This past Saturday my wife and I set out to celebrate our sixth wedding anniversary. With my dad and stepmother watching the kids, headed downtown. The several restaurants we were hoping to dine at were either packed or parking was non existent. After an hour of driving, we ended up at a location not on our list: The Maumee Bay brewing company.
Before you scold me for a brewery NOT being sought out initially, here me out: My wife is pregnant. She likes loves beer. She cannot drink beer right now. Renouncing apathy, I did not want the poor girl to be forced to watch me indulge in the forbidden fruit. As it is, with four kids, going out to eat alone is a semi-annual event. Anyway, there we were at the only Microbrewery in the Toledo area.
It is a shame that I have never visited the brewpub, but I had my reasons. The brewery only one beer sold in stores that is produced by the microbrewery I found to be quite fowl. You may remember it from our discussion on “sink-worthy beers.” Consequentially, I was not jumping at the chance to sample other varieties. But there we were, and I found myself excited. Our table was located right next to the large copper brew kettle, hot liquor tank, and the stainless steel fermenters. Beautiful! Minus the flat screen TV’s (they don’t belong in a ‘pub’) the setting was nice! Unfortunately, the beer menu was not.
Absent from the menu, was any sense of individuality. There were no big beers (besides Avery’s Maharajah, but I am talking about the brewery’s line), no unique recipes…just your run of the mill line line up: Pale Ale, Lager, India Pale Ale, etc. I do know the brewery puts out more varieties, but if they were available, the waitress neglected to offer. In fact, when I ordered their IPA, the waitress condescendingly aske,d, “uhhhh…do you like bitter beers.”
“Missy, do you know who you’re talking to,” I replied. “Your entire beer knowledge fits in one my tiniest vivid recollections!!!!”
Well, I wanted to say that. Anyway, the IPA arrived, I took a sniff (centennial hops…grapefruit…caramel malts) took a swallow, and was let down. Please hear me out. It wasn’t BAD, but it wasn’t great. It was absolutely typical. I would give it 2.5 stars. The food came, and was good. The waitress, while quite absent, was fairly pleasant. Because I was alone with my lovely wife, I had a good time.
But I have been thinking non stop about the Maumee Bay Brewing Company. I just do not understand why anyone would purchase hundreds of thousands of dollars of brewing equipment, renovate a historic building, and then produce nothing memorable! Within half an hour of being there, we found we were the ONLY patrons int he entire restaurant, on a Saturday night. I could not help but question whether others found this brewery’s beer to be as forgettable as I did.
I began stipulating reasons for this and postulated that the brewery was built around a business plan (the restaurant). That is, the brewery was not the brainchild of a passionate home brewer, but perhaps a entrepreneurially minded restaurateur or business man. I could be wrong…I don’t know the story, but it makes sense. This seems plausible as several restaurants owned by the same entity are housed in the building that is also home to the brewery. Also, were quality brewed beer the focus rather than the food, I do believe I would see six packs of Maumee Bay Brewing’s beer in the grocery and beer stores in the area.
I do intend on stopping back, as I read that the brewery intends on launching a series of “big beers” that will be sold in 20oz bombers–a step in the right direction for these guys! All this beeing said, I do appreciate this brewery. At least they are trying. Like I said, there are no other breweries in the area. They are adding just a bit of culture to a city in decline, and I think they are headed in the right direction. I hope at some point to get a behind the scenes look and foster some local pride.
So the question I asked myself, and I ask you, is…why would a brewery settle for mediocrity? A lack of imagination?
I think it’s just like you said, a business plan decision. All too often you walk in to a lineup that looks like “Pale Ale, India Pale Ale, Wheat (often with raspberry), Amber, Stout (or Porter)”, with absolutely nothing seasonal, nothing unique, nothing intriguing at all.
So how does it get this way? Is the owner/manager saying “this is our beer list”? Are they trying to stay generic enough to be approachable by everyone? I know I work with people who don’t care about their jobs, they just go through the motions from payday to payday. Is that how their brewer feels? It would be nice if we could get some honest answers, because it’s common enough of a problem that we should be able to at least diagnose it.
I don’t envy the lot of a brewpub manager or brewer, especially in a small town. I’d guess 70-90% of the people walking through your door are there for the food, and don’t care about beer at all. Of the people who want beer, I’m sure there are plenty that order Budweiser or Coors Light instead of what you have to offer. It’s hard to justify the time, effort, and cost of making a big beer when such a small percentage of customers would be interested. This risk goes up exponentially if you’re talking about a DIPA, that hop-fades at an alarming rate.
I don’t have any answers, just more questions. Either way, I wish every brewpub in America would take a baby step out on a limb and always have some seasonal beer. I know most do, but there are still plenty that don’t consistently have anything beyond their normal lineup.
