Best & Worst Brewpubs

[krisagon]

Best: long defunct Longshore Brewing Co - Garden City, NY - I loved their Fishtale Pale Ale
Worst: Barley Creek - Tannersville, PA - Their beers are just nasty.

YES, I was just coming in here to post how gross their beers were!

Best: Iron Hill Brewery - all over the Philly/NJ/Wilmington area.
They won 2 golds at GABF, including for their Russian Imperial Stout which is THE FLIPPIN' BEST one I've ever had!! :fro:

 

[olllllo]

What's the criteria? Just the beer? Because there is a restaurant component and... you know... a pub.

I had the worst service I ever had at a brewpub at Town Hall in Minneapolis.

 

[WrongCoastBrewery]

I'm surprised to hear bad things about Cap City. I work up the street and have been there a few times, and the one in Baltimore before they closed up shop. Their Kolsch is great and the RIS is quite good.

Never noticed any cleanliness problems. I have noticed that old water smell in the back hall by the restrooms. Maybe it gets worse with humid days? There's a non-pub in Baltimore that makes me want to retch every time I go in there, so I'm not insensitive to that smell.

I was just there and the place was ok. Their beer is subpar at best.

 

[WrongCoastBrewery]

There's a Rock Bottom in the Ballston Common Mall over in Arlington...on Wednesday their pints are only $1.50 during happy hour actually hah

Yeah, but that is mainly a restaurant. I am not even sure they are a "brewpub".

 

[DocHop]

Best: North Fork Brewery - Deming, WA and Boundary Bay Brewery - Bellingham, WA
Worst: Milwaukee Ale House - Milwaukee, WI

 

[remilard]

What's the criteria? Just the beer? Because there is a restaurant component and... you know... a pub.

I had the worst service I ever had at a brewpub at Town Hall in Minneapolis.

Me too, and while the beer was fine (certainly well made), the place is over-hyped.

For best, Aecht Shlenkerla is up there. Beer, food, service, atmosphere, location, history all great.

Domesticwise I tend to like Pelican Pub (possibly the best location, great beer and food), Russian River (need I explain?), Marin (underrated in an area with a lot of fantastic places), and Free State (underrated) a lot.

I'm trying to think of a place with the "worst pub" trifecta. Bad food, bad beer and bad service. That is pretty rare, it is more common to get all three right (and very common to get 1 of the 3 right). Usually they won't stay open if they do everything wrong. Personally my first requirement is that the beer is good, for the general public that is their last requirement so you get a lot of brewpubs with okay or worse beer.

 

[burnunit]

You know, I've also had pretty shaky service at the Town Hall, you're right there. But there's nothing whatsoever wrong with their ales!

Iron Hill in PA! I'd forgotten about them! I had the real ale on the cask, which I just Loved.

 

[eanmcnulty]

I'm taking this to mean brewpub and not brewery with a tap room. If it were brewery with a tap room I would go with Two Brothers outside Chicago in Warrenville, IL.
BEST brewpub: I like the Brewery Creek Inn in Mineral Point, WS. The beer is good, the food is great, the room and the inn are very cool too. The beer is very good, but the selection is basic: four taps, so it is limited. I haven't seen anything very strong there. But I love the place.
WORST brewpub: Stockholm's in Geneva, IL. They must use the same bad strain of yeast in all their beer. It all has the same sour tang, not a weak tang either, a strong wincing sour tang. The food has been very good, but also very bad. Their menu is ambitious, and when they pull it off its great, but often it isn't. I went three times, and I won't be back.

 

[WrongCoastBrewery]

Usually they won't stay open if they do everything wrong. Personally my first requirement is that the beer is good, for the general public that is their last requirement so you get a lot of brewpubs with okay or worse beer.

For most of the general public who drink the Big Beers like BL and Lite, they dont know what a good beer tastes like. I have been to many a brewpub and you always here that one customer who asks for a beer that tastes like brand x. In turn, the servers who just want to turn a quick table and get their tip just push off the cheapest least flavorful beer they have.

