Already home to marquee drinking spots like Brooklyn Brewery, The Counting Room, Brooklyn Bowl and the new Ides bar in the Wythe Hotel, N. 11th Street has quickly become one of the borough’s best blocks for boozehounds. Adding one more option to the list is The Kent Ale House, a serious craft beer bar that hosts its grand opening today (July 13).
Set on the corner of N. 11th and Kent, the bar’s main selling points are the oversize windows that make for prime, light-filled happy hour drinking, plus the sidewalk patio with views across to the Manhattan skyline. Inside you’ll find the typical handcrafted-in-Brooklyn design aesthetic, with exposed brick, subway tile, hanging light bulbs and a pre-Prohibition era mahogany bar.
Drinks-wise, it’s all about the beer here: 24 taps pouring the requisite local brews (Six Point Sweet Action, Blue Point Toasted Lager, Coney Island Albino Python), plus some creative finds from further afield, like Belhaven Twisted Thistle IPA, a smoky, orange-accented beer from Scotland. The bar plans to add a cocktail list soon and early tastes were promising—my drinking companion asked for a gin-based drink and the bartender whipped up a refreshing, citrus-y pimm’s cup, then a strawberry-gin drink topped off with wheat beer. Both were perfect summer afternoon drinks.
The small bar menu features slightly fancified pub food: spicy popcorn, truffled potato shoestrings, bison burgers topped with applewood bacon and chipotle ketchup, and grilled cheese options like “the grownup”–light on the Gruyere cheese, heavy on the caramelized onions and arugula.
The Kent is probably not a destination drinking spot, but another solid option for a N. 11th bar crawl, and a particularly nice spot for happy hour beers in front of the airy windows, or perhaps a few brunch beers following Smorgasbord.
