I went here because I met a brewer from Santa Fe (where I live) who used to work here. He said they did not pay him for almost a year and that the owners were "lying sacks of shit" who screwed him out of 11 months salary. I had a trip to Phoenix planned, and I knew I was going to be on the west side, so I made it out to this place in between work meetings to see for myself how awful these people were.
They hardly had any of their own beer on tap, which was disappointing as that is usually the best way to evaluate whether or not a brewery is worth its' salt. The beer they had was average at best. They were serving two IPA's: one session, and one a maltier than hoppy. Both were unmemorable. They served mostly other breweries beer, such as 1912, McFate, Helton, Dragoon, and 12 West. I think they had a couple others that I don't recall. I did not try the other beers, which were the bulk of their tap list. If I want those beers, I will travel to their respective breweries. It was really hot out, and I normally would crush back anything tasty, but I nursed the two beers I did buy. They weren't flawed per se, but were just boring and not exciting. Very bland and average.
There was an African American girl working the bar, and she was nice. She paid attention and asked if I needed anything. There was also a fatter white woman there, who was just drinking the whole time. I assumed she was the owners wife. She paid me no attention for the entire hour I was there, as she was clearly more concerned about eating and drinking herself into the next size shirt up. She did not say good bye when I left, but the African American girl did. Kudos to her, but not so much to the fat woman.
The place has no food, which is typical for tap rooms so I won't knock them too much for that. The owners wife would have probably ate it all anyway. Someone did bring in a rueben dripping with thousand island dressing from somewhere else, which looked tasty. I should have asked where he got it from.
There was a cigarette butt on the floor by the restroom, mashed out by a foot. I found this odd as there was clearly nobody smoking, but someone must have at some point. Disgusting.
Overall, I was not impressed. If you are going to say you are a brewery, brew some beer and be proud of yourself. These people clearly are not proud, as evidenced by the state of health of the wife, and the lack of their own beer on tap. Maybe the Santa Fe brewer was correct, and these people are who he says they are. I think he may be correct.
Bottom line, don't waste your time. You're better off with the Rock Bottom nearby. At least they have some food and probably give a damn about themselves. Caveat: I usually only review places that suck, as Yelp can really be an invaluable tool in helping places improve. If a business is doing well, I usually do not review. There's enough horn tooting going around for everyone. read more