Six Rivers Brewery

Six Rivers BrewerySix Rivers Brewery
Six Rivers BrewerySix Rivers Brewery
Brewery, Bar, Eatery

1300 Central Ave.
McKinleyville, California, 95519
United States

(707) 839-7580 | map
sixriversbrewery.com
BEER STATS
Average:
3.45
Beers:
26
Ratings:
428
PLACE STATS
Average:
3.7
Reviews:
17
Ratings:
29
pDev:
16.22%
View: Beers | Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Mikefernandez:
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Rated by Mikefernandez from Colorado

3.86/5  rDev +4.3%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3.75 | selection: 3.5

Jun 04, 2017
More User Ratings:
Photo of Ferrario
Reviewed by Ferrario from California

3.34/5  rDev -9.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.25 | food: 3.5
This brewery is about 20 miles away from my house so I have eaten there and drank the beers often. The food is pretty good but I think a little high priced compared to similar local establishments. The service is fine and it's a pretty cool building with outside seating.

Now for the important stuff: the beer! Six rivers brewery has many local favorites including ipa, moonstone porter, macadamia nut porter, lambic, and my favorite: sasquatch ale, which they describe as a double ipa but tastes barlywine-esque to my unrefined pallete. Overall the place is decent and worth a try if you're in the area.
Oct 04, 2019
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Reviewed by ZipDipper from California

3.65/5  rDev -1.4%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.75 | selection: 3.75 | food: 3.75
“The brew with a view” is true if you get the right seat, and I have enjoyed many a meal and beer gazing out over the Mad River Valley. The layout of the restaurant is a bit odd with two “wings”.
May 20, 2019
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Rated by Mike_Hayes from California

1/5  rDev -73%
vibe: 1 | quality: 1 | service: 1 | selection: 1
Super unprofessional when responding to negative reviews about their nasty beer
Mar 22, 2019
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Rated by Jortonsbeer from California

4.01/5  rDev +8.4%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4 | selection: 3.75 | food: 4.25
Sampler: nasty jalapeño brew.
Jan 29, 2017
 
Rated: 3.96 by BlueSpader from Washington

Oct 06, 2015
 
Rated: 4.18 by msmith6078 from Illinois

Oct 05, 2015
 
Rated: 3.88 by dwatulak from Massachusetts

Mar 16, 2015
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Reviewed by 31Sam13 from New Hampshire

3.3/5  rDev -10.8%
vibe: 5 | quality: 3 | service: 3 | selection: 3 | food: 4
A great looking place with a perfect location and a decent, though slight, view of the ocean. Many good bands play here. The beer is average to above average and so is the food. As with any restaurant/ brewery, there are on and off nights. Since this is a local's joint in a way, though very friendly, I would be biased in saying that I do always have good time when I'm there and overlook the little faults. I would recommend it, however. And, since I just moved out of the area, I am craving a Sasquatch with some of their fried chicken and a little David Nelson...can't beat the combo's some nights...a good place that borders on greatness...
Feb 23, 2015
 
Rated: 3.33 by Harvest06 from Oregon

Feb 02, 2015
 
Rated: 3.5 by metamorphosis316 from California

Sep 12, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by ackeeper from Illinois

Sep 02, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by KStark from Canada (BC)

Aug 27, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by Topfrogbrewery from Washington

Aug 10, 2014
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Reviewed by chinchill from South Carolina

4/5  rDev +8.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.25 | selection: 3.75 | food: 4
Spacious hilltop location with good views thru plenty of large glass windows. Brewery operations also visible thru glass. Free WiFi. Friendly, knowledgable service. Excellent Wahoo tacos. Good to excellent beers (of 7 sampled so far), with one exception (oddly, the Grand Cru). Well worth the short trip off Hwy 101
Jul 08, 2014
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Reviewed by colonelforbin from California

3.88/5  rDev +4.9%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 3.75 | service: 3.75 | selection: 4
Fun place to visit. Was there on a Sunday morning and they had all the NFL games on throughout the brewpub. Relaxed atmosphere and a pretty cool bar, quite big.

Excellent view of the Pacific Ocean from numerous spots inside. Very spacious inside as well. Service was pretty good.

There were about 12 beers on tap, including a couple seasonals and a barrel aged beer or two. Among the better breweries in Humboldt County. I enjoyed their hoppy beers and their coffee porter was also nice. They had a couple tasty fruit ales as well, a raspberry lambic style ale and a Cabernet Dubbel, which was great, very nice muted fruit presence.

