On a mobile device? Try our mobile site, optimized for faster browsing.
Loading...
i went to mountain brewery for the first time this weekend for SAUSAGEFEST 2009! woooohoooooo! i had a mouthwatering organic lamb sausage piled high with sauerkraut, homemade ketchup, and grilled onions. this sausage was like an orgasm in the mouth, no sexual innuendo intended! i washed it all down with local spring ale that came in a super cute mug shaped like a boot. it doesn't get better than that.
beer, sausage, and live music. what else can you ask for?
Cool, chill little micro-brew spot with some nice outdoor seating (including umbrella to keep the sun off), located in a fairly random warehouse space.
They've got free popcorn, from a tasty old-school movie theatre type machine. Bonus.
But mostly, they have beer. Lots. 9 different varieties when we were there - 7 standards, and 2 seasonal. The prices are right ($3 happy hour!), and you can sample too.
We all thought the coffee porter was great, as were the stout, amber, and wheat. Good drinkin'!
And if you go with someone who's all fancy-schwancy, there's not 1 but 2 winery tasting rooms within 50 feet. Not bad.
What a killer place.
My lovely wife loves all things Santa Cruz (her birth place) and she knows I love beer, so the stop made since.
I tried everything, and loved it. The taster flights are rad, and then when you get down to pints there are lots to keep you tasting and a very cool environment to hang out in. Fun stuff to look at on the walls, typical (in a good way) Santa Cruz people, dogs, art.....the normal SANTA CRUZ VIBE. Even with all of us tourists in there.
If you like beer, you have to stop here. And if your significant other doesn't like beer, there are three winery tasting rooms in the same complex. what a deal.
Our only complaint was that their website was out of date, so the LolaBerry (what the hell is that) Ale my wife was jonsing for, wasn't available. Oh, well. Guess that means we have to go back and try again.
Will be returning here often!
Love the place, I think the darker beers are better; even though I'm usually an IPA fan. The Brown is my favorite
Great beer, food was pretty good. Did not care for the music ALL COUNTRY! Location is a little odd but it works.
* Disclaimer * - I am an unofficial beer expert and world class drunk!
What can I say about this place that has not already been said? The beer is fantastic! I love the IPA and 666 ale. I always stare at the 22s at the liquer store for ever and usually wind up grabbing one of their 22s of IPA. They have a great line up of seasonals and if you are lucky enough to catch their BArley Wine you will soon taste an orgasm.
The chicks and dudes behind the bar are cool and chatty. The brewer dude has given me some advice about homebrewing which I love to do.
They also make a mean bowl of chowder at the chowder fest!
ONE CON! Don't even try to go on Friday evenings. It is crazy packed. Just pop in and grab a bunch of duece-dueces or get your growler filled and take it to the cliffs or something.
Another con- why are these guys not sponsering a local beer festival?
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BEER PUSHERS!!!!!
Big fan of the Amber Ale but have not been able to enjoy much of the other brews put out by this brewery. The amber is probably the best one they do have and it is not the best I have ever tried as well. When finding Santa Cruz Brewing company at festivals and the like they always fail to bring out the Amber Ale.
i have yet to try the actual brewery so this is only for their ONE beer that I en joy.
I am in shock reading the reviews of Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing. The reason being that the beer here is without a doubt the worst beer I've ever had. I went here on a day in which I was wine tasting and this is located in a complex with a few wine tasting rooms. However, as much as I like wine I do consider myself more of a beer person, and I was really excited to try the beers here. I went inside and ordered the tasting platter, which is a series of shot glasses filled with each one of their brews.
Now, I decided to start with the stouts and admittedly they were not horrible. Though not horrible, they were extremely mediocre. After I was through drinking these I could think of no good reason why I ever needed to try them again, not when I could very easily order a Guinness at every bar or bring home a bottle of Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout from Trader Joe's.
Then I tried the Hefeweizen. I am not a fan of Hefeweizens in general, but I can recognize a quality one, and this is bottom of the barrel. This was absolutely the worst Hef I've ever had. It was the total wrong consistency, and unbelievably bland. It made Bud Light taste like a rich IPA. It was disgusting.
Moving on I then had the Red Ale, Brown Ale, and Amber Ale. The Red Ale was okay, and of the beers I sampled I thought it was the best. Still this is only in comparison, because put up next to a quality Red Ale it fails miserably. The Brown and Amber Ales were mediocre.
I finished off with the Pale Ale and the IPA because these tend to be the types of beer I like best. Starting with the Pale Ale I was first thrown off by the color, which was totally off. Pale Ales don't need to have a rich color necessarily, but this was the color of Bud Lite, and it didn't taste much better. It was slightly hoppy but still weak for a Pale Ale. I finished off with the IPA which was one of the better beers, but was about as hoppy as a normal Pale Ale should be.
