In the town of St John's Newfoundland, in the little village of Quidi Vidi, lies a brewery of the same name. I figured while we were in the area, I should check it out. Our first venture there (on a Saturday, hoping for lunch), we aborted because all the streets in the village were blocked off for some kind of event (or possibly that's just always what weekends are like during the summer?). Sunday, there was to be a drag show at the brewery, which I thought might be crowded, so we avoided that, and instead set our sights on Monday for an early dinner.
The brewery is situated right on the water, in a very funky little harbour that also bears the same name. Very touristy area, mentioned in all the guidebooks and tourist literature, so not surprising. The harbour is very scenic, and there is a big section of the street that is blocked off, and has food trucks, and a very festival like air to it.
Arriving at the brewery taproom, we were taken upstairs and seated at a table inside, right next to the deck/balcony/patio, which was literally right above the water. The place was super busy. A table for two opened up there, so I asked if we could move, and they let us. I ordered two flights of beer (four tastes per flight, so eight total), and we both ordered the seafood chowder and I also order battered cod tacos.
The flights arrived first (as one would expect), on a typical flight board. Following are my unedited thoughts whilst tasting.
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Full Tilt (FT) - rice lager, 4.7 - like Sapporo, but slightly more sour. Lagery in spades, noble hops. Good, but not very unique. Sweet, almost syrupy nose.
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Sandals Up Radler (Rad) - radler, 3.6 - yup, it's a radler! Very fresh and refreshing, lager with lemony overtones, as one might expect. Again, not very adventuresome, but quite drinkable. Sweet, lemonade aroma.
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QV X MZU Sky Battle (IPA) - IPA, 5.8 - pretty typical IPA. From the menu description, I was expecting more. Quite drinkable, just not very hoppy. Almost no aroma.
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New Zealand Pils (Pils) - 5.0 - I think I taste some waiti, but not sure. A decent Pilsner, but nothing special, which is surprising, given the description.
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Iceberg (IB) - lager, 4.5 - pretty standard lager, kinda watery, no nose, and an odd aftertaste that I can only describe as oceany…
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1892 - traditional ale, 5.0 - now this one is better. Malty (but a bit thin mouth-feel), very light, somewhat flavorless hops, but nonetheless drinkable and tasty.
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Half Fancy (HF) - fruited ale with lactose, 5.3 - very strong fruity, almost flowery, aroma, with just a note of bandaid/mouthwash, maybe bubblegum. The taste wasn't very good, actually: slightly moldy-tasting. Thin mouth-feel. Not a very good one; if I had ordered a pint, I would be unhappy…
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Berry Treasure (BT) - fruited American wheat, 5.6 - definite berry aroma, thicker mouthfeel than the others. Fruity taste, definite berry notes, a little bit tangy. The hop choice works well with the fruit. Quite good, actually!
Basically, very few were anything to make note of, despite the menu entries sounding promising for several. Even the inventive-sounding ones ended up being fairly pedestrian; most were muted-tasting and uninspired, and one of them tasted awful, as in tainted/spoiled. Of them all, I liked the 1892 and the Berry Treasure the best (why, oh why, didn't they call it "berried treasure"?! What a missed opportunity!). Some others (notably the lagers) were quite drinkable, just nothing special.
The food was nothing special, either. The seafood chowder was good, but small portions served with what tasted like premade rolls. The tacos were OK, well sauced, but just a single small lump of cod per taco. My wife needed more than her chowder, so she ordered a smash burger, which again was nothing special; it could have done with something more acidic and fresh than the limp pickle that was the only thing dressing the burger, aside from sauce.
To add to all of that, the service was not great. Bussing was done by kids who looked barely old enough to work, and our first waitress never returned after taking our order, and when I had to attract the attention of another waiter, he was often too busy chatting up friends at another table to be bothered. That's probably too harsh, and not representative, but that's the impression we had, and for a service industry, the first impression is everything.
All in all, I get the impression that they know damn well that they have a captive audience, and are not inclined to put forth any more effort than they need to, given that regardless, they will take in money hand over fist. Given the setting, I had such high hopes for this one, and it truly was a letdown.
#BeerReview #Travel
The brewery is situated right on the water, in a very funky little harbour that also bears the same name. Very touristy area, mentioned in all the guidebooks and tourist literature, so not surprising. The harbour is very scenic, and there is a big section of the street that is blocked off, and has food trucks, and a very festival like air to it.
Arriving at the brewery taproom, we were taken upstairs and seated at a table inside, right next to the deck/balcony/patio, which was literally right above the water. The place was super busy. A table for two opened up there, so I asked if we could move, and they let us. I ordered two flights of beer (four tastes per flight, so eight total), and we both ordered the seafood chowder and I also order battered cod tacos.
The flights arrived first (as one would expect), on a typical flight board. Following are my unedited thoughts whilst tasting.
To add to all of that, the service was not great. Bussing was done by kids who looked barely old enough to work, and our first waitress never returned after taking our order, and when I had to attract the attention of another waiter, he was often too busy chatting up friends at another table to be bothered. That's probably too harsh, and not representative, but that's the impression we had, and for a service industry, the first impression is everything.
All in all, I get the impression that they know damn well that they have a captive audience, and are not inclined to put forth any more effort than they need to, given that regardless, they will take in money hand over fist. Given the setting, I had such high hopes for this one, and it truly was a letdown.
#BeerReview #Travel
