Brewpubs That Suck

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jfrizzell

jfrizzell

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Don't you hate it when you go to a brewpub and order a beer only to get a beer that just isn't that good?

I went to a place over the weekend and ordered their IPA. I had to send it back it was so bad. The beer either had an infection or their lines needed cleaned badly.

The second beer was just ok. Both mine and my wife's beer were fairly flat and had no head whatsoever. They obviously don't know how to balance their system.

It was just sad. If you're going to run a brewpub, at least bother to know what the hell you're doing.
 
Whenever I travel, I always do research on the brewpubs and breweries I plan to visit. Unfortunately, this past January when I was in Winter Park, CO, there was nothing decent nearby. I bit the bullet and took a chance on one in town. It wasn't bad, but it was rather bland. Also, they served it in frozen mugs so I had to wait for a pretty long time for it to warm up before I could even taste anything.
 
Most people suck at their jobs. That's a fact no matter what industry it is. Most restaurants suck. Most brewpubs suck. Most people don't really care if their beer is bad, so the sucky brewpub can usually stay in business.

I agree that if it's worth doing, it's worth doing right, but for some brewpubs they just see the high margin on house-made beer. Never-mind the additional capital expenses and labor.
 
turkeyjerky214 said:
Also, they served it in frozen mugs so I had to wait for a pretty long time for it to warm up before I could even taste anything.
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There's a sports bar near me that serves all beers in frozen schooners. I remember loving that 10 years ago when I was ordering Coors Light, but when I order a Stone IPA I don't want it to come to me partially frozen. Other than that it's a great place, I just need to remember to ask for a room temp glass.
 
I had this happen at a local restuarant. Got my beer completely flat, hold it up to the light, not one bubble. I tell them and order a different beer. Completely flat. You would think after showing them the first one was flat they would look at the second one before bringing it out. The waitress said she had the "GUY" check it and every thing was OK. I ordered a bottle, and havent beer back since.
 
There was a thread last week about a brewpub in Santa Rosa, CA. It was determined that they don't, in fact, suck.
 
The one in Santa Rosa was Russian River which makes awesome beer anyways. I think that was more a complaint about them trying to make money off of people. Which it was confirmed that it was a "business" that was supposed to try to make money. I am about to move to Seattle and am pretty excited for the brewpubs up there. I am currently in Chico where Sierra Nevada definitely takes very special care with serving there stuff properly.
 
mlyday said:
I had this happen at a local restuarant. Got my beer completely flat, hold it up to the light, not one bubble. I tell them and order a different beer. Completely flat. You would think after showing them the first one was flat they would look at the second one before bringing it out. The waitress said she had the "GUY" check it and every thing was OK. I ordered a bottle, and havent beer back since.
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haha...are you talking about the stables by any chance? i was up in Bay City last December visiting family and decided to try this place out.

awful beer and awful service. i had a stout that literally tasted as if they threw charcoal in it. when i tried sending it back, the waiter said he couldn't do anything about it.

although i didn't have a great experience there, i really enjoyed that newly remodeled Irish-esque bar. i forget what it's called though?

...i was even able to experience my first Stroh's ever there!
 
At a certain brewpub I won't name, I talked to the head brewer for a while. He talked a lot about how long it takes him to brew each batch, and how much work he has to do, and never mentioned his love for the craft, his desire to make great beer, and the quality control (if any) they did.

So, for some brewers, a job is just a job, and they're fine being mediocre, because being great is hard work, and most people are lazy.
 
There is a brew pub in the Chicago western burbs I won't name but if you live here yo probably know where I am talking about. It is a small brew pub and every single one of their beers tastes sour and infected. You would think after being open for three or four years you would figure it out.
 
Grinnan5150 said:
There is a brew pub in the Chicago western burbs I won't name but if you live here yo probably know where I am talking about. It is a small brew pub and every single one of their beers tastes sour and infected. You would think after being open for three or four years you would figure it out.
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They just need to add "Artisan ale project" to their name, and idiots will fawn all over them, and talk about what wonderful complexity their sour beers have.
 
I'm in the western burbs, but not sure which one you're talking about...in what city is this brew pub located?
 
brewski08 said:
haha...are you talking about the stables by any chance? i was up in Bay City last December visiting family and decided to try this place out.

awful beer and awful service. i had a stout that literally tasted as if they threw charcoal in it. when i tried sending it back, the waiter said he couldn't do anything about it.

although i didn't have a great experience there, i really enjoyed that newly remodeled Irish-esque bar. i forget what it's called though?