I get that this place uses organic ingredients and that's all well and good. I'd love to support this place for just that reason. Unfortunately their beer is pure crap. Every single beer tasted watered down and as you can tell from what I said the quality is terrible. I feel bad saying that this is the worst beer I've ever had, but it really is. For a small micro brew I expect something quality, and if not great quality, at least something interesting and new. This was neither.
Nice little brew pub. Wonderful owners who are really excited about their little business. I love enthusiasm....makes for great ambience.
Hubby had a nice dark beer and enjoyed it very much. We went to Kelly's Bakery afterwards. This bakery supplies the food for the brew pub. Not bad, we will be back.
Best happy hour in town. EVERY WEEKDAY 5-6pm (oh, and according to the website, also noon-1pm) and "ladies": Tuesday is happy hour all day!!! That's $3 pints of the best local brews SC has to offer. I usually start with the IPA to kick the alcohol metabolism into full gear, then move on to the People's Porter (if you like coffee, this is the brew for you!), or the delicious Stout. If I had the bodily capacity to drink four pints in a couple of hours and still bike home "safely" I would definitely throw the Brown and Amber Ale into the mix as well...all delicious. The perfect evening: boyfriend and/or good friend and I bike to the SCMB, down a couple pints between 5 and 6pm while playing rummy (ask the bartender for a deck) or dominoes, then bike down Fair to Westcliff Dr. and watch the sunset, waves, pelicans, pedestrians and their dogs before booking it home before dark. Mmmmm
Fun, very laid back and even ordered a pizza while we where there cus the food place at the end of the warehouse wasn't open any more.
Tried a slew of beers, all good. I favor dark beers the best, so they weren't offering a wide variety in that regard tho. ;-( But all they had were good!
They don't stay open too late tho and the location's a bit removed from everything. But maybe that keeps it so low key cool.
Fun Casual brewery. Good Beer.
Disclaimer: I am not a beer fan nor am I an expert.
Stumbled (literally) upon Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing CO after some wine drinking at Bonny Doon. It is REALLY small..we were in a group of 8 and when we walked in we kinda overwhelmed the place.
Since I am not into beer, I whispered to my hubby to order me something and he chose the Wilder Wheat. It was delicious. Not overwhelming with a nice body to it...I liked it and so did the beer snobs I was hanging out with that night.
My hats off to Santa Cruz for turning the ghetto west side into a cool place!
I'm finding out that I'm preferring beer over wine the older that I get.
S found this place on Yelp mobile - so to try something different, we decided to take a chance and dine here for the evening.
Trying to find this place from our bed and breakfast was like a rat trying to find a piece of cheese in a maze. The directions took us into an industrialized area of Santa Cruz where I saw nothing but warehouses and few open businesses.
However, tucked away behind a winery's warehouse, we found the brewery.
Can't say that this was a happening place. There were a few people at the bar and they all seemed to know each other.
The sample, like Noelle Q. mentions, is $7. However, you can ask for a taste, which the barkeep will give you a smidgen in a shot glass as a pint is $4.50. I'd rather just taste and get a full glass of what I thought tasted the best.
Downside of this place is that if you arrive after 7pm, they stop serving food. They rely on Kelly's Bakery next door for their sandwiches - and if you're expecting to eat and drink, you're out of luck, unless you're into filling up on potato chips.
Since S and I didn't have dinner, we shared a stout and ended up chatting with another fellow (who was a Santa Cruz local) who was sitting at the bar. He gave us some good ideas on where to find dinner later that evening.
The Santa Cruz Mountain Brewery is open until 10pm - so make sure that you eat dinner before you arrive.
Note: There's a minimum $8 charge if you wish to use your credit/ATM card.
I really wish I liked Mountain Brew's beer better because the place seems really relaxed and low maintenance. I just think that almost all of their beer is either watered down or smoky as hell. Some of them taste like cigar ashes.
I went here with a friend and we ordered the sampler platter. It came with 8 different beers which is certainly a feat but I wouldn't want a whole pint of more than 3 of them I think. But that's also just my opinion. I loved hanging out at the bar. It's a really down to earth kind of place with a dart board, good music and a decent menu. I didn't end up eating there but I wouldn't mind going back to try some of their food.
A big plus for me was that they had many different options for different size beers. You could obviously get pints but they also had 10 oz, 22 oz, growlers and three different sized kegs (5 gallon, 13 gallon and 15.5 gallon. Don't ask me why I remember that). How's that for service? If I were into their beer more I'd be all over it. Still, it was a nice enough place that I'd go back to try it again.
love, love, love this place. so approachable. many different kinds of peeps, along with the regulars.
right now, they have 3 kinds of pale ales. THREE KINDS OF PALE ALE! their normal pale, the ipa, and the spring pale. mmm mmm.
during the winter, you gotta check out their barleywine.
you can order yummy food (burger, fish tacos, etc) from kelly's until... uh... 7 i think. it's early-ish. if you miss the deadline, there is a fantastic taqueria across mission - la cabana - pick up a spinach or al pastor burrito and bring it to the brewery.
