Back To The Future At Clinton Hall
I’m sipping a golden Hefeweizen (a wheat beer) and staring at a large board with blinking lights that hangs on the wall above the kitchen opening as I wait to meet with Derrick Medlen, the manager of Clinton Hall, the new craft beer and burger bar on East 189th Street in the Fordham area of the Bronx. The Hefeweizen is smooth and light reminding me of spring flowers and moonlight dancing. It helps me embark on a flight of fancy as I drink.
Before even entering Clinton Hall, I was met by a futuristic mural covering the front of the building designed and painted by world-renowned graffiti artist Mr. June. The geometric shapes in blues, pale yellows, greens, and oranges, look like a giant Tetris game with free-floating cubes suspended and seemingly ready to fall into place. Once inside, along with the customary hanging television screens strategically positioned throughout the seating area, giant Jenga towers and huge Connect 4 games are available for those who are more tactilely inclined. This bar is fun.
Back at the bar, I take my gaze from the blinking lights and study the silver taps, twenty in all, arrayed on the back wall looking like the controls of a rocket ship. In the midst of my sci-fi reverie (is it the fantastic location or the Hefeweizen?), Derrick arrives and introduces himself to me. I immediately ask about the board and to my surprise, he tells me that it is the “Flux Capacitator.” I’m dumbfounded and check that it’s still 2018 and that my name is not Marty McFly. Derrick assures me I am not inside an alternative “Back to the Future” sequel, but that I am looking at Clinton Hall’s technology that allows him to calibrate the amount of nitrogen and carbon dioxide and adjust the compression for each beer they offer. Clinton Hall has trademarked the process as “Supercraft.”
Serving twenty-craft beers daily – craft beer is defined as being from a small brewery, independent, and using traditional or innovative brewing ingredients and their fermentation—Clinton Hall is a haven for the serious beer enthusiast. Five of the twenty beers are always on tap, including the delicious Hefeweizen I am drinking. The other fifteen rotate weekly. “The beer you drink today will not be here when you come back a week from now,” Derrick tells me. He pours me a taste of a coffee tasting beer called Avery Tweak that goes down smoothly. This espresso stout, aged in bourbon barrels, has a 16% alcohol content. Definitely not for the faint-hearted. Derrick tells me the beers come from all around the world and on this day the beer menu includes offerings from Germany and Switzerland, in addition to New York and Colorado offerings.
But even if you are not an aficionado, Clinton Hall welcomes you, offering tastes of almost every beer. In addition, the Clinton Hall cicerone- the beer world’s equivalent of a sommelier- pairs each beer with a burger featured on their menu. Burger choices include, among others: “The Truffle Shuffle;” “The Frito Burger;” and “The Fondue Burger.” For those who prefer their burgers meatless, there is a sturdy black bean patty. And in keeping with the happy and fun atmosphere, there is “The Clinton Hall Challenge.” Patrons who dare take this on are served a sandwich loaded with three burgers, three slices of American cheese, smoked bacon, two whole buns, onion rings, a half platter of French fries, Clinton Hall sauce, and a pint of beer. If they can finish this gargantuan meal in twenty-five minutes they have won the challenge and won’t need to pay the bill.
Derrick informs me that this location is the third Clinton Hall located in New York City, the other two are in downtown Manhattan. He jumped at the opportunity to bring the concept to The Bronx and make it work.
“Our mission is stated simply: Great Beer, Great food. Here we are seeking to maintain a balance between our customers. On any given day, you can come in here and sit next to a doctor from St. Barnabas hospital who is sitting next to a professor from Fordham or a teacher from one of the local schools alongside someone who resides in the neighborhood. Cultivating a diverse clientele and having a space that welcomes real interaction is something I am proud of,” Derrick says.
As I take a final sip of my Hefeweizen, I realize Clinton Hall is that cutting-edge, craft beer emporium and that old-time, neighborhood pub. It is a real “back to the future” for Bronx residents.
601 East 189th Street, Bronx, New York
