Just as the three stars says, "A-OK."
I didn't go expecting to be blown out of the water. I was reasonably familiar with this company before hand so I had an inclination of how things would go.
First off, I am a beer fanatic. I love trying beers from all over the world, in any weird or fascinating style I can find. In my personal experience I tend to air on the side of caution, generally selecting highly rated or highly recommended beers. What Napa Smith has done for me is given me a middle of the road benchmark. Now I don't mean that in a harsh way. I don't want to come off as bashing them because I'm not. See in my experience I have generally had really great beer or really terrible ones so it's nice to find a middle ground.
All in all the beer is pretty solid. Everything is drinkable, but nothing really stands out. I thought a few of the beers suffered from balance issues and overall lack of cohesion. A lot of them felt like they needed more body as they had a thin mouth-feel. Â Although these are good beers to knock back at BBQs and other social functions where you're not focused so much on the taste. My favorites were the organic ipa and the barley wine.
The tasting room is pretty nice, if a little barren. The room is pretty cavernous which cause some acoustic problems. If the place is a full house you will have some trouble hearing people that are directly in front of you. I think they allow dogs, so good news for you dog owners. Â Â
I'm just now starting to visit the Northern California breweries since I'm coming from San Diego. All and all I would return to knock back a casual beer or two. Next up are Russian River, Lagunitas, and Bear Republic.
This is a great place!! Â The beer is great and they have lots of choices. Â They don't have food yet so they let you bring in your own food. Â This is really cool because you can match whatever you want with your favorite beer. Â Super cool place where you can play darts and kick back and relax.
Review Source:I always see this place on my way to Napa and I finally stopped by and tried it out.  Kind of hard to get to as it's hidden in a commercial building.  Looks like they have a great selection of beers but I only had time to try a IPA which was amazing.  With 10% ABV, who can  complain.  I will def be going back to try it again. Only drawback is they don't serve food.  Depending on my next visit I might have to raise my ratings.....
Happy Lushing.................
Napa Smith Brewery is a super Chill place to enjoy delicious beer.... Being from San Diego I feel that I'm spoiled with the copious amounts of options we have for "Craft Beer"... so I decided to hit this place-up and see what's do'n... I honestly didn't think I'd see a brewery with a tasting room out here in wine country... but the Beer God's were good to me, and guided me to the corner of Highways 12 & 29.
The Ambiance:
We went in the middle of the day, on a Tuesday... so naturally it was real quite. The place is very big and pretty minimal. Large Wooded Bar, Tables & Chairs... Lots of windows allowing natural light to filter in. One thing I found interesting was, they had "board games" for people to use as they taste the beers... a "Bean Bag" game & a "Velcro Ball" catching game among other interesting items.... I thought it was Perfect because my Wife & I were accompanied by our 5-yearold. So they played and I DRANK! =)
The Service:
There was ONE dude working when we went. He was very Friendly and accommodating..... AFTER he got thru helping the large group of about (8) people. He was very familiar with the Beers and gave lots of good recommendations. He also helped me out with recommendations for different Kid Friendly wine tasting experiences.
The Food:
No Food here... but they do allow you to bring your OWN.
The Booze:
Really Good Beer. I tasted (10) beers and thought that (3) of them were "OK".... the others were Quality. My Favorite was the Organic IPA ... it was citrusy and very crisp. See Picture.
The Phat: Beer Brewing in the middle of Wine Country.
The Skinny: They sell (4)-Packs of bottles for you to take home if you're not interested in paying extra money on growler glass.
^SR
If zero stars were an option that's what I would give them.
My brother and I planned on visiting the Napa Smith Brewery on Saturday 01/19/13 to sample the beers and check out their facility off of Hwy 29 in Napa. Â I had checked their website the previous day for the pub hours and was happy to see they opened at 11 AM every day. Â We arrived on Saturday at 11:10 AM and there wasn't a car in the parking lot. Â Huh, funny we thought. Â We went up to the front door and it read open 7 days a week 11 AM to 7:30 PM but the doors were locked and the lights were off. Â We waited around until 11:30 AM but still no one showed. Â I tried to call the phone number on your website several time but kept getting voicemail. Â We were disappointed by the bad information on the Napa Smith website but mostly pissed off that we had traveled all the way from Marin for nothing. Â What am I missing here? Â Did the person with the key oversleep on Saturday morning? Â NOT a good first impression at all for Napa Smith Brewery. Â For all I know perhaps they went out of business suddenly??? Â We will not be making an effort to visit Napa Smith anytime soon.
