Albany, NY- Mahar's Public Bar and Wolff's Biergarten

I'm from CT originally, live in VT now, but Albany, NY is where home is for me. I graduated from college there this past May, and moved up to VT for work with my girlfriend. Whenever we go back down for a weekend to visit, these two places are always at the top of the list:

Mahar's- Corner of North Allen and Madison. Constantly rotating selection of 30 or so beers on tap, 5-10 cask ales, and upwards of a hundred bottled brews. There's a computer in the back where you print out the menu, and it assigns you a number. When you order, the bartender checks off each beer, and the next time you print it out the one's you've ordered already won't be there. That way, you have to try something new each time you go. You get a t-shirt at 50, an engraved mug at 125, and a case of your choosing at 200. By far my favorite bar in the world.

Wolff's- A very very close second. Way downtown on Broadway, in the warehouse district. 30 or so draft and bottled beers, exclusively from Germany, Austria, Belgium, and the Czech Republic, with a kickass menu of traditional German bar food (various handmade sausages, potato pancakes, sauerkraut, German potato salad, and daily specials). Long, unfinished wooden picnic tables and peanut shells everywhere. Cash only, and beer is served in .3, .5, and full liter mugs.

I wish I had known about either of those when I lived in Albany. The only place I found remotely interesting while there was a tiny bar called the Red Lion I think which had a real dartboard with real metal darts. I can't even remember the beers there because the thought of alcohol and metal darts just blew me away.

BrokenDog said:

I wish I had known about either of those when I lived in Albany. The only place I found remotely interesting while there was a tiny bar called the Red Lion I think which had a real dartboard with real metal darts. I can't even remember the beers there because the thought of alcohol and metal darts just blew me away.

Click to expand...

Are you thinking of Lionheart?

Either way, Mahar's is by far my favorite place to grab a brew. I've met some interesting pints there (and some interesting people!).

Might be, it was almost 10 years ago now.

I'm currently at Albany and living on South Allen right near Mahar's, looks so dark and tiny never even thought of considering it...Nice to hear I will definitely have to check it out now.

Mahar's is fantastic! Every time I have gone the two bartenders are friendly and knowledgeable, however I have only found a seat once. It is a smaller bar but there are no stools at the bar-standing only. I think it makes Mahar's pretty unique for the area. Also, Wolff’s is my favorite place to go for brunch. Grab a liter of beer, some German food and occasionally you'll get to hear men singing German drinking songs and playing an accordion.

Do they still have the lights you click on for service?

I know this is an old thread, but Mahar's will be closing in a month or so, so it seemed worthy of revival. This is a true neighborhood bar and will be sorely missed. As far as I know, they are keeping the Castleton location open and are looking for a new location in Albany, but have gotten very mixed signals about whether or not that is likely to happen. Regardless, Mahar's is an awesome place, and I encourage everyone in the area who hasn't checked it out to do so before it closes .