Well worth a stop, this place is just a couple miles north of Arcata right off 101.
Nov 26, 2013
 
Rated: 3.25 by MISSALMA_XO from California

Oct 17, 2013
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Reviewed by DrunkenMonk from California

3.73/5  rDev +0.8%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 3.75
The service, food and beer are very good here. I recommend the fish tacos. The staff are friendly, as well. The building and decor are a bit second hand, and the restaurant has great views of the parking lot and road.

I'll return when in the area. The sample flight is 10 beers with 4 ounce pours. 4 oz.!!! It's awesome! I recommend Sasquatch, a double IPA and the raspberry lambic.
Aug 04, 2013
Photo of flexabull
Reviewed by flexabull from California

3.88/5  rDev +4.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4
Nice vibe, I've always liked visiting this place when on the coast. Mellow, and while busy, not super crowded, plenty of tv's showing sports, and big enough.

Quality is good. Some beers are hit and miss, but most are pretty solid.

Service has always been good. Not great, but I have never been disappointed.

Selection was 10 different beers on the most recent visit. My only gripe? They tend to always have the same beers, and not many interesting seasonals.

Food is nice. Good quality pub grub that won't leave you hungry.

Value is good, very reasonable for both food and beer.

All in all? Definitely a place worth checking out. Not a great spot, but it's a place with both above average beers, and filling plates of food.
Apr 12, 2010
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Reviewed by Elimination from Oregon

4.33/5  rDev +17%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5
Came upon this place by accident basically when taking a beer tour through california. After we hit up lost coast with sort of mixed feelings, this was a treat!

The location doesnt feel like a typical brewpup, felt more like parking at a produce nursery, but once in the doors it felt a lot better.

Decor was kind of lacking besides some old beer posters and memoribiila on the wall. A bar in the middle handled all the drinks, and a view of the actual brew operation can be seen through a window.

The service was good, food was damn good. We shared a small hot wings pizza which was tasty. But greatest of all, the beer sample.

It had anything from the traditional Ipa, and porter, to a very good chili beer, and a lambic that blew me away. IT was only 10 dollars, and was freaking huge! Shared between the two of us it was perfect but if your greedy and want it to yourself, even better

good place, will probably come back again if passing through the area, I would honestly skip lost coast with there lack of informed servers, and hit this true, down to home type of operation up.
Apr 03, 2010
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Reviewed by rayzorwit from California

4.3/5  rDev +16.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5
Of the local breweries in the Eureka area, this brewery offers the most for your money. The ambience is casual, offers live music at night, a wide vocabulary of beer styles, great food, and a kickass view of Humboldt Bay.

The brewery is situated on top of a hill in south McKinleyville. I would recommend a visit to coincide with a day of good weather. The windows in the dining area offer a look out to the setting sun, but really the best thing to do is to step outside, as many patrons do, to see the sun set over the Pacific and be able to see the Humboldt Bay all the way across to Table Bluff on the south side.

I've been inside this brewery on a number of occasions and the consistency of food is great. If you're into pairing chicken wings with beer as I am, then you're in for a treat as they offer a few damn good wing sauces. I fell in love love with the garlic wing sauce and they have a kick arse Asian style wing sauce, as well.

The beers on the other hand are hit and miss. I've had some very stellar brews on occasion and on others, okay. Nonetheless, they offer a wide selection of different styles and is worth a stop when traveling through. If living in the area, I recommend stopping in every once in awhile because occasional batches of something good will grab your attention. One beer to note is their lambic...it is the only domestic lambic that I've had that will rival its Belgian counterpart. If anyone else knows of another American lambic that can match, please let me know.
Feb 23, 2010
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Reviewed by woodychandler from Pennsylvania

4.44/5  rDev +20%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4
Headed north, the sign for their parking lot seemed to indicate across the street (west) vice where it actually was (east). The building had a sort of a concave shape with a bay window-like structure at the north end. The building was sky blue with indigo blue trim, in case you get lost/confused/what have you.

