Brooklyn Ale House

This is the only historical bar around there I surviving today.
It is not a fancy bar, there are folks coming here usually loud and busy at night, if you liked underground rock music you will enjoy.

Authentic bar, nothing to do with the artificial Williamsburg.
Good drinks at very decent prices.
Friendly staff and customers.
Great music.

Decent, divey bar. Not sure it entirely digs the notion of Williamsburg gentrification.
Apparently dog-​friendly (though didn’t see any on my brief interlude here), which is cool.
Blue Point (pre-​ABI purchase) available on draft.
Wooden seats were a mite uncomfortable, if that sort of thing matters.

Well, kind of a dive. They have $ 4 beers for happy hour till 8. Nothing special about the place. Female hipster bartender yelled at my girl and me for sitting down in someone’s seat. Thought she was kidding being so rude, but once we realized she wasn’t, left our beers on the table and walked out. Will never go back.

The legend continues. One of Williamsburg’s longest running spots, the Ale house was here long before your parents bought you a waterfront condo and will (hopefully) be there long after you’ve moved back to Ohio because your art career didn’t take off the way your Oberlin professor promised it would.
What more can you ask for. Seats at the bar, booths with no padding, pool and darts in the back, peanuts on the floor and awesome bartenders. They have a better selection of beer than most places, due in part to it’s proximity to the Brooklyn Brewery, so whatever you’re looking for. They’ve also got the standard selection of liquors and take credit cards for when your family forgets to replenish your bank account after those improv class fees.

Cozy bar with amazing spiked hot apple cider during the winter. Good beer on tap and a warm, friendly environment. A dog friendly bar so don’t be surprised if you see a few hanging about. There was even one sweetheart dachshund who curled up on my lap for a bit. Solid bar, solid service, thumbs up.

Shane’s a super awesome bartender. This place has good drinks and cheap prices. Nice atmosphere and music. Definitely will come here again.

This is directed more at the management than anyone else, but I guess I might as well let anyone who has a weird experience there have a chance to chime in.
Management, if you have cameras, you can watch all of this go down at 1:51AM, July 24, 2013…
I just left Brooklyn Ale House after having money thrown at me by their drunk and possibly drugged-​out bartender. She misheard me every single time I ordered something, and was obnoxious each time but no so much that I thought that it was some combination of loud music, my ear infection, and her slight buzz conflicting… until she over-​rang me and refused to void the transaction when I turned down the shots she offered. She then got verbally abusive and manic.
Each interaction:
First, I asked her what the card minimum was and she said $ 6.
I said I could manage that and gave her my card.
She said the darts were over by the wall and I would need to spend $ 20 to put my drinks on my tab.
I said that was what I was asking about, and she said that’s why she was telling me… and then she appologized and said she misunderstood.
Okay.
Next round, I told her I wanted the pilsner, she said «Raderburger?»
I said that I wanted the one next to it that was labeled «pilsner,» and she said that’s not what I ordered the time before.
I said I had ordered the pilsner.
She said «Oh, well that’s not what I gave you.»
And she asked me what my name was again.
Fine.
I sent my friend over to get two beers on my card so I could make the minimum, and she repeatedly asked me if I knew him from across the bar.
I had to come over and repeatedly answer the same question to stop her from yelling my name.
At some point she went to the bathroom, making googly eyes at me on her way there.
When we were ready to go, my friend tried to pay his tab and his card didn’t work despite his having plenty of money in his account.
He took the cash out at the ATM and paid, coming back talking about how that was a lot weirder than it should have been.
He thought she was fucked up on something, and I told him about the previous transactions.
Soonafter, I went to pay and she asked me my name.
I told her and she brought me my tab.
$ 36.
I asked her if four beers were $ 36.
She said something about how my boy came over and put two beers on my tab.
I said I told him to put the beers on my tab so I could make the minimum. Two for me, then two that he ordered… four beers, $ 24.
She said something about shots and walked away.
She came back with shot glasses and said she would give me some shots.
I said I didn’t want shots, I had to work the next morning… I just wanted to pay $ 24 and go.
She said… a lot of things that didn’t make any sense – about owing my friend $ 18 and how she charged him too much and I was causing trouble, and how I was being an asshole and threatening to call the police, and about how there was no way she was fucking up her register to pay me $ 12 – and at some point she turned down the stereo and started yelling at me in front of the whole bar, while some clearly underage kids started yelling at me to get the fuck out of there and leave her alone – before finally taking $ 12 out of the register and throwing it at me and telling me that if I was that kind of common motherfucker I could get the fuck out of her bar, welcome to Brooklyn, etc. I said that I was a bartender, and she was obviously drunk and out of control and walked out with her yelling at me and all of the customers besides the two teenagers pretending nothing was happening.
She was clearly way too drunk to be bartending, handling money, making sure people weren’t underage… and probably on something. She couldn’t make eye contact and was unable to do math or form coherent sentences.
I have been coming here since 1999 and had her as a bartender before. I don’t have too high of standards for most places, but I feel like management should know how their bar is being run tonight.

