Working with international producers large and small, Bierkraft co-owners Daphne and Richard Scholz have created a Park Slope destination that is special and unique. Opened 6 years ago, their extraordinary selection of hundreds of beers is a main focus of the store. However, the unusual international cheeses, top-of-the-line chocolates, not to mention an impressive hot sauce collection, also make this a fun stop on Brooklyn’s Fifth Avenue.

I recently went into Bierkraft for a bite of chocolate and came out with a week’s worth of beer and cheese. My bounty included the rare, award-winning Cowgirl Creamery Red Hawk washed rind cheese (awesome), as well as a selection of beers ranging from Japan’s Hitochino Nest Weizen to Bar Harbor’s Blueberry Ale from Maine. You can go it alone, poking around the unusual products, or solicit Bierkraft’s patient and personable help. With so many countries represented on their shelves, it’s no wonder they attract camera crews and visitors from all over the world.

Bierkraft not only appeals to beer buffs and cheese freaks but carries a huge variety of other products such as rugelah, candies, housemade brandied figs and duck confit. While selling products from around the world, Bierkraft keeps it local with chocolates by the highly-regarded French-born Brooklyn chocolatier Eric Girerd, Greenpoint’s Wine Cellar Sorbets and Red Hook’s Sixpoint Craft Ales.

Bierkraft’s weekly Tuesday beer and cheese tastings are free and open to the public. Be sure to get there earlier than early as they always fill up.

Bierkraft
191 5th Ave

Originally published on Until Monday: Brooklyn