Entering, the m.d.s. was to the right with a glass case of logo items to the left. Headed left, past the m.d.s. was the sparsely outfitted dining area with a pinball machine and a couple of video games. Headed right was the bar area and if you dig blonde (wood, that is), this was the place for you! The horseshoe- shaped blonde bar sat in the center with oval-backed blonde chairs at blonde tables and blonde stools at the bar. Continuing aft from the bar, the brewhouse and several fermenters were off to the left. Off to the right was a small Billiards Room with two pool tables. The real draw, to me, was all of the micro-advertising including coasters, spent bottles, and posters. Not just their own, mind you, but various and sundry from hither and yon. By sitting near the windows, we had a super view off to the left. Melissa was our very patient server.

Their motto? "Watch a game. Have a wing. Tip back a few. Six Rivers Brewery. The brew with a view."

Beers: Trula Pilsner (5.4); High Prarie Wheat (6.0); Bluff Creek Pale Ale (5.5); Blarney Stout (5.0); Moonstone Porter (6.0); IPA (7.2); Chile Pepper Ale (HOT!) (6.0); Kona Moon Porter (6.0); Mango Lambic; and Raspberry Lambc. Not a clinker in the lot.
Aug 25, 2008
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Reviewed by kleffman from California

3.9/5  rDev +5.4%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4
Went here only on recommendation from one of the locals in Eureka and I'm very glad I did because we had never heard of it. Took a whole gang in there including a 3 year old and didn't really feel out of place even though from the outside it could've been a seedy biker bar or a rundown restaurant. Very unassuming building. Got a large table quickly and ordered a round of drinks. I tried the Kona Coffee Porter and despite the couple reviews on here so far I found it to be fantastic. I'm a coffee lover and this hit the spot on a cold night. Got a taster of the chili beer and it is ridiculous. We picked up a growler for a family friend who loves hot food and apparently that crazy fool drank the whole growler in a sitting. It's an intense beer experience. Had some of the pizza there and it was rather enjoyable. Overall good experience and a must hit if you're all the way the hell up in Eureka.
Jun 24, 2008
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Reviewed by JohnMeinhardt from Massachusetts

3.2/5  rDev -13.5%
vibe: 3 | quality: 2 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 3
I had mixed feelings about this place from the get go. The brewery is right next to some dude's house, and you're not sure if you're parking on his lawn or at the brewery, which was kinda off-putting. Going into the place you notice right away how loud it is. There is something weird about the acoustics of the place which make sound bounce EVERYWHERE. I don't mind an elevated volume in a bar, but this was just too much. The room is wide with a kind of short ceiling, so that may be it.

As I always do when I check out a new place is order the sampler, hoping to get a baseline about what kind of flavors they have going on. This "sampler" is a doozie! The sample sizes must be 6 ounces each! And they bring you 9 beers to try. Unfortunately, they don't have a nice menu or sheet of paper to hold in hand when trying them; the waitress (who was really good and got a good tip from me even if I wasn't totally happy with the beer) pointed towards a chalkboard at the far end of the restaurant where they have them posted on the wall too far for my cruddy eyesight to handle. My girlfriend had to read most of them to me.

On to the beers: I want to start off on a positive note out of respect for the hard work people put into their beers. So, I liked the IPA. It was crisp with a sharp edge to it that was refreshing. However, there were 8 other beers in my glasses to get through. Each one had something off about it. I always want to give a brewery the benefit of the doubt when I go, but something just wasn't right about them. The best way to describe them was uni-flavored. Each beer had one central flavor that they hit you over the top with, and you couldn't taste anything else. Their Kona Porter was all coffee, no beer. Their chili beer was flavorless and painful. Their Hefewizen had a mild yuck to it that I don't want to describe because I don't want to come off sounding like a jerk. They have an extra sour beer which I only sipped briefly before making the quintessential scrunchy face. To it's credit, I am not a fan of sour flavors; someone who likes sour may like this beer, though I couldn't taste much beer in it.

I think that was my general complaint throughout the whole night. What I wanted was some malt and hopps, and what I got was chilli, coffee, tanbark (in the stout), sour, and -I apologize, but I must be honest- a strong reminiscent of vomit flavor in the hefe. A friend I was with had a pretty good insight: "Maybe they are catering to a crowd which drinks more cheap domestic beer, so they are trying to give them really bold flavors to excite their tastebuds into something new." That could be, or I may have just gone on an off night. If I go again, I won't get the sampler, and I'll stick to the IPA which was really pretty darn ok.
Dec 16, 2007
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Reviewed by gwood from California

3.63/5  rDev -1.9%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4
I lived nearby for a while but I would have to say that my impressions are out of date as it's been three years since I've been to Six Rivers.

