October 10, 2012. To be fair, I was in a bad mood the last time I was here and let the douchey clientel bother me. I keep coming back, though, because the draft selection is nice and the bartenders have been attentive and friendly. Once you get past the crowd, you find a thoughtfully selected list and a cozy back of the bar that has a beer cellar feel to it, with some fun things on shelves behind glass. The big set back are the prices. It’s not hard to find a 12oz pour of something that will set you back more than $10.

September 5, 2012. Feeling kind of crappy about New Haven, the general atmosphere of this place didn’t help. Old, wood-paneled, and crawling with starched white corporate suits stuffing overcooked pizza, sliders, and wings into their face as fast as they could, chasing it down with whatever had a lot of alcohol and was expensive. A little too much for the "gentry" in my opinion. The one shining star was the bartender who was friendly, bright eyed, and quick. The beer was in a decent glass and at the right temperature. Prices were high.

Very fun and unique place. Diamond in the rough beers available!

This beer bar has an amazing selection of beer but jacks up the prices. While their beer menu always has a few $5 pints (tonight Raison D’etre was on the value list), $9 Ten Fidy is simply absurd. On a Sunday night, the place was moderately filled and cozy; lots of varnish and dark wood. Compared to Norwalk’s and Greenwich’s Gingerman, Cask Republic has the best level of ambiance. Lots of space. Bartenders are knowledgable and wait staff is solid. Food is very good, but pricy as well.

I made the mistake of visiting late on a Thursday night. The place was a zoo with music played a deafening level as the under 25 crowd tried to get over on one another. Not the sort of thing I was expecting. This sort of beer, they have over 50 taps and and over 100 bottles of real quality, with a crowd that just wants bmc product that can be served by just twisting off the bottle top. When your serving doubles, stouts, and barleywines that need time to settle and you don’t have any time to wait for the drink to settle, you’re going to get ripped. The abbey double I ordered only ended up about 60% full. But the bartender got really obnoxious and rude at the end of the night near closing time. I know bartenders don’t like to linger to long after closing time, but if there’s still 10 minutes to go until then you shouldn’t be yelling at me to chug my drink. It’s too bad. They obviously put a lot of care into their bottle selection and their taps but they have no idea how to attract the kind of crowd that will keep them open. There are definitely places in New Haven, Delaney’s tap room comes to mind, with just as good a selection and much more humane treatment. If I do ever go back, and that’s a big if, it certainly won’t be at night.

Not too much time to try multiple locations on a recent trip, so I decided to give this one a shot. Very glad I did, as it was a pleasant couple hours all around. Handsome long wooden bar, with nice fixtures, roomy seating, etc. Clean and well-maintained, friendly and knowledgeable service. Food was quite nice too, and I had some tuna tartare while I tried some regional brews. Wide-ranging selection, including some barrel-aged and cask goodies, NE micros and Belgians well represented, etc. Will definitely go back next time I’m in town, and hope to try Prime 16 as well.

In the Omni Hotel. This place is owned by the same people who own Ginger Man and it shows inits decor which is dark wood with long tables and lots of taps. An excellent selection of beer. While there, I had Sink the Bismark, and on tap had some beers from Ithaca that were not available anywhere else in the state. If in New Haven, start at BAR, then hit Prime 16, then finish up at this place. New Haven is starting to become a true beer mecca in an otherwise mediocre state for beer thanks to places like this and brewers like NeBco.