Came for the first time early on a Sunday afternoon. They had plenty of spacious seating options in the parking lot and we liked all of the beers we tried. Downside is that they're not doing flights at the moment, only half pours. This was a bit disappointing. However, they were very accommodating and did bring us out a super small taster (like 2 sips) of something we wanted to try not in a half pour quantity. Love the flexibility to bring your own food. read more

Staff was incredibly friendly and helpful. The strawberry hard seltzer was so refreshing and they allow dogs at the outdoor seating. Definitely bring pizza or food since they don't serve any there but the beer was great and the atmosphere was relaxed and comfortable. read more

Good vibes, cool bartender Jess made it worth the trip. The beers were interesting my fave was Toney's Brook. They offer many brews and style. I suggest getting the beer flight. read more

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Local brewery - the decor is vintage and 3rd hand - but it's a local place and you want to support it. Varied and interesting beer choices. However, we visited on a Friday night at 6:30 and close to 8 pm they charged us an extra $5 per person for a singer who they did not announce and we were not staying for. And questioned us about questioning them. read more

I dislike writing bad reviews as I do know places have off days, but I have been to this spot on numerous occasions for different reasons since day one. At first I thought they needed to get into the swing of things, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Everything I read in the other reviews seem true. And its apparent the owners are not making the right decisions to make any changes or fixes. Maybe the brewer/owner are too hard-headed, which could be bad. Its ok to ask for help. This will be a review of a combination of my visits. The beer is beyond lackluster, I'm sorry but they just fall short in flavor, and not true to style characteristics. The pilsner I had was sour, and super hazy. A pilsner should be CLEAN and see through! The NEIPA was not juicy, smooth, or hop forward in anyway. The Collusion IPA, was absolutely disgusting. It is infected for sure. It tasted metallic. Maybe a dirty line, i don't know, but the brewer should be tasting before serving, and if there is something wrong just dump it. Its a greater loss to serve a bad beer than to dump it. In fact, a lot of the beers I had in my flight tasted infected. Like band-aids and wet cardboard. Something in the brew house is getting things infected, and no one seems to care or notice. When checking out the brew house, I could notice a funky, musty sort of smell. A bad smell. Something certainly needs a cleaning. On top of that, every time I have been here the beer seems to be flat! I would think they would have fixed this by now, as it is a simple fix, and there are even companies out there who will regulate for you! A few beers seem to actually be over carbonated. I either get a beer without any head, or a glass that is more than half foam and the head dissipates at a fast rate, I'm talking seconds. I even had the bartenders tell me that she would top me off after i finish my glass. How about you just fix your lines and pour it correctly. Not her fault, but the owners fault. They even have spill buckets underneath to catch beer from falling out of the glass. Then I saw, who i believe was the brewer, use that spilled beer to pour into a customers growler. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Who does that?? You don't do that! You're oxidizing your beer for one, by doing that! It also took him over 10min to get the growler filled. It was all foam, surprising. It should take less than half of that to fill. Another note, I saw her pour a few beers with the faucet dipping right inside the beer! That is beer pouring 101 to NEVER EVER do...it is unsanitary! Disgusting! If it was my beer I would have refused it! I even had to google this to make sure I wasn't crazy but a number of beer sites and blogs state the same. The nozzle should never touch the beer. It creates a breeding ground for bacteria. Again, another note, my wife ordered a soda for our child, and the bartender had to go behind closed doors to pour this. Another 101 of something not to do, never pour a drink when your patron can't see it being poured. You could be poisoning, drugging, or just not giving out the product that should be given. Everything has to be transparent. My wife paid for the soda, which took almost 15 minutes to be poured, but left it on a table and we never drank it. Anyway, the soda was all foam, and probably only 1/3 filled with actual liquid. This brewery is ripping people off with their money by pouring foam. I understand there needs to be a head, and I want head retention, but not half a glass of it. The bartenders have no clue about anything about beer. They can't answer the simplest of questions. Seems like Montclair Brew is just hiring people who need jobs, but not passionate about beer. Which is fine in a way, we all need to work, but train your staff, please, for your sake and your patrons sake. Sorry for the rant, I just need to let people know what is going on here. Hopefully the owners will read this and take into consideration to save their business. Changes need to be made, and fast! This place will sink in another year if something isn't done. I think this place is just disorganized, and the owners have no clue what they're doing. The beer menus which are 2 t.v.'s and printed menus, don't even match up with each-other. I don't know what is being poured! Maybe they should take trips to other breweries to see how its done. Or just hire a brewery consultant. Instead of Kitchen Nightmares, or Bar Rescue, they should make a tv show called Brewery nightmares/rescue. Call up Jon Taffer! Quick! Montclair as a town needs a brewery, and this is in a perfect location to succeed, but with the issues going on, I'm sorry to say, it will never make it. Please make the right changes, I do want to like this spot. Please consult with other professionals, and gain the knowledge you need. Don't believe you know everything, Because it obvious to your customers that you don't know much. And carbonate your kegs right, and fix your gas lines please! We are all rooting for you! read more

