4500 SE Stark St., 232-8538, belmont-station.com. Bottle shop: 10 am-10 pm Monday-Saturday, noon-9 pm Sunday. Biercafe: Noon-11 pm Monday-Saturday, noon-10 pm Sunday.
Kind of like Mary Tyler Moore to Dick Van Dyke, Belmont Station is a now wholly independent spin-off of the legendary Horse Brass Pub. All that remains of the one-time association is a name that just ends up confusing first-time visitors: It should really be called Stark Station by now. Regardless, the little bar is always cramped with some of the city’s most avid beer hounds for good reason. It’s priced reasonably and the staff there maintains its baseline among the 20 taps but has some seriously esoteric taste, from experimentally aged barleywines to foraged-yeast beers. And that’s not even counting the 1,200 bottles. Plus, the back patio is always pleasant (till 10 pm.) MATTHEW KORFHAGE.
Entertainment: Patio. Reading beer descriptions.
