FOOD & WINE MAGAZINE
April, 1996
If you're really serious about drink, head for d.b.a. - which depending on whom you ask, means "doing business as" or "don't bother asking." Either way, the blackboards above the bar list more than 100 beers. This is one of the few places in the country that has hand pumps for serving draught ales, which eliminate the carbon dioxide taste you sometimes get from other systems. Four hand-pumped selections are posted on the board every week. You prefer single-malt scotches? d.b.a. stocks more than 40.

PAPER MAGAZINE
January, 1996
It's all about beer, tequila and Scotch at d.b.a. (doing business as or don't bother asking). If you thought chocolate martinis were addictive, wait'll you try the Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout. 85 bottles, 14 rotating kegs, 4 hand-drawn and seasoned ales and one biergarten make d.b.a. the closest thing to Munich this side of the Manhattan Bridge. Meet connoisseur John Hansel on Jan. 22 for "Single Malts of the Highlands". On Jan. 29, braumeister Garrett Oliver of Brooklyn Brewery hosts "The Beers of Deep Winter". More freaky-fun events are sure to be scheduled, so stop by often.

THE DAILY NEWS
December 8, 1995
by Ron Givens
On First Avenue., 1-A Draft Status
"Drink Good Stuff." That's what it says on the matchbooks at d.b.a., my favorite place to quaff in the city. d.b.a. isn't the prettiest drinking establishment you'll ever visit. No high-price interior decorator tossed together this causual collection of hardwood bar, recycled pews, cafe tables and motley wall treatments. Nor does d.b.a. have the snazziest of locations, sitting off the beaten path at 41 First Ave., between Second and Third Streets. Its block could be the illustration in a dictionary for the word "nondescript". But, then, I don't go to a bar for decor or convenience. I go to a bar to taste. And every time I go to d.b.a., I find something new to savor. On the wall facing the bar, blackboards offer the standard d.b.a. bill of fare. The last time I counted, which was a few weeks ago, they listed nearly 70 bottled beers, 46 single-malt whiskys (including different aging), 20 tequilas, six cognacs and other spirits and wines. The beer supply is even more impressive. Ten draft brews - often-encountered stuff, such as Guinness Stout, outnumbered by such rarities as Belgium's Rodenbach Red Ale - delivered in your standard draft-beer way, by standard carbon-dioxide pressure. Even better, d.b.a. makes special use of four hand pumps, which deliver beer without gas pressure, allowing the bar to serve more delicate brews without fear of disturbance. In early November, d.b.a. offered, perhaps for the first time in NYC, a cask-conditioned ale: Fuller's Cask E.S.B. (These ales undergo a second burst of fermentation in the cask, resulting in more complex flavors.) The tapping of the Fuller's cask - with its captivating, subtle maltiness - was a beer event. And it proved that d.b.a. is the beer hunter's hangout of choice in the Big Apple.

NEW YORK MAGAZINE
The Best of New York, 1995
April 17, 1995
In less than six month, the folks at d.b.a. 41 (41 First Avenue at 2nd St.; 475-5097) have tottered to the top of the New York beer heap. Co-owner Ray Deter turned his back on Bud, gambling on the loyalty of beer geeks and well-heeled types iwth advenventurous palates. On fourteen taps, he serves the tastiest microbrews available, along with smartly selected imports and even flat, cellar-temperature English-style ales. (More and more, those ales are cask-conditioned and sublime.) The man writes on a blackboard the dates his kegs are tapped! Also, d.b.a. peddles sherries, ports, and wondrous single-malt scotches. Yes, the interior is rather spartan (a large outdoor beer garden will open this month), there's no food, and the small space is jammed on weekends. But the atmosphere is never poisoned by the crush. How could it be with so many magical elixirs?

THE NEW YORK TIMES
March 31, 1995
by Eric Asimov
Two meals a day may be enough, but occasionally something more is desirable. d.b.a. offers more than 60 beers a night, including a dozen draft beers (all labeled for freshness), 14 Belgian ales and craft-brewed beers from all over the United States. But it would be unfair to call d.b.a. just a beer bar. After all, there are also two dozen single malts to choose from as well as 16 kinds of tequila and eight ports (although no food is served). d.b.a. is little more than a rectangular room with some rickety marble tables and seating on church pews (fitting for a shrine to drinking), and there are a few too many prosperous young drinkers who seem to have recently taken up cigar smoking. But if you're looking for unusual beers, lovingly tended and carefully presented, d.b.a. is the place to go.

NEW YORK PRESS
Best of Manhattan '95
September 20, 1995
"Best Place to Feel Like an Ass For Ordering a Rolling Rock"
Good Ol' "33" is Good Enough for Me. d.b.a. stocks almost 100 brands of beer. German, Austrian, Belgian, Czechoslovakian. You can get beer on draft in an imperial pint, beer in a bottle that pops like champagne. Lambic beer, Trappist beer, holiday beer, microbrewed beer, $25-a-bottle beer. What you can't get is a Budweiser. But you can get a Rolling Rock. It's the one "boring beer" that beer bores sneer at, and that's why it's what we order every time we go into this warm, friendly neighborhood bar. You, of course are welcome - encouraged, in fact - to order something more exotic. There's also a dizzying selection of single malt scotches and brain-imperiling tequilas. Obviously a place for serious drinkers. Stylish women have been spotted here smoking cigars and sipping raspberry beers. Prost.

TIME OUT NEW YORK
February 21, 1996
Aside from being far and away the best place to go for beer in New York, d.b.a. also has a great Scotch selection, with close to 50 single malts representative of almost any category. Lately this spot has been featuring the new Loch Dhu, a very dark, sweetish, chocolatey malt that's unlike most other Scotches. Prices are reasonable, from $5.50 on up, and a strong selection of bourbons and tequilas make d.b.a. a must-go for all spirits enthusiasts. The crowd here is varied without ever getting agressively yuppie or agressively Alphabet City. If you're even somewhat serious about Scotch, don't miss the regular tastings focusing on particular regions, led about once a month by John Hansen; the next tasting, of Cambeltown malts, will be held March 11 ($25).