Brew haus

I'm in the process of writing a little something of the microbreweries I've been to and I feel it might be wise to put the type of establishment into focus a little bit to inform the uninformed.

There are 22 microbreweries on my list, of all of them, I would say from #10 through #18 (give or take) are all about the same in terms of beer quality you can expect. There are some microbrew pubs that are brewing only because it seems like a good business idea, these places typically have mediocre beers. You can tell these places in the staffs behavior. They never sneak sips of beer, and after their shift they won't stay and have a beer no matter how free it may be, if you ask them about a particular beer they will say something really lame or have the menus description (horoscope) memorized. Avoid these places.

Some brew pubs really care about what they are serving and strive for the highest quality and consistency. These would be the top 8 or 9 on my list, and that comes naturally to these places. These are the brew pubs with a dedicated following that is very much an intricate part of the pub and a staff that takes the beer personnally. Common with these elite pubs, they won't have just one or two good beers, they will all be good with the exception of maybe one. If there is a pub like the near your home my advice is to really charish it, they are few and far between. An excellent example is the #1 spot on my list, Emmett's Tavern and Brewery.

As for the run of the mill brew pub here's some good rule of thumb, look around see what everyone is ordering while considering the beer list. Most brew pubs will have one beer that is really good. If the pub has a huge list of brews, none of them will be very good, hope for a couple decent beers. Some brew pubs try to confuse a well seasoned pallet into thinking its a good pub with styles that no ones heard of like (hard to think of an example of a nonexistent beer style) names that are words that are completely foriegn. Usually it seems that they try to mask a bad beer with an unusual name hoping to give the idea it's a good beer that most of us just haven't heard of. Here's what I do in that stituation, taste a beer, if it tastes bad it's not a good beer, try something else.

The bottom few on the list, again, these places will always suck until someone slaps the owner and/or brewmaster in the back of the head. I need to use an example, Water Street Brewery, I sat down at the bar and i thought "Man, cool place" I knew I didn't have all night so I ordered the stereotypical sampler paddle. It came and the bartender said what each one was dispite the labels. I did what any beer guy would do, start from the lightest moving to the heavier beers. I really wondered how the brewmaster tastes a beer and says "This is good, lets serve it". He must be a complete moron or have no real idea of what he's doing. The beer had a thickness to it and I found it to be not the least bit drinkable. I was curious so I read a brochure they had stating the bars history and I read that it was opened recently and the brewmaster was also the owner, disapointing but logical. I have to assume that running a restaurant is stressful now pile on top of that brewing, you're not superman asshole. It's no wonder the beer blows.

I have to include this last part. The ever present beer menu complete with a helpful description of the beer. These are absolutly no different to that of a horoscope. Completely vague, usually says nothing of the actual beer. I wonder if it's the idea of what the brewmaster was hoping to brew. The best advice I can give is to just ask the bartender or somehow find out the type of beer i.e. Lager, pale ale, stout. Go into the place knowing what types of beer you enjoy and the differences in a few types and order using that as your guide. A little fun later, read the description for a good laugh.

Anyway, so thats the jist of the microbrewery.