Sidebar: To the people who go to a brewpub and order a Bud or Coors, why don’t you just slap the manager instead? You wouldn’t go to a steak house and ask them to order Pizza Hut for you. Beer is a big (the biggest for some) part of the experience at a brewpub, so take off your blinders and try it out!
[Reply]
Thanks for this fantastic response, Howard.
I was especially struck by your statement that these brewpub managers are not much different than the folks who go to jobs, punch in and out, with absolutely no passion. I suppose at least they are not the owners of the company!
Also, you’re right…what a slap in the face of a microbrew/brew pub manager to at least not try one of their beers, and instead order something you can get at pizza hut!
baby steps are in order for the consumer and the producer!
[Reply]
It’s one thing to go to a brew-pub to find that beer is the primary feature. It’s entirely another to find that food is their emphasis. I recall one such place while living in Austin. North by Northwest was a decent place. My first beer there, was the black lager, a schwarzbier. It was good. It gave me a lasting impression… one that would last for a while, until I visited once again. It seemed the establishment had changed management. From that point on, it wasn’t the same. The beers there did not live up to that schwarzbier that had previously graced my palate.
As being a beer geek would have it, we as a family sought out a brew pub for our anniversary celebration last night. (The Mrs. & I will have another outing with just the two of us shortly.) We planned our outing around the final dinner location: Boundary Bay Brewing, in Bellingham, WA. This is an establishment that pairs great NW beer with a wonderful selection of food. The ultimate focus is beer, but they also excel at food.
I tend to be attracted to seasonal offerings, so last night I opted for the I2PA initially. Bold. Floral aroma. A little more maltiness could improve this beer, but overall this is a good beer. My second choice was the Amarillo single-hop pale. Honestly, it reminded me of my own pale brewed with only amarillos. It’s light body provides a nice canvas for the hops to showcase their bittering and flavoring capabilities. I really like this beer, but I think I’ll have to work on a better food pairing so as not to have to endure the palate harshness that I associate with the cheap, greasy pizza and an overly carbonated Shiner Bock combo.
Looking at the rest of their lineup, I want to go back and try more of their beers. I’m intrigued by their Imperial Oatmeal Stout, Scotch Ale and “Best” Bitter.
[Reply]
Big Tex,
I checked out Boundary’s website, and it is pretty clear that their focus is much more about beer than the Maumee bay Brewing Company.
Cheap greasy pizza + shiner…mmmm!
I too am attracted to seaonals (and limited releases)…I suppose it it the notion that it is temporary that gets me!
[Reply]
Okay, I realize this is a LITTLE off-topic / focusing on minutia here, but I now have the #11th indicator that of a Beer Geek:
11. You feel offended when people even innocently treat you like a non-beer drinking fool / suggest that you may not know something about beer when you do.
I say this with lots of amusement because Mike does the exact same thing when servers try to make beer recommendations to him. (Actually, I do think it’s mostly in the attitude–as if she was going to enlighten you about IPAs.)
[Reply]
That’s a good one Andrea…I think the list has to be expanded to 11 now!
You are right…her attitude was slightly obnoxious.
[Reply]
My wife and I visited the Toledo Museum of Art recently; especially to see the Pritzker Prize-winning Glass Pavilion there. I realized that hours of museum wandering would result in a need for serious beer quaffing; so I researched area restuarants/brewpubs online in advance.
The Oliver House complex, where Maumee Bay Brewery & Brew Pub are located, is a pretty interesting little place in the heart of downtown Toledo. Unfortunately, although I only tried 3 beers, I have to agree with Nate’s assessment. The Buckeye Beer is best reserved for sultry days when cutting the lawn, and you need to stay hydrated. The Fallen Timbers Red Ale wasn’t bad, a more watery version of a Bass Ale. Stange Brew was just that–but somewhat interesting. While the beers I tasted were underwhelming, they weren’t swill by any means—they just need a little tweaking.
Neil, the manager, offered us a tour of the complex; explaining the inner workings of the brewing process in the complex’s micro-brewery. I don’t know how much he has to do with the actual beer production, but he was passionate about it, as well as being very informed about the history of the place. A delightful man, I might add.
The food was quite good, nice ambience, server was good and pleasant. I would go there again, but with Great Lakes Brew Pub not far away, and a host of other excellent brewpubs in greater Cleveland, it’s not a place I would visit unless I was doing something else there in Toledo. The beer is good quality—but Maumee Bay needs to kick it up a notch–to be a big time player. We were there on a pleasant early Friday evening, and the place was not exactly jumping. A shame, really; because there’s so much potential there.
[Reply]
Steve,
I’ve never been to this place. Nate has and he’s the one who wrote it. I’m sure he’ll be responding to you before long.
[Reply]