Reviews on PubCrawler from beergoblin PubCrawler.com - International Travel Search Engine Find Bars, Brewpubs and Microbreweries, Restaurants, Hotels, Bed and Breakfasts and Historic Landmarks
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Reviews on PubCrawler from beergoblin
Other Reviews by this User
This sad excuse for a brewpub closed in 2006. Fans of lousy craft beer in Hollister will now have to drive to the Firehouse in Sunnyvale (or Rock Bottom in Campbell). If you actually like good craft beer, El Toro in Morgan Hill is even closer.
This subpar brewpub has been dead and gone for awhile now. The title of "worst brewpub in Sacramento" is now open for debate (I say Pyramid but even they make good wheat beers and I'm biased towards brewpubs that make good big beers). 114 J Street is now a wine tasting room.
Copperhead ESB was just plain good (a bit caramely, crystal malt comes through, above average compared to similar brews I've had). Munich Helles (lager) was pretty good (average for style). Kartoon Brune (Abbey style brown) was pretty good (interesting: average for style; just missing a little extra kick that would make it better.). Barleywine was just OK (below average for style; taste missing any kick; rather blah). Only 4 beers is not a very good selection but I get the feeling if you live in Atlanta that the beers on tap change so that keeps things interesting if you are a local. That advertising strip for the bar on the bottom of the TV got kind of annoying as I was watching a baseball game. Nice place overall.
Seasonal Imperial IPA (supposedly 11% ABV) was downright good (tasted more like a regular west coast style IPA; alcohol % was hidden well). I was highly annoyed when I came back the next day and found out the IPA was done. Max Black (lager) was pretty good (chocolately taste comes through well; somewhat unique). Max Pale Ale was pretty good (a bit of a flowery taste). Max Gold (pilsner) was pretty good (tart as style tends to be). Max Red (Vienna style lager) was just OK (not as malty as I’d prefer for style; needs more punch). Seasonal Maibock also just OK (kinda blah but drinkable). Salmon was pretty good. Gumbo was just OK. Service was a bit slow for lunchtime (when people can't linger as they'd like). Housed in a nice old brick building.
I would have preferred some beers that were bigger and/or darker in addition to the light offerings. Seasonal Spring Wheat was pretty good (average for a wheat). Seasonal Summer Blue (blueberry) was also pretty good (interesting stab at a fruit beer; light). Druid Hill Pils was just OK (nicely drinkable, a little tart, nothing special). Park Trail Ale (British style) was also just OK (bitter in the way the style dictates but nothing special). Olmstead Amber was less than OK (drinkable but nothing special; slightly below average for style; caramel malt taste did not come through).
The location (the building and the park) are both nice.
There were 4 beers when I went a few days ago. Porter was OK (sweetness interesting but odd; almost like the sweetness was added after the fact because it feels disconnected from the rest of the beer; slightly below average for style). Pale was just OK (fairly drinkable but nothing special; slightly below average for style; a bit bland). Bohemian Lager tasted much like soapy water. Hefeweizen was just a subpar/bland version of the style.
You know a brewpub probably sucks when they don't even have descriptions of their own beers (talk about a lack of pride in the main product). Brewpubs that don't have the imagination to come up with names for their beers tend to stink it up too. This place is in line with all of those trends. They didn't even come up with an original name for the brewpub itself (California already has 2 brewpubs that I know of with the word "firehouse" in the name... was this location even a former firehouse?).
Service at the bar was subpar too. I thought I was going to have to set the place on fire in order to get a bill (yes the bad pun was intended).
Parts of the bar area (not the bar itself) have a view of several TV's that are pretty nice for sports fans.
Really good brewpubs just don't exist in the Bay Area south of the San Mateo Bridge and this is the worst of the bunch down there (unless you consider Hollister part of the Bay Area because that one is really bad too). Sunnyvale has another brewpub (Faultline) that may not be anything special itself but has much better beer.
In visiting Atlanta for about a week I found this place to be the best beer bar I found. There was a good number of beers on tap although the regional beer tastes seem to skew away from the IPA's or big dark ales I love but I can also appreciate other types of brews and that is what I did here (they had beers from local breweries that do not have brewpubs although I did check out the 3 local brewpubs in Atlanta too). The pasta was OK (nothing special but fairly priced). The TV situation was very nice for sports watching (much better than the Vortex down the street but that place is worth checking out too).
Pub in Lincoln (not the brewery in Roseville) closed January 2006 per last Sunday's Sacramento Bee. Too bad because it really is a cool old building... and I like the Rip Roarin' Red and the seasonal Triple IPA.
This brewpub is now closed. Too bad because it was a cool place where I especially liked Emerald Pale and Tahoe Red after a day of snowboarding. Sacramento Brewing actually brews the beer you see bottled under the Lake Tahoe Brewing name.
Methinks some people put way too much stock in beers that win awards. The Ultimate Weiss from this place won in a category with only 16 other entries. I've been to small beer festivals where there are more beers than that in a category (and sometimes I like the winner, sometimes I don't). Sometimes I wonder if "professional" beer tasters (like they probably have at the GABF) think a certain skunky taste adds character. Of course the Ultimate Weiss might usually be a great beer and I may have been served the result of a bad batch (this has happened with beers I generally like at other brewpubs) but I can only judge what was served to me on the day I was there.
This is the best brewpub in Vegas by default (I don't think they know what a good big beer is in this town). Bohemian Pilsner, Royal Red Lager, and High Roller Gold were all pretty good. Marker Pale Ale was OK. Blackchip Porter was also OK (a bit weak). Pizza is above average for pub pizza. Cool beer hall in old timey casino in downtown.
I gave this place a try yesterday and frankly I was happy. Pliny the Elder (double IPA) is quite good not because the it was super hoppy but instead because it was drinkably hoppy. Desparation (a Belgian) was also quite good but sadly this is a one time thing. Damnation (another Belgian) was good. Noble Experiment Part 1 (pale ale) was good. Little White Lie (a Belgian White) was also good. The house IPA was pretty good. Sanctification (another Belgian) was just OK. Golden Ale was just OK (but what do you expect from a golden?). Avoid the OVL Stout (thin, bland, weak). I know of no other brewpub that makes so many Belgians. Pizza was slightly above average for pub pizza.
I tried this joint yesterday. Clooney's Irish Red was pretty good (a bit sweet but not too sweet and easily the best beer in the house). Old Redwood Porter (in 3 forms: Nitro, CO2, and Cask) was also pretty good but not worthy of a 2004 state fair gold. The rest of the beers (including the American Wheat, Annadel Pale Ale, Bodega India Pale Ale, Goat Rock Dopplebock, Summer Cherry Ale, One Ton Blackberry Ale, Stonefly Oatmeal Stout, JD's Batch Barrel Barleywine, and Cerveza de Santa Rosa Chili Ale) were decent AT BEST. I did not try the food. The bartender was nice and service was good but why would I go back when there is a vastly superior brewpub a couple blocks away?
