Self-Serve ‘Pour Your Own Beer’ Bar Opening in Hudson Valley

A self-serve bar that allows customers to pour their own beers is set to debut in the Hudson Valley

You pump your own gas and check yourself out at the grocery store, so why shouldn't you be able to pour your own beer? That's the idea behind an innovative new bar that is getting ready for its grand opening.

The technology isn't new, but the concept is something that many Hudson Valley patrons have yet to experience. Those who are used to standing in line and waiting for a bartender to pour their beer will need to adjust to being able to do everything themselves.

Customers simply load money onto a card that they can wave over a sensor at the self-serve bar. Then, beer will flow out of the tap, charging you by the ounce. According to the company behind the technology, bars can allow customers to sample as little as one ounce of each beer per tap and fill up with whatever selection they like. Bars also have the ability to put certain restrictions on the system that will limit the amount of beer you can pour per hour.

Roscoe Brewery in Sullivan County had a similar system in place when their brewery opened in Sullivan County and a few of these self-serve beer bars have popped up in New York City, but this is a first for much of the Hudson Valley.

The bar is called Mekong District One and, according to its social media accounts, the bar's 24-tap self-serve system will feature a large number of craft beers including offerings from Industrial Arts, Peekskill Brewing, Guinness and Sapporro.

Mekong District One is located adjacent to Mekong District Vietnamese restaurant 125 Main Street in Nyack. The bar will be holding a grand opening celebration on Thursday, August 31 featuring 20% off of beers poured from the self-serve bar. More information can be found on the restaurant's Facebook page.