Brew

Your friendly neighborhood beer and specialty coffee shop. August, the owner, runs a great business and is one of the friendliest people you’ll ever meet. He keeps a a delicious and balanced selection of beers on tap for growler fills and usually has something super fresh and local. The bottle selection clearly has thought put into it and I can always find something to try. Usually, I ask for a recommendation from August and he always has a good suggestion.
In particular I enjoy that they carry a lot of Chatham and Paradox beers and that they are often in the growler lineup.

I really like this place. The staff are always super helpful and allow a few tastings of the drafts if you aren’t sure of what you want. The one guy is always patient and treats customers like they are valued and important. I like porters and stouts, and tried their Brew Brew #1 Coffee Maple Amber Ale — it is pretty good. It is a little sweet, but has a really good flavor. It’s not as heavy or dark as coffee porters, of course, but it is a good lighter alternative for in the spring/​summer. :)

A quick update to say that, after two years (give or take), Brew is still at the top of their game — and getting better all the time. Their growler selection is consistently top-​notch, and the prices are fantastic. They’ve had so many amazing events and tastings with different breweries over the past year, and it’s a great mix between familiar regional breweries (like Chatham), places like Stone, and lesser-​known, but equally great, offerings. Their selection will encourage even the most serious beer drinker to widen their range (sour beers!), and the addition of a second cooler is perfectly timed for summer.

So, don’t tell my boss but I keep a half growler in my file cabinet at work just so I can walk over to Brew and get it filled on an occasional Friday afternoon to bring home (not for drinking at work!) They’ve got a pretty good selection of craft beers on tap and now that you can taste them I can step out of my comfort zone and try something new.
This past Friday I stopped in hoping that they had Ommegang Glimmerglass on tap but it was not to be. Instead, August let me try a couple of different drafts and helped me make up my mind. I settled on a fill of Paradox Beaver Bite IPA. For $ 6 it was a pretty good deal since it didn’t require me to get in my car and deal with the craziness of a Friday afternoon. They’ve got loyalty cards — 10 growler fills gets you one free!

One of these days I’ll learn to always keep a small growler in my shoulder bag.
I’ve been in this shop before just to come and look around at the beer selection. Actually, that’s not true. I also came in once looking for an esoteric form of coffee filter for my Filtron cold brewing bucket. My thought was that if any place would have it, this small specialty store that focusses on beer and coffee would be my best bet.
Unfortunately, they didn’t have the filter pad. No big deal.
In some ways Brew feels a bit like a beer gallery. One of the things I love about the new modern age of craft beers is packaging design. So many of them are just so freaking beautiful. And the selection at Brew is carefully curated. This isn’t a place to come to find anything you might want, this is a place to explore what the owner thinks is special.
On my most recent trip, I was there for one thing. The release of Founder’s KBS. It’s a special beer, released only once per year in limited quantities. Once it’s gone, it’s gone for good. And thanks to the Brew Instagram page I knew they were going to start selling it a noon with a four-​bottle maximum.
Some times these kinds of things have lines of people who show up in advance to guarantee their purchase. I’m not sure if that happened at Brew because I was there around 12:30 or so. But there was only one other person in the store at the time, and he was just there for singles of interesting beers.
In addition to my four bottles of KBS, I would have loved to take advantage of some of the beers available in draft. But I left my growler in the car, and I wasn’t about to buy another bottle in which to store beer. I’ve already got too many.
Surely, if I lived in the neighborhood, this store would be an indispensable part of my life and a five star local business. I really enjoy it, and I love what they do. We’re quite lucky to have so many super high quality places to get excellent beer. It may not always be worth a special trip just to come here, but it’s definitely worth checking out once in a while. And certainly, if you find yourself near Washington Park on a beautiful sunny day, a stop in here is a must.

Best beer store in Albany. Great selection and the customer service is tops!

I was expecting this place to have an amazing, out of the ordinary beer selection. When I walked in it seemed like someone cleaned out their living room and put up a bunch of shelves with beer. Prices seemed a bit high. Bottles of beer ranged $ 2-​$ 5. Expensive if you are putting together your own 6 pack. Most beers could be found at your local grocery store. Didn’t check out the coffee selection but they did have an interesting selection of mixers. Oh well. Had high hopes for this place but was sadly disappointed.

