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| - Basis for my starred ratings (which skews heavily to the food or drink):
1 star: Never again.
2 stars: Poor food, poor experience, extraordinary measures in order for me to come back.
3 stars: Average, nothing really special, nothing particularly bad.
4 stars: Very good, would definitely return.
5 stars: A favorite, one of the best.
One of the better breweries here in the Valley and one of the best small breweries I've been to in the country, that being based on their beer selection and the quality of that beer.
The place is small and cozy. There are less beards here, more board game geeks, which is great. Variety is good. The semi-industrial strip mall area its locate at is less than stellar but not a big deal.
They don't serve food, which is a minor disappointment, but you can bring in your own (with the problem being there isn't much in the immediate vicinity) or order in.
On to the beer. I will start with the absolute best. The Koffee Kolsch and the Husstler milk stout are excellent, excellent beers. Really outstanding. There are other exemplary milk stouts out there that are equal, the Koffee Kolsch is without peer at this point for me.
The Scottsdale Blonde kolsch and That'll Do IPA are fine. Good, solid beers that are easy to drink.
One word about the rice pudding porter. I love rice pudding. I love porter. I thought I was going to absolutely love this. I don't want to judge it too harshly based on expectation, but . . . this beer got crushed under the weight of my expectation. It's fine, but just lacked the body, mouth-feel, and richness I was expecting. it is a decent beer, just not a superlative porter.
What I'm really hoping for? 2 or 3 more breweries to open right in this area to make it a beer destination. Easy for brewery hopping. Food trucks coming in to serve them all. I think business development-wise, that would be a homerun.
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