UPDATE on 02/05/13 - Since my initial complaint on Yelp a couple of weeks ago I have been contacted by both the Brewpub Manager (Ellen Sutton) and the CEO (J. Smoke Wallin) on separate occasions to let me know how much they appreciated bringing this to their attention. Â Completely by surprise today I received a variety pack of 6 Bombers (22 oz beers), a Napa Smith t-shirt and $20 gift certificate to the brew pub. Â This gesture was very much appreciated and completely unecessary. Â The important thing is that they did the right thing by communicated with me about my complaint. Â Good job guys! Â I have decided to change my Yelp rating from 1 star to 5 stars for this outstanding customer service.
Napa Smith is located in a former sake tasting room, so it doesn't exactly look like a brewery. Â Unfortunately, whoever owns the place seems to have no interest in making it look nice or inviting. Â Strangely enough, the large building that contains the actual brewery next door is about ten times nicer than this one. Â The decor, furnishings and vibe scream "dorm common room."
Still, the beer here is pretty good, as are the prices. Â I was surprised by the large number of beers on tap (12, as I recall). Â The staff seemed a little befuddled and confused, as if they were all in their first week on the job. Â Maybe that was the case, who knows.
While I wouldn't go out of my way to return, Napa Smith's convenient location pretty much dictates I'll make a second trip.
This brewery is in a prime location - right on the corner of Highway 12 & 29 on your way to (or back from) the wine country. Â Their sign needs to be a little bit bigger tho because I never even noticed it until last weekend.
Their hours are similar to the surrounding wineries...10am to 5pm daily. Â Personally I'd stay open later if I were them, just to get some customers on their way home from Napa. Â Luckily we arrived just before closing on a Sunday & they had no problem serving us. Â There were a few other tables enjoying their beers so it looks like the closing time of 5:00 is not set in stone.
I wanted to try the sampler of 10 tastes for $10. Â They were out of the little sampler glasses (supposedly their dishwasher broke so none were available) so they brought us 10 glasses with generous tastes in each. Â It soon became difficult to keep the beers straight & the bartender kept forgetting which beer was which. Â Luckily I had their laminated menu & kept referring back to the chalkboard behind the bar. Â It was more of a do-it-yourself beer tasting. Â Oh well, it was the end of the day & I'm sure the guys were just ready to go home. Â
I liked 5 out of the 10 beers, and the 5 I didn't like were only because I am not a fan of super hoppy beers. Â If hoppy is your style, you'll love the Organic IPA & the Hopageddon! Â Personally I liked the Amber & Lost Dog (Red Ale) the best. Â I was intrigued by the Ginger Wheat, which ended up not tasting very gingery but it was still a good wheat beer. Â The porter was also good.
Bonus: Â they have 4 packs & 22 oz. bottles of many of their popular beers to take home.
Stopped by around 6:15 on a Saturday evening. It was after hours and we thought for sure they would be closed and we would be out of luck on my husbands beer choice. There was actually a couple of the staff still around and still sold us what we wanted even though it was late. My husband thanks you ;) Now if we can just get you to open a restaurant that would be the bomb. Keep up the great brews!
Review Source:I used to come here about 12 years ago when it was Haku San saki. Â Liked it then and like it now. Â It has a lot of upside potential to become a good place besides hitting up wineries in Napa.
They're dog friendly and have a good beer selection. Â Every time I've been there I've always had good conversations with fellow imbibers. Â One drawback is they don't serve food. Â That being said you can bring your own food. Â We brought a pizza when I went with ex coworkers one time. Â It would be a good venue for a 1-2 musicians to come and play some tunes. Â They actually have board games for patrons if a game of Scrabble or Monopoly are needed with your beer.
Good place, good beer. Â It's good to have a place that isn't only a winery in Napa.
Apparently this used to be a Saki brewery, right after we came in another couple came in thinking they were going to have some Saki. Â They still have some of the left over gardens from the Saki brewery outside. Â The inside is actually very large and the bar is a good size "L" shape. Â The staff were friendly but for some reason it was very quiet, they didnt have music playing in the background. Â I wasnt really a fan of the beers but my husband liked them. Â They had about 10 beers on tap and they also sold bottles to take home.
Review Source:My boyfriend and I stopped here because we were tired of wineries. Â We tried the sampler and had a great conversation with the bar tender, who was very enthusiastic about all the beers. Â She was very knowledgeable about all 10 beers and did not rush us with the tastings. Â My boyfriend's favs were the organic IPA and the Lost Dog. Â We bought a ton of beer to take home with us so we could enjoy drinking it at home!
