Redwood Curtain Brewing Company

Redwood Curtain Brewing CompanyRedwood Curtain Brewing Company
Redwood Curtain Brewing CompanyRedwood Curtain Brewing Company
Brewery, Bar, Beer-to-go

550 South G. Street Suite #6
Arcata, California, 95521
United States

(707) 826-7222 | map
redwoodcurtainbrewing.com

Tasting room sells pints to drink and beer to go.
BEER STATS
Average:
4.06
Beers:
36
Ratings:
134
PLACE STATS
Average:
4.33
Reviews:
15
Ratings:
30
pDev:
8.31%
View: Beers | Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Beer21:
Photo of Beer21
Rated by Beer21 from Florida

4.24/5  rDev -2.1%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5

May 06, 2015
More User Ratings:
Photo of ZipDipper
Reviewed by ZipDipper from California

4.23/5  rDev -2.3%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.5
Amazing beer and friendly folks. At the Myrtletown (Eureka) location the acoustics are horrible, and it’s almost impossible to have a conversation when the house is three quarters full. However, with the food truck parked on the patio, I rather be out there eating fish tacos and playing cornhole anyway!
May 20, 2019
Photo of htomsirveaux
Reviewed by htomsirveaux from Texas

4.33/5  rDev 0%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5
Second time I've been here... thought I reviewed this place before.

Sixth stop on the 2017 Summer Tour. 9:45 on Thursday night (Sep 21), place was pretty crowded with a live band. Crowd skewed a little young but not excessively. Twenty or so beers on tap. Growlers available to go. No food available. I tried four beers, Belgian Pale Ale, Mama Sultry, IPA, and Apricot Rustic (sour). All well made with no obvious flaws, I liked the Belgian Pale Best, Mama Sultry the least.
Sep 22, 2017
Photo of rustyjaw
Reviewed by rustyjaw from California

4.68/5  rDev +8.1%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 4.75 | service: 4.25 | selection: 5
After it being recommended to me, I made sure to visit Redwood Curtain while on a road trip. I specifically went for the sours, and I was not disappointed. To my tastebuds, Redwood Curtain makes some of the best Flanders style sours outside of Belgium.

What I particularly enjoyed about them is their acetic acid profile, which lends them a hint of balsamic sweetness to the sour flavor. This was true of each of the 4 sours I tried, although to varying degrees. That might lead some to say the sours here are "samey" but I found it delightful. And the different sour styles diverged where it counted, from a Flanders red style to a blonde with strawberry. Great beer.

I visited on a thursday night and the place was very busy with a large crowd and a live band playing. It was jovial and boisterous. The staff was very helpful, although the lines were long, mainly due to the popularity of the beer.

While I only tried the sours, I was impressed by the breadth of the tap menu. I didn't actually count, but there must have been 15 beers on tap if not more.
Aug 27, 2017
Photo of devilmakesthree
Reviewed by devilmakesthree from Oregon

5/5  rDev +15.5%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5
Visited on a busy evening in April 2017. Despite the crowd size service was always prompt and friendly. The space was large and open, with a friendly, inviting vibe. I was pleasantly surprised by the size of the tap list and variety on offer. More so than that, I was blown away by the quality. I did not have a bad beer. Stout, IPA, Belgian, sour, all were fantastic. I highly recommend stopping by! 5/5
Jul 22, 2017
Photo of unlikelyspiderperson
Reviewed by unlikelyspiderperson from California

4.33/5  rDev 0%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.25
A great little brewery, it's all about the beer in this big airy open space, cool wooden bar, shuffle board, amazing fish tacos out back, live music from time to time and great beer. The beer is really top notch, best in the area. They do a lot of playing around with the hoppy realm to great success as well as excelling in an American interpretation of the Belgian styles. They have a great barley wine and some good stoutiness and a hit or miss (still new though) souring program, their hoppy beers are gems though. Standard tasting room service, order at the bar, slow when its slammed, super friendly and knowledgeable. Good selection, 20 something taps with new stuff coming and going all the time.

They've got a new food truck out back that features locally sourced fish and is pretty tops.
Jul 11, 2017
Photo of flagmantho
Reviewed by flagmantho from Washington

3.99/5  rDev -7.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.75 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.75
I visited Redwood Curtain last night and it's a pretty cool place. The build-out is all new-looking and is a mix of old-school bar and hip, trendy brewpub. They have 23 beers on tap, which is gargantuan for a brewery this size. The beer itself was pretty decent, although of course I couldn't sample everything. They seemed to do a really good mix of styles, and I'd love to try more of them if I ever make it back to Arcata. Redwood Curtain is totally worth a visit.
Oct 31, 2016
 
Rated: 4.18 by LXIXME from New Mexico

Jun 07, 2016
Photo of MattAita
Reviewed by MattAita from California

4.08/5  rDev -5.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.25 | service: 3.75 | selection: 4.25
Cool little brewery with a laid back vibe. Visited during low traffic hours so had the bar pretty much to ourselves. Was pleasantly surprised by the sour selection. Any place that has shuffleboard is cool in my book
May 10, 2016
 
