in the personality.

Quality place in more ways that one, and do yourself a favor and keep walking on past McSorley's and enjoy that portion of your evening at Burp Castle.

05-12-2009 02:12:39 | More by Nickls