Hops (the restaurant chain)

Not sure how many of you have a Hops Grillhouse and Brewery (it's like a BJs with far less beer selection), as there are not many, but I had the pleasure of going to one tonight (in Alexandria, VA) and was served a "Summer Wheat" that was essentially a Red Ale with an orange wedge on the pint rim. I was assured that this was in fact a wheat beer, although it was about 17-20 SRM, crystal clear, and tasted nothing of wheat, yeast or citrus...in fact it was quite malty. Not too refreshing when it's 100 F outside, to say the least. It just amazes me that someone could just brew any old beer, slap an orange wedge on it, and call it a wheat beer (I hate orange wedges served with beer btw). In fact, I think something else must have been going on...like they ran out of wheat beer, and I have emailed the company to inquire. That said..their beer isn't horrible, average anyway. I have guests in town who wanted to go, and I wonder to myself, why the heck go there when I have a Dogfish Head brewpub 10 minutes away??!!?

Anyone else have interesting brewpub stories?

ive gotten served the wrong beer way too many times at "beer bars." I think the staff just mess it up and usually nobody notices, that is, until a homebrewer and his palate come along...

The hops here closed, in fact most of them around the country have or will be soon.

There is a reason for that.

I was served a very watery filled to the brim Martini in Seattle a few years ago. The waitress was spilling the drink all over the place on its way to the table. I sent it back for a redo and the second one was worse. So I asked what was on tap and ordered a pint, the waitress came back ten minutes later and told me they could not get the tap to work. At that point I said just bring me whatever you can find in a bottle, I had a not very tasty free BMC.

I've often ordered the most hoppy beer on tap, most recently at Bridgeport here in Portland (Hop Czar) and was sent a pale ale. This is of course is one of the reason to BYOB!

I've never heard of Hops. I've heard of iHops, the new restaurant by Apple Computers.

Okay, sorry about that one

My wife loved that Hops in Alexandria, we lived there for two years and we ate there quite often, mainly because she loved their croissants. I never thought too highly of their beers, although I will say I was always tempted to lift a bag of two-row on my way out of the restaurant LOL

And you are correct, I'd much rather have dinner at Cap City Brew Pub in Shirlington or DFH Alehouse out in Falls Church....

The only time I have ever questioned a pint was in an Old Chicago's last summer and was just running through the menu, they have 100 beer listed, most of them are not the BMC, but they are there. Ordered a darker beer, can't remember the exact one, but know the taste of it for sure. The waitress brings me out a dark beer, but not what I asked for. I questioned her about the beer and she told me they were out of what I wanted, so a Guinness was served instead, hoping I would not notice.
Another free beer got drank.

eanmcnulty said:

I've never heard of Hops. I've heard of iHops, the new restaurant by Apple Computers.

Okay, sorry about that one

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don't they sell pancakes or sumthin?

I ordered a Bells Oberon at a restaurant and they gave me a Budweiser. I still wonder if they did it on purpose or not. They were pretty quick to give me another beer for free.

I had been to this Hops several times before (when these particular guests are in town, we always go), but not in 3 months or so...this is the first bad experience. There were other problems besides the beer, which may explain why it was only half-full at peak dinner hours. It's funny because it was almost like the wait staff was trained on what to tell the customers who questioned whether it was really a wheat beer...funny since there is a picture of a real wheat beer advertised on the menu! Dang, should have gotten them for false advertising!

I was somewhere else recently too, can't remember where, and was served something other than the wheat beer I ordered...except that the mistake was noted and wheat beer brought immediately. I could maaaaaybe understand beer ignorance at any old restaurant...but a "brew pub"? Be interesting to see what their corporate HQ has for a response.

And yes, I always want to carry out one of the 50 lb bags of barley when I leave!

barleyhole said:

I have a Dogfish Head brewpub 10 minutes away

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Not fair . . .

mullenite said:

The hops here closed, in fact most of them around the country have or will be soon.

There is a reason for that.