Vibe Check: Great local brewery located in Montclair. The staff was very friendly and have a lot of outdoor seatings to hangout with your buddies. The Grubs: They have some very unique beers, I personally like lighter beers so I'd recommend starting off with the Passionfruit Pilsner then Fragile like a Bomb, and top it off with the Peoples Republic of Montclair. Drawback: They don't have food but there a lot of great restaurants nearby. (Walking distance) read more

Very happy to have this place in town. The owners are a really nice and very hands on husband and wife team. They're a new place and have some rough edges but they've worked like dogs smoothing those out. The beers are unique and diverse. The place is nice and inviting inside and they are developing an exciting calendar of events with music and game nights etc. One of the things I really like is that I can bring in my own food or have it delivered there. Easy way to have a social get together. read more

The beers were alright; nothing really stood out. I found the premises to be fairly dirty and unkempt, especially the bathrooms. If I recall I think the sink was nearly falling off the wall. If the cleanliness of the premises is indicative of their brewing standards... eh. Fun time in the back patio though so it wasn't all bad. read more

I really, really wanted to love this place. The idea of a brewery in Montclair was so exciting because it seems like so many of the great NJ breweries are more towards south Jersey. I'll start off by saying that it has so much potential-- it's a great space in a really great location and it has a parking lot! A place in Montclair with a parking lot is amazing. The staff was also really friendly. But the beer was underwhelming. Maybe I'm spoiled by other NJ breweries that have just been around longer and really mastered what they do. I shared a flight with my fiancé and we had a couple of IPAs, a lager and a Belgian white. The tastes just weren't there. There was something left to be desired with each beer in our flight. It seems like a cool place to go with some friends, hang out and bring some food along with you...but for me, the beer just wasn't good enough for me to want to go back and try more. read more

We love this brewery!! The owner is a very nice guy and will talk to you about anything and everything. He can also explain everything about the beers on tap. They serve a ever changing variety of beers. I especially can recommend the fruity sours. If you just feel like getting some beer for refreshment or hanging out with friends this place is perfect for you! I also love that you can get food delivered there since they don't supply food - this makes it also more affordable as a weekday hangout spot. Love this place! read more

I was looking for an outdoor space where I could spend a long while catching up with family. During this pandemic, it's important to be safe while being social. The place was so busy, the staff was stretched a bit thin, but still took care of us. Having a reservation definitely helped (and I was impressed they had a reservation system at all!) There were plenty of tables, great music and a lot of options on tap. Servers were all masked. Plenty of room for a dog and baby stroller. Grateful to have a place like this to keep people connected these days. read more

I love the people that work here and I love everything Leo does for our community. Relaxed vibe. Enjoy myself every time I come here.

Beer was very lack luster and underwhelming.. But naming the beer anti Trump names made me decide that they really dont need my money.. So go elsewhere where they brew better beer and don't get cut half there customer base off.. read more

Great place to come with friends on a Friday or Saturday, live music great draft beer read more

Montclair Brewery - Gabi The Artist singing - Breweries Near Me - Montclair, New Jersey

The beers are unique and tasteful. The atmosphere has potential. The service is just awful. Not sure if they just were not trained but both of the bartenders that we had were both totally on another planet. The flights were half poured and it took so long we canceled our second flight order and left. They definitely need some training or something. read more

Lovely owners/operators. Just the nicest people. Unfortunately, the beer was almost undrinkable. Maybe their take on beer just isn't for me. Perhaps it's growing pains. I hope so. Would love to see them succeed. read more

They just opened, so I'm trying to be fair... my biggest issue was that they didn't have any staff capable of properly pouring a beer. Not a good look for a brewery. Literally 1/2 or more was foam. The beers were oookkkk... they were a bit unorganized and slow, but I'm assuming they are working on that since they're so new read more

I don't typically slam a business for bad service, but this was surreal. There was a crowd of people waiting to get served, about eight people, and both bartenders were just chatting away with people they know for more than ten minutes, either oblivious to the people waiting or just not giving a ****. Once they finally awoke and started taking orders, they couldn't tap a beer right. It was all foam. Beers are either hit or miss: DIPA was good and so is the normal IPA, but all brown beers (porter, stout, brown ale) tasted funky. There is space to chill and play games but you have to BYOG. Will give them a few months to sort things out before giving it another try. read more