 

[LagerLover24]

+1 on Elysian. I plan on brewing a Wise ESB clone. The recipe is on their website.

 

[Sacdan]

Worst, by far, was Stumptown Brewery in Guernville, CA
Best, Russian River in CA and Dogfish Head in MD.

 

[tucsonmike]

Best: Nimbus Brewery in Tucson, AZ... the menu is small but the brew more than makes up for it.

Worst: I haven't found one I haven't liked yet... I must be really lucky...

Have you tried Nimbus lately? The beer has been horrible the past few months. The red isn't red and doesn't taste like the red has tasted the past 10+ years. The oatmeal stout i had 2 months ago tasted like burnt sunflower seeds. However, I will be checking in every once and a while to see if they got their stuff together.

I would definitely recommend old bisbee brewing co. in bisbee. I think they opened in march, beers are great.

Barrio brewing in Tucson is, IMO, the current "best" brewery in Tucson...

 

[DrinkNoH2O]

Best - Pizza Port. If I had to choose a location it would prob be Carlsbad simply because it has the most seating.

Worst - Steelhead Brewing CO. in Irvine, CA. I got a sampler flight there and literally started laughing at how bad it was.

Dishonorable mention - Newport Beach Brewing Co. Their beers gets worse every time I visit, but I still like their food.

 

[WolvinMaine]

Here in Maine, for brewpubs, I probably would say The Liberal Cup in Hallowell. Gritty's in the Old port of Portland is good too. Both have good beer/food. I have a feeling once the brewery portion of Lion's Pride Inn in Brunswick is up and running, that will probably be the best in the state. Their current beer selection is incredible, so I suspect the beers brewed on site will be very good, and it is very good pub grub (try the Lamb lollipops!). We have some great beer bars (Great Lost Bear, Novare Res, Ebenezer's pub and Lions Pride) but they are not breweries currently.

Worst...Shipyard in the Portland airport. I just don't find any of their beers that memorable, the food is edible, but that is about it. Lets face it, airport bars just always have a horrible vibe.

 

[Boy]

Worst: Deschutes in Bend. I just don't like their beer on the whole and they are way over priced for food.

Best: Bend Brewing Company. Amazing food and Beer. Can't wait to make their HopHead Clone.

 

[neko]

When you live in Portland you can forget about the bad breweries and have hella choices for something great. I'm not a fan of McMenamins, but the Terminator Stout is fine. Cascade Brewing/Raccoon Lodge has made some nasty stuff, but I haven't had much of their stuff so I can't say they are the worst.
Hopworks is great and they always have multiple seasonals on tap so you can usually get something you've never had before.

 

[Yankeehillbrewer]

I haven't been to a ton of them, but of the one's I've been to...

Best-Sierra Nevada(not sure if that counts), pricey but worth every penny IMO
Worst-Downtown Joe's in Napa,Ca..Tasteless beer, crappy service & way overpriced.

 

[bad coffee]

Best, Russian River. 'nuf said.
Worst, 777 in vegas. Out of the four people there who all got samplers, one person finished two of the beers. The rest of us left them there and walked out.

 

[WrongCoastBrewery]

Worst: Deschutes in Bend. I just don't like their beer on the whole and they are way over priced for food.

Wow, I am surprised to hear that. I love their Mirror Pond Pale Ale. I have never been to the restaurant, but any other beer I have had was good. I will have to try Bend Brewing next time I visit my parents.

 

[509inc]

Best: Belle Isle Brewery Okc, Ok

Worst: Bricktown Brewery Okc, Ok

I stumbled in there after reading about 50 cent beer happy hour. Tried the CopperHead Ale and the IPA. Both were just terrible. The CopperHead tasted like dirt and they IPA left me with an intensely foul floral taste in my mouth that lingered for hours.

