Grand Cru Beer and Cheese Market

The store was clean, well organized and well lit. It’s a small place, with only several shelves, and a refrigerator case. The staff was pleasant enough. The beers aren’t an especially great selection, and surprisingly, not a great selection of locals. In fact, it was nothing I couldn’t normally find in the NYC area. The prices were higher than I would normally see in Manattan as well (!!!!). But it was a decent selection, conveniently located right in town. It is possible to have a few pints right in the place, and to have some cheese platters and pretzels there as well. The 5 tap stations are either for on premise consumption, or for growler take out. Only two of the fIve were available for growler take out, like the Stone Runination, and they wanted $21.95 for it! Not a bad place, and worth stopping if you’re in town. But, it is pricey, and I really expected to be able to snare a lot of upstate and New England locals, and this was definitely not the case.

First stop on the frozen Rhinebeck window shopping tour on Groundhog Day. It was refreshing to have the ability to choose from soley above average to excellent beers. No pesky pallets of crap beer lying in my way. The soft pretzels were excellent as well. The man knew his brews, and brewers. Packed up four quick finds. A large array of NY craft brews. None too shabby.

Located on Mill St. in Rhinebeck, Grand Cru opened recently. It is primarily a beer store with a 3 rows of beer shelves, one of which is refridgerated. They have 3 tall top tables that you can enjoy the beer inside. The atmosphere is pretty much all beer store. Its ok for a few rounds, but not some where you can really relax and enjoy company. The service is okay. The drill is you take the beer you choose to the counter and they pour into correct glass and pay then, no tabs. You also have to bus your own tables. That sucks. They do have cheese plates available, they looked decent but we did not try on our visit.

This is a nice little beer spot in Rhinebeck. The had an interesting bottle selection, about five taps of fairly interesting beer, and a pretty nice set-up. I didn’t try the food, but they seemed to have a nice selection of cheeses. They didn’t have a ton of stuff I can’t find in the NYC/North Jersey area, but that is to be expected. A nice New York/New England selection, and some interesting stuff from the rest of the US and International as well. The prices weren’t super cheap, but were fairly reasonable as well. It isn’t an overwhelming selection, but I’d certainly recommend this place if you are in the area, and considering what else is around, you might not have much of a choice if you want some good beer.

A new place that opened within the last six months or so. Not a huge place, located right in the heart of Rhinebeck on Mill Street. When I walked in there were a few small tables and chairs set up and a couple working through a cheese plate and a few beers. Eric (I think that was his name) has a few taps for either growler fills, or on premises consumption. There’s also a nice selection of cheeses which makes this a great spot to stop in for a snack and a beer. The bottle selection is nice as well featuring a good selection of beer geek style beers, as well as some of the good intro to craft beer things. Currently open until maybe only 7pm or so, as I think it’s just a one man operation, but there are indications that they may be staying open a bit later as popularity grows. Worth stopping in if you’re passing through Rhinebeck.