They don't know what they are yet and I hope they figure it out soon. I went twice, once on opening day, once in the past month... bartenders still don't know how to pour a beer, let alone describe one. I wish there was better ambiance... the building feels like a polling place, but with an MSC-styled logo. Who brings their own board games when going out? A lot of money was poured into this brewery, but it has the vibe of a passion project. The owners really need to consider what the public wants.... we want an experience with a variety of ice cold beers, good carbonation, and friendly faces behind the bar. Good luck! I'll try it again in 2019. read more

We reserved the back lounge area for a Saturday afternoon party. It was really wonderful! There were a lot of people in the brewery but our space was perfect and no one interfered. The beers were delicious, craft sodas for the non-drinkers and an attentive bar staff who never lost their cool despite the large crowd. Brought in tacos from Mezoco - it was perfect. Highly recommend it! Everyone had an awesome time. read more

Not quite sure what is going on here. They have 7 beers listed in the screen. 3,4,5,7,9,10,12. When I asked the bar tender what the missing beers were she had no idea what I was talking about. When I asked about the coaster that said they opened in 2014 but they announced a grand opening 10/13/18 she couldn't explain. Besides that the beers were all sours. It sure if that is the way they are going or what. I wish them luck. The place looked good. read more

Just wanted to give an overdue shoutout to Montclair Brewery! They have a great variety of beers, which are delicious and meaningful, and the owners Denise Ford Sawadogo and her husband Leo Sawadogo are so warm and friendly, and truly support the Montclair community. And it is a family friendly environment where kids are welcome! Just bring your own food! read more

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I was here tonight. I have to say that I was a bit disappointed with this place. They only serve 11 beers. Out of the 11 beers, three were non alcoholic. One was actually a root beer. The majority eight beers were fruity. The first beer that I had was very hoppy and fruity. The second beer was darker and ok. With no food, music, and tvs, I'm not exactly sure they will be able to compete with Egans & Sons, which is right across the street. This will probably be my first and last time at this place. read more

Oh Yelp. The place is brand new and you are slamming them for their service? Give them more than a week to get up and running. The beer here is phenomenal and worth the wait if it takes an extra few minutes to get served. The founder Leopold and his wife Denise are truly great people and this is their dream come true. It's also a dream come true for local craft beer lovers. The state of New Jersey will not allow a brewery to serve food, but they will let you BYO food here. I highly recommend checking this little gem out. It's right near Egan's on Walnut St., and also near the Walnut St. train station. It's totally worth making the trip from the city. read more

Yum, all the beers were delicious. We tried Mango Fire Bush, Golden Buddha, Back Ah Bush, and My Col Beer Ale. The names are fun too. When you walk in the door you're immediately welcomed in and they have both indoor and outdoor seating. It was a nice day so we sat outside. Initially we were the only ones out there but they still setup speakers so we could enjoy music and beer. I thought that was a nice touch. You can bring your own food and they're located next to a few restaurants so you can order and bring it in with you. I also like that they have a wide variety of beer. They have Farmhouse Ale, Lambic, Hard Seltzers, Belgian Dubbel, so you're not just stuck with IPAs. Mango Fire Bush was my favorite, it's mango and habanero. Can't wait to go back and enjoy this one again. read more

my wife and i love to support local businesses. we also love supporting local breweries. yesterday we thought that we would go to a few . whenever we have gone to them it is always fun to us because there are always a number of new beers to try.we have never before been to one where you couldnt just have a tiny sample of a new beer that sounded interesting. we both like to keep to the beers that have an alcohol content at 5% or lower. at most breweries, that is not a problem. when there are 3 or 4 options below 5 we would normally order a flight so that we could try them all yesterday, upon entering montclair brewey , we noticed that there were only 2 beers that met our criteria . since one was a raspberry we were down to one. before we risked getting 2 pints of a beer that we might not like, we asked if we could just have a small sample to try.we didnt think that this was an outrageous request since samples are the norm at every brewery that weve ever gone toand a flight wasnt an option we were told that their policy was no samples.my responce was that it wasnt like we were asking for a sample of miller light or another familiar beer. the owner repeated to us as we walked out since there policy made no sense to us that there policy was no samples needless to say, their shortsightedness and penny foolishness let 2 regular customers walk out of their establishment without a purchase as well as a bad story to pass on about their business read more

This is a great brewery in town! Beer is tasty & its a great spot for kids, babies & dogs! The staff was great & super accommodating. You can bring your own food in too. They even had a Mother's Day massage special! read more

Came for the tour my gf bought for me, and ended up waiting outside in the cold on the schedule day. No one came.

