Hops & Leisure

I went to Hops & Leisure because it was next door to Culver's. I tried a flight of their 5 beers and all were enjoyable enough but pretty average. I did not try the food but it was a bit overpriced. The guest tap selection was diverse but nothing special.

Part microbrewery, part beer bar, part restaurant, and part brew-your-own--Hops & Leisure is trying to be all things to all people it seems. Oh and let's not forget the live lobster tank in the corner that is in the style of those old "robotic claw" vending machines.

The place was pretty dead for a Saturday afternoon, which is good because there was only one rather overworked person serving as the bartender/host/order taker/food runner. He was as pleasant as one would expect under such circumstances. Our wait times for food & drink were pretty long as well, but we weren't in a hurry.

First, the microbrewery--the in-house brand beers that we tried were decent, especially the Leisure Amber and Dr. Leisure.

Second, the beer bar--they have a pretty good list of other beers, both bottled and draught. Two of our favorite "dessert" beers were on nitro--Boulder Shake Chocolate Porter and Left Hand Milk Stout.

Third, the restaurant--their menu certainly looks impressive but the food was hit-or-miss. The "house special" flatbread pizza was especially disappointing. It sounded good on paper but basically tasted like onions and mustard. While my beef brisket wrap was basically a Philly cheese steak in a tortilla, it was tasty and filling. Another member of our party of 4 had the Leisure burger and pronounced it average.

Finally, brewing your own--roughly 1/2 of the building is set up like a classroom. We poked our heads in there and observed one or two small groups of people actively brewing. This was reinforced by the smell of hops that permeated the entire place.

Prices were very reasonable in our opinion. Overall, our experience wasn't bad. They just need to work out some of the kinks in order to get better reviews.