Spuyten Duyvil

goochpunch

Texas

3.8/5  rDev -13.8%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | $$$$

I walked in with a buddy of mine to a cramped little shotgun house of a bar that smelled like mushrooms and yeast. Place was full of middle-aged money. A little gripe with the service: while the bartender was pouring me and my friend a couple glasses from the De Proef Flemish Primitive, I turned to my buddy to figure out the cost+tip. When I turned around, I noticed the son of a bitch had poured all the yeast in. Not cool. Great selection of stuff I've only heard of before. Way too expensive. Bar mark-ups are to be expected, but this was over the line. I can't see myself ever going back.

01-13-2007 05:34:27 | More by goochpunch

socon67

New York

4.16/5  rDev -5.7%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.25 | food: 3.75 | $$$

Went here yesterday as part of a Brooklyn pub crawl with some friends.

A - Has the typical hipster vibe of Brooklyn. There is certainly an appreciation of craft beer among the patrons. The small size of the place makes it tough to be comfortable; we ended up grabbing a table outside.

Q - Taps all appeared maintained. Glassware was appropriate for the beer styles.

Ser - Service was prompt and the bartenders know their stuff. Was kinda busy, so no conversation which was understandable.

Sel - The day we went they had selections from Franconia Germany. Mahrs Bock, Weissenohe, and others on cask. Certianly unique!

F - Meats and cheeses are avilable to have with the beer.

V - Pours were pricey, but not too outrageous.

I liked the place, but I don't think this was much better than a few of the other places we visited.

03-10-2013 17:34:13 | More by socon67

DoubleSimcoe

New York

3.93/5  rDev -10.9%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | $$$$

I dragged the wife to an area of Williamsburg we had never explored, all because I had read about the "City Reliquary" museum. Well, right across from it is Spuyten Duyvil, and even though we had a bit of a hard time figuring out the exact location, we ended up having a great time there.

Beautiful storefront and cozy inside, feels like stepping into a private home. Quirky and funky, it does look like an old general store in, say, Baltimore circa 1957. Relaxed ambience on a Saturday at 3pm, but fairly busy already. Can't imagine how it would be later on! The place is SMALL.

Six taps only, but quality and rare: Mikkeller Black Hole White Wine, Dieu du Ciel Aphrodite, Kuhnehnn Prometheus, Mikkeller Koppi Coffee IPA, plus two locals: Sixpoint Ich Bin and Brooklyn Pils.

Tons of bottles in a ton of chalkboards, divided by countries (Flemish and Belgium are particularly well represented.) But also a Spanish craft like Cervsa del Montseny, plus Le Cocq Imperial Stout and a $65 Hitachino Celebration 09 1.5 l.

Service was standoffish and disinterested. Beers are super expensive ($9 for 12 ounces of Aphrodite and Koppi Coffee, $6 for 6 ounces of Black Hole).

Food is a limited menu of meat and cheese, which I didn't try. Great music too, bizarre and unique in a very Williamsburg way.

All in all, I like it here but wouldn't go out of my way to revisit. Mug's and dba are closer to me and way cheaper and nicer.

02-28-2012 04:54:21 | More by DoubleSimcoe

lehows

New York

4.66/5  rDev +5.7%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | $$$

This place is very easy to miss as I did not notice any sign out front. Just look for the place with the red metal bars covering the facade. Inside is quite narrow with a Belgian farmhouse meets pub look. Think Le Pain Quotidien if it were a small boutique beer bar. The place was packed on a Saturday afternoon, mostly with young people typical of the Williamsburg scene. Spuyten Duyvil has hands down the most obscure beer list of any bar I have been to in the United States. I'm pretty sure the owner imports a lot of stuff in himself. That said, most of the beers are super expensive and it would make sense if he is getting certain beers without the help of a distributor. Many of the 22's and 750s were in the $30 and up range. There is also an outdoor garden/seating area in the back. Definitely a must stop if you are anywhere nearby.

02-19-2012 22:02:08 | More by lehows

brystmar

Texas

4.6/5  rDev +4.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | $$$$

If you like sours, you surely already know about Spuyten Duyvil. There's simply nowhere else like it in NYC.

The bar is very unimposing from the street and quite easy to walk past. During peak social hours, its front door is often blocked by the hoards of people waiting in line at popular Knitting Factory club next door. Make your way past them and into sour beer heaven!

Interior is rustic and hipster-rific. Bar is long with more seats than you'd expect. Food options are charcuterie and cheese platters.

Bar has 5 or 6 taps which rotate frequently, plus a cask. Extensive bottle list with many rare sours. Overall tap & bottle selection is incredible, but you'll pay for the privilege of being able to order an '06 Lou Pepe.

Bottles of Cantillon, Hanssens, and similar are regularly $40-$60 for 750mL, $20-30 for 375mL. Draft pours are ~12oz and typically run $7-$9. BGBrunch on tap at the Mikkeller event earlier this year was either $10 or $12. As stated, this bar's selection is unequaled in the city, but you do pay for this luxury.

That said, I really like Spuyten Duyvil and try to stop by every month or so.

12-30-2011 18:09:25 | More by brystmar

IronCitySteve

Pennsylvania

4.09/5  rDev -7.3%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | $$$

Back home, hit places I have not been in some time.

