Black Acre Brewery Review
When one thinks about having or looking for a "home" bar there are several things to look for; friendly service, great selection of drinks, simple quality food, and close to your place (or at least close to your girlfriend's/boyfriend's place). What is great about Black Acre is that for me it meets all of the requirements except for one, which is a close place for me to stay. The 35 min drive across town, each way, is worth every minute to visit this place about once a month.
If I had to describe BA (which I will now refer to Black Acre, and as it turns out it is well fitting nickname) with one word it would have to be Hipster. Though, hipster, can be used as a derogatory term; I use it as an enduring term to express its forward and individualized thinking.
When you first walk in you will notice there is no hostess. You are to fend for yourself to find a table while standing around a tall table that can fit probably around 20 people. (It is not as hectic as the above statement might lead you to think. Most people that come in know that you should wait in line for the next table.) Some might find this odd but what that does is gives people the feeling that they will not be rushed out the door once you have finished dinner. Giving to actual conversations with friends without interruptions. Aiding to this atmosphere is the fact that there are no televisions. Although having a television is nice during sporting events the reality is that most nights there are no games on worth watching. While most other bars have the TVs turned onto some random channel giving you updates on stories that most of us couldn't care less about.
Their food is very simple yet incredible. The menu is mostly panini sandwiches and other small items their menu is not overloaded with so many options that one would get overloaded and fatigued just by trying to find the list of side items. From a personal note try their grilled cheese and sweet potato fries with a side of their garlic aloe. There is something about that aloe with the sweet potato fries that is surprisingly great!
On to what most of you actually care about is their beer. They always have a large selection of beers that will appeal to a wide variety of preferences. I have tried many of their brews and have enjoyed all of them, yet if I had to come up with a criticism it would be that some of their beers are not the ones that you could drink more than 3 at once. They are chalked full of flavor each unique to their "typical" counterparts from other breweries. So if they took care of this critique then it would take away from what I can only expect is at the core of BA, uniqueness and independent thinking. So do what I normally do is just constantly switch what I am drinking.
Final two comments; one is that they have a beer that I have yet to try because I only saw it at the time of writing this review. O'Gleason Dry Irish Stout, I mention it only because a friend has that last name. Having seen that a text has been sent to set a time for him and I to venture to BA. The second is that I had a beer that was magical to say the least, a Chi-Stout. I am not that big of a fan of Stouts but I will drink them occasionally. This one I would drink every day if I could, although it is not available at this time if you feel the need to campaign for its rerelease I would be in full support for it's a special kind of beer that you will remember everything about the first time you had it.
Score:
Service: 5/5 if you can get over no hostess
Food: 5/5 not a large menu but what they have is always great
Choices: 5/5 you will always find a beer that meets your taste buds
Atmosphere: 5/5 just great just great
Overall: 5/5 You need a "home" bar this might just be right for you