I've been a big fan of Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing Company since it was just a little hole in the wall tasting room where you could buy quality certified organic microbrew in one of three varieties- amber, pale, or IPA- by the 22, growler, or keg. Now its all over Santa Cruz area stores and bars, they have 6 regular beers plus rotating seasonal brews, and a full-fledged bar. They have a nice cozy indoor bar area with (a nice selection of board games), and an outdoor patio, and you can even order food from Kelly's French Bakery at the bar. Very laid-back Santa Cruz vibe. If I still lived in SC this would be my new hang-out for sure. $4 pints, $3 during happy hour (not sure on the exact hours but we were there on a Saturday and happy hour kicked in at 5 or 6). Taste some wine across the lot then stumble over to SCMB for some of the best beer in Santa Cruz. Think organic, drink organic!
You gotta love a place that plays Flogging Molly, the Sex Pistols, The Minutemen, and Devil Makes Three all within a span of 15 minutes. If the music doesn't have you hooked then maybe you'll be convinced by the local neighborhood, family-friendly, dog-friendly vibe or maybe the artisanal quality organic BEER.
Speaking of beer, did I mention that its wintertime and Ginger's Winter Warmer is in season? A sultry elixir of ginger and lightly roasted malts. It reminds of a spicy, smooth white ale. yum!! Come out and have a pint with your neighbors at happy hour.
Great tasty IPA, and the barley wine is one of the better ones I have had. The people are fun and interesting. They just also expanded the seating areas, which is good. I have thoroughly enjoyed every visit here, and will return soon!
I don't know what took me so long. I keep whining that there is nothing like the Boulder Creek Brewery in Santa Cruz. . I walked in to this place with five dollars in my pocket. I sat down at the bar. Withing two minutes I had struck up a conversation, had a beer (Brown Ale, mmmmmmmmmmm) bought for me. Argued about tipping procedures, struck up a conversation with tourists, made the bartender laugh, bought another happy hour beer (Brown Ale, mmmmmm) and made myself at home. Ahll be baaack.
I wish I could give another star for the fact that they have built a bathroom right next to the actual bar. My bladder thanks you.
ORGANIC beer? More like ORGASMIC beer! Am I right?!
Well, no.
No, I'm not.
I mean, most of the beer is good. Most. Just don't order the Heffeweisen. I saw a German take a sip and break down into a fit of uncontrollable tears.
Actually, that was me. I was the German.
It's a horrible, watery mess. The ORGANIC Budweiser of wheat beers, if you will... And I think you will.
You won't?
Fuck.
Well, then let me finish by saying that the best part about this place is that you can play Jenga on the bar top. This is apparently a big draw since we always manage to get a crowd going.
Maybe they could use a TV or something.
Very mediocre beer. I like beer. I like the location. I like organic ingredients. This beer just doesn't measure up. I will go back and let them prove me wrong, but a brewery's job is to make the best beer possible, they have a ways to go here.
trust me, I know beer.
Upon arriving in city limits, I Google SMSed (http://www.google.com/...) breweries in Santa Cruz. I knew about Seabright, but Santa Cruz has got to have more than that. Luckily, we found this place not far off Mission near the western end of the city. We stopped by to check it out, and they just happened to be having a tasting. A measly dollar gets you a shot's worth of everything they have on tap to taste, and then you can buy pints, growlers or 22oz bottles of their beers.
We tried them all, and overall I liked them, particularly the wheat, the IPA and the red. I even liked the stout, which is uncommon for me. And all the beers were bold and distinct... none of that lame watery stuff that some breweries try to pull.
This place seems to be brand-spankin' new, and I can easily see this becoming a fantastic place to spend a Saturday afernoon. Set up a grill and some picnic tables, and I could see it becoming a lot like Speakeasy's Friday happy hours. This is definitely on my short list of places to try when I go back down to Santa Cruz.
Happy hour on Fridays! Cheap organic Ales and Stouts! What more can I say? This place is great - outside drinking and yummy, strong organic beer. This is the type of place that makes Santa Cruz the most awesome place to live! An excellent addition to the Swift Street Courtyard, if you go one Friday, it is almost guaranteed that you will be back the next week!
Be prepared to stand outside and to move to the different sunny spots as the day turns to night - this is my number one spot to welcome the weekend and say goodbye to the work week!
Bring your bike or be prepared to walk home - these beers are strong!
We have been a fan of this brewery since they started. They used to have a tasting bar around the corner from Pelican Ranch Winery, but now it's more like a little beer bar where you buy beer by the pint. Fun place to go drink a few great beers.
