Carroll Gardens

New Carroll Gardens taproom serves New York-brewed beer

March 7, 2019 By Raanan Geberer
The interior of the new Svendale Brewing Company Tasting Room at 486 Court St. in Carroll Gardens. Eagle photo by Raanan Geberer
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A new tasting room and taproom is bringing its love for local brewing to Carroll Gardens.

Svendale Tasting Room has a cozy, friendly atmosphere and a drinks list full of local beers. Customers should not expect mainstream ales on tap, nor wine, whiskey or cocktails. Instead, they can peruse a menu of brews that are made exclusively in New York state.

Andy Striph, manager of the Tasting Room, explains that the establishment has a different type of license than most bars: a “farm brewery license,” which stipulates that 60 percent of the grain and hops in the brews served here must come from New York state.

“There is definitely trend toward craft beer, both locally and in New York state, instead of commercial macro-lagers like Coors and Bud Light,” Striph said.

He added that he does not see Svendale as competing with existing craft beers, but rather as filling a complementary niche. One of the reasons the Tasting Room landed in Carroll Gardens is that “a lot of companies around us are locally owned,” Striph said.

The bar, which does not accept cash, opened about two weeks ago at 486 Court St. and features brews from Svendale Brewing Company of Millerton, N.Y., near the Connecticut border in Dutchess County.

“Svend Lindbaek, the head of the company, lives about two blocks from [the Carroll Gardens location],” Striph said. According to Brew York, Lindbaek, whom the website describes as a photographer and homebrewer, “rented a barn and converted it into a brewery.”

Svendale makes a wide variety of beers, all of which are available at the Tasting Room. Among them are the Café Mocha Milk Stout; several saisons (carbonated, fruity ales), such as White Strawberry and White Plum; Born Too Loose Lager; Fistful of Fury NEIPA (New England India pale ale); Imperial Blueberry Stout and others. The strawberries and plums, says Striph, come from farms near the brewery.

Only two brews that aren’t made by Svendale are served at the Tasting Room — a pair of ciders made by Kings Highway Fine Ciders, which takes its name from the historic Brooklyn roadway once comprised of cowpaths and trails.

Svendale began brewing in 2017, Striph told the Brooklyn Eagle, and started distributing in bars in Brooklyn and Manhattan last summer. “We’ll start in Queens in a few weeks,” he added.

The brew is not yet in grocery stores, although special cans are available in the Tasting Room for those who want to take some for the road.

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