A restaurant's 'own' brew.

[the_bird]

Hadn't even though about places doing this, but I guess it explains why the Water Street Grill had a "Water Street Pale Ale." Figured that it was just something that they bought in only because of the name, hadn't thought about them relabeling something else.

It's a ****** move, I don't know how you argue otherwise. Even having a beer that's brewed for you by a contract brewer - at least that's a specific recipe you're having made. Taking another beer and just changing the name on the tap, that's just crap.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

Not to be confused with Water Street Brewery in Wisconsin which does brew their own beers.

 

[Jughead]

Living in true brew pub central. It's nice to have a "house" beer and know it came from onsite (cause you can see the fermenters usually) and ask questions about it, and get intelligent answers. But there is a lot of "contract" breweries around here that a number of restaurants use to make house brews. I'm sure it's a set recipe list that you can tweek a lil, but most of them are acceptable beers. I have called out some places for selling switched label brews. I had a "house" IPA in one place that tasted like Sierra Nevada. I asked the bartender, and he said "we just stick our own tap handle on random kegs and sell twice as much of it, I call BS. 95% of the public could give a S#^T, but us 5 percenters know the difference. It's all marketing, Oh and bars need to pour an honest pint! But that's another story.

 

[midfielder5]

For a suspicious "house" brew or other new beer to me, I will ask for a small sample before plunking down the cash. Especially if they cannot adequately describe it.

It is easier to do with a bartender then a table server, tho!
Had a pale ale at SFO International airport (i'd guess it was Gordon Biersch), and I bought it after the free sample. it was that or heineken

 

[alcibiades]

never heard of jungle jims, is it any good for beer?....if I'm going out for drinking beer, I'm going to the green leafe (they recently had Avery Maharaja on tap!), despite their poor food selection...

Interesting. I just find it odd that these guys can tout it as 'their' brew when it isnt, and tastes EXACTLY like Bud! I just hate being lied to!

alcibiades - Im in Williamsburg as well. If you stop by Jungle Jims by the Great Wolf lodge, Try their 'custom' brew, and tell me it isnt Budweiser!

 

[dougf]

never heard of jungle jims, is it any good for beer?....if I'm going out for drinking beer, I'm going to the green leafe (they recently had Avery Maharaja on tap!), despite their poor food selection...

Its horrible for beer, the food was ok though.

 

[alexdagrate]

Tasted like Killians to me.

Totally. When I worked at a restaurant/bar in Seattle, we had a dozen taps with nice micros and several imported german beers.

The owner found out that Killians was super cheap. He tried selling it for $1 a pint and we hardly sold any.

He renamed it our special house beer, upped the price, and it went like hotcakes.

Sleazy, but effective.

 

[DevilsCreekBrewing]

I live in a beer wasteland. The LCBO and The Beer Store control just about everything.

However, there is a local brewer, Grand River Brewing that has done house beers for The Golden Kiwi, the Argyle Arms, and the now defunct Castle on King. I really liked the Castle's beer, Executioner, in fact I preferred it to any of the regular beer by Grand River. The landlord of the Castle worked with Rob, brewer at Grand River to come up with a great recipe that he would like to drink, as well as sell. I think that a house beer can be a great thing to do, if done right.

 

[Schlenkerla]

I can understand a place wanting to have a house beer and rename it as their own. Nice restaurants have house wines, but I hate the idea of a place calling itself a brewpub and not brewing or fermenting on premises. Its effin' ********.

I like the local chain brew pub that has a centralized brewhouse that makes wort and ships it to the restaurant/brew pubs in dairy trucks to ferment and serve.

Granite City: http://www.gcfb.net/

I prefer the local brew pubs that have the whole deal though.

 

[SwampassJ]

Totally. When I worked at a restaurant/bar in Seattle, we had a dozen taps with nice micros and several imported german beers.

The owner found out that Killians was super cheap. He tried selling it for $1 a pint and we hardly sold any.

He renamed it our special house beer, upped the price, and it went like hotcakes.

Sleazy, but effective.

The average consumer for any market is under educated on what they are buying and easily swayed into paying more. For example, people buying a laptop from bestbuy and paying their optimization scam, sorry I mean fee, to remove trial ware.