Love brew. Friendly, helpful, and a great selection of beers you definitely can’t find in your average grocery store. Excellent coffee as well. Cold brew in the warm weather, hot coffee in the cold. Growler fills, free tastings, and pizza night.

Nice enough dudes but aggressively average beer selection. 90% of their stock is available in any regular grocery store and a lot of corner stores. Must play well to the college set but don’t waste your time if thinking of making a special trip.

Great beer, great employees, and great atmosphere. Rotating stock always something new to try. a beer drinkers paradise!

Although Brew is on Lark Street in Albany, it is pretty accessible via car. There’s typically parking available on State Street, which is the street adjacent to Brew’s store front.
Despite being in a smaller space, Brew has a large enough variety of above average ales and lagers. They have cans, bottles and draught options that will guarantee to please any beer drinker’s palette.
Beyond beer, Brew also has a good coffee bean selection. This puts Brew over most of their competition and makes them a must visit for anyone getting ready for the weekend in Albany.
Need help finding the right beer or coffee? Worry not, there’s always someone behind the counter that can talk to what’s good with either of those two items.

Finally a walkable spot for great craft beers and quality coffee beans in downtown Albany. The always changing growler taps are great and the assortment does well for people of different taste preferences. Lots of sours if you like them, I like IPA’s and never run out of options. I’m always stopping in for presents for my family too, nice amount of accessories and other stuffs. And can’t go wrong with the two cool dudes that work here. I’m always asking them for recommendations and general life advice. Small businesses rule

Very aptly and cleverly named, Brew is a specialty beer and coffee shop on Lark Street. They offer craft beers that may not be readily accessible at most places that sell beer as well as coffee from various purveyors.
My husband has been regularly buying coffee beans here to make at home. Some of the brands they sell include Stumptown roasters based out of Brooklyn and Barkeater coffee based out of East Greenbush. He’s bought some of each but I think one our favorite has been the Barkeater porcupine blend. My husband made a cold brew with the porcupine blend and it’s delicious! It’s been a great morning treat for one of my many early mornings! He’s also used the coffee for French press and pour over and it never disappoints.
It’s also so nice to see business like this one popping up on Lark st. The area definitely needs small specialty shops like this that will hopefully help lark st to spring back to life. Along with Stacks Espresso and Wine bar I hope shops like these help launch a much needed Rennaissance for Lark St. It would be nice to see something like the revival of downtown Troy in downtown Albany.

This place is awesome, it is right down the street. I love the opportunity it gives to try new beers every time you go. They will wash our your growler for you and are very helpful and knowledgeable on all their products.

Let’s be real. This place IS HEAVEN. Can’t write too much more than that. Service? Excellent ! Knowledge base? Exceptional. Prices? Reasonable for the unique brands and hard to come by beers. Small business greatness is this spot. Go here for beer !!! Think global, shop local! Get Cisco brewery beer! It’s the best ! Go ack!

Wait BEER and COFFEE? those are my favorite things!
This place is great, and if I lived in Albany or anywhere near Lark St I would probably be a regular. The iced coffee is incredibly delicious. I drink it black, but if you don’t your only other option is ½ and ½. Even black it’s incredible.
The beer selection looks pretty awesome, there aren’t prices on anything and I was only there for iced coffee so I can’t figure out how crazy the pricing is. I do like that there is a lot of beers that you can just by individually. Had I been able to buy beer there were a few I would have picked out. It’s got a pretty stellar variety. My only concern would probably be that EVERY SINGLE BEER is in bright lighting… which is not good for the beer in the long run.

Good beer selection and nice bearded men, what more could you ask for? Expensive, but you can definitely find some deals and I’ve been lucky enough to have a gift card for anytime I’ve purchased more than just a beer or two. Also, they open during street festivals (larkfest, pride fest, etc.) and sell cans of beer that they pour into cups you can walk around with for only $ 2 – 4. Love this place!

I came in one day on impulse and was impressed by the selection of beer they had on the wall. They have anything you could brew, not just beer! There were teas and coffees along with their respective brewing equipment. The guy tending the store was helpful when I asked him about the beer brewing kits (the pricing is on par with/​slightly higher than other home brewer stores). He also let me know if there was a beer missing from the wall that I could make a suggestion for the store to stock. I will come back and grab a growler of draft beer on a later date.

Freaking wondrous if you’re a coffee or beer nerd. Stocked up on my super-​ginchy Stumptown coffee. Civilization has arrived!