Wolff's Biergarten

Albany is quickly becoming a great craft beer city. The Capital City has C.H. Evans Ale/Albany Pump Station downtown and Brown's right down the street for breweries. Mahar's is a world class beer bar. Brew Crew is a phenomenal beer store right on Colvin Avenue and their sister store in Westmere is equally impressive. Manager Jeremy Hosier is one of the most knowledgeable beer minds in the area.

You can add one more destination for fans of great beer. Wolff's Biergarten opened on March 19th. Steve Barnes of the Albany Times Union wrote a great preview on his blog.

(Photo by Steve Barnes)

In celebration of Sean Barry coming home from Iraq, a few friends and myself traveled to Wolff's on Tuesday. Patrons walk into the Biergarten through a large garage door and are greeted by a long wooden bar on the left, a ping pong table on the left, several wooden picnic tables, a food station towards the back right and three dart boards towards the back. Their are baskets of peanuts on the table and plenty of empty shells on the floor. The bar has several televisions and I noticed plenty of signs advertising Champions League games to be advertised (Champions League Soccer and a Ayinger Celebrator? Sign me up!). The bar serves all 14 draft beers in three sizes, .3 liters, .5 liters, and 1 liters.

All in all, Wolff's is a gem. A great idea by the men behind this bar/restaurant. The location is far enough away from most of the crowded college bars, the bartenders were excellent and the people seemed to be enjoying themselves. Look out NYC, Albany is coming for your crown of best beer city in New York State.