Barley and Hops

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Better that Blue Corn Brewery in Santa Fe, NM.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stopped in on a Sunday afternoon because I was nearby.

Got the sampler, which was six very small tastes (perhaps 2 oz.) like tall shot glasses, barely enough to get a sense of the flavors. They varied from weak to average examples of their styles, a lager, APA, ESB, stout, red ale, and saison. None prompted me to get a full glass. At least it was only $3.

I got the $10 fish tacos from the lunch specials menu, but it turned out to be an appetizer size with only two tacos with a few spoonfuls of rice on the side. Tasty, but overpriced for this area.

The restaurant itself screamed average in every way. Nothing to object too, nothing special. Service was good, but the place was mainly empty.

Not a bad little microbrew in Frederick, Maryland. The atmosphere was a little noisy and a little dim, but not bad. I thought the quality of everything was pretty good, just seemed like something was missing, not quite sure. Our waiter was really attentive, knew what he was talking about and we had a pretty good couple of conversations about beer, so that was good. The selection was decent, they covered about 8 or 9 styles of beer that they had on tap, and the food menu had typical barfood to nice steaks and seafood. If you get the burgers or sandwiches, the prices are definitely reasonable. The burger I got was delicious (shroom burger, or something to that effect), and perfectly cooked. My girlfriends steak was pretty right on as well, and the mac 'n cheese was decent.

As for the beer, well I got three, as well as a growler to take home just for the hell of it. I tried the Hoptopsy ESB (slightly too sharp in its bitterness taking away from some of the other flavors, but not bad at all) their oktoberfest (which the waiter said was a little overhopped, but it was still a little weak to me as it didn't blow my mind with the other flavors) and their stout (reminded me of Guinness). The growler I got was of their Vandalia, an ale they were trying to sell out of to make room for their pumpkin beer. It was cheaper so why not?

Overall, I had a pretty good time and I might go back there for dinner some time after work again. Everything about the place was decent, so it could be a good go-to place.

Set out one night out of the 'lizle for points south and east some (Is it an "escape" when one leaves Pennsylvania for Maryland?) Brewpub, at the edge of a stripmall amongst stripmalls left & right off the highway; Frederick. Nothing says real deal authentic like a faux grain silo beacon out front, I've got the "Ugh" on, and I ain't even in the door yet. But I met some people who swear by this place at the other game in town and they talked their own house up, so here it is I is...

"A" frame structure with wood rafters sporting track spots overhead. Outer brick walls with framed prints below shuttered windowings, and up around the bar, red walls with green trim & ductwork, and slat wood floors. Up the ramp off the bar area, a row of brewing vessels run a good length both ways off the corner in a glass front & side room, my first instint; they can't be making that much beer here. Upwards of a dozen small fermenters & brite tanks, and a mash tun on the end. Small jars of hops & malt displayed to see (oh, corn, rice, nice).

"L" shaped wood bar with a copper foot rail seating a dozen and change. Tea candle lit malt filled glass bowls along the bar, presumed there for me to tell fortunes. A single handpump sits on one end, dry dry dry. Center arch logo mirror with smaller mirrors to both sides framed on the barback wall. Tiered booze on the counter space with 7 tap towers rows on each end and coolers below. A wine rack piece sits behind one tower; a different kind of wine rack piece, a mug club member board and mounted sampler racks down on the other end. Crazy muffler connectivitylike brass lighting fixture thing with inlayed spots & hanging BAM Governor's Cup medals on black & yellow ribbontry all along. Mounted TV's in the corners and a large projection screen up front. A hanging draft board listing their 5 currently on beers, styles, ABV's, IBU's, on line dates & malt flavor range (low/med/high) to the rear.

Bar counter runs adjacent to bar around seating a dozen and a half and more of the same on the brewroom windows. Logo Barley & Hop etched glass dividers between the bar here and elsethere. Seating area below to the side and rear running back to the kitchen area in view. 30 tables & booths in rows and bunches, some with cool bowl planters hanging above. Some sort of alligator on a barrel piece over here and Blue Brothers figurines on a bench (on a mission from god, no doubt). Malt sack burlap art hanging. And through past the bar to an outside pen along the side holding 9 tables.

