The Brew on Broadway -The BoB

To say I was excited about the opening of The Brew on Broadway was an understatement. Englewood needs some more good new life brought in. So pleased, that after all the delays in opening the owners were able to open the doors on July 6th.

They've had a lot of buzz in local write ups (Westword, The Beer Drifter.Com, etc), but sadly none have been written by a beer snob.

Let's start with the amazing floors, bar tops (recycled), table tops (recycled), great sized patio area, and well decorated, designed space.  It lends to viewing the brew area, which is a must in a brew house these days. They have a nice sized coffee bar with sweets for sale over towards the Broadway side of the venue, but sadly, coffee is not what will ever bring me here.

The beer is what I was waiting for, and sadly, am still waiting for. They opened on the 6th, and we happily wandered in.  They were many family and friends of the owners (it seems there must be many).  We were told what was on the menu were only 4 of the 6 brews advertised on the sign as two were not yet ready.

What was missing was any kind of description on the sheet (other than name) or by the bartender/server of what these beers were. I overheard one of the wives trying to figure out what ESB stood for and instead of asking or saying I'll find out (for her new customer next to us) she walked away. We leaned over and told them after she left. If you are opening a brew pub, even if you aren't the brewer, you should know some basics. And if you or your staff don't, even more reason to put the brief description of your beer under its name. Mild can mean many different things to many different people. When you add the hops can change the taste. Maybe you could tell me what it will taste like before it hits my tongue? Just a thought. Other brew pubs do it all over the world and manage to succeed.

What we decided (my beer snob and me), was that these 4 beers they've brewed are so closely related in taste, if you've tasted one, you need not taste any other. They were boring. And too peaty for my liking. Still hoping the Stout might be OK, but not holding my breath.

For someone who has been brewing in his basement for 25 years, I expected more. I expected to taste really good beer. Not beer that any Joe can do in his basement. I want to recommend you head up to Wit's End for example and try out some of their stuff. He's in a warehouse, it's not a great seating area, but his beer is worth the drive from Englewood. His beers (only a few years experience) are WOWS! right out of the gate, not  a mild, IPA, ESB etc that all taste the same. He makes you want to try all of them.

Disappointed.