 

[Schlenkerla]

The average consumer for any market is under educated on what they are buying and easily swayed into paying more. For example, people buying a laptop from bestbuy and paying their optimization scam, sorry I mean fee, to remove trial ware.

Regarding the beer....Its the classic fallacy, it costs more so it must be better!

 

[BBKing]

I can understand a place wanting to have a house beer and rename it as their own. Nice restaurants have house wines, but I hate the idea of a place calling itself a brewpub and not brewing or fermenting on premises. Its effin' ********.

I like the local chain brew pub that has a centralized brewhouse that makes wort and ships it to the restaurant/brew pubs in dairy trucks to ferment and serve.

Granite City: http://www.gcfb.net/

I prefer the local brew pubs that have the whole deal though.

I'm also a fan of Granite City though I didnt realize that they had their wort shipped to them like that.

Their wheat beer is by far my favorite.

 

[TheManes]

Sorry for the delay, here is what I found out from my Sam Adams rep:
Sometimes they will let a bar/restaurant sell Boston Ale under the bar's own label - whatever they want to call it. They allow this usually on some slower accounts to move more of their product. He also said that when he was with Coor's, they did the same thing with Killian's and Coor's Banquet (regular coor's). They don't charge anything, they just get an extra line out of it.

 

[dougf]

Awesome, thanks for the response. Its still BS what restaurants pull

 

[anson]

My first post and here it goes: You don't think they actually hand batter fresh fish for the fish and chips or smoke the baby back ribs in house in the majority of restaurants do ya? WE all know better, it's just another restaurant scam to increase their profit margin and capitalize on the craft beer movement, although it's the equivalent of house wine. And if the server can't answer a simple question about their 'house' beer, management either sucks or is indifferent about the staff's knowledge, a very bad sign. Stick with a good micro or get a free sample. Sorry for the rant, but it's up to us to be educated consumers. I assume that I am the only one with my best interest in mind

 

[olllllo]

Really? Your getting duped by Restaurants?

You all are quick to condemn the restaurant, but you should know that breweries, even craft breweries, market some of their beers to be sold this way at restaurants.

No one I've ever asked has tried to cover this up. Just ask, "Who Brews your house beer?" If they can't or won't tell you , why would you even consider ordering it?

About the only "house beer" that I know to be specially brewed for a select group of establishments (I'm sure there are more) is RR Publican which is brewed for Monks, Falling Rock, Brouwers, Horsebrass, and Toronado. http://www.publicannationalcommittee.com/

 

[MeatyPortion]

I'm at Granite City right now. I should show them this thread.

 

[olllllo]

Just to pull the covers back a bit more. Several chain brewpubs do not brew on premise. BJ, Rockbottom come to mind.

 

[Schlenkerla]

I'm at Granite City right now. I should show them this thread.

Granite City looks at brewing with equipment utilization. They find centralized wort making is more efficient and its best to ferment on premise. They brew in two shifts or 16 hours a day and fill multiple trucks with wort throughout the day. Its a pretty cool operation.

 

[MeatyPortion]

Granite City looks at brewing with equipment utilization. They find centralized wort making is more efficient and its best to ferment on premise. They brew in two shifts or 16 hours a day and fill multiple trucks with wort throughout the day. Its a pretty cool operation.

Yeah, I've seen the conical fermenters they have there. It's kind of interesting and the beer is decent and well-priced. Food's not bad either.

 

[Zul'jin]

From BJs site. The restaurant. Not the site you have up in the next tab that you hope HBT can't see you looking at. Or who knows. HBT may have a BJ site. They got everything else.

"As the years went by, significant changes were made to the BJ's menu and the name was consequently revised to BJ's "Pizza & Grill." Then in 1996, the first large-format restaurant was opened in Brea, California. The introduction of fine handcrafted beers was welcomed by guests and the newly renamed "BJ's Restaurant & Brewery" concept was launched.

Most of our restaurants do not have an on-site brewery. Instead, they have a "tap room" from which BJ's unique handcrafted beer is dispensed. These large-format restaurants operate under the name "BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse.""

I had a porter at BJs that was sold as their own. If they made it or not, I dunno. Was good though.