Rated: 4.41 by Hoppedelic from California

May 10, 2016
 
Rated: 4.39 by Masonpp85 from California

Dec 11, 2015
Photo of jakecattleco
Reviewed by jakecattleco from California

4.64/5  rDev +7.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.75 | selection: 4.75
A bit off the way, but well worth the stop. Nice tasting room with indoor and outdoor seating. No on site food, but they offer snacks and happily allow outside food. Really nice vibe and I see them doing well. Very impressed by the quality and diversity of their brews!
Sep 21, 2015
Photo of Offa
Reviewed by Offa from California

4.14/5  rDev -4.4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4 | selection: 4
This is a fun and pleasant tap room that partly makes up for its lack of food and bad location with a simple but nice interior feel, outdoor area, nice vibe and atmosphere, and good beer.

One of the two man downsides is that it has no food but they compensate by allowing you to bring your own and they have a menu from a pizza place so one can order pizza to be delivered although we have not tried that.

The other downside is the location - this is a brewery in an unattractive, dodgy industrial area on the southern edge of Arcata, which has its fair share of dodgy people. Arcata has a decently sized, attractive and lively downtown with nice old buildings surrounding a public square and it's too bad the taproom is not closer to there.

The decor, as stated, is simple and spare but attractive and comfortable and they have the outside seating area.

The beer is overall very good, some outstanding, and they have a nice range. The main drawback is lack of cask beer.

Service is good and friendly but they seem to need at least one more person.
Sep 10, 2015
 
Rated: 4.24 by A_Rad from Wisconsin

Jul 04, 2015
 
Rated: 4.25 by 31Sam13 from New Hampshire

Mar 09, 2015
 
Rated: 4.39 by Harvest06 from Oregon

Feb 02, 2015
Photo of Christolo71
Rated by Christolo71 from California

4.41/5  rDev +1.8%
vibe: 3 | quality: 5 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.5
If they would start making sours this place would be a 5
Jan 08, 2015
 
Rated: 4.42 by RicoViq from Maryland

Nov 13, 2014
 
Rated: 4.8 by Kbooth8 from California

Aug 20, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by Endocador from California

Jul 24, 2014
 
Rated: 3 by strongaf from Washington

Jul 10, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by Toml219 from California

Jun 27, 2014
Photo of PapaGoose03
Reviewed by PapaGoose03 from Michigan

4.22/5  rDev -2.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5
This is a note from a re-visit of this brewery on 8/31/21. Other than expanding their space since our last visit, not much was noted from a facilities standpoint. The tap list has expanded to 18 beers, but it had been a long day driving from another brewery so we stopped drinking at three beers. Each was brewed very well to style, and I only hope that means the other 15 beers are also as good. I've revised the rating factors that were given from out previous visit, and now this place has a score that is true to its worth.
********************************
This was stop #9 for my wife and I on a 21-day pub-crawl from Michigan to N. CA and OR. We stopped here to try their beers, although a food truck was there so we also had a snack to go along with the beer. This place is in a multi-occupancy building in an industrial park that is out and away from much of everything else except the industrial neighbors, and the brewery was the only activity that evening among the few buildings in the area. A taproom has been partitioned off from the side of the building where the beer is brewed, and it was a nice evening so a large overhead door was open. A band was getting set up to play, and the table that we had chosen (the only one available because the place was busy) was right in front of a large speaker, so we drank and ate quickly, and left before the music started.

For a relatively new brewery they do a good job of brewing their beers to style. We had a sampler flight of 6 of the 12 beers that were on tap, and we liked them all. A couple of them were well above average, but most were just average of just a cut above, so our point rating system allowed for a C+ grading that was nearly up to a B minus. I’m guessing that the beers will continue to improve over time.
Jun 27, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by Gatordaddy from Maryland

Dec 05, 2013
Photo of colonelforbin
Reviewed by colonelforbin from California

3.97/5  rDev -8.3%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 4 | service: 3.75 | selection: 4.25
New-ish tasting room/brewery in Arcata. Located right across the street from the Arcata Marsh, which is nice. Not much in the way of windows inside, but the back does have a roll up door that opens up onto another parking lot, reasonably nice view above that, though.

Nice redwood tables inside, including a long one in the middle of the space and smaller tables dotted around the side and front. They have lots of games on hand to play, including a cornhole set to play in the back.

11 beers on tap when I visited, including a delicious Belgian Porter and some nice hoppy offerings. There was also a vintage barleywine, dubbel, tripel on tap. I had the sampler of all their beers which was very reasonably priced.

Quality-wise, this was probably the best brewery in the area that I visited while up in Humboldt County. I like what they are doing and hope to see their beers in my neck of the woods someday soon.

