“We serve an esoteric mix of craft beer,” says 28-year old Ben Wiley, who opened Bar Great Harry with his brother Mike in mid-August. “I didn’t want to serve strictly IPAs or lagers or wheats, so we have it all.” Wiley, a teetotaler until age 21, took over the old Bar Bar location after working years as a waiter and tending bar in Japan and at Abilene in Carroll Gardens. The spots are hardly beer meccas, but Wiley credits his “freakish” interest in hops to years of reading and “drinking a shitload of beer.” And now the freak has his own clubhouse to share with Carroll Gardens locals of the same ilk.      

Beer
While we sipped a Stoudt Pilsner here on a recent Friday evening, a bookish gent stopped by to thank the pair for offering hard-to-find Arrogant Bastard Ale. “You're going to see me here a lot,” said the man pointing at a stool at the bar. BGH offers a total of 50 bottled beers and 12 taps, with a great importance placed on local beers. “I’m not anti-import, but I wanted to have something from New York before Boulder and something from Boulder before Belgium,” Ben says. The taps, meanwhile, are switched almost daily (check out the bar’s blog for updates). On opening weekend we sampled the Chelsea Summer Solstice (refreshing wheat from NYC) and Crop Circle Amber Ale (rust colored and bitter). For fans of imports, the bottle list includes staples (Duvel, Red Stripe 24oz!) and some curve balls, including La Fin du Monde, a glistening golden ale from Quebec.

Food
Though light on options (there is only one), the choice to serve DUB Pies from Red Hook’s Down Under Bakery was dead on. BGH offers three varieties: steak and cheese, spinach and vegetable curry, all served within 30 seconds of ordering...and piping hot. How so? The bar has been retrofit with a special DUB-approved oven, so pies are always kept at a perfect 148 degrees.      

Vibe
Drinking at a craft-beer bar is generally a pretty bro-centric affair—though a nice selection of South American wines and creative liquor selection caters to those not feeling the hops. On a recent Sunday afternoon we shared the bar with a raucous fantasy football draft (mostly regulars from the previous bar). Evening crowds have been mixed, from chatty beer geeks to a Brooklyn Law School bar crawl (we thankfully missed that one). Multiple iPods are switched through the evening, representing everything from The Sea and Cake and American Analog Set to Devo and Blink-182. “There was a Man Man freak in here the other week and he was like, ‘What the fuck…you’re playing this!” says Mike.

Digs
Even with some much-needed renovations (lowering the bar, new banquet seating), the long-time dive still has a scruffy feel—it’s curious that a wobbly table required napkin leveling a mere three days after opening. We don’t fault the owners, who hustled to get the place opened and clearly spent money on the important things—like a working toilet, which Bar Bar seemed to lack.

Beer, part two
Drink for cheap at happy hour (2 p.m.-7 p.m.), with off-beat cans like Butternuts Pork Slap and Black Label, as well as the standard fare of Yuengling pints, PBR and well cocktails. Better yet, mix and match two of ‘em for $5. Also, all beers are available in the British-preferred 12oz half-pint. And, finally, here’s a recommendation from the bar: Captain Lawrence Sunblock Wheat, brewed by Pleasantville’s Scott Vaccaro, who at 29 is the youngest brew master in the country. “He’s blowing up the craft scene,” says Ben with great excitement.

Bar Great Harry
280 Smith St. at Sackett
718-222-1103
Hours: Mon.-Sun. 4 p.m.-4 a.m.

Matt Rodbard is Associate Restaurants Editor for Metromix New York. Photo by Alis Atwell