Review Source:Hot day and the AC was down, bummer!
Me and my fiance each had the tasting, 10 total, plus an extra to try (ginger wheat).
We found the beers ok but not spectacular. Â I liked a couple enough to think about buying them when I see them (a local store by me carries their beers) but there wasnt anythign that really excited me.
The girl working was super friendly which was great. Â
Overall we had a nice time sitting and sipping.
Aw, man, this place is awesome!
With all the wineries in the area, it was high time we got a brew. We stopped here for a pint and stayed for a tour and two more pints.
We ordered the tasting menu and got to try ten (of their twelve total) brews:
1. Organic IPA: my date's personal favorite, and in my opinion: the most bitter one (though it had only 75 IBUs--International Bittering Units).
2. Lost Dog: not very memorable, but would be great with some pizza or a burger.
3. Bonfire: my second favorite, a tasty Imperial Porter.
4. Hopaggedon: with 144 IBUs, it was definitely the most bitter one.
5. Cool Brew: an interesting hop ale that was very light and tasty.
6. Amber Ale: my first experience was with this brew. My sister who does NOT like beer actually enjoyed this particular one.
7. Grateful Dog: my personal favorite, a special release of Barleywine + Porter
8. Pilsner: a tasty, typical pils.
9. Ginger Wheat: I didn't taste any of the ginger, but it was light and tasty.
10. Pale Ale: I'm not usually a fan of pale ales, but this was pretty great.
After the tasting, we had a guided tour of the brewery. The place is TINY compared to other breweries I've seen, but that's what I loved about it. For $10, we got a pint to drink, a tour, and a logo keepsake pint glass.
Totally awesome, totally worth it.
If you, as we, based your opinion of Napa Smith on what they have in common distribution channels, you will be floored by what they have at their tap room.
Surrounded by dead and dying Japanese gardens from when this was briefly a branch of a large Japanese sake brewery, the design influences remain, but the libations are definitely Napa and surprisingly good. Â They have the full line-up here, plus some very limited production stuff that is excellent and interesting - really well made beers.
We arranged beforehand for a tour of the brewery - it's $10/person and comes with a full pint glass. Â The brewery is pretty small ( they still get all their grain in bags ), but it's an interesting and very personal tour of a very nice facility.
Folks at the bar were nice, sample pours were forthcoming, and they have a mean sampler setup for those who want to try it all. Â Worth the drive around the block.
We were driving down highway 12 looking for a place to have lunch. We stopped at NSB thinking we would grab a quick bite. Unfortunately, they did not have lunch...just beer tasting. But guess what? That wasn't so bad. 8 bucks for two great beers and some pretzels. Great hostess, nice location....seeing has how American Canyon doesn't have anything for bars and Napa is a little more of a jaunt (from Vallejo) than I wanted to make. Sounds like they will be addding appetizers or possibly a small menu in the future. Plus... live music twice a month. Check it out, nice spot that hopefully starts to attract a following. I will definitely be visiting again in the near future!
Review Source:My lovely and I took a nice, relaxing trip out to Napa for the New Year's holiday weekend. After attending a winery in the morning and realizing that it had more snooty yuppies than a BMW dealership, I realized quickly that we needed another way to get our drink on. Fortunately, Napa Smith was open on NYE and didn't disappoint.
I'm going to make this very clear to you people: Hopageddon is the best IPA I've ever had. I realize all you Pliny fans are going to cry bloody murder over this, but it's true. And yes, I've had Pliny the Younger as well. Hopageddon is a step above, and I'll cry it from the rooftops.
The Organic IPA is solid as well. I'll be coming back here in February for their barley wine seasonal. Great beers, great people, and a great crowd that comes here. If you want to be snooty and hang out with people who wear ascots, go to a winery. If you want to have a good time and trade stories with other beer lovers while indulging in amazing brews, then Napa Smith is your joint.
Napa Smiths beer is distributed pretty widely. I had no idea they brewed so many different styles until our recent visit to the tasting room. The tasting room has been open for a few months and everyone behind the bars knows beer. Its not a brewpub, but a tasting room where you can talk about beer. My favorites were the Crush, Organic IPA, and the Porter. The Porter was delicious and only available in the tasting room. Almost everything else is in bottles and they will mix and match. Check out facebook for their recent postings, the website hasn't been updated since they opened the tasting room.
