BJ's Brewhouse

**jgardner6** · 02-08-2009, 02:28 AM

I ate at BJ's Brewhouse for the first time tonight. Seven beers on tap and only two worth drinking. Harvest HefeWeizen and Piranha Pale Ale were pretty good. I thought that the pale ale was more like a IPA except for the ABV%. Overall I thought the 20 min trip was not worth it. Anyone else every been? What did you think?

**GilaMinumBeer** · 02-08-2009, 02:57 AM

Ours isn't even a BrewHouse. The beers are shipped in from a Texas location.

Been a couple times and always get the sampler. Last time I went 4 out of 7 had strong notes of diacetyle and their Pils had DMS.

Blech!

imaguitargod · 02-08-2009, 02:58 AM

I used to be a regular at the Burbank, CA location. After being there a while we (me and my roommate Dave) realised that the people that ran the company were Illuminati and High Ranking Free Masons (based on all the symbology used in their labels, posted, and tabs) and they treat their employees like ****. After they fired one of the bartenders for giving away a free drink (he was by the book and never gave a free drink away before...ever, he just, that time, happened to forget to put the drink on the tab because they were busy and that person turned out to be a corperate secret shopper) and they fired him a week before Christmas, without a warning and he had to return all of his the presents he had gotten for his kids that year.

Really a sad thing, but like I said, Illuminati and High Ranking free Masons so they don't care about people anyways. Coupled with that and the fact that they were installing hidden cameras in the new tvs they were putting up (to not be pointed at the cash register, but instead at the patrins at the bar) me and my roommate (who had been regulars for 3 years, going 3-4 times a week) decided to boycott that place of business.

I've only been back there twice in the past 2.5 years, which is a shame b/c I liked their beers for the most part. Yes, the Hefe was great, so was the Jaramiah Red and I also liked the Stout (I think it was a stout). In 2005 their Grand Cru was just amazing and the 2003 edition of their Pumpkin Ale is what turned me onto Pumpkin Ales (unfortunitly they never got it right after that year for that particular brew).

Yankeehillbrewer · 02-08-2009, 08:28 AM

I've been a couple times, The beer was OK but it's been a while. The food was good though. Supposedly they're going to put one down in Chico,Ca. Good luck to them competing with Sierra Nevada, which will pretty much be across the street. But we'll see if it ever happens, especially now with economy so far in the tank.

**lamarguy** · 02-08-2009, 09:07 AM

I've been to the Houston and San Antonio locations a couple of times. Neither of these locations brew on-site. Instead, they subcontract it out (I believe St. Arnold's has the current contract).

Their beers are decent, nothing to write home about. I think their red ale is the best of the lot and they've won a couple of awards for it a while back. But ya, their food is definitely better than their beer.

cclloyd · 02-08-2009, 03:17 PM

We have a couple here in the Bay area one about 5 minutes from my house (Citrus Park) and one about 5 minutes from where I work (Pinellas Park). Neither brew on premise - a fact that I am sure to point out to the clueless college aged servers who state "we brew our own beer here" whenever anyone in the party I'm with at the time asks what they have for beers. The beers are OK - better than the usual BMC selection at most restaurants but none of them had any wow to them. The pale ale and the red are what I get when I go there. The food however is consistently very good and since it made my wife's "list of approved resaurants" I will continue to go on occasion.

**Shay** · 02-08-2009, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lamarguy

I've been to the Houston and San Antonio locations a couple of times. Neither of these locations brew on-site. Instead, they subcontract it out (I believe St. Arnold's has the current contract).

Ditto on the St Arnolds brewing the stuff for Dallas.

JesseRC · 02-08-2009, 04:06 PM

Well the one here in San Antonio, I've got to say the food is awesome. The beer, well I have heard the Heffe is really nice, but the Tatonka stout I had was worse than my first stour brew ever. I will go back for the food, after all I am a homebrewer, and I should be loyal to well... my beer. Now the waitress did say that they are thinking of putting another one in over by Fiesta Texas (also in SA) , and if so , they will actually brew beer there. Do any of the other locations brew on site?

**lamarguy** · 02-08-2009, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JesseRC

Now the waitress did say that they are thinking of putting another one in over by Fiesta Texas (also in SA) , and if so , they will actually brew beer there.

Ya, we met the bar manager the last time we were there (at a swanky art show sponsored by the property management group) and he mentioned the possibility of a new location at The Rim. Which, is good for me because it's closer to my house.

I asked about brewing on-site and he indicated that wasn't going to happen. Apparently, they've found it to be less expensive if they subcontract out the brewing. Besides, that might detract from the appeal of true microbreweries in the area - Freetail and Blue Star.

RiverSwillBeer · 02-08-2009, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by imaguitargod

the people that ran the company were Illuminati and High Ranking Free Masons (based on all the symbology used in their labels, posted, and tabs) and they treat their employees like ****.

IF .... they treated their employees like **** .... then they were not practicing Freemasons. Freemasonry is about faith, hope and charity. Shriner hospitals are not free because they want to treat children and their families like ****. We raise alot of money each year for our local food pantry cause we we are bad people or treat people like crap ???? We buy up to 8 bicycles each school year to give to the children that read the most books cause we're ****ty people??

Sorry for the Highjack .... I will not comment again in this thread about this. It just bugs me when people accuse a groups motivations based on hearsay and not the facts. imaguitargod .... I will always drink with you...and have no grudge. If you want to continue this conversation ..please feel free to PM me or start another thread. Thanks and sorry again for the highjack.

......... we now return you to your regularly scheduled thread already in progress .............