Amherst Brewing Company

September 24, 2008
beer tour, 09/22/08. stopped by in the late morning and were seated pretty quickly. Waitress took order, sampler for myself, icd tea for wife. We also ordered food, bean and chicken soup for Kadie, Irish stew for myself. Beers arrived after a bit, and I thought they all had a very odd tase to them. It was as if the sample glasses had been washed and inadequately rinsed, a very odd taste. The food on the other hand, was excellent, both my stew and my wife’s soup were well prepared, hot, and served in a decent portion size. If my experience concerning the beer is not typical, well sorry, they were bad. The food was definitely worth the trip and I reccomend stopping by for that.

April 16, 2008
I had fun here. The two beers I had were quite good (I had the Cascade IPA and ESB) and they had 15 beers to select from at the time. Service and menu was alright, you can pretty much do whatever you want to a burger or Chicken sandwich. They’ve got full dinner meals as well. Definitely a college place. I’d go back.

January 18, 2008
Did lunch in here after running the sampler. Service was a little slow and aloof. Food was more than adequate, but not outstanding. Parking was the main issue, meters everywhere in this college town. Seating outside would probably have been more fun. Don’t look for any outstanding beers here, but I can’t pass up a brewpub when travelling, so....

January 8, 2008
This is a very typical brewpub, however, by sticking it in a college town it somehow seemed a litle more fun.. They had an alright selection of their beers and the food was pretty good for the usual pub grub they offered.

July 11, 2007
A very nice place to hang out, with an outdoor patio on the little main street in a college down, and the busiest of the several places we visited in the area. Much more blue collar and typical good beer atmosphere relative to the others. Mixed reviews on the beer, some were above average, some quite poor. Excellent service, a welcoming as well as the service. My buddy was satisfied with the food he had, though it was not a full meal.

February 26, 2007
Brewpub with a college town unpretentious pub atmosphere. Was only downstairs during my visit. 12 beers on tap so the selection offers almost everyone something they would like. The beer ranged from very ordinary to excellent the best IMO being the ESB. Regular pub offerings as far as food goes. Would recommend a stop here if you are in the area.

October 23, 2006
Your typical college town brewpub with a twist. Downstairs is more typical with a full service restaurant and bar with multiple tvs on the walls. They have a full line of typical brewpub beers--Pilsener, APA, IPA, ESB, Porter, and Stout, with seasonals Imperial stout (pretty good), a heather ale a Double IPA among others. While downstairs attracts more of a family/older crowd, upstairs is made for the college students of Umass and Amherst College. Pool Tables, foosball, darts (free!) and ping pong (free!) are the main atrraction along with the tasty bottle menu. Have Aventinus in the bottle (my staple here) and serve it in the proper glassware. Also in bottles- Achel, Allagash, Satan, Duvel, along with some quality german, english, and scottish brews. The best bar in downtown amherst hands down.

October 15, 2006
Upstairs there is a bar with 5 (short) pool tables, ping pong, darts, juke box, and a decent selection of bottled beer. They usually have some of their own beers plus one guest tap. The bottled beer includes aventinus and achel bruin. (I’m usually one of the few that goes for the bottled beer... most college kids ask if they have something light and end up with a honey pilsner.) Downstairs contains a bar, shiny brewing equipment, and a family resturaunt feeling in the dining room. The food is good and reasonably priced. (sweet potato fries are tasty) The smoked porter is really the only one of their beers that I will order, but I recomend that you ask them what they have on the guest tap. The beer brewed there are usually watered down and plain.

July 26, 2006
This is a fun brewery in the heart of Amherst. Check the signs for beer tastings as they can be lots of fun and a great chance to try out some beers you might otherwise have a hard time finding.

July 13, 2006
Probably my favorite Mass. brewpub. Great atmosphere with wrap around bar and lively crowd. Even when it’s dead during the summer off-season, it’s comfy and enjoyable. Love the Heather ale most. They usually feature a "guest" tap, like an Allagash product, or something else.