May 17, 2009
Decent place overall. The interior has a fake brew house look, which is off-putting, but overall is clean and attractive. The service is not outstanding, but decent, with polite waitstaff. The beers run the gamut, but are overall good. The variety of the stuff they brew is impressive. The food is very good, almost everything they make is good. The value is not bad, the growlers reasonably priced, the food is a little expensive. Enjoyable place, worth going for locals certainly.

April 28, 2009
I’ve driven by the place a bunch of times and only recently stopped in to pick up a growler, and most recently this past weekend, to have dinner. The entrance area is probably the nicest looking with open space and high ceilings. The bar area is a couple of steps up and looks old and a bit worn out. The worst area is the dining area with wobbly tables, a dingy ugly ceiling, a compressor making a loud humming sound on and off during our meal, and a 40 minute wait for our dinner (mind you there were only two other couples in the dining room while we were there, so the kitchen was not that busy). It actually took 20-25 minutes for our server to bring the bread to the table. The food, when it finally arrived was actually very good. I had two smoked pork chops that were juicy and not overcooked. My wife had the sauerbraten, which she said was very good. There are five tap lines with one or two of the lines being seasonals. The service needs improving and the place needs some sprucing up.

April 1, 2009 [ Updated April 26, 2009 ]
German style brewpub located off the beaten path in Farmingdale. The bar area is quite dark and dreary but the restaurant area is a little more cheery. They usually have 3 standard beers on tap(Amber, Pilsner, Hefeweizen)and 2 seasonal taps. Quality of the seasonals vary greatly. Best of the seasonals is the Imperial Pilsner. Food is pretty decent and not too expensive. Overall, worth a visit if you are in the area.

July 3, 2008
Made a trip to check this out while on a vacation to Long Island. The tour guide comments here are very acurate, strange place. From the music to the TV’s, everything is just a little off. We didn’t have time for food, but my wife and I had a beer sampler and found the beers decent. We had the pilsener, brown, summer, amber, and hefe and all were fine beers and I even bought a growler of the pilsener ($12, not a bad deal). The non authentic part was the poker machines at the bar, the forgetful bartender (how many times do I have to say I want the sampler), the mismatched sampler glasses, and the dirty sampler glasses. Wanted to stay for another, but was afraid what I might found in my next glass and I got to check the growler before they poured it, so it was easier to go home. This could be a cool place, but it is Long Island.

May 22, 2008
Kind of a strange faux-German vibe in what looks like an old Denny’s or some such restaurant. Kind of sprawling, but I’ve only eaten at the bar. Decent pub grub with a few German items as well. The beers here are quite solid really. Good IPAs and the pilsner is one of the best I’ve had outside of the Czech republic when it is fresh. Service can be iffy, but most times I’ve been treated well.

September 29, 2007
This is a great place to hang out, but not so much for people looking for great beer. They have five different kinds of beer that they make, which they offer to try all five of them in a "sampler" for $6. The beer isn’t bad but its nothing to go crazy for. The place is pretty big, they have multiple bars inside, and a place outside as well. I see this as a great place to just go and hang out at with friends and try a few different beers.

August 29, 2007
I visited the Black Forest for the first time this evening after driving by it for years. It seemed larger than it appeared from the out side and the bar area was a few step up to tower above the rest of the dining areas below. My friends and I sat outside while drinking the beer made on site. I thought the Hefewiezen was very good as a late summer selection and the Pils was good too. It was disconcerting to find ourselves in the flight path of Republic airport with corporate jets zooming in at night. I couldn’t comment on the food, but the sliced steak sandwiches look good on the table next to us. I hope to return another day to try out the other beers made there.

August 16, 2007 [ Updated October 26, 2009 ]
The inside of this brewpub can best be described as a casual dining restaurant with a German accent. In general the bar area is identical to every other bar with the notable exception that they serve 5 different kinds of their own beer. The beer itself is ok usually ranging in the high 2’s to low 3’s. Most of the beers seem a little over hopped in order to make up for some other error. If you are from Nassau or Suffolk you should really make a point to go there, otherwise you are much better off staying in Manhattan or Brooklyn for beer. I will only be going back when they change their line up to the next season.brbr Re-rate: They have been doing some impressive stuff recently in reviving several retired beers. Maybe they are just more of a Winter place.

July 8, 2007
Was out in the area yesterday. We got there and it was my first time there. I liked it. This place is big. Went outside to look at the beer garden and that was big too. The beers were solid. Nice selection. Pilsner, Amber, Klosterbrau, Summer, and the Hefeweizen. I had the amber, it was pretty good. We didn’t eat here, so i don’t know if the food is good or not. I liked the place though. Growler prices are good. Good place.

May 30, 2007
Met up with beastiefan2k here on Memorial Day during lunchtime to trade and have a couple of beers. The atmosphere/decor was nothing special, but it wasn’t quite as bad as I thought it was going to be. Beers were all solid, with the Maibock, Klosterbrau, and Pils being the standouts for me on my visit. If I lived closer, I think the beer would keep me coming back. Service seemed decent at the bar, but the place was empty so I really can’t accurately comment. The main drawback that I noticed during my visit was the beer prices. With the exception of the Pils (4.75 I think) the other beers offered were all around 6, which is overpriced in my opinion, especially for a hefeweizen. Growlers seemed signficantly cheaper, as I took out the Klosterbrau, which only set me back a little bit over 11. As I am out on Long Island quite a bit, I am sure I’ll be back for a beer and a growler.