There were two guys at the bar having a pitcher chugging race which took them over then 10 minutes. Not sure if it was because the beer is so bad or if they do not how to chug. Anyways after the chug fest they disappeared for awhile only to return to tell everyone how they just threw up all the beer they drank.

Not the kind of crowd I like to be around. The fact that it was me and that group of 5 people during a 50 cent happy hour speaks for the quality of their beers.

 

[lamarguy]

Best: Belle Isle Brewery Okc, Ok

Worst: Bricktown Brewery Okc, Ok

Having visited OKC and the surrounding brewpubs, I must say - all of the OKC brewpubs are crap.

If you visit OKC, do yourself a favor - skip the brewpubs and sample Choc beer at a good craft beer bar.

 

[AndyHannas]

Best: Pizza Port Carlsbad; Stone World Brewing and Bistro (does that count? They serve food and beer!)
Worst: Gordon Biersch in Pasadena, CA

YES! i just spent the summer in San Diego and i absolutely love Pizza Port. the new one in OB is pretty cool too. but since i am back in VA now, i'd have to say the best out here is Devil's Backbone or Blue Mountain in Nelson County

 

[Meisterlowin]

In my limited experience:

Best: Flat Branch Pub and Brewing, Columbia, MO. I'm a big fan of their Oil Change Stout

Worst: Grindstone Brewing Co. Columbia, MO--in all fairness, I only had the mead which I thought was mediocre. Sadly, I can't go back and give them a fair shake since they closed up a few years ago.

 

[DrinkNoH2O]

Worst: Deschutes in Bend. I just don't like their beer on the whole and they are way over priced for food.

Best: Bend Brewing Company. Amazing food and Beer. Can't wait to make their HopHead Clone.

Sorry to hear that. I went to the Deschutes location in Downtown Portland and thought it was great. I already loved their beers so it was nice having them fresh off the keg plus the food was good too. I really liked their soft pretzels with cheese and mustard.


BTW, I'm so jealous of you living near Mt. Hood, that is probably my favorite area of the country. Amazing snowboarding and that drive along 30 is flat out awesome.

 

[SteveM]

In Philly, it's hard to pick out a "best" - I put all of them as tied for first.

Two "worsts" - Gordon Biersch in the Tysons Corner Mall down near DC. Who needs someone to attempt the faithful re-creation of German beers? And second is some joint in Newport Beach - I went their years ago and the beers were absolutely brutal. I don't recall the name.

 

[WrongCoastBrewery]

In Philly, it's hard to pick out a "best" - I put all of them as tied for first.

Two "worsts" - Gordon Biersch in the Tysons Corner Mall down near DC. Who needs someone to attempt the faithful re-creation of German beers? And second is some joint in Newport Beach - I went their years ago and the beers were absolutely brutal. I don't recall the name.

Yeah, any chain "brewpub" usually isnt all that great. I still say if you are ever in the Seattle area and want to venture to the Kitsap Pennisula, the Silver City Brewery and Restaurant is worth the trip.

 

[BargainMugs]

Syracuse, NY best/worst:

Best: Empire Brewing Company
Worst: Syracuse Suds Factory

 

[bakeup]

I really like Grizzly Peak in Ann Arbor, MI. Their beers are really good, and their food is fantastic.

Worst would be a closed brewpub.

 

[LuckyRVA]

Worst: Barley Creek - Tannersville, PA - Their beers are just nasty.

Agreed! That makes 3 of us! I tried their IPA and stout and both were terrible. Two of the worst beers I've ever put to my mouth.

Best: Legend Brewery Brewpub http://www.legendbrewing.com/index.asp
Awesome beer (try the IPA), decent food and good location on the James River in Richmond, VA

 

[shamrockdoc]

Best: Red Hot in Tacoma Wa the best selection of beers on tap and rad hotdogs, Parkway Tavern Tacoma Wa

Worst: Harmon Brewpub(all of them) Tacoma Wa. beers are horrible and they have this bartender/waitress there named "Han" thats an absolute bitch im talking thunderclap hammer of Thor bitch!!