New place called "Heroes" ( there is a story behind the name) opened up this week near me..down in South Salem on Liberty Rd. They dont have the huge amount of taps that others do but whet they have is excellent. They had 5 or 6 Barley Brown beers. If your in Salem give em a go..they will need all the help they can get S.Salem is Coors light and lottery country.
Do you have an address for them? It doesn't appear as if they have a website, and I can't pull up their info on Yelp from my work computer.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/heroes-tap-house-salem having not even facebook one of the reasons i think they are in for a hard time of it. THere was a reasonable crowd on Saturday..but talking to the owner they have to have the bloody lottery . Effin S.Salem
4435 Liberty Rd. S , Salem, OR 97302. They also have a facebook page, but I can't link to it from work. I stopped in last night to check it out. Basically, someone with at least a cursory knowledge of craft beer leased a suburban-style dive bar and opened a "taphouse." I'm not going to draw too many conclusions yet, as it appears they're still working on it. It's pretty clear the current owners didn't do much to the space before opening. The front & back of the bar are run down. The bathrooms have that generic 70s/80s brown kitchen tile and are pretty rough. There are CRT TVs. But there is a pool table -- if you're into that kind of thing. The taplist was pretty good. But again, I'll reserve judgment for a few months. I'm guessing they'll be the "low man on the totem pole" when it comes to the rarer kegs & high-demand stuff that come to town at places like Venti's, b2, and Westside Taphouse. They still had 4 BB beers (Headshake, Pallet Jack, Vanilla Porter, Breakfast Stout), plus a couple 10 Barrel, some Gilgamesh (yuk), Rusty Truck, and some other "meh" offerings. Looks like 16 taps so far with plans to add more at some point. I ordered a Pallet Jack. I was asked if I wanted a 12oz or 16oz, which was kind of an immediate turn off. Reminds me of an airport bar or a B-dubs. I opted for the 16oz (natch), which was served up in an ever-so-proper Shock Top weizen-style glass. Classy. I'll probably go back eventually to see what progress they've made, but unless they do some major overhauling (and I doubt they will), it'll be very unlikely I visit a third time.
I like they have 12 and 16 oz. offerings. I'm not always in the mood for a "big" pour and appreciate having a choice.
Me too. That doesn't bother me. As for the rest of the post from Guajolote (thanks for the update and information by the way), I hear what you're saying, but given what ReidRover mentioned in his OP, it really sounds like I should give the owner an E for Effort (and for trying). The fact they have something like Headshake and pallet jack on tap (despite all the other "meh" offerings), is at least a big step in the right direction. Maybe things will improve over time, especially if the owner gets some encouragement. Frankly, I like to support craft beer and craft beer bars whenever I can, so I think I'll try to at least stop by, and throw some encouragement and money their way. Maybe it will help and/or make a difference... maybe it won't. I'm coming up to Chehelam for a library wine event this weekend anyway, so it sounds like it should be relatively easy to include the new place into my weekend rotation.
Fair enough. I guess I've just gotten accustomed to being able to ask for a half pint or half pour at most taphouses. Maybe I go to taphouses too much... I certainly wouldn't discourage you from trying it, and I wasn't trying to tell people to NOT go there, but after re-reading my post, I can see it being construed that way. It'll be a quick detour off I-5 for you to get there. I hope they're successful and they find their niche, but it probably won't turn out to be my kind of joint. It doesn't help their cause that b2, my favorite taphouse in Salem, is less than 5 minutes away. I'll be looking forward to hearing your impression of the place.