The typical schema of an «ale house» in NYC refers to a place with a mixture of unique and commercial beers and a décor that looks like it’s seen it fair share of patrons and hooligans. With its worn out tables (ample space though) and local band stickers plastered throughout the bathroom and recreational area, this isn’t a place to take someone on a first date (unless they’re mellow and prefer grungier decors). Instead, come here with some close buddies and have a drink or three without the large crowds, music, or «hipster-​vibes» that devour most of Williamsburg.

I absolutely LOVE this place. The vibe, the people, the prices, the bartenders, everything. If I need a place to just relax with friends and get a few drinks, this is where I go.

Really lax and fun dive…
Cheap drinks, awesome bartenders, good music, and diverse crowd. Everything I look for in a bar with no pretension.
The best part?
On a Sunday afternoon, when every other local bar was packed beyond comprehension, there was just enough room in here for me.

Great spot for some unique NYC time for a well known increasingly popular brew. Can be very busy, though, on a Saturday in the afternoon so maybe avoid… the lines go very fast, though.
Grab a brew and walk around, meet loads of 20 – 30 somethings.
The bathrooms are pretty disgusting. Its a brewery where things we drink are made, so I’d expect a bit more cleanliness… would’ve been a 5.

Going to have to go ahead and say avoid this joint. I enjoyed my dose of Brooklyn Ale House in the past. This would be a nice place to head over to if you want some quality brews and a laid back evening, assuming it’s not one of those ultra-​packed nights. Either way, it served as a great place to end the evening. Great vibe and whatnot. I had pride in taking folks, both from NYC and from the outside, to hang here. That’s probably over. No, no. Definitely over. Allow me to tell you about this experience.
We came in there, 5 people to hang out at about 2am as an afterparty. No one was really that overtly hammered, and I was driving that night, so no boozing on my part. The bartender right from the start was abysmally disrespectful to one of my friends who was certainly not deserving of that treatment. Fine, guy is having a bad day. We sit down at a table within view from the bar go about our conversation. Bartender was just looking at us off at certain times and then made some snide comment I missed to the same friend, calling him senseless and dumb for picking up one of the candles with his hand to take a closer look at it. THEN he says ‘Your problem is, you don’t take care of your bartender’. I remind the silly half-​man half-​ape that the person he is speaking to actually didnt have a chance to tip and the tab is still open, so he’s not a real wise one. Bartender responds ‘I don’t give a shit, man’ and goes about yapping. I thought, how would he know that this guy isnt a good tipper. (He is a good tipper and even gave this zilchoid a $ 15 tip for no apparent reason, thats how nice this dude is). Well… he must have seen the guy’s name on the credit card. And it’s Jewish. My friend’s not Jewish, but his last name is. So not only is this guy an awful and hostile bartender, who has severe menopause symptoms, but he’s got some latent anti-​semitism to him. This is the kind of person who is allowed to work here. And I wanted to call management and let them know until I found reviews about how awful certain bartenders are. Management probably doesnt care.
Guys this is Williamsburg. There are tons of bars with great service nearby, and the same of what you’ll find here. Spare yourself the nonsense. Granted this happened one out of the ten times I’ve been here, but that’s unacceptable.
Should you go there anyway for one reason or another, look out for this guy. White guy, black hair, narrow snake slit eyes and he was wearing a fitted hat.
Its the service industry, Brooklyn Ale House… and that’s a major foul’ letting this fool represent you. Fix your service. For now, its Teddys all the way.