...i was even able to experience my first Stroh's ever there!
Click to expand...

No it was was "Old City Hall" downtown. It wasnt their beer, it was other local brewerys beer, but the taps at the restuart were screwed up. What really pissed me off was them saying they check and it was fine. Anyone trying that local breweries beer might think they are crappy, but really its just flat.

Its kind of sad because the restuart is really good.
 
brewski08 said:
haha...are you talking about the stables by any chance? i was up in Bay City last December visiting family and decided to try this place out.

awful beer and awful service. i had a stout that literally tasted as if they threw charcoal in it. when i tried sending it back, the waiter said he couldn't do anything about it.

although i didn't have a great experience there, i really enjoyed that newly remodeled Irish-esque bar. i forget what it's called though?

...i was even able to experience my first Stroh's ever there!
Click to expand...

The stables is owned by Art Dore, he's into everything and does everything kind of half assed.
 
There is a place on the IL side of the Mississippi River near St. Louis that started life as a winery and has now morphed into a winery and "brewhaus" because the son's owner wanted to brew beer.

Their beer is TERRIBLE. They don't use bright tanks or even Grundy's and serve the beer straight out of the fermentation vessel. If anyone was wondering what autolysis tastes like, you should hunt this place out. The IPA tastes the same as the dunkelweizen, like nasty autolysis crap. Truly the worst "brewhaus" I've ever been to.
 
The closest brewpub to my house is really disappointing. It's owned by a restauranteur that has no passion for beer. The food is good and it's in a historic building, really nice. But the beer is nothing to go out of your way for. The same four beers year around plus a seasonal. A brown ale, a stout, an amber and a raspberry wheat. The beers are made okay, but the recipes are just lacking. At least we have lot's of new places in town.
 
TyTanium said:
I'm in the western burbs, but not sure which one you're talking about...in what city is this brew pub located?
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I'm in the western suburbs frequently and have no idea what that guy is referencing either.
 
I will gladly choose to live in a world where mediocre and bad brew pubs exist as long as I have the opportunity to experience the wonder of discovering those that are gems with great beer and a great atmosphere. Most of you must be too young to remember a world without micro/craft brews and brew pubs. Relish the choices available to you.
 
Grinnan5150 said:
There is a brew pub in the Chicago western burbs I won't name but if you live here yo probably know where I am talking about. It is a small brew pub and every single one of their beers tastes sour and infected. You would think after being open for three or four years you would figure it out.
Click to expand...

Stockholm's in Geneva, IL, has an ambitious food menu that they don't always pull off very well, and their beers all have the same sour taste, no matter whether you're drinking a pale, a stout, or wheat. I went three times, and all three times I disliked the beer. It has been a good three years since I went there.
 
I got the WORST case of Montezuma's Revenge from more than one beer at a local brewpub here in Charleston. The beer tastes terrible and the guy that brews it doesn't have any clue what he's doing. He also is probably using expired extract syrup since I know he doesn't do all grain.

Needless to say, I pass on house ales there now.
 
eanmcnulty said:
Stockholm's in Geneva, IL, has an ambitious food menu that they don't always pull off very well, and their beers all have the same sour taste, no matter whether you're drinking a pale, a stout, or wheat. I went three times, and all three times I disliked the beer. It has been a good three years since I went there.
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Stockholm's had pretty good food when I had it @ a wine fest in Geneva last year. I had their beer @ the oakpark microbrew and food review last year too. The beer was ok but needs to be bolder. both times the owner was cooking and/or serving though.
 
mlyday said:
Its kind of sad because the restuart is really good.
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Its sad but this seems to be pretty common. I know of at least a couple brewpubs where the food is excellent but the beer is average to subpar. I guess if the food was crappy too they wouldn’t be in business anymore!
 
There is a brewery in downtown Oakland. My God it could be so great. It is old as hell and really beautiful. It is in a great location and very convenient.

I don't think they have ever cleaned their lines. They have Pliny on tap (the only place near my work). I've ordered it twice (months apart) and both times it tasted absolutely horrible.

I refuse to go back.
 
I'm too young to remember this, but I've heard something similar happened in the early 90's. A bunch of brewpubs sprung up everywhere, a bunch of them sucked, and they went out of business.