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Here too - there were about 5-6 of them in the area at one point and they have all closed down. I always thought the food was better than the beers anyway. One thing they did have going for them at least from an aesthetic pov - they actually brewed onsite unlike the local BJ's chain which does not brew at any of the locations I've been to.

cclloyd said:

Here too - there were about 5-6 of them in the area at one point and they have all closed down. I always thought the food was better than the beers anyway. One thing they did have going for them at least from an aesthetic pov - they actually brewed onsite unlike the local BJ's chain which does not brew at any of the locations I've been to.

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I took a date to Hops in Denver about 10 years ago. Date was *really* attractive, like, Natalie-Portman-who-played-Amidala from SW-AOTC hot, but she was a total bore when I tried to talk to her. Snore.

Beer was the same -- looked good, tasted meh.

Hot Date eventually decided that she liked a younger, better looking artist better than she liked me, and I decided that the Hops brewpub sucked almost as bad as the date, so I never went back.

Our local BJ's in Indianapolis (Greenwood, actually) is much better, but I don't enjoy the food there much. When we go to BJ's it is for the beer and we just eat salads. They are located in a mall and they don't brew onsite, either.

cclloyd said:

Here too - there were about 5-6 of them in the area at one point and they have all closed down. I always thought the food was better than the beers anyway. One thing they did have going for them at least from an aesthetic pov - they actually brewed onsite unlike the local BJ's chain which does not brew at any of the locations I've been to.

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BJ's serves really good beer outside of their own though. I can get Swamp Head's IPA at the one here.

At least you have Tampa Bay Brewing Co. there who make awesome beers and brew on site during business hours.

once, at a bar in encinitas, I ordered a Rouge Double Dead Guy and the waitress came out with a very light gold, very Belgian tasting beer. I didn't even have to take a sip, just knowing by the color, to tell her it was the wrong beer. she told me she personally watched to bar tender pour the beer and that it was, in fact, a double dead guy. I told her it simply cannot be true and asked her if she could personally go pour a sample of double dead and bring it back to compare; she immediately saw that the beer I had in front of me was not what I ordered, or what she poured, when she got back. on top of that I got served a nearly raw hamburger. . . I haven't been back since.

Ours closed down too. I thought their beer was pretty crappy but the food was good.

mullenite said:

BJ's serves really good beer outside of their own though. I can get Swamp Head's IPA at the one here.

At least you have Tampa Bay Brewing Co. there who make awesome beers and brew on site during business hours.

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Yeah, TBB makes some outstanding brews and Dave's a nice guy too. They also have great food and pair it well.

cclloyd said:

Yeah, TBB makes some outstanding brews and Dave's a nice guy too. They also have great food and pair it well.

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Damn, I could really go for an order of fries with curry sauce right now.

Isn't Hops based out of Tampa/St. Pete?

Reduced to Colorado, North Carolina and Virginia, according to the website. Owned by Rita Restaurants out of Madison, GA. (they also own Don Pablo's and there aren't many of those left, either)

Bit of a misnomer, as well. They use Fuggles, Hallertau and Saaz...hmmmm

They were originally in Clearwater and Tampa, Fl. Rita Restaurants bought the company out when things started going really down hill a couple years ago (which is when the Gainesville, Ocala and Pembroke Pines, Fl locations closed for sure.)

Hang Glider said:

Bit of a misnomer, as well. They use Fuggles, Hallertau and Saaz...hmmmm

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How does that make it a misnomer? Granted, their beer isn't great, but those are 3 very respectable varieties of hops--heck, Hallertau's kind of the grand-daddy of them all.

Hang Glider said:

they also own Don Pablo's

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That explains a lot.

HopsOnline.com said:

The style of service in the dining rooms, bar and lobby is based on a team format. Hops servers work together to attend to all of the guests and deliver service that goes above and beyond what is expected at casual dining restaurants.

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This is one of the things I hate at most restaurants these days. I want the person that takes my order to also bring me my food and drinks. I can't stand when the food comes to the table and the server asks "who ordered this?"

