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Northwest 21st Avenue can be a bizarre place after dark, populated by slumming Pearlies, roving packs descended from the near-West Hills and the withering down-and-outers peeking in and out of Joe's Cellar, Underdogs and the 21st Avenue Bar & Grill. During the day, these same sidewalks are pleasant oases, and The Abbey Bar (716 NW 21st Ave., 222-1593, theabbeybar.com) is a serious daytime beer bar of the sort the neighborhood hasn't yet seen, with a row of baby tables hugging the edges of the public walkway. The loyally Belgian bar sports three refrigerated cases storing hundreds of bottles at different temperatures, plus six taps served in a bewildering variety of stemware. Most drafts are imported and priced up to $10 per pint, but the frugally discerning can pay $4 for a 12-ounce glass of Pfriem's Belgian Strong Dark, our 2014 Beer of the Year, or spy a bargain Old Rasputin in the coolers. The Abbey's interior is as clinically hard-topped and spartan as that of its predecessor, the unmourned Melt, but you won't mind so much in the summertime. You'll be outside, melting into a deceptively alcoholic Pfriem, a sunny Houblon Chouffe or a goofball trans-Atlantic brewing collaboration. Miracles happen every day in Belgium, and all of them are beer.
WWeek 2015