Great small place to stop in for a few drinks.
We headed here with our bachelor party after a stop at the Brooklyn Brewery.
We were all looking for a few drinks and hungry so it was awesome that they had free bagels. The places wasn’t packed for a Saturday afternoon and the drinks were reasonably priced.
We stayed longer than we thought we would.
Apparently it’s really dog friendly, so if you’re walking your dog and have a need for some booze this is the place to check out.

The coziest bar on Berry.
Brooklyn Ale House reminds me a lot of McSorley’s with the wood accents and old school atmosphere. They offer Old Speckled Hen on tap and the bartenders are incredibly laid back and friendly.
It’s not overtly sporty or hipster, just the perfect mix of warm and cuddly that I like in a bar. Definitely worth a stop through if you’re looking to hang with friends over a cold one.

If you ask me to get a drink, I’ll almost surely request that we meet here.
That’s cuz I love it that I can grab a casual pint without feeling guilty about leaving my little guy at home.
A very sincere and big THANK YOU to the way-​too-​cool barkeeps and proprietors of Brooklyn Ale House for conceptualizing a dog-​centric (as opposed to dog-​friendly) pub. In spite of its dive-​bar prices ($ 5 gets you access to a serving of just about anything behind the bar) and a generally comfy ambiance (junior pool table, darts, wood booths and benches), BAH’s real draw is the four-​pawed pet parade playing or pawing around.
More like this, please!

My go to place to enjoy a few beers in a mellow spot, shoot a game of pool, and pet other people’s dogs!!!
Brooklyn Ale house is definitely the place to go if your a dog lover. Seriously, between the wall of dog pictures and paintings, and the bar and patron dogs milling about… it’s truly a pooch paradise. Dim lighting, well crafted wooden tables and benches, a decent beer selection and good grunge/​punk/​sometimes reggae make up the rest of the setting. Affordable enough to enjoy yourself on a twenty spot or so, but the true gem to this bar is the extremely lax attitude of the staff and patrons. Not the place to go if you plan on being obnoxious…
Definitely the relax local I like to frequent for some good chillage with a small group. So if you’re in the Burg and want some relaxing non-​hyped mellowness, Brooklyn Ale House is the way to go… Make sure to bring your dog if you have one so everyone can pet it!

It’s not a good winter without a visit to the Ale House. This was truly my old stomping grounds, especially on Sunday nights from October through April, but I’d stop by regularly in the summer, too. There’s just something really cozy about holing yourself up in this place on a freezing cold night. It’s probably the only neighborhood bar where I’ve spent any time. In fact, at times I ache for it.
So, I’ve done all of the following here:
–drank enough Pinot Noir to speak French fluently
–considered investing a name plate to screw into the two corner spots at the front end of the bar (for years, this was «my spot.» I’ve never had a «spot» before at a bar, so, you get what I mean).
–met several «soul mates» whose names I cannot recall
–had to leave by the side door because the sun was already coming up
–became inspired to go hiking down by the Williamsburg Riviera, past the rocks, to the water’s edge, in 5 inch t-straps…twice
–decided that I would quit all my jobs, pack up and move to Kansas City to be with the guy I loved
Clearly this place is chock full of magic. The bartenders are the best in the city. By this, I don’t mean fancy mixologists, though they can pour a good pint, and mix a decent drink. I mean, they are something else. I’ve never felt an emotional attachment to a bartender before, but every single one of the bartenders I’ve met here has inspired me to stay all night until closing. And return. And keep returning until I moved. And now I’m getting weepy just thinking about them.

Laid back place to grab a quality beer and shout-​talk to your friends.
I was unable to find the history of this little locals bar. «Established 1997» according to their website but I wonder what the space used to be? It’s full of fun old stuff, standing along the well worn floorboards and schoolhouse furnishings I imagined 100 years ago someone standing on the same spot, having a beer, and shout-​talking to friends. Few things change with time.
Couple great Oktoberfest brews on tap this night along with (surprise!) Brooklyn Brewery seasonal offerings. Might as well just run a line directly from the brewery up the street. Crowded and loud during our visit, we still easily found places to lean until a bench was available.
Service was friendly and welcoming, looking forward to another visit! Maybe I should get a dog.. .

They
Have darts
Free peanuts
And a strong chance
Of having a fun or very strange night.