Brick & Barrel Brewing

Inviting a sort of captive audience on the Oxbow Bend peninsula created by the Cuyahoga, you'll find that the lift bridge's frequent activity causes several jams to otherwise minimal traffic. Enter Brick & Barrel, a rowdy neighborhood bar with friendly but familiar banter amidst a fairly humid, musty warehouse offering a pit stop to the weary commuter.

I honestly can't believe it's taken me this long to not just stop by, but to have Bitter Chief, a clever beer that hit the scene with some fanfare early on. That said, there hasn't been a ton of chatter about the place since then, and it's fairly apparent as to why. They don't seem to be brewing a ton of their own beer anymore, if they ever have, though they do host a fair number of decent local guest drafts, while pouring even more shots. What they do brew is hit or miss, and though I found Bitter Chief to be solidly on style in a fittingly bitter, old school way, it's certainly not what the modern drinker craves.

The fact that it's already as stuffy and fairly smelly of wet dog while it's not even summer yet is pretty concerning, but I have a feeling that doesn't stop the Keno playing, sports loving crowd that frequent the joint.

 

Great spot. Small, cozy, all the things you want in a local feeling brewery. Small bar, small patio. All the smaller areas add to the overall atmosphere. Get the bitter chief and enjoy yourself.

 

Stopped in per some comments in the forum. Easy to get to and find parking. Nice Flats feel to it. Sat at the bar and owner/bartender was nicely friendly and even drew with chalk on bar how to get to where I was going afterward. Beer was very good and if I wasn't going to a concert afterward could have sampled some more offerings. Will definitely return.

Visited on 8/31 - realized I forgot to review.

Great little brewery, a 10 minute walk from West Side Market. Very cozy in feeling, 10 seater bar, a few unique tables, and a small outside area through the garage door. Definitely worth a visit if heading to GLBC. (Plus, you'll get a GREAT photo op of downtown Cleveland as you walk across the bridge!)

 

 

This place is small, and I like that quite a bit. You basically drink 15 feet from the brewing area, which is an open space in what feels like a small garage. Bar was very nice with a chalkboard top you can use to draw things or leave a message... not that cool, but I'd never seen anything like it so that's a plus. The place is new, so I don't expect much structure. That can be overrated at times anyway. The beer selection was not much, but I feel like they had enough offerings for the size of the brewery. There were just 3 of their beers on when I was there: a black ale (very good), IPA (also very good), and a Wee Heavy (did not try). I think most beer fans (who aren't ignorant) would be content with those options. If you saw the size of their equipment, you'd understand why they can't keep enough product on. Definitely would like to go back in the future to see the progression they make.

Staff were very helpful & friendly. Very cool vibe for beer nerds, or folks out for a pint before or after dinner. There were 5 beers available, all made in-house (one of which was on cask). Each was very good, and kept my friends and I happy for a few hours. I hope that 5 beers being available is due to the newness of this brewery (weeks/months old at the time of this review), and that with time they'll be able to offer more than 5 at a time. Lots of potential here.