White Oak Brewing

 

 

Small taproom with a low ceiling, lodge-like feel. The parking lot was full mid-afternoon and it was buzzing with a crowd inside. A typical brewery taproom, with a friendly convivial vibe.

A dozen or so beers available, nice variety of styles. A barrel aged stout, coffee & vanilla dark mild, winter weizenbock, old school DIPA, new school haze, and more. Quality was solid across the board, I sampled about 5 beers and left with a crowler and 2 BA bottles, a BW and imperial porter.

Service was pretty exceptional. Despite the crowd, the lone bartender was getting it done, darting around the place filling drinks and washing glasses. He gathered that we weren't staying long and frequently checked on us. In regards to the one hit wonder below, just remember there are always 2 sides to every story. Our experience was top notch when I expected less due to the crowd. Worth a stop if passing by on I-55.

This specific situation just now (9/20/19 ~9:45pm) happened so this review should illustrate just how "drunk" I am. My husband and I have been to this establishment many times and have loved it. We have even raved about this place to our domestic beer-loving friends encouraging them to try local craft beers. We came here tonight to celebrate after dinner drinks for our wedding anniversary. We had not had a singular drink prior to arrival. As we stepped out of the car, my husband wanted to walk through the grass and I did not..so we were laughing as we walked in because the situation mirrored our personalities. Anyways...we each had one drink. We were going to have one more before we left and the bartender refused to serve us because he stated that the owners said we "stumbled in drunk". We were not drunk, disruptive, slurring our speech, or incoherent on any level. This was humiliating and extremely disappointing. We will not be returning. We love to support local businesses but will no longer recommend or support a business that treats customers this way--- especially sober customers coming in to enjoy a rare date night out after a long work week (we are both working professionals in the community with 5 kids). Very sad and disappointing. I hope that the owners read this and maybe approach the customers themselves versus making wrongful assumptions or having the bartender loudly state such inaccurate information. Again... just humiliating.