BJ's Brew House

Just came back from dinner in Baton Rouge. Well I had a pint of the Stout, the Porter, and the Nutty Ale. Neither were anything to rave about. They were good, the porter and stout had great mouth feel, but I couldn't pull out the flavors. I think my under carbed Tiki Porter was better.

I like to go there occasionally. The best thing about the one near me is not their beer but rather their fairly extensive bottle list. They have a lot of nice Belgians and Lambics.

I like the stout. Everything else on tap is a bit one-dimensional.

I enjoy eating lunch there. The food is usually pretty good.

They lost my interest when they put one in Spring, Texas with no brewery. Its just a restaurant that has their own beers made for them (by St. Arnold which is cool). Not sure if that's how they all are or not...

As a spring, tx native, I am curious about the new zealand connection.

also, my understanding was that bj's brewhouse was a pretty big chain that had regional breweries that distributed to their restaurants. I was at a BJs in the DFW area a few months back and the bartender said their beers were brewed in houston. Now, that lends credence to the st. arnolds theory, but I've heard 'mufasa' on the brewing network several times, and he's one of the head brewers for the company. Anyway, st. arnolds may do contract brewing, but I thought bj's was a pretty large outfit that brewed their own stuff and didn't contract out their beers.

I tried several of bj's beers and they were all good examples of the styles they were trying to represent. but that being said, nothing was phenomenal.

mostly though, I miss home and saw spring, tx in a post from somebody in new zealand. cool.

well i spent a lot of my childhood living in spring and my parents still live there. I moved to nz simply because I wanted to live outside of the country for a year. I still call spring/the woodlands my home.

I like what BJ's is doing... introducing better beer in a chain restaurant. And from a money standpoint in makes much more sense to have the brewing outsourced. I guess what I really want is a real brewpub in Spring.

Bj brews all their own beer, with very few locations brewing on site, but its still nice to have a craft selection like theirs available. I like their pale ale, red, stout, porter, belgian dubble, nit wit, and a few others too.

pm5k00 said:

Bj brews all their own beer, with very few locations brewing on site, but its still nice to have a craft selection like theirs available. I like their pale ale, red, stout, porter, belgian dubble, nit wit, and a few others too.

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BJs does not brew their own beer - it is under contact by St. Arnolds brewery (at least this is what they told me when I asked). This is why they do not have growlers to go.

The Brown and IPA are pretty good, the rest are just eh... I will say their Pumpkin Ale seasonal is awesome though IMO - and almost out.

I used to live in southern california, and I can tell you the location in huntington beach, brews on site, as I know a few other loctions do too, now that being said the rest may indeed come for st arnolds, or multiple breweries. One of the locations in san antonio, tx told me they don't fill growlers because its illegal to do so, which of course is just BS since I've been to a few brewpubs which are more than happy to do so. Also not brewing on site is no reason to not fill up a growler, something fishy is going on at the BJs in TX.

Really enjoyed BJ's decent beer and OK food, but last few times we went they couldn't get an order right and it took us 45 minutes to ORDER drinks. Complained to the manager and gave them two more chances and the service got worse. Won't go back too many good places to eat at to waste time there.

I like BJ's on occasion...but I especially enjoy the Grand Crü when they have it. Their pale ale is my "go to" when I go other times.

GM at the Tyler, Tx location told me their house stuff was contract brewed at St. Arnolds. Then I spoke with a St. Arnolds rep at I believe it was Specs downtown, and she said they do contract brew for St. Arnolds, but it is only their big movers. I didn't dig for details from either one of them.

I think BJs is without question the best chain restaurant I have eaten at. I usually avoid them, but every one I have been to has had great service, a nice atmosphere, and reliable, reasonably priced food. Their beers are not my favorite of any category, but I like them all better than most offerings the other chains seem to offer.

Granted, I only eat at BJs on the road when I don't know what local joints are good, but I have never once been disappointed by them.

Never been there but the BJs by my house have growlers to go.

The Baton rouge location does not brew on site, but does sell growlers.
The bottle list is nice, and most of 'thier' beers are decent.

the growler filling thing has to do with the bull**** distributor laws in texas. those distributors own the tx state legislature. business friendly, if you're the kind of business that pays for votes, i guess.

pm5k00 said:

I used to live in southern california, and I can tell you the location in huntington beach, brews on site, as I know a few other loctions do too, now that being said the rest may indeed come for st arnolds, or multiple breweries. One of the locations in san antonio, tx told me they don't fill growlers because its illegal to do so, which of course is just BS since I've been to a few brewpubs which are more than happy to do so. Also not brewing on site is no reason to not fill up a growler, something fishy is going on at the BJs in TX.

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I live in HB and BJ's no longer brews on site at that location. They have a large facility out in Ontario where they brew for all the regional restaurants. Maybe in TX and other places where they don't have the ability to distribute their own beer to the restaurants, I can see them contracting for it. If you ever look at the lists of top craft brew producers in the US, BJ's is up there pretty good (in my opionion for being a restaurant chain).

They have great food and a pretty diverse menu. They also give 10% discount for AHA members.

Layne said:

The Baton rouge location does not brew on site, but does sell growlers.
The bottle list is nice, and most of 'thier' beers are decent.

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YEs decent, but not great!

Their beer is alright -- I do go there for their Sweet Pig and loaded Chili Cheese Fries when I need to eat myself happy

thegerm said:

the growler filling thing has to do with the bull**** distributor laws in texas. those distributors own the tx state legislature. business friendly, if you're the kind of business that pays for votes, i guess.

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Exactly. In Texas breweries/brewpubs are not permitted to distribute directly to the public. Now there are some brewpubs (e.g. Gordon Biersch and Humperdinks) that do fill growlers but they have to have complex internal corporate divisions that allow the brewpub to house a brewery, distributor and restaurant in the same location.

I believe, but I may be wrong, that some of the BJ's locations do some part of the brewing process. I know one of the restaurants near me has large steel conicals in a temperature controlled room. I don't know if they use that for aging or supplemental brewing to the contracted brews or to distribute kegs to other restaurants.

I eat at the one in Clear Lake (Houston) regularly. Their brewery on site is for looks only nowadays. Their beer is currently being brewed by St. Arnolds now located downtown Houston. Although their beer is as bland as St. Arnolds, their pizza is the best in town!

The PM Porter is very tasty!

Frequently go to the one here in Sacramento. My wife and I actually really like their food and the beer is good for a brewpub. I usually go for the Hopstorm IPA, but sometime like the Nutty Brewnette. My wife almost always goes for the Piranha Pale Ale. I like that they have a great Belgian selection too, including Pranqster on tap.

Ever look at the salt content of their food?

builderguy said:

Frequently go to the one here in Sacramento. My wife and I actually really like their food and the beer is good for a brewpub. I usually go for the Hopstorm IPA, but sometime like the Nutty Brewnette. My wife almost always goes for the Piranha Pale Ale. I like that they have a great Belgian selection too, including Pranqster on tap.

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I lived in Natomas before I moved to Denver. I would frequent the BJ's there. It was a great place to get decent beer, in a town that lacks a good brewery. Can't beat the $6 lunch special with $3 pints. I love Tatonka stout!

The only beer I have had from them that I found tolerable was the pumpkin beer. I find the rest to be incredibly bland.

Ours has Arrogant Bastard on tap, so I'm more than happy to indulge in their guest beer. I think their house beer is pretty decent though too.