Boise must-hits?

I'll add my recommendations when I get some time ... Also, let me know if you want to do an in person trade (I see some potential matches :-)

Cheers and welcome... Toby.

 

Go to the Co-op grocery store. Very nice selection. Thats the only place I went to for beer and that was a couple weeks ago. I was quite pleased with the selection. Just sitting there were items including Love Child 4, Alaskan Smoked porter, Saison-Brett, recent Black Butte series, Not the Stoic and other well received beers.

 

Bittercreek Alehouse. Best place to eat and drink in town.

*Edit, actually I haven't eaten in all that many places in Boise. I'll rephrase to say, best beer selection in town, along with great food.

 

If you have a day off, you can get to Bend and back in 10hrs or so.

 

Brewforia in meridian
Bittercreek
Bier thirty

Have not lived in Boise since 2012. So I can't remember the others that are worth that time. There are a few in nampa (30min drive)

 

I'll second bittercreek for drafts and food and co-op and bier:thirty for bottles to go. I also recommend bar gernika for some basque food and a small but solid draft list.

 

This I am moving to Boise in about a month. Bier Thirty has a real good food too. Love Bittercreek.

 

Woodland Empire is IMO the best up and coming brewery... but they don't have food ... They are soon releasing a Berliner in bottles that is pretty fantastic.

10 Barrel is my favorite brewery and their food is good, but they are nearly always packed... Try the potato chip nachos.

Bittercreek gets entirely too much of my money... and they have a great late night happy hour with $2 street tacos... And right next door, Red Feather has the best local brunch in town.

Bier Thirty is owned by a friend who is a pretty big beer guy... Great bottle selection with good rotation and thoughtful drafts and they often have special events and taptakeovers.

Boise COOP has the best bottle selection where you know the bottles are going to be fresh... There are a couple places that have more bottles, but you also run the risk of buying a 18 month old DIPA that has been sitting on warm shelves the entire time.

Probably too late, but let me know if you want to do an IP trade... I have a few bottles off your wants.

 

Thank you for the tip on Woodland Empire. Any thoughts on Boise Brewing?

 

My personal opinion is they are young and finding a hard time getting consistency. That is honestly why I haven't reviewed any of their beers yet. They show promise, but right now are a little pedestrian given all the great beer I can find around town. I actually have been meaning to make it back down there recently.

Please feel free to stay in touch... There is always room in our tasting group for another person.

Cheers, Toby.

 

I want to check out some of that woodland empire. Ill be up in 2 weeks for a wedding for a week. Need beer and rock climbing maybe bring some pliny,blind pig, almanac and if extremely lucky cantillon.

 

I see that Boise now has growler fill stations.

Staying downtown this week. Looking for where I might find the closest growler fill spots downtown? And if it's recommended I venture further out (Specifically for hoppy brews). Based on a little research, there's a lot more brewery's in town than I expected.

Looking forward to trying all the local stuff.

 

For stuff in/around downtown....

Growler fill station at the Albertsons at 16th and State had Abyss on recently and something else pretty cool if I remember correctly.

PreFunk at 11th and Front typically has a nice selection.
-Right next door is Woodland Empire who is my pick for the best up and coming brewery in Boise.

The Boise COOP has probably the best and most curated selection in the downtown area for bottles. They do not fill growlers.

Whole Foods has a good selection too... and they have decent draft/growler fill area upstairs.

The Front Door sometimes has cool stuff, but has really fallen off in recent years.

10 Barrel is pretty good for food and hoppy beers and the occasional sour.

Bittercreek Alehouse has probably the most thoughtful tap selection in downtown....
Right next door is the Red Feather Lounge, they have the best brunch IMO on Saturday/Sunday.

Feel free to hit me back with any more questions.... This is just off the top of my head.

Also... I saw you may have brought beers for trade.... Let me know if you want to chat.

Cheers and hope this helps, Toby.

 

Not in downtown but Beir 30 has Abyss on tap right now, Taphouse did have it and they still might. And Pallet Jack has been popping up a lot too.

I wish Prefunk did a better job posting their tap list, unless its somewhere else I don't know of.

 

Yeah... Bier 30 is always a really good bet... but a short drive out of downtown.

Taphouse can be pretty good.

Another one is Bar Gernika... They frequently have some pretty good stuff on tap and bottles that are also available to go... Plus they will fill growlers and you can try some Basque food.... Try the croquettas!

 

Gernika is great. Can't think of his name but the owner (at least I think he is) is really nice as well. Will be nice when I can go some places outside of my lunch break.

 

Thanks for the heads up.

Bittercreek was awesome as usual. Got to try a Barley Brown IPA (wasn't pallet jack), which was excellent. I think they had 6-7 barrel aged beers on tap which is pretty impressive.

Hit up some taprooms. My favorite beers were from Haff. I really like their IPA. Payette was excellent with the cheap 5 oz pours for a buck. I also enjoyed Cloud 9, Woodland Empire and Crooked Fence.

The Co-op was excellent and Whole Foods had just as good a variety as well. Tons of Abyss and Dissident sitting around everywhere, which isn't the case in Colorado.

Bar Gernika had some very good food and a small but decent taplist. Odell Friek bottle for $20 is pretty good deal as well.