Bad Breweries/Brewpubs Remain Open

Maybe it's because I love food but don't have the disposable income to be a "foodie" but I think the quality and number of local restaurants has actually increased, at least in my area. Obviously I can't comment on your area, and maybe I just have lower expectations, but I think chain restaurants have at least lost a decent amount of business to local places. Now obviously local does not necessarily equate to good food but at least in my small state, I can find a decent place to eat within 20 minutes no matter where I am. I think if anything the craft beer movement has almost gone hand and hand with local, better restaurants (note again, not a foodie so take my opinion with a grain of salt). But then again I think I have lower expectations because living in the birthplace of pizza and the hamburger, I'd much rather have a sub $20 deliciously simple meal than pay $100+ for my wife and I.

 

Another vote for Horny Goat!!

 

Horny Goat. I actually like Title Town. I like to eat there, some of the beers are decent IMO.

 

Yep, this is the place I was referring to above

 

ah, never been to Horny Goat. just sounded awfully similar to Titletown.

food is good.. we love to eat there but all their beers taste very similar to me, regardless of style. the only one that i really enjoy is Dark Helmet. they made a barleywine a while back that was tasty.. other than that... meh.

 

Totally agree - there are tons of options available for vittles, but I still think a lot of them are mediocre at best. There's nothing worse than going out and spending a bunch of cash to end up disappointed and hungry! And that doesn't matter if it is $100 or $20 - either way it is not acceptable. Don't get me wrong - we are much more frequently in the $20 - $30 category and there's nothing better than making the hole-in-the-wall discovery of a hidden gem. Heck, the seasonal drive in about a mile from my house has the best steak sandwich in the area bar none for six bucks. The point I was trying to make is no matter the price range, what qualifies as "good" these days (meaning places people have recommended) seems to be declining and mediocrity is somewhat accepted. The specific incident I cited - we spent a grand total of $18 and the food sucked - period. Sucked worse if we'd spent twice as much? You bet. To us, it's not a bargain if the food is lousy. People seem to be willing to accept things at a lower standard. Cost - in my opinion - is somewhat irrelevant and does not provide an excuse. Food (or beer) is being sold to the public - there is an implied obligation regardless what you are charging. If I am spending $100, well, the bread had best butter itself

I think the foodies are still an exception and maybe they are more demanding, but I have gone places recommended by people supposedly "in the know" and been just as pissed off at the food quality, even more so because the cost is higher. I know it is kind of trial and error and personal taste comes into play a lot, but some places are just putting out poor quality product yet remain in business. I know places I can get a well-prepared, tasty steak for around $12. Is it fancy Wagyu beef - hell no - but it is cooked perfectly, nicely seasoned, presented well, and it tastes good. I've dropped a lot more coin in "better" places and left saying WTF. That starts getting into value for the dollar, which is a whole different discussion whether it's beer or food.

Beer when dining, in my immediate area (say within ten miles of home), is mostly BMC. Maybe Blue Moon/Shock Top and Sam Adams seasonal. To find anything else, gotta head to the city. Very limited "local scene" if there even is one. Local package stores - the selection in general has improved dramatically, but there are still quite a few who stubbornly refuse to offer anything craft and the thirty racks roll out the door. Restaurants - there are a few we hit that basically have breweries in their back yard that don't even offer those easy options. I guess that comes down to market forces and carrying what sells? The other factor is the quality of some of the local(ish) breweries. Some of them are frankly not making good beer. Yet they have rabid local followers. Not saying every brewery needs to be making the next Heady or anything, but they should be putting out beer that doesn't have obvious flaws and calling it great - that hurts the whole concept of craft beer in my opinion.

Cheers!

 

It's funny, Schmoz is king of like your strange, genius uncle that still lives with your grandma. When everyone else is out getting theirs (Founders, New Holland, Vivant, etc.) in Grand Rapids, Schmoz is fine with just staying marginal at best. When you go there, you see the same 8-10 guys sitting on the same stools every time. Their beer stays sub-par but they stay open somehow, maybe because they are okay with just being a C-minus type of place.

 

I havent enjoyed anything from Cisco, granted I haven't had a lot.

I think its just because I really dislike grey lady

 

So they are idiots because...they like to go somewhere with friends and have a good time? If the beer is bad don't drink it, if others have fun going there what's it to you?

 

Local idiots is an endearing term. I'm a local idiot. But I do wish they'd re-invest some of their take (they're very successful) back into hiring a good brewing team and putting out beer Milwaukee can be proud of.

 

Okay that makes sense, and I agree. I think places like that just focus on the other stuff (having fun things to do) and focus less on the beer, they just want something passable to most people and keep them coming in. I don't know if there is enough motivation to really care about making the beer any better. Is that a shortsighted approach? I don't know, seems to work for some places.

I must say in terms of Milwaukee, I miss the Lakefront brewery tours the most, man those were fun (I graduated from Marquette, used to love going on those tours).

Edit to add: Speaking of something to be proud of, Lakefront qualifies!

 

Davidsons just opened a new bigger brew pub in Queensbury NY. Don't know what the attraction is wih their beers. Just bad beer.

 

I actually think most people who go there buy bottled Miller products. I agree that it is clearly, and by a large margin, the worst brewery in the area. Have not met anyone who disagrees, except maybe the folks who run the place.

 

Kind of strange but I liked the chocolate mint one, and a few bourbon barrel ones as well.

 

Yeah the stuff they're selling in Arkansas is mediocre...

 

There's one in my area that earns unanimously bad reviews, but still chugs along because it's the play thing of a rich guy's kid (who's also an arrogant idiot) and poor sales numbers and feedback basically mean nothing. At the least, we all get a good laugh out of it.

 

If they are making money, they probably see no reason to. Which is sad, because good brewing talent should not come all that expensive. There must be any number of assistant brewers at any number of breweries looking to become a head brewer somewhere. However, this means giving up control over a significant portion of the business, something many owners don't care to do.

 

Yeah, you definitely bring up some good points. That being said, the number of brewpubs that I have been to where I leave thinking, "man that was some great food and service" are few and far between. But being established is an enormous advantage for sure. There are too many examples to name in several posts, not that I would try even if I could.

 

Yes!

San Francisco, CA, home of many brewpubs with poor beers and okay food. The reason here is obviously that tourism and restaurant atmosphere are enough to keep a crummy place in business. I wish I could meet the brewers and slap them.

Bad beer, okay food, somewhat cool atmosphere:
-Magnolia
-Thirsty Bear
-Southern Pacific
-Triple Rock

 

Diamond Bear is in a new facility and it seems they were old news before the move. I bought a sixer of their Dogtown-brewed Dogtown Brown. It just was not the same as what they made on Cross Street, this new batch was drier and less complex. And when are they going to release the Rocktoberfest. It would have been out by now, don't you think? That is a solid O-Fest in my opinion. They know how to do malt.