First Look at The Growler Station

The second beer shop to open in New York this year is different, glossier, and backed by a celebrity. But that flash hasn’t taken away from the focus on the beer. In fact, The Growler Station (26 W. 8th St., at MacDougal St., Greenwich Village) empowers beer drinkers with all the information they’d need to choose the beer that’s perfect for them - with an iPad app.

The app, which is still being perfected, will display all the beers they have in stock and allow you to sort by style, ABV, bitterness, color, and even food pairing. This is something that, in a perfect world, every beer store would have. Of course, other beer stores have well-trained staff who know their beer. The Growler Station is no different there… but for the antisocial among us, there’s always technology to answer all our questions.

The store stocks a couple hundred different kinds of beer - from the American standard craft brews to the Belgian, Danish, and British. Many of the beers are chilled, and your typical American microbrew runs about $2.50-$3 a bottle. Yeah, that’s a bit pricier than many other spots, but this is Greenwich Village. Rent doesn’t come cheap. And you could always go for a growler instead.

There’s 24 beers on tap for growler fills here, and even on Day One, the draft list was impressive. Sixpoint Signal IPA in a growler? Sure! How about selections from Greenport Harbor, Nebraska Brewing Co., Hopfenstark, and even good ol’ Narragansett Lager in a growler for $7.

The growlers come in three sizes, and you can bring your own. Options are 32-ounce, 64-ounce, and “The Beast,” which is available for 12 of the 24 brews. Growlers are pretty reasonably-priced, and there are always options hovering around $10.

What is “The Beast?” Well, let’s just say that it’s not for folks who are cynics of the entire growler concept to begin with (paging Garrett Oliver). “The Beast” is a two-liter plastic bottle filled with beer through specially-designed taps with regulators - a first-of-its-kind thing in the United States.

We get it, you’re skeptical. Beer in a plastic bottle?! What the hell is going on here? Well, we gave it a whirl and took home a Beast of Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye IPA ($12.99). Two days later, we opened the bottle, and it tasted as fresh as it did from a bar tap earlier that day. If you’re a purist, we know this isn’t for you.

But who is it for? Well, for one thing, how about the forgetful? You were telling yourself all morning to grab your growler so you could get it filled tonight. But halfway to work on the subway, you realize you forgot it. With The Beast, there’s no need to bring a growler - there’s no deposit, and it’s recyclable.

One big caveat about The Growler Station: unlike a lot of the other recent openings, you can’t drink beer at this spot… unless a brewery rep is present pouring samples. So, expect a lot of brewery visits! Their system isn’t even equipped to pour pints, so don’t expect to stick around for some brews, even though the atmosphere and employees might make you want to stay.

There are plans to expand this concept across the country already, but we’re lucky enough to get the flagship location here in New York.

And the celebrity backer? Dan Patrick.

See? We kept you in suspense until the very end.

January 25, 2012

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