I had seen Hops restaurants when they were around, but never went into one. I always assumed they were just another J.P. McPickle****ters with a couple beers. Apparently I was right.

lurker18 said:

I questioned her about the beer and she told me they were out of what I wanted, so a Guinness was served instead, hoping I would not notice.
Another free beer got drank.

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Now *That* takes some cajones. It's one thing to make a mistake and pour the wrong beer....but to deliberately try to fool your customer? I'd have been pretty pissed.

I've been served the wrong beer a few times from the tap. I don't claim to have the most sophisticated palate...but when something is obviously wrong I try to be polite about it and usually there isn't an issue. I've gotten Yuengling Lager (the *premium* beer here in PA) a few times by mistake and it's usually taken care of without issue.

I ordered a SNPA once out a bar and got something that had little to no hop flavor or aroma...it wasn't offensive but I've had SNPA on multiple occasions and I was sure that something wasn't right. I asked the bartender and she said "nope, that's SNPA...I can get you another one if you'd like." So she brings out another one, same lack-of-head, same lack-of-aroma, same lack-of-flavor. I stopped pressing the issue...but either their tap lines were crossed or that was a pretty old keg. Or who knows, maybe my taste buds were on vacation that day

PicoD42 said:

That explains a lot.


This is one of the things I hate at most restaurants these days. I want the person that takes my order to also bring me my food and drinks. I can't stand when the food comes to the table and the server asks "who ordered this?"

I had seen Hops restaurants when they were around, but never went into one. I always assumed they were just another J.P. McPickle****ters with a couple beers. Apparently I was right.

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At first they weren't all that bad, the company that also owns Don Pablo's only took over very recently. I remember going to Hops with family while I was in middle school and high school and the food was decent. No one in my family really liked the beer but TBH they only really like Miller Lite.

I only went once as an adult and the beer I had was decent, I think it was an Amber Ale. The food wasn't great though.

When the bottom fell out of the economy they didn't have the quality of food or the local backing to stay afloat I'm thinking. Two other restaurants on the same street closed within a few months of Hops closing and really no one here misses any of the three.

Sorry for the Zombie thread.
Went to Hops today in Golden, CO. I was amazed to see I could get a sampler of their 5 beers for only $3.79. Well, I think I overpaid.

Their light lager was decent, heavy on the corn, maybe, but not bad for the style.

The regular lager was good for the first sip, but as soon as it warmed up, it was butter popcorn jelly beans to me. We didn't finish this one.

The amber was beer. I honestly couldn't tell you anything besides that. There was malt and hops, and completely forgettable.

The seasonal, a pilsner, was actually pretty decent. Not amazing, but drinkable...

The style-less "Alligator Ale" was awful. Wife and I both took a sniff, then a tentative sip, set it down, and were done. Anyone know what style this was supposed to be? It was almost a stout with ONLY the black malt. As in, black malt, water, and vodka. Gross.

We never leave beer (unless it's a too much alcohol situation). We aren't snobs. The fact that 2 of the beers were left, to me, means that this is brewery is not so great.

Jersh, I also was tempted to take a bag of malt on the way out.

There used to be a Hop's nearby in Sanford.

I always thought that their food was good, and the beer was decent. Not great, but decent. It HAS been probably five years or more since I have been there, though. Last year we drove there planning on a rare dinner out, but they were closed.

There was a Hops in Colorado Springs when I was in the Army. We used to go there all of the time because my Sgt loved their steak. Actually, I must admit that Hops is where I learned how to properly eat streak (rare, with just a pinch of salt). That's all I remember about the place. I really don't remember how their beer was because we usually left there after dinner to go to a bar that had all of the great Colorado craft beers.

I never heard back from the Hops corporate for an explanation about being served a hefeweizen that was actually their "alligator" ale. maybe I should have been nicer If there is anything I hate worse than bad beer, it's bad customer service!