THE MONK'S CELL

1648 BEACON ST., WASHINGTON SQ., BROOKLINE. 617.277.2880

By MARTIN PAVLINIC | PHOTO BY DEREK KOUYOUMJIAN

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The Monk's Cell, the bar-within-a-bar at Brookline's The Publick House, is distilled from its forebear into an even more potent variation on the Belgian Beer Bar theme. Dark and moody with stained glass, candles and paintings of monks on the walls, The Monk's Cell takes its theme almost as seriously as its beer. In addition to sharing Publick House's already staggering beer selection and menu, the Cell adds more specialized bottles and draft lines. My friend Ryan and I head down for some pregame food and drink.

Drink 1: St. Bernardus Abt 12 ($7). When I tell the bartender that I plan on drinking five of their beers, I get a very friendly but skeptical "you know we're not that kind of bar, right?" look, but (I can only imagine) our sweet demeanor suggests we're here to enjoy the beer, not party like goons, and we make good. I start off with this gorgeously malty 10% ABV beast accompanied by a totally deadly Spicy Pulled Pork Sandwich ($9). The sandwich alone ensures I'll be coming back for more some other night.

Drink 2: DeRanke XX Bitter ($7). The BeerAdvocate brothers have come in with a party of what I can only assume are a bunch of high-tone Belgian brewmasters, so we know there's going to be a lot of beer getting respected-and man, there's a lot to respect. Behind the bar, tomes of brewing knowledge crowd bottles wrapped in vintage-looking paper and old enameled steel posters.

Drink 3: Brooklyn Pilsner ($5). I move on to a decidedly mundane beer, considering what's around me, but after the last two Very Serious Beers, I decide to mellow it out a bit and go back to an old favorite. "What's your favorite here?" a suitably overwhelmed couple asks the bartender. "There's at least ten favorites I have, but I guess it'd be Orval." The couple spends another few minutes hashing it out while I wander over to the Publick House for the score. 1-0 Rockies? It's too mellow in here for me to get worried, which is nice.

Drink 4: Allagash White ($5). For a bar with no TV on a World Series game night, this place is busier than I would guess. Cheers from the Publick House side do inspire some glances and some scouts walking over to report back on the game, but other than a mild curiosity, this isn't the ball crowd-this is the beer crowd. I can't even keep track of all the different glasses and hues of beer in said glasses, and I'm sure training day for waiters has got to be a blast.

Drink 5: DeRanke XX Bitter ($7). With the decision that trying to pick yet another different kind of beer will be a bit much, I head back to my favorite beer from tonight, which is a crisp, hoppy treat. My dining companion has left for the evening, but I decide to stick around to savor this beer. I get a taste of a wonderfully tart rare Cantillon raspberry lambic, and then venture off to find somewhere to watch the game. I now know where I'll be taking the lady on a lovely date.