A: Still the same old place. I really enjoy always sitting in the back garden. Not on this night though. Still a pretty laid back place. The fact this is not the easiest place to spot makes the chill factor even better.

Q: Nice fresh brews, nothing awkward about the flavors. The place always did well keeping taps clean.

Ser: While the atmosphere is quite laid back, the service can be as well. Not that they are rude or anything, just not speedy and pretty well caught up in there own thing (checking cell phones constantly). It was not crowded but still, no need to wait for more brews.

Sel: I really nice selection of brews. They are pretty well diverse.Brews from all over the country and all over the world. If you are in search of a style of brew, they probably have it! Lambics are some of the brews they have a plethora of! Also a nice selection of Belgians!

O: This is a pretty nice and relaxing place. It was not overly crowded and thus it was not very noisy. The diverse selection of brews will satisfied most beer guru's and non-craft people. If you can find it, stop in. It can be quite pricey though, even for NY standards...bring lots of cash!

12-15-2011 00:09:13 | More by IronCitySteve

starrdogg

District of Columbia

4.06/5  rDev -7.9%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$$$

I stopped into Spuyten Duyvil this past weekend on my latest trip to NYC. While this is a nice bar, I had high hopes for the place based on its reputation and I'm not sure it quite lived up to my expectations. On the plus side, the bar itself was full of friendly people and good service. The inside area is a bit small, but there is a fantastic, huge outdoor area with plenty of tables. It was a bit chilly when I was there, but this seems like an awesome place to hang out on a summer evening.

Now for the negatives. They only had 6 beers on tap, and nothing that particularly caught my attention. They were featuring fall beers this weekend, and had a number of German Oktoberfest beers. I had an Aecht Schlenkerla Krausen, which seemed like the most interesting of the selections - $5 for an 8 oz pour. While the draft beer prices were reasonable ($4 or $5 for everything), the bottle prices were a bit on the steep side. They do have a great selection of bottles, but most of them run $9 and up. I had a De Dolle Oerbier for $12! They didn't have anything crazy rare on the bottle list, but they did have 750s of Cantillon Classic Gueuze, Iris and Rose de Gambrinus for $40 a piece.

I guess my complaint with this place is that it was just a tough place to find something good to drink for a reasonable price. The draft list was somewhat unimpressive and I just couldn't bring myself to spend $12 a beer on multiple bottles. A lot of the more interesting stuff came only in 750s and ran in the $25-$40 range. If you're looking for an interesting bottle list and have some money to spend, this is your place. If you're looking to have a beer or two on the cheap, find somewhere else to drink.

10-24-2011 17:21:22 | More by starrdogg

SpeedwayJim

New York

4.06/5  rDev -7.9%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 5 | $$$

Here for Zwanze Day 2011. Got here about 2 hours before the tapping... AKA before it got crazy.

The atmosphere here is really nice. Almost like a speakeasy. There's no sign in the front and the door doesn't open unless you press and turn the knob. Going in, there's a very rustic and vintage feel to the whole place. Really goes with the beers. There's also a nice outside garden seating area in the back. Great design overall.

The beers were served a touch too cold but otherwise nothing to really complain about. Seemed to be a bit of "fend for yourself" attitude going on here which I'm ok with.

The bar was completely understaffed for the event but the bartenders themselves worked incredibly fast. Not much else to say. Food seemed to come out at a reasonable pace also, given how busy it got throughout the day.

The selection, at least in terms of vintage lambic and other Belgian style beers can't be beat. If you're not a fan, there's also a pretty comprehensive tap list with representative beers for a variety of styles. Very impressive overall.

Although its a bit pricey, Spuyten Duyvil is definitely worth a visit. It strikes me as a beer haven for the hardcore beer geek focused on lambic and other Belgian style beers. Really one-of-a-kind in the city.

09-18-2011 01:36:29 | More by SpeedwayJim

infi

New York

4.64/5  rDev +5.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Looking like a thrift shop from the exterior, but withholds quality and great times in the interior. Spuyten Duyvil's got a really nice and simple, old-fashioned look inside with a nice garden area with patio furniture towards the back. Quality of the beers up on tap were all fresh and incredibly tasting. Only 6 taps available, but their bottle list is really extensive. Probably the best in the area, especially for sours.

The bartenders there are absolutely amazing. Unpretentious, extremely down to earth and friendly. I asked one of the guys there what the style of JP Luciernaga was and he told me it was a soured BPA. He gave my friend and I some samples (we actually got the rest of the keg for free). Those dudes are really attentive to their beers and patrons. Everything on tap is reasonably priced, but their lambic/gueuze bottles– not so much. Definitely due to the high demand and low supply.

I wish this was my local watering hole. This place is amazing and full of different types of people. Definitely worth stopping in for a few drinks if you're in the Brooklyn area.

07-28-2011 19:27:14 | More by infi

yulmno

Illinois

4.04/5  rDev -8.4%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 2 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Coolest bar ever on account of having a contraband keg. Was a first for me and much appreciated. They only keep about 6 taps, but it's all stellar stuff. Very cool crowd. Some lady who barely spoke English (seemed Eastern European) was carding kids at the door even though she didn't work there and they were closed to new customers and just letting us all finish our drinks after closing time. Mead too! The bartender was getting chatted up by some blond girl, which made the service quite inattentive. No sign and lots of hipsters but that's okay.

04-16-2011 00:41:41 | More by yulmno