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Upper West Side Duane Reade Fills Prescriptions, Serves Beer

By Leslie Albrecht | March 22, 2011 5:37pm | Updated on March 23, 2011 6:21am
Duane Reade's Brew York City fills 64-ounce growlers of beer at the pharmacy's West 72nd and Broadway location.
Duane Reade's Brew York City fills 64-ounce growlers of beer at the pharmacy's West 72nd and Broadway location.
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DNAinfo/Leslie Albrecht

By Leslie Albrecht

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

UPPER WEST SIDE — Prescriptions aren't the only thing you can get refilled at the new Duane Reade on West 72nd and Broadway.

You can also replenish your beer supply at the pharmacy's Brew York City, a service counter that pours out "growlers" of beer, 64-ounce screw-top glass jugs.

The two-story Duane Reade, which also features an in-house beauty advisor, stocks craft beers including Founders Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale, Ithaca Apricot Wheat and Sixpoint Sweet Action.

Though Brew York City is set up like a bar, with an employee manning taps behind a counter, it doesn't serve beer by the glass. Customers can bring in their own growler or buy one.

The suds-peddling station, positioned across from the chips aisle, got more than one double take from shoppers on Tuesday afternoon.

Clinton Bright, a 29-year-old Williamsburg resident who works in the neighborhood, said he wasn't sure whether to believe a friend who told him  about the drugstore's the growler filling service, so he stopped in to see it with his own eyes.

"It's a pharmacy, so this is interesting," Bright said. "You can buy beer here, but this is even better."

Bright said he planned to fill his growler with hard-to-find craft brews that usually cost $6 or $7 per glass in a bar. Growlers at Brew York City run $7.99, which makes them a good deal, he said.

Brew York City has its own Twitter feed — which doesn't mention that the growler bar is inside a Duane Reade — so thirsty followers can keep track of free sample offers and menu changes.