Review Source:This place is a bit hard to get to since they don't have an entrance from the main highway, but it was worth turning around for. Â We went on New Years Day and, because so many other businesses and wineries were closed that day, we didn't think they would be open. Â Luckily they were. Â We had such a great experience! and tried almost every single beer on their list. Â I liked about 80% of them which is saying a lot because I'm not really a beer drinker. The Hoppageddon was super hoppy, of course, and had us wishing the end were nigh so we could drink this till our deaths. Â I'm not even much of an IPA fan, but my boyfriend is so he's educating me about them. Â
The staff was super friendly and informative. Â I guess they've only been there for about a year. Â The lady told me it used to be a Hokkaido Sake place before. Â The interior was pretty big and they still had their Christmas Tree up, creatively decorated with their beer labels and boxes cut out to make chains of garland. Â We played darts while he drank a pint of the Hoppageddon, and then we paid our bill and took home a drinkable souvenir of the fall special - Crush. Â It was so good! Â Probably my favorite since we couldn't take the Hoppageddon home with us. Â
Anyone who loves beer will love this place. Â If you're in Napa and tired of drinking wine after wine after wine, stop here and try some amazing beer. Â It's one of the few breweries around. Â Skip Silverado and Joe's downtown and just come here. Â You won't regret it!
Today, a business partner and I made a visit to the Napa Smith Brewery and Tasting Room. Interesting location to say the lease, it was a fantastic tour and gave us an opportunity to intimately see what it takes to produce some of the world's tastiest beers. Located in the business district off of Hwy 29 S, the brewery gives you such a nice and refreshing take on some of your favorite Pale Ales, Wheats, and Amber Ales. Surprisingly enough, Barossa Wine Tasting Room, is located directly next door, where you can enjoy, their great Chardonnay, Cab Franc, and what I must say, "fantastic", Cabernet Sauvignon. Specifically, one called Harmony3....I give this experience two thumbs up for information content, laid-back ambiance and great beer and wine.
Review Source:3/5 chill
so i'm not much of a beer drinker, so let's preface with that. the tasting room is pretty open, $2 pints, which is great. outside there's also the crossroad chicken truck, which is a plus. if you sit outside, beware the yellow-jackets as they'll buzz around you the entire time.
one of my friends got a glass that clearly had lipstick on the rim, and one of the other workers came by our table and replaced a rock on a stack of flyers which was kinda intrusive on our meal and didn't even say anything.
I visited the brand new tasting room this past weekend on a bike ride from Vallejo to Napa. So brand new, in fact, that nothing on the website or phone message indicated that it was open on weekends!
My friend and I had no trouble spending a couple of hours here, sipping on some delicious beers and playing chess. They even let us bring our bikes in. A couple of small groups filtered in and out, and the host spoke sparingly but with great detail about every question we had.
Honestly, I approached this brewery with subpar expectations. They were affirmed by the first half of their Crush beer, but by the end of the glass I caught the subtle fruit flavors. They were destroyed by their organic IPA, which had a gorgeous hop aroma and character the likes of which I haven't experienced outside of a couple of ultra-hopped homebrews. Napa Smith's was much more accessible, but with all of the flavor.
I'll definitely make it up here again.
Great beer! Had an awesome experience meeting the brew master himself for a beer tasting for our wedding. We served napa smith at our wedding and everyone loved it. When we see a bottle of Lost Dog at Whole Foods or 6pack at BevMo of the pale ale, it's a must have. Â For those who shop at Trader Joes, pick up a 6er of Redtale or White Hawk ...same brew master if I remember correctly. Good beer.
Review Source:Wow it was a great experience dumping the beer down the drain. I tried the wheat beer. and I think the recipe is bollocks. It seems the brewer wishes to impart a buttery and fruity flavor into the wheat beer. Â
The flavor is very much an American wheat. It is very lackluster. I can't really say its an awful beer but it is something I'd never want to buy or recommend.
The pale ale was very much flawed. There was a god awful aroma of cooked vegetables. This is clearly a sign of Dimethyl Sulfide. Or perhaps a type of contamination on the bottling line.
There was a very little hop presence. It had a thin body with a very dominant pilsner base malt character. I found this beer went down the drain much easier than it went down the hatch.
The heavy use of filtration really stripped away any hop oil that might have helped the beer. I suppose the stupid Americans who insist on bright colored beer will return to Napa for more.
Napa Smith is good if you want to give beer to those who discriminate against beer with any color, flavor, or body. To put it mildly, if your redneck distant relatives stop in for a visit, and they can't have a Coor's Light, give em the next best thing, Napa Smith.
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