Montclair is so fortunate to have this gem in their backyard! Its such a cool spot with great music, friendly people, attentive staff and great tasty cold beer. The tap list size and assortment is diverse, large and very impressive. The owners are so welcoming too and open to the community. read more

Have been anticipating the opening of this small brewery since I read about it. It's always nice to support local establishments and we had pretty high expectations. This brewery only opened about 3 weeks ago so we will update in the future. It's kind of small with a bar, some bar tables and a back area with some chairs and a sofa. It's got a nice feel in a rustic way. The bartender was very pleasant and attentive over the course of the 2 hours that we were there. We knew that food is not able to be offered at this time so we brought our own munchies-items that go well with beer. All of us ordered flights so we could sample the different offerings. All of the beers are interesting. There are fruity beers such as raspberry and mango and more hearty beers. The beers have some unusual overtones and undertones of spices which we all enjoyed. This place is pretty nice to hang out in. Everyone was relaxed and it seems like a place where you can enjoy time with friends. It's kid friendly which makes for a more international ambiance since many bars in other countries are more family oriented than in the US. There is a small stage although no one was performing during our visit as it was pretty early. The owners were on hand and friendly. I would go back again; maybe bring dinner and listen to some music. Not sure why some reviewers were critical of the staff-we were treated well and have no complaints. read more

The decor, the vibe, the music are all positive. It's a comfortable, relaxing place to grab a beer. Their first brews released are all fruity beers, I was hoping for a but more variety. Let's see what they follow up with. The cost of a drink is fair, but it's not a round number so you're getting a handful of pennies and dimes back with every drink. Just work the tax into the cost, it's so annoying. They have flights, pints, and growlers. No hard alcohol or wine, just beer. Looking forward to coming back and hoping they brew some headdy beers or Stouts. read more

Great beer, friendly owners, and a cozy space. It's a fun place to hang out with your friends! You can order pizza and play board games, or hang out and listen to live music. read more

This place just opened, last weekend and thought we should try it out. They do not serve food but you are welcome to bring it in. Nice space but doesn't seem finished quite yet. 10 drinks on tap, a few sold out (maybe from a big opening weekend). Service was very slow, 1-2 bartenders working depending on the moment, and took about 5 minutes for 2 flights (under poured), and 15 minutes for 2 pints(again under poured). Great spot for get together a before going out. Drinks were tasty though, making this 4 star worthy. Most beers had fruity undertones which is normally against what I like but I did enjoy all the beers. Would try again once they have spent a little more time open and hope for better service. read more

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Fun, cool place to get a freshly brewed beer or ten. Not fancy and not intended to be. Very friendly staff.

Good beer and nice atmosphere but they really need more servers. Waited 45 minutes for outdoor service (on a super busy day), went inside to the bar so I didn't have to keep waiting. Waited another 15-20 mins inside and was then informed by a bartender I couldn't order from the bar and take it outside due to liquor license restrictions (again, completely understandable). Hearing that interaction with the bartender, a server named Natalie walked with me outside to take my order. Natalie was understanding, super sweet and helpful. read more

Super chill place. Service was great! The beer I had was delicious! I'm planning to go back.

Never, ever heard of a brewery that does not let you TASTE their beer. We walked in last night with another couple to have a drink before dinner. As a previous reviewer noted, it felt like we were walking into a private party. Everyone looked at us as if we did not belong. We felt very uncomfortable. Since we have never had any of their beers before, my husband asked for a taste of one, so that he could decide if that was the one he wanted to drink a whole glass off. The bartender would not give him a taste. If we didn't have dinner reservations right across the street, we would have left at that point. Instead, we did order 4 beers (3 different types) and they were pretty good. However, we will not be going back. read more

Delicious brews, great atmosphere and super friendly owners and staff. We always enjoy ourselves here and love the beer (we buy came to go all the time for home). So happy to have a seriously good brewery walking distance to my house read more

Came in to visit and try a few different beers. Had a flight of 4. Didn't really care for any of them so went to the bar and asked to try an English mild and a stout. Beertender told me I couldn't try a "ton of beers, maybe like one" I paid the tab and left. Will not return. What unbelievably crappy customer service. read more

This place has Sooooooo much potential. Went in there and there was a great cover band playing and they had lots of beers on tap. The beers were interesting and different which was nice. The problem is that it was hardly chilled. I had 3 beers and they were all unsatisfying because they were closer to room temperature than they were to cold. I think a good beer is best served ice cold in a frozen glass and it was just a little disappointing. Either turn down the fridge or freeze your mugs!! I'll probably return regardless. Prices were good. read more