Sure, it's tempting to roll your eyes at the new Breukelen Bier Merchants on Grand Street in Williamsburg because, well, it's yet another place in Hipstertown spelling Brooklyn the atavistic affected way. But the debut of this new beer cafe is worth welcoming to the neighborhood if only because it offers a place to refill your growler without crawling to Duane Reade. There's an extensive rotating list of 16 craft beers on tap, and special hand-crafted growlers for sale if you want to get fancy. Most beers cost about $12 per growler, and there are also several well-stocked refrigerators with exotic bottled beer to go. You can also order a pint and pull up a chair by the front window, or gather at one of the tables in the back with some food.
Right now they're serving a variety of pressed sandwiches, smothered pretzels, a cheese plate with black chocolate stout bread and hickory-smoked almonds, and beer-infused cupcakes from Cupcakeland on Metropolitan. Of course, in keeping with contemporary social mores, all the food is locally sourced (pickles from Sour Puss Pickles in Brooklyn, bread from Tomcat Bakery in Long Island City, Smoked Ricotta from Salvatore in Boerum Hill). There are flat-screens for watching things, and free wi-fi, and craft beer... somehow we don't think they're going to have a hard time finding customers.
182 Grand Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn; open weekdays 1 p.m. to 10 p.m., weekends 12 p.m. to 10 p.m.