6 on the sampler paddle. The 5 house beers (Dirty Little Blonde Lager, slight fruitiness up front & then a bit of hop; Annapolis Rocks Pale Ale, floral sprucey pinyness with a nice bitterness, is good, yes; Hop Topsy ESB, floral hoppiness, pleasantly bitter; Big Ben Nut Brown Ale, toasty & a bit nutty, light sweetness, doesn't seem on for style; Schifferstadt Stout, some coffee roastiness & caramel up front and then nothing really), and then contestant number 6 (Not a cask or seasonal offering, but a blackish & tanlike; a blend of the Brown & Blonde. Why fuck with them? They should have offered to let me double down on something of my choice, learn how to handle your sampler, people!) The Annapolis Rocks Pale Ale & Hop Topsy ESB were the best of the bunch.

And food overdue. I had been toying with a Maryland crab soup to start & realized I must stop toying and just went with the Oatmeal Crunch Atlantic Salmon, done with a raspberry oatmeal crunch topping (duh) & an orange reduction. It was served with my choice of side (broccoli florets, steamed & seasoned), and I got a solid salad with it (Raspberry vinaigrette on the side, thick & sticky). Salmon was very good, I would know 'cause, well, I was the one who 'et it.

Interesting crowd. Dad type guy razzing his daughter, breaking her shoes about this and that. Dangerous, considering she's buying, she ought to, not. He wouldn't be funny man then. And a woman just sat down next to me wearing overwhelming cheap hooker perfume of unbearableness. She really should be told so by someone who knows her how she kills the palette and then punched if she does it again. And the older couple up front, we're talking beer some as I look over the brew room. They seem to know what the deal is (Good food here, better beer elsewhere). I like them, they may stay.

Mountaineer Brewing Co. (WV) 6 packs to go in a cooler to the rear, not really sure why. Not a bad house by any measure. Good tunes, decent crowd, comfortable enough place. The food was good, the beer was... okay, some better than others but not too much in range. Um... 2nd best brewpub in town?

Barley and Hops reminded me of mass market chain. Inside was one huge room with little privacy, and would probably be loud on a busy night.

I sat at the bar and had the sampler. At $2.50 it was worth what I paid for it. All of the samples were small, but it included everything they had on draft. The pale ale turned out to be the best, and if I were to stick around, I would have gone with it. It had a nice citrus aroma and flavor. The

Overall, the beer was ok, but the food didn't look really good.

I wouldn't go out of my way for it.

I found this place on here on 20/02/09. I went for supper and a few beers. I would have been better off @ an Applebees or Ruby Tuesday. The service was abysmal. My server knew nothing about the beers and less about the food. He was rude and inept. He reached across me several times . Could not answer 1 question I had regarding the beers. Moreover, when I spoke to the manager, she was equally clueless.
The beer was what you would expect, nothing to yell about, and the list was very limited. The cask they had on was no different from the other offerings.
So if you like Ruby Tuesday's w/ small batch beer and awful service, this is yr place. Otherwise, buy a six pack and go home.

A large area - long bar on the left, with tables to the right. Clean. Something of a "chain" feel, though it is not (not quite sure what gave me that impression, but I got it). Still, the large bar area very comfortable, with the fermenters letting you know it's a brewpub.

The selection was of 5 regular offerings, a seasonal and a cask. There's a profile of each listed by each indicating maltiness. They were all "high" except the "light lager". I guess this brewer like malty beers. Would be a better selection if there were at least some diversity in the malt scales, though having a cask is a plus, and seven beers not a bad number to have.

The four beers I had were mediocre/decent - nothing particularly special. All leaning malty (as indicated) - even the APA, and all a bit thin.

Service was friendly enough, I suppose, though the bartender didn't seem very knowlegeable (about beer in general or the fact that it's associated with Mountaineer), or very attentive, though it was not busy. Service wasn't "slow", though, so I guess I can't complain much. Didn't try the food.

If I were in the area, I might stop by once in a while, but wouldn't be a regular. If thin, maltier beers are your thing (and I have nothing at all against malty - I can certainly appreciate that - but would like more diversity), then maybe you'll like it more than I did. Not too bad - not noteworthy beer-wise. Not worth going out of the way for, IMO.

Went in today on a Tuesday afternoon.

Place was pretty empty, so I got a seat at the bar immediately.

Optimized for family fare, there's a small bar with a much larger open seating area with tables. High ceiling and lots of windows make this feel like less of a brew pub and more of a restaurant.