Definitely worth a visit if you are in the Arcata/Eureka area.
Nov 22, 2013
Photo of Jodi215
Reviewed by Jodi215 from Arizona

4.07/5  rDev -6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.25
I usually review food but this brewery on the north coast is worth a mention even though they don't serve food. Very nice atmosphere, new, clean and comfortable casual. Tables are redwood tops over wine barrels with stools. Art work on walls is for sale so probably by a local artist. The quality of our visit was great, we went back a 2nd time cause the beer was so good. Service was friendly and reasonably fast for the crowd. The beer selection was above outstanding, they had a Citra pale ale that was beyond good. I would say their selection was better than what it says on the web site. They don't serve food but there are food wagons that do visit and you can probably bring in food with you. They do have fish crackers and peanuts on the tables. The food wagon that was there on our 2nd visit was the Wandering Weenie Wagon and we all had hot dogs. It has a variety of choices, two that were really good were the Rotweiler and Lebowski. The one that wasn't that great was the Wild Game. Don't get it, yuck! Value is a solid $$.
Jun 20, 2013
Photo of LionsMane
Reviewed by LionsMane from Maine

4.54/5  rDev +4.8%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 5
Great beer, cool set up. Some what hard to find unless you know what you are looking for. Front area is comfortable with the rear being slightly industrial with the fermenters etc. Small bar with 5+ tap lines, growlers and merc to go at the bar. Hip, some what friendly crowd, no real beer geeks to chat with.
Jan 12, 2013
Photo of Wlj12
Reviewed by Wlj12

4.74/5  rDev +9.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5
I absolutely love this place. Currently Redwood Curtain hasn't garnered much attention outside of the Arcata/Eureka area so I thought I'd do it the service of reviewing it.

This place has become a personal favorite brewery of mine. They offer stellar beers, mainly Belgian style (some of the best outside of Belgium -- their trippel, and Belgian porter are fantastic), great and friendly service, a relaxed (albeit a little too small) environment, and free goldfish.

However, what separates them from the others in my mind (besides free fishies) is their unabashed penchant for switching it up. They frequently hold things like "Dry Hopped Wed" where they offer some of their standards dry hopped with a different hop. They also tend not to stay with any particular beers for too long. They have a few which are always offered but some of my favorites of theirs are but mere memories now (RIP Space Oddity...for now?).

They also like to hold great little release events. Since this place is a true micro, and they don't bottle any of their beers, they can pretty much do whatever they want. They know how to keep this place fresh and keep me coming back.

As of now, this brewery is still a little young. My prediction is that they will just keep getting better and better, as they appear to be doing. Although, as much as I love the little local brewery vibe to this place (this is no fancy family restaurant/sub-par brewery joint) I think what will improve the place most is expansion on all fronts.

These guys could be big. They just need to have enough equipment to be able to create new beers without having to kill others. They 86ed one of the best IIPAs I've ever had so they can experiment with other brews. I love how they aren't afraid to change it up, but I just wish that delicious beer wasn't lost in time. Bottling would be nice. They also need to expand their tasting room as lately it is always packed.

So I guess at the end of the day my only real complaint is that I can't have all of their beers all of the time.

Cheers RC
Jul 20, 2012
Photo of flexabull
Reviewed by flexabull from California

4.29/5  rDev -0.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4 | selection: 4.75
I reviewed this place back when they opened a few years ago, figured I'd re-review the place since it's changed so much. (for the better!)

RWC is in an industrial park, but the inside is really nicely done. Open, lots of seating, games, (shuffleboard!) and a few seats out back as well. Place was tiny when it first opened, now it holds probably 10 times as many people.

Quality is quite good. I had a few samples and everything was solid to excellent. I think these guys are putting out the best beer in Humboldt now.

Service was good, my server was pretty friendly, attentive and quick.

Selection is great, they had 22 beers on tap. With everything from Belgian styles, Barrel aged barleywines, IPAs, Pale Ales, and sours. Definitely something for everyone.

As mentioned, this is maybe the best brewery in Humboldt now, awesome place.

Original Review below
______________________

3.64 (3.5/3.5/4/3.5)

Small tap room in an industrial park. Sounds like nothing special, but this place felt "cozy" with a few chairs at a bar, good music, and some seating in a small entry room. Felt like a locals place for people that enjoy beer.

Quality is pretty good, I think Redwood Curtain is still figuring things out, and improving their beers. The IPA I had here was solid, but the gold I had before was just so-so.

Service was good, the guy was friendly and quick.

Selection was decent. About 6 or 7 beers, quite a few "Belgian Styles" would have liked a little more variety though.

No food.

Prices are fair. My review might not be glowing, but if you are in Arcata, I'd recommend checking it out and supporting this new place. I know I'll be back again.
May 10, 2011
Redwood Curtain Brewing Company in Arcata, CA
Brewery rating: 4.06 out of 5 with 134 ratings