There definitely seems to be a "craft" beer bubble inflating. I don't know what will happen when it pops.
 
Here in Des Moines we have a plethora of good "brewpubs." If it weren't for one of them, I'd likely be drinking Bud Light and not wanting any of that "dark beer."

Got me into craft beer which led me to homebrew. :eek:nestar:
 
There's a number around here. Most are alright, not great not horrible. There's one where the food isn't too amazing but the beer is fantastic. No real turds that I've been to though.
 
ktblunden said:
There's a sports bar near me that serves all beers in frozen schooners. I remember loving that 10 years ago when I was ordering Coors Light, but when I order a Stone IPA I don't want it to come to me partially frozen. Other than that it's a great place, I just need to remember to ask for a room temp glass.
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At the same time no bar (and especially no place that brews their own beer) should serve beer in a glass that's came straight out of the dishwasher. Why don't you pop it in the oven for a few minutes while you're at it?

Rinse the damn thing with cold water before pouring beer into it. Warm beer tastes like crap.
 
TyTanium said:
I'm in the western burbs, but not sure which one you're talking about...in what city is this brew pub located?
Click to expand...

It is in Geneva. I don't like naming names because I don't want to hurt local business, but I am really not a big fan of their beers. Others may like them, but they all taste sour and infected to me.
 
There's a small chain here in DFW (Humperdinks) that has a few decent beers but most are mediocre at best. Some of the beers used to be very good but quality has gone downhill. Last time I went all the beers were ordered came out flat. We would tell the waitress and ask for a different beer. Same thing. After 2-3 attempts she said another table said the same thing before (so why keep bringing them?). I told her there was a problem with the CO2 and they probably needed to adjust the regulator. She told me the kegs all come carbonated so it was probably the main brewery's fault. So nobody fixed the problem and we left. Haven't been back since.
 
ReverseApacheMaster said:
There's a small chain here in DFW (Humperdinks) that has a few decent beers but most are mediocre at best. Some of the beers used to be very good but quality has gone downhill. Last time I went all the beers were ordered came out flat. We would tell the waitress and ask for a different beer. Same thing. After 2-3 attempts she said another table said the same thing before (so why keep bringing them?). I told her there was a problem with the CO2 and they probably needed to adjust the regulator. She told me the kegs all come carbonated so it was probably the main brewery's fault. So nobody fixed the problem and we left. Haven't been back since.
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I have been to Humperdinks on business. 4 years ago the beer was very good. I was there last year and would agree with you. Now it just has that sports bar BMC feel to it.
 
I hate when a brewpub has really ****ty food. I know it's about the beer, but in my opinion good beer is much harder to make than good food. I'd rather go somewhere with no food and expect nothing but peanuts/pretzels (and order a pizza) than go somewhere with a menu comprised of frozen stuff tossed in a deep fryer.

But if the beer is good I'll usually go back anyways...:)
 
I feel so fortunate. Every brew pub I visit in my area is great. Certainly, some beers are better than others,and not every style is my favorite, but I have never been disappointed. The one time I was kind of disappointed was when one of the brew pubs hired a new brewer, then forced him to brew a bunch of beers in a hurry so they could have a coming out party for him. Several had diacetyl in them. I gave him a couple of months and damn that beer got great. So sorry to read that some of you have had numerous bad experiences.
 
If I ever hit the lotto I am going to open my own brew pub that will not have a "Blonde" for the BMC crowd and the menu will be all pit BBQ and pizza. Guy Fieri would certainly stop by to film a spot for DDD.
 
I have yet to encounter a lousy brewpub here in Vermont. A couple of the bigger brewers.. like Long Trail and Harpoon have pubs right on premises, so you can tour the facility, have a brew and lunch.
 
Grinnan5150 said:
If I ever hit the lotto I am going to open my own brew pub that will not have a "Blonde" for the BMC crowd and the menu will be all pit BBQ and pizza. Guy Fieri would certainly stop by to film a spot for DDD.
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This! And no waitress will be allowed to say things like "this beer is like Miller Lite" or "that beer is similar to Blue Moon" or "it's a pale ale so it's really hoppy".
 
Nateo said:
They just need to add "Artisan ale project" to their name, and idiots will fawn all over them, and talk about what wonderful complexity their sour beers have.
Click to expand...

Are you making a jab at jolly pumpkin?
 

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