The food selection was decent, but not great. Pretty standard stuff, kind of lacking in the higher end department.

Moderately overpriced, but I might just be getting cheaper in my old age.

For the meal I got the pulled pork sandwhich. It was delicious, but was $9 for something I can easily get for $6 back home.

Got the rack of beers, which for $2.50 was a really great price. The glasses are small, but it was lunchtime, so who can complain?

Beers were pretty standard across the board, except for the Tuscarora Red. For some reason, that one stood out as a really really nice example of the genre. If you've got one to get, I'd recommend that one. The other's were just OK.

All around - nice place for a decent price. If I were in town, I'd go to Brewer's Alley first. If I lived in town, and maybe had a family of four, this place would be real high on my list.

Our party of 8 was seated around 5:45pm on a Sunday night. We had reservations for 5:30 but arrived 4 minutes late and they hadn't even thought about where to seat us or pull tables together. All handled efficiently after our arrival but....

Before you get started, they offer a 6-beer sample-rack for $2.50 that almost has enough beer for those who usually will only drink a half-liter anyways. We also lucked out and hit $2-Beer Night on Sunday. Unfortunately, we were so un-impressed with most of their beers that the sampler rack is almost a necessity before wasting more money on glasses of beer.

Atmosphere-- VERY NOISY thanks to hardwood floors, open warehouse style and roof-high ceiling. Nothing exciting as far as decor other than the cool Blues Brothers bench but it's nice, spacious and with a lot of window-light along the whole right-side. Nice bar but it's separated by a half-wall and we didn't really explore it.

Service-- It depends on the server. On our fist visit Caty our server handled our gang plus some other tables rather well, we never managed to frazzle her (or at least she never gave on!), all requests handled promptly and efficiently. On another visit the server was inattentive, had to be asked to remove empty glasses and plates repeatedly, never really payed much attention to check what we might need or whether our food was okay after it was brought, you get the idea.

Food-- mixed feelings here, it depended on the plate. Some of the menu descriptions didn't quite seem accurate compared to what we received as far as vegetables or side-plates, but for the most part the food quality seemed reasonable. My older son has been here a good number of times and said it seemed to be a disappointing night for their chef. Caty had to apologize a few times and take some things back or make the chef re-do things.

Value-- considering the area it's probably average-priced for a dining-in served dinner in a clean pleasant atmosphere. What killed our bill was the expensive extra's like appetizers and desserts.

The beer is not a major draw factor for us -- a bit disappointing and hit-or-miss overall on the beer enjoyability. Better (or even adequate-quality) beer would make it a much better experience, especially since it's the beer that's supposed to be the drawing factor.

Hit this place for lunch and then closed it down later that night.

Great burger, great cask scotch ale, and lunch service was right on. Not much of a crowd later that night. Surprising for a Sat. night. The crowd at the bar was nevermore than ten and most seemed to be regulars. Most of the beers were well done, nothing stellar but all nice and drinkable.

Interesting to find out that this place is affiliated with Mountaineer Brewing Co. from Martinsburg. One of the business partners was happy to chat us up when he learned we were from WV and that we were on a bit of a beer trip.

I'd recommend this place for lunch or dinner, but don't expect a happening crowd at night since it is out of town and near the interstate.

Hit the place about 11:30 am on a saturday for a pint or two and lunch before heading to the Wild Goose Brewery tour.
First beer was the a cask conditioned scotch ale..very good to say the least. Also had the pale ale..a respectable beer and sampled their Nut Brown. The brown seemed a bit 'off" to me.
service was wonderful, and even had a chance to chat with one of the owners for a bit.
Actually returned later that evening for a night cap or three and headed to the seperate bar area. very nice, large and well decorated.
The place was very empty for a saturday night, but the beer and music were both good.
Actually met a couple of the regulars, chatted and had a great time.

I stopped here one time and had the beer sampler. Nothing crazy, but descent beers just the same. They have a fairly nice menu selection. My wife got pistachio encrusted salmon and I got a Louisiana boil with crawdads and shrimp steamed in the pale ale. The crawdads had a nice taste of the pale ale. I'm all about using beer in cooking. The location is a seperate building in front of shopping center. So the location itself lacks in atmosphere, but inside it's alright. This place is worth stopping by at least once.