Had to laugh at this restaurant / brew pub review.

[Javan]

I actually found it sad, but humorous as I have been to many establishments that say they brew their own beer and I always wondered if it was true. This was written by a local guide for a place near where I live. I have not been there, always wanted to go, but not now.

"This place sells cheap corporate beer then lie to people about it being there own craft brew. This is one of the worst practices I have seen in the beer / bar industry. I would almost assume illegal. The bar staff was extremely rude when I called them on it, but couldn't keep up the lie and confessed to this unethical behavior. Food was so so. Nothing to brag about. There are way to many good place to go to that you do not need to spend good money on this garbage establishment."

 

[SEndorf]

Appalling that they would lie about it.
Last weekend I was at "Jake's City Grill" that serves "Jake's Red Ale".
It was pretty good. I asked the server who makes it and she was very upfront and said Leinenkugel makes it. I presume it's not uncommon for an establishment to rename a beer with the proper licensing and permission - as long as they tell the truth.

 

[Javan]

I used to frequent a place with a large brewing system on display, and their "5 house bews" on tap. The red was remarkably similar to Killians, which I found out later, it was. The system was for looks only.

 

[IslandLizard]

There's a big ethical difference between having your beer contract brewed by another brewery or blatantly relabeling (even with a proper licence) another brewery's beer. Now not disclosing upfront it being contract brewed is a gray area. But when asked of its origin it should be clearly revealed.

This place sells cheap corporate beer

I wonder what "cheap corporate beer" entails. Macro brew? That would be even more despicable and most likely very illegal.

@Javan, which places are these? So we can avoid them when in the area.

 

[mashpaddled]

Private label brewing is nothing new. Lots of bars and restaurants have had "their" beer brewed by a brewery with their label or name on it. Can't believe this is new information in 2018.

 

[IslandLizard]

Private label brewing is nothing new. Lots of bars and restaurants have had "their" beer brewed by a brewery with their label or name on it. Can't believe this is new information in 2018.

You mean a brewery brews 20-60 barrels of the same beer and sells it rebranded to various bars and restaurants to make it look like the establishments brewed it themselves? That's very deceptive, especially in the world of craft beer! Even contract brewing has a twang to it, especially without clear disclosure who actually brewed it.

This is systematic, not some new brewery startup running into production trouble and have a friendly brewery neighbor help them out on their system.

Oh well, what's new?

 

[Jayjay1976]

Aurelio's pizza has their own "Batch 59" amber ale contract brewed for them by Two Brothers, but of course they advertise it that way. Consumers know it's a high quality locally brewed craft beer that is only available in the restaurant. Now they have the world's best pizza, their very own amazing beer, and we have no other choice but to eat there twice as often as we used to.

 

[IslandLizard]

they advertise it that way

You mean they actually disclose it's brewed by Two Brothers. I think that's A-OK. No deception there.

Lucky for you to have such a pizza place to go to, instead of having to bake and brew your own to get "the best."

 

[Jayjay1976]

You mean they actually disclose it's brewed by Two Brothers. I think that's A-OK. No deception there.

Lucky for you to have such a pizza place to go to, instead of having to bake and brew your own to get "the best."

Well my wife's home made pizza is actually the best, but her recipes were developed to emulate Aurelio's style while we were living in Germany and I was slowly dying from a Chicago pizza deficiency. And my amber ale isn't nearly as good as Batch 59 (yet).

 

[Sadu]

I love the concept of a house ale. For me it does need to be brewed by the establishment to count, though I'll accept it being contract brewed if it's their recipe and demand got too much for them to continue making it themselves.

WilliamsWarn actually target this market which is cool. The product is a 50L conical keg fermentor. You ferment their extracts under pressure, remove the yeast, then serve from the fermentor. Get a few of those and it would be a sweet setup for pubs wanting a house ale. You can do all grain of course but I can't see it being economical one keg at a time.

 

[Rodent]

I'd rather a pub/eatery/restaurant/(non-brewery) have a local brewery contract brew solid beer for them under the restaurant name/brand than to have the pub/eatery brew sub-par beer because they aren't beer experts yet caved to pressure to try and be something they're not

 

[Jayjay1976]

I'd rather a pub/eatery/restaurant/(non-brewery) have a local brewery contract brew solid beer for them under the restaurant name/brand than to have the pub/eatery brew sub-par beer because they aren't beer experts yet caved to pressure to try and be something they're not

Exactly. Been to plenty of brewpubs that had substandard food and crappy beer. All the shiny equipment in the world is no substitute for a skilled brewer. Know your strengths, respect your weaknesses.

 

[mongoose33]

Potosi Brewing--where the National Brewery Museum is located--started out having their recipes contract brewed. It was common knowledge. Now they have their own brewing setup so their beers are presumably all brewed on site.

 

[Sadu]

Exactly. Been to plenty of brewpubs that had substandard food and crappy beer. All the shiny equipment in the world is no substitute for a skilled brewer. Know your strengths, respect your weaknesses.

Why does it have to be substandard? We can brew awesome beer at home with basic or flash equipment, so nothing stopping a restaurant or bar doing the same. They have professional chefs on site, good gear, good ingredient turnaround and are doing the same recipe over and over so there's no reason it can't be fine-tuned to be great.

You'd expect the house beer to be a blonde / wheat / pale ale. Something approachable / straightforward / quick to turn around. Not like anyone's expecting an aged bourbon stout or a fruit lambic, I'm good with leaving that stuff to the breweries (and homebrewers).

I just don't see the point in having a house beer that is actually a contract-brewed generic something. It's only purpose is to trick consumers. Screw that. The whole point is that it's a unique point of difference that has some sort of connection to the establishment. Preferably brewed in-house, but if it's contract brewed then the pub/restaurant should have at least some level of involvement in the recipe. If they are just restickering an existing commercial beer, how is that a house beer? They are just selling something but giving the impression that it's something else.

 

[mashpaddled]

You mean a brewery brews 20-60 barrels of the same beer and sells it rebranded to various bars and restaurants to make it look like the establishments brewed it themselves? That's very deceptive, especially in the world of craft beer! Even contract brewing has a twang to it, especially without clear disclosure who actually brewed it.

This is systematic, not some new brewery startup running into production trouble and have a friendly brewery neighbor help them out on their system.

Oh well, what's new?

Yes. That's how private label production works. It happens all over the food industry.

It is deceptive if the bar or restaurant says they brew the private label beer but not deceptive to say it's their house beer because that doesn't actually mean anything. When you find retailers with their own beer brands it's almost certainly private label. Trader Joe's beers, for example, are brewed by a wide range of reputable breweries like Firestone Walker. They don't claim to brew the beers themselves but they don't go out of their way to advertise the brewers' names either.

 

[MaxStout]

What were the other reviews saying? Could this just be a case of some disgruntled patron getting even, or perhaps a shill for the competition? Unless there is a pattern of similar reviews, I don't put much stock in them. One bad review (or one good one) doesn't present much statistical validity. Who is this "local guide"? Is it a respected local writer or just some guy with a blog? Whoever it is, the person really needs to work on spelling/grammar if they want to be successful in the writing business.

OP should actually go there and try it. Give them a fair shake. Talk to the staff, try the beer and food, get the real story. After all, it is nearby.