Green Diamonds in the Rough: The Other Half Tap Room

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The half-a-block long stretch of Centre Street that sits under the BQE between Red Hook and Carroll Gardens seems like a weird setting for a craft brewery, least of all a full-fledged tasting room with a giant stuffed kudu head mounted on the wall (a type of antelope, in case you’re wondering). Nevertheless, that’s exactly where you’ll find South Brooklyn’s latest addition to the exploding small-batch beer production scene, The Other Half, smack between a scrap metal yard and a tired-looking McDonald’s drive-thru. Despite the decidedly unglamorous digs, this place puts out really good beer– you might have come across it at Double Windsor, Tørst, or Greenwood Park– and the tiny, bustling tap room, which opened this spring but recently expanded its hours, is a fun place to drop by when your jog or bike ride or trip to Lowe’s brings you to the area on a weekend afternoon.

Open Thursday through Sunday, the tasting room offers growlers, twelve and sixteen ounce pours, and a $5 flight of four brews. On a recent visit, my group crowned the Green Diamonds Imperial IPA as the easiest to drink of the bunch, but the Motueka Pale Ale and the Superfun! session pale got lots of love too. Despite the crowded quarters, you might stick around and have a bit more beer than you initially bargained for, in which case you should walk a couple blocks and sober up with a pupusa from the Red Hook Ballfields vendors or an expertly-made sandwich from Court Street Grocers.

The Other Half, 195 Centre St., Brooklyn, 347-987-3527, open Thursdays and Fridays 5-10pm, Saturdays noon-10pm, and Sundays noon-6pm.

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