The view is one of my favorites about sitting at this place. The used to serve an wooden cask version of the IPA on nitro what was quite tasty if I don't say so myself. Service was always prompt and friendly.

Noteworthy beers for me were the Porter and the IPA. The Porter was easy drinking as was the IPA.

Food overall was quite good. I'd pretty much only order the fish and chips however, with the IPA.

Cheers!
Sep 26, 2007
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Reviewed by dbalsock from Vermont

3.8/5  rDev +2.7%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4
The outside doesn't look so great, but once you get in the door you're greated with a few seperate rooms, some wide open space and penty of table seating. The walls have old beer bottles all around, and brewery memorobilia is in view at all times. There are a few tv's set up for sports games, but they aren't in your face and don't command your attention. I tried a sampler of all their beers, which suprised me with 3-4 oz samples of the following, 1 pilsner, 1 wheat, 1 pale ale, 2 porters, 1 stout, 1 chili beer (very well done), 2 ipas (one was called traditional... it tasted like a braggot... weird), and 2 lambics (one oak aged). Their beers ranged from not very good at all to very good, with a lot in between. The food was good, lots of basic pub food, fried and battered, but their batters are good and they use spiced nicely. The service was consistent throughout the evening even as the place filled up. We never waited long for anything we needed. I like this place and will return, but not too often.
Sep 09, 2007
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Reviewed by VegasBill from Nevada

4/5  rDev +8.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4
I was here a few years ago and was not inpressed, nothing really wrong just blah!! Now things have changed for the better, I think because it has matured a bit and the new owners have made some positive changes.
The atmosphere is pleasant with views of the ocean and the river and service was prompt and friendly. The food of choice seems to be the fish and chips, which I had and it was quite good, and the chicken wings.
As for beer the standout, in my opinion, is the IPA which is very west coast style, also worth a try is the Chili Pepper Ale. I would try a sample of this first because it might be too spicy for some tastebuds .
This is worth a stop if you are in the area and it is just a few minutes off rte101.

Update07/28007 I can't believe that I am the only one to review this micro in two years, in fairness it is way up on the Ca. coast. So nothing has changed except their busuness is great. As before the beer standouts are the Chile Pepper Ale,very spicey, and this time I tried the Sasquatch Ale, very good very hoppy and at 9.3 only one if you are driving on up the coast.
Jul 13, 2005
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Reviewed by Troyone from California

3.98/5  rDev +7.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
I drove by this place at least twice before I asked some one to spell out the directions for me. Kind of ironic since this place has a nice view of the ocean - I think I was looking for a larger establishment. Once inside there is no doubt about the Brewpub atmosphere. Somewhat suburban atmosphere with some TV's and a crowded rectangle shaped bar. The spacious windows in the front of this place overlooks the ocean from a short distance (probably less than 1/2 a mile). I believe there was a room with pool tables.

All brass tap nozzles and could not see the kitchen. Wood tables, chairs, and bar appeared to be fairly new. Restroom was clean.

The waitresses can be prompt and are friendly.

A really good selection of their own beers and no cask. All of the beers were possible notables. The definite notables were (in no particular order) Kona Moon Porter (tasty - lots of coffee), IPA, Moonstone Porter, and the Sasquatch Ale. The Chili Ale was really hot and spicey.

The food was good.

reasonable
Jun 11, 2005
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Reviewed by RootedFool from California

3.58/5  rDev -3.2%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5
Six Rivers recently changed ownership. The Eureka brew pub closed down, now only the Mckinleyville location remains.

I've never been impressed with Six Rivers beer. There's a strange watery quality to them, and an odd "whipped topping" mouthfeel that shouldn't be there. Although their IPA is a decent attempt at a classic English IPA.

The menu is full of the standard pub fare: fish and chips, hot wings (which I ordered the last time I was there, very good, and a gigantic portion, much more than the two pound I ordered), etc. And various daily specials available.

The atmosphere is OK. Something is off about the acoustics. When the main room -- where the bar is, and most of the tables -- is full, good luck trying to maintain a conversation with someone sitting only a few feet across from you. Sound bounces around that room like a herd of wild elephants. It's very distracting. The all wood floor and window-lined walls might have something to do with this, but I'm not an expert on how sound travels.

The service has always been pretty good.
Jan 11, 2005
Six Rivers Brewery in McKinleyville, CA
Brewery rating: 3.45 out of 5 with 428 ratings