 

[BBKing]

My cousin, who is a homebrewer, and I brought this whole topic up last Sunday at a family BBQ, and were quickly laughed out of the front room onto the deck...

Where we drank some quality homebrews while my foolish foolish family enjoyed their Miller Lite.

 

[thataintchicken]

this is not an uncommon thing.
I have worked in restaurants that relabel things to suit their needs.

Chef's special BBQ sauce is nothing but a Marzetti's sauce. It comes in a bucket.
Sizzler's cocktail sauce is nothing but 4 cans of chili sauce to 1 can of Horseradish Goo. Both of which came off a truck. nothing special about it.

Pouring a Killians through a tap with a house label is not shocking to me.
Hell, it's practically standard practice.

If in doubt ask.

 

[Fyxen]

I go to a great place, Cornacopia in Eugene OREGON, they simply have about 5 or 6 revolving taps from microbreweries up and down the West Coast that they keep changing in and out. Make for great R & D for your next homebrew! Along with some great Pub food.

I live right down the street from Cornucopia. One of the reasons I love this town, there's so much great beer around!

 

[pnj]

I don't have enough fingers and toes to count the number of resturants that actually brew their own beer around here.

 

[Jughead]

I live right down the street from Cornucopia. One of the reasons I love this town, there's so much great beer around!

Ya, we're Damn lucky to live in such a beer friendly place! Cornucopia is a cool place. I thought everywhere was as good for brews as Oregon is, until I did some traveling. There is some good micros all over the place, But some areas are beer "deadzones". And as far as restaurants' brews, I think all of us here just hold our brew to higher standards than most. Places have got to do what they can to get by.

 

[RDWHAHB]

I buy good beer. Beyond that, I don't really give a hoot who brewed it. EAC hipsters are just upset they got duped into enjoying a BMC. Kinda like Forrest's story about the Austin Homebrew employee drinking a fake bud.

 

[dougf]

EAC hipsters are just upset they got duped into enjoying a BMC

Actually, no. Its just BS what they do. Its bad for craft beer. Its just bad business in general. We know better, thats why we discuss it here. This is a message board.

 

[RDWHAHB]

Fair 'nuff.

I don't see a problem with it being bad bussiness anymore than contract brewing. I don't drink Pete's Wicked Ales. Not because they are contract, but because I don't like them. I'll buy a "house beer" if it tastes good. I'll ask who brewed it for curiosity.

 

[emadams1980]

Me: "Who brews your M lager?"
Server: "I don't know, but it's a special microbrew made especially for us."
*Order one, taste it*
Me: "Tastes like your microbrewery is selling their beer to budweiser."
Server: "Thank you!"
*wife gives me look of, "don't be an ass, let it go".*

Same sort of thing happened to me when the wife and I went to a new chain here in town. Here is how mine ended up.

Me: "So is the beer one that you brew or is it supplied by someone else?"
Server: "It's a special microbrew made especially for us."
*Order one, taste it*
Me: "Looks like Bud. Tastes like Bud."
Server: "Oh"
*SWMBO gives me look of, "don't be an ass, let it go".*
Me: "No, manager please."
SWMBO: "Are you going to embarrass me again?"
Me: "Maybe..."
Manager: "This isn't Budweiser."
Me: "Im not stupid, take it back, and give me a Sierra Navada."
Manager: "ok"
SWMBO: "You're an ass, you know that."
Me: "Yes"

 

[LoganGoesPlaces]

Custom Brewcrafters, a local brewery outside of Rochester NY, brews their own beers along with custom beers for restaurants in western NY. They have 27 different beers listed here but I know they have more clients. Custom Brewcrafters Clients The beer is only served at the restaurant and in the brewery's tasting room.

From their client page:

At Custom BrewCrafters, we brew each of our partners beers as an exclusive creation. We know that many people have sold their already brewed beer to places that "call it their own", but in our opinion, why bother. If you're going to put your name on something, we think it ought to be special!

Most of their brews are not bad but I really enjoy their Old Toad Nut Brown.

 

[BlueSunshine]

I never actually knew about this, but then again I don't recall every drinking an in-house brand that isn't brewed on site. However, I did drink something called "777 Ale" at the Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh. It was actually pretty hoppy and I couldn't put a finger on what it might have been.