I read about this new place and was curious any one been there yet? if so what is it like. thanks! Its in Jacksonville, fl to be clear.
Yes, I go there all the time, and it's fucking awesome. I hosted a large event for... ehem... another website... in Jacksonville in February and they graciously allowed us in even though they weren't open yet. They had 6-8 homebrews on tap and one growler and most everyone on the bus agreed that they were the best stop of the day by far (we stopped at 7 different breweries that day, I believe). Right now they are still waiting for their full, large equipment to get up and running, so they are only tapping 10 gallon pilot batches every Wednesday at 5pm. So far they have been stellar. The New Zealand double IPA was phenomenal. Otherwise it's a nice new bar with a solid taplist, but not mind-blowing to hyper beer nerds. Usually a mix of Cigar City, other craft beers, and a few other craft beers that they know will sell because they are downtown - Brooklyn Lager, etc. The bar itself is super nice, pretty big, and very cool looking. They sort of refurbished this really cool old brick building without changing a whole lot inside. It's very rustic and yet modern. I love the place and I think once they get up and distributing, they are going to be the best brewery in the Northeast, and probably one of the best in Florida/the country eventually.
thanks do they have any beer left after Wednesday>? I was thinking about going today, yea I seen your posts on Ratebeer. Sadly folks tend to overrate places here IMHO....
Their beer tends to go within an hour or two so I doubt any's left. Still a good place to check out though!
oh well not really interested in the same beer I can get all over town, just wanted to try their own brews, maybe next Wednesday then... Do you think they are going for a Belgian theme brewery?? thanks!
They post what they're going to tap on Facebook, usually in the early afternoon on Wednesday. As to their theme... Last time I talked to Michael he was thinking about making a Belgian single as one of their first few beers. Not sure they'll have a Belgian "theme", but I'd guess they'll have at least one on tap.
Yeah, not going for a Belgian theme but he does seem to excel at certain Belgian styles and hoppy beers. The sours he had on during the RB event were killer.
Yes we visited yesterday as you said not much left they make on tap. Usually most new places pick a few "flagship" beers. Looks like they are not sure yet. We liked the Gose, allot. The wife commented to me though, that it never fails she finds a beer she likes and the place never makes it again. It frankly what she hates about new breweries. Even though I do not use FB I can see their FB web page. So I will watch and see if anything new they do interests me, thanks! That said for all the crowd there at 5pm you think some of them wold be on BA, lol.
The brewer was not there yesterday, so I asked the folks working there, got 1 answer yes to my question, but 2 others said they did not know. oh well. How come no1 has reviewed it on BA?
Yeah, Michael is more of an experimental brewer than a "let's brew one IPA 500 times" kind of brewer. However, once they get their big equipment going, I'm sure something they make will take hold. Some of his IPAs and DIPAs I've had in the past have been fucking amazing, so assuming he can get ahold of the right hops, I'm sure those will snag hard. He is also planning to make big batches of the stout and Belgian Single they made as pilot batches. There are a few people that hang out there that use BA, but perhaps aren't very active. As the "RB" guy in town, I feel you even worse - there's almost literally nobody here except me. Luckily there are lots of cool ass locals to hang out with that are really into beer even if not super active on either site. Of course I work at Grassroots, so I got to know them all real quick!
Yea I was told by the beer tender that the old brewer a pinglehead now works there at Grassroots now? Whats the story there? I hope they stay away from the IPA too many already do that, and I am NOT a fan of most. call me weird. This has never been a BA/RB town, well maybe in riverside some.
They had some mechnical issues which seem to be resolved in a couple weeks. In 6 weeks or so I bet they have 4 or 5 of their own beers in larger quantities.
So far it's been every Wednesday at 5pm without faltering... except the special one they tapped for the First Coast Cup Pub Crawl
I was the beer guy at Grassroots for the last year. However, I have my doctorate in music (tuba) and taught college part-time at Valdosta State University. VSU decided to hire me full-time starting this semester, so I moved to Valdosta. Keegan quick Pinglehead for various reasons... you'd have to ask him about it.
Also, azorie, your review of the place on RB is harsh. Sounds like you just don't like bars, dude. No offense.
WOW, really? I never said anything that was untrue did I? Heck its the highest rated place in town for me. Yes I love bars/pub. I am not a young person. I like comfortable bar chairs, is that too much to ask? plus its got very noisy in there, that was a direct observation, not a critical thing. many folks like noisy places, I do not. My reviews are actually what both me and my wife think about a place. Honest review help folks, reviews saying the place is the da bomb is frankly a joke.
Also saying a place is noisy and has bad chairs is pretty person specific. I couldn't care less about stuff like that when I visit a bar.
