Barren Hill Tavern & Brewery

 

 

 

Great little place on Germantown Pike in Lafayette Hill. Cozy ambiance, a small menu but great food (the grilled cheese is spectacular), and a nice selection of their own beers (all the ones I tried were good to very good) as well as outside stuff. Just a nice place to eat, meet, relax, have a beer, and snag a meal. Will definitely be back.

 

ate dinner and beers.

we sat in the dinning room, but there is a two sided bar, with some high top tables in there as well. they have both their own beers, plus a good number of other beers as well. so big selection, all good quality. I had a flight of their beers, all were solid.

the food was top notch, and service was good.

 

 

 

Vibe is nice and cozy. Quality is of beer and food is great. Service with a smile. Selection made me happy. Food is tasty. Love the Sunday brunch!

 

 

It’s that large old house thing out of GTown Pike, you know, on that dangerous as all hell looking turn where I swear I’m going to get hit every time I come through there. Seems familiar somehow but I can’t, oh wait, I know. It’s like deja review all over again. This one should be easy enough; copy/paste 9 year old General Lafayette’s review and add one Dude...

2 sided ‘C’ shaped glossy plank topped bar with a panel base & foot bar split between 2 rooms accessed via a cut through. Seating for nearly 30 all around on green leather chairs. 10 tap copper box towers at opposite ends of the bar on the backside plus a single tap tower of 10 on the front side center. Backside, barback, tea candlelit shelving with booze to both sides of the cut through, glassware below shelved and cooler space, too. 3 small flats along the overhang and a larger one at each end over fireplaces there. White walls & ceiling with rafters and ancient wood slat flooring. Drop buttercup lamps over the bar and baby spot lighting. 5 hightops behind me on the brick wall, with brew room view windows on the ends. Flats, spots, and more of the same as the other side or similar, anyway, maybe a little less booze shelving.

Out past there and through to the main dining room; 20 tables mix & match in rows in a neat, clean open space. They’ve got an awesome fireplace there with large white candles at alternating heights burning where wood would go if it there were wood, which there is not. It’s very wide; I could (may) sleep in it. And panel windowed doors to the rear to somewhere maybe, not sure exactly. Back up front, a small side room with a half dozen+ tables, and I have to wonder what goes on upstairs, now that I know there is an upstairs, having seen that show pouring at a GL Winterfest event once ago.

30 taps and a gravity pour. 15, yes, 15 of them are house beers (Abbey Dubbel, Belgian Golden, Belgian Pale Ale, Biere De Extra, Bitter Chef, Chinook Belgian IPA, Down Under Triple, Farmhouse Holiday Ale, Farmhouse Pale Ale, I Wish It Were Summer Kolsch, Knife’s Edge IPA, Rye Pale Ale, Saison Lafayette, Scotch Wallace, White Christmas IPA), and the other 15 are guest taps, split 1/3 Pennsylvania (Bullfrog Segundo Plaga, Free Will Dave’s Black & Tan, Saucony Creek Schnickelfritz, Sly Fox 18th Anniversary IPA, Troegs Mad Elf), 1/3 non-regional craft (Coronado Islander IPA, Mermaid’s Red Ale, Orange Ave Wit, & Stupid Stout, Local Option Kentucky Common, Lost Abbey Gift Of The Magi), and 1/3 import (DeKoninck, Julius Echter Hefe-Weissbier, Maredsous 8, Wurzburger Pils), Lest we not forget the gravity pour Barren Hill Abbey Dubbel with cherries.

Started with the Farmhouse Pale Ale, and moved to the Chinook Belgian IPA, and then onto the Saison Lafayette (hands down, winner, spicy, awesome). And I sampled the Dude De Extra, too. That’s a big beer at 8.7%. Beers are served in 16 or 10.5 ounce servings, and yes, they do flights. They’ve also got a bottle list, just shy of 4 dozen offerings (lovely Orval runs $9). The beer menu is broken out by style, and they’ve got a baker’s dozen wines, too.

Not sure how it happened exactly, but I found myself engaged in Salmon BLT activity. It was an incredible, served with what what what, fries or salad? That there was a serious ‘duh’ question was what that was.

Good tunes and excellent service. Nice crowd here this Sunday evening; I’m chatting with the other patrons alongside me, we may be talking beer. Caught a good meal and well, these beers, you know, they taste like the Scotty Belgians I knew from before and before that. Strangely nostalgic am I, all the way ‘round.