We normally get pitchers of the IPA, which is great, in Felton, at Redwood Pizza.
But we have our "growler", and go by from time to time and fill it up at the source.
Another great place to chug a pint. It's not easy to find but that fact in itself keeps it less touristy than other dives. The beer is above-average; Good for California standards, average for Oregon. Get the Sampler. Ask for it by name. $7 for great beer (9 of 'em!!!!) and you'll be buzzed when you leave. Great conversation with the bartender/locals. If you wanna impress the staff, bring your own stein (they are all hippie/recycler/environmentalist wannabees). The music is, to use a cali term: "awe-some!" I'll definitely go there again if I can find it again.
Go here. Drink their beer. Take a couple home. You will be glad you did.
SCMB is one of those places you just dont want to leave. For a perfect weekend day, grab breakfast at Kelly's French Bakery in the morning, go hike deep back into Wilder Ranch, then return to the Brewing Company for several late afternoon pints of Wilder Wheat. It'll make you damn grateful to live here. Cheers.
Get the sampler. You get to try 9 different beers (including three dark beers, which is right up my alley) for $7. Well worth it. I particularly enjoyed the barleywine and the stout. Laid back atmosphere with a few tables, a couch, and darts. They only have 4 sampler platters that the glasses fit into, so you're out of luck if 4 people want them. We had to take turns ordering them. But, well worth it.
---EDIT--- Until further notice, Friday happy hour has been cancelled due to it getting out of hand.. They are still open on Fridays ($4 pints) and they have happy hour on other days. ---EDIT---
Discovering this place is going to be bad for my health.
I moved my work schedule around just so I could show up in Santa Cruz at 5pm on a Friday and WALK over to this spot. I've had their beers before at some restaurants, but usually the selection was limited. I had to show up for the full experience.
On Fridays, their happy hour lasts from 5-7pm. A pint of organic beer in a clear plastic-esque compostable cup made from corn will cost you a nice $2.50. Keep your cup for refills.
They have a formal tasting room/bar upstairs with all their beers, free pretzels, a couple of tables and a dart board. Downstairs, they have a large outdoor area lined with barrels and benches, with a small counter serving four of their beers. You can freely walk between the tasting room and the beer garden with your beer. The servers were very friendly, and I spoke to Chris for awhile about the alcohol percentages.
Parking is not a problem if you must, but clearly the transportation of choice here is the bicycle or your feet. Check out the pile of bikes nearby.
And for the beers... the beers were delicious, top notch beers that were true to their beer styles.
I've had their beer before, but I used this opportunity to try their darker beers for the first time. The stout is absolutely wonderful; basically a perfectly balanced stout. I tend to prefer creamier brown ales and theirs was not, but it was still a delicious drink. I think I'd drink it instead of their Amber as my "Party Beer," as it's just as refreshing but not as hoppy. The coffee-infused Porter was great as well, and probably kept me from passing out earlier than I did. :P I found it a little too roasty for my own tastes though, it has a rich brown head.
The IPA is a great if you like the style, or if you're just a lush drooling over the 7.5% abv. Now, if you can't stand the bitterness of the IPA but want a strong beer, the Olallieberry Cream Ale was pretty good at 7%. I don't think I could drink more than a pint of it in one sitting though, it's a little sweet.
The Wheat beer is a good example of an American-style Hefeweizen, which is a style of beer I really dislike because I'm such a fan of the cloudy, citrusy unfiltered German hefeweizens. I didn't try the Pale Ale.
Mmm.. beer. I think I may go back tonight!
I picked up a 22oz of Santa Cruz Brew the other day and, WOW! It was great! I can not wait to visit!!!!
If we hadn't been drinking wine all day, we would have stayed for a pint or two. As it was, I ended up getting a couple 20 oz. selections to go instead. I wanted the Poverty Porter but it is only served on tap. Next time! I brought home a bottle of the Dread Brown Ale and Devout Stout. I haven't enjoyed them yet but I am looking forward to both of them. I have had their IPA before when a friend introduced me to this wonderful brew.
Its right off of Mission over by Kelly's Bakery. Easy to get to, only a dollar or two for the tasting, seriously awesome. The beer is soooooo good, my favorite are the hefenweisen and the stout. The girl that usually works there is very sweet, informative and fun, she has the most awesome dog. Its all organic, which is great for those that's important to. The prices are very reasonable for going home with a bottle or two, or even a growler. Then hit the winery next door for some cheap wine tasting, good times,
Santa Cruz, CA
Category: Breweries
Santa Cruz, CA
Category: American (Traditional)
Santa Cruz, CA
Category: Dive Bars
Santa Cruz, CA
Category: Dive Bars
Santa Cruz, CA
Category: Bars
All the breweries I've been to, regardless of…
These are the places we have visited on Passport…