 

 

 

 

 

I came here with my brother since I heard Scott Morrison (the Dude)began brewing here a while back. I did not really know it was not permanent that he is a consultant but anyway...

the place reminds me of the previous ownership since the interior is pretty well maintained the way it was when it was the General Lafayette. I enjoyed everything I tried on tap and the food was decent if not very good. The selection was great -lots of variety.

I would probably return since the quality and service were both very good not to mention the beer was very enjoyable the only deterrent for me is the distance.

A - It's hard to give this place a fair review without comparing it to its predecessor (General Lafayette Inn)... The interior is slightly updated and there's a slightly better use of space, but it still retains much of the historic buildings original charm and mystique... A very tasteful renovation in my opinion...

Q - Good beers, good food, friendly staff... No complaints... I wouldn't hesitate eating or drinking at this fine establishment again...

Ser - Service was friendly, but a bit on the slow side... Not a major complaint, but considering it was only moderately busy a slight concern...

Sel - A terrific mix of original and guest taps... The food menu had several appealing options... I could come back for multiple visits and try something new in terms of food and drink with each visit...

F - I opted for the Duck Confit French Fries on this visit and was not dissapointed... They weren't life altering as I had hoped, but they were still really good... My buddy had no complaints with his burger...

V - Quite reasonable... I was surprised by how affordable the check was after dinner with an old buddy a couple of brews...

 

Atmosphere: Stopped in here for the first time last night with a group of 8 friends at 6pm. They had table seating but we were in the mood to sit at the bar and eventually enough people cleared out for us to all do so. Place is fairly large with lots of table seating and roughly 14 bar stools. Crowd looked fairly mixed...didn't seem strictly like beer geeks and not many hipsters at all.

Quality: I found most of the beers to be slightly above average quality for a brew pub. I had a pint of the porter w/ vanilla beans on firkin and, while it was OK, I think that it was perhaps tapped 1 to 2 days prior and oxidized. I then had flight #2 the "Mixed Flight" which had 6 of the brew pub's house made offerings. NOTE: They have 3 flight options that are all preselected. You can't choose the exact 6 beers you want to try. Only 1, the "White Christmas IPA" was actually off putting. A couple (Baltic Porter, Rye Pale) were nothing to write home about. A few (Bitter Chef, Biere De Extra, and Chinook Belgian IPA) were pretty tasty. The guest taps were solid and I was very happy to see several De Molen options on draft.

Service: Our bartender was busy, so there wasn't much time for interaction but I never had to wait very long for a drink in spite of that.

Selection: Something like 17 house drafts, 1 house firkin, and 14 guest taps! Lines were clean and (other than the firkin) the beer seemed fresh.

Food: Didn't try

Value: Prices seemed reasonable. I believe the flight was 24oz for $12 which isn't bad.

Overall: The Yelp reviews (as of this time) are pitiful with regards to the table service and food. I keep hearing the brewer Scott "The Dude" Morrison is highly acclaimed, so I'll go back and try some future offerings next time I'm in the area.

 

 

 

OK. Here is my review of my FORMER favorite brew pub affectionately called the General Lafayette Inn 2.1, or properly titled "Barren Hill Tavern & Brewery." At the brewing helm is venerable local brewer great (yes I said great) Scott "The Dude" Morrison. Trust this beer idiot when I state for record that Scott M. is a super talented brewer. Lets get to the brass tacks, shall we?

Scott is making solid B+ grade beers with the confines. The IPA Pilsner should be a standard. Could the beers improve over time? Yes, and for now a B+ grade is well worth the trip. I call 'em like I see 'em folks! Scott is putting up a new challenge for Champ vs. Challenger in the local area with the prominent and local Earth Bread just down the street.

Food is clever, super AFFORDABLE, and tasty. Their Welsh Rarebit was unique and delicious. Get the house chips. Also, their piggies in a blanket version was an upscale version. Dee-lish!

Worth a visit...and hey!!! worth a review. Why am I the only review. Knowing the GLI 2.1 and knowing Scott, this place has only one place to go and that is UP!

My only gripe is that the interior hasn't changed, but then again, does a 200+ year old historical edifice need one? Here's to keep climbing Barren Hill. Scott is a Blue Ribbon Brewer, even in these saturated beer parts of Yards, Victory, SlyFox, et al.

Last Swigs: Does this pass the "Could you bring your Mother here test? YES! Bring Mom and on Mother's Day. Throw Barren Hill props. Why? Not only because I have a feel for the place...but they DESERVE it!

Happy Beering.