Naked City Brewery and Taphouse 3.63
Photos by Nicholas Tucker http://www.nictuckerphoto.com/
We recently organized a trip out to Greenwood’s Naked City Brewery and Taphouse. Craft brew fans rejoice! These guys love their beer and sell only the finest. And the food ain’t bad to boot!
Beer 4
Craft brew fans are gonna’ dig it here. The menu is chock-full of both regular and Imperial IPAs and Stouts along with Belgians and other great selections from some of the country’s best breweries. Green Flash, Avery, and Lagunitas along with locals like Elysian, Fremont Brewing, Deschutes, Rogue among many others all had beers occupying taps that night. Get’s me all choked up just thinkin’ about it.
We happened to visit during the Belgianfest Cask preview, which gave me a chance to take one of two cask conditioned beers they had for a spin. The Pike Barrel Aged Sour Tripel Kriek is a non carbonated very sour and cherry flavored libation that reminded me of a lambic that had lost its bubbles. Lambics and sours really aren’t my thing so I can’t exactly give this one an unbiased review. That said, here are my thoughts on the stuff. I’d recommend the masses pass on this one. I think most will find the combination of a flat beer and extreme sour flavor to be off putting and difficult to swallow. This is a beer best left to the fans of the lambic and sour beer genres.
Needing to rinse that sour cherry taste out of my mouth I ordered a pint of Firestone Walker’s Union Jack IPA. This is great beer. As you would expect from any IPA this thing finishes with a significantly bitter and floral hop finish. What makes this a better drinking IPA is the sweet malty start that really goes a long way to balance out the flavor throughout. This is a great gateway IPA that is likely to cause otherwise non-IPA fans to experience a “come to Jesus” moment when they taste it.
Being that Naked City is not only a pub but a brewery I was anxious to try out one of the beers they brew on-site. I opted for the Brother Orchid abbey style brown ale, which came served in a 12 oz glass (more on that later). Think traditional smoky malty brown ale meets a banana-y/clove-y Belgian and you’d be pretty close to understanding the flavor of this one. It’s a little heavier on the smoky flavor than I’d like. But it’s a bold attempt at a unique flavor of beer that I’m sure others are very likely to find pleasing.
The only thing I really didn’t care for (other than the sour ale) is their insistence on serving beers with 8% ABV or higher beers, like their Brother Orchid brown ale in 12 oz glasses. This isn’t the only place around town that does this though, so I can’t fault them too much for it. But the option to drink your beer in a full pint is always appreciated.
Lastly, as with any good pub there are bottled selections to round out their excellent draught choices.
Food 3.5
The food here for the most part should leave you feeling satisfied. I started out with their soft German style pretzel which came with a cheddar cheese and mustard dipping sauce. It’s reminiscent of what you’d find at an amusement park and left me a little disappointed. Fortunately I followed it up with their Reuben sandwich which hit the spot. They don’t try to reinvent the wheel with this one which I appreciate. They build just as you’d hope they would. It came with a side mixed green salad which was a perfectly light addition to the sandwich. I wanted to get a good cross section of their menu so I added a cup of soup to my order. The soup of the day happened to be their delicious crab and corn chowder which had a good amount of meat and just a touch of heat. Really good stuff.
There was a lot of other food ordered by the rest of my group that received mostly good reviews. The buffalo chicken sandwich, herbed goat cheese and crackers, and both the veggie NY style meatball sub and BBQ field roast all earned positive marks. Despite being ordered by several people at the table, the French dip didn’t win any accolades. It might be best to avoid this one on your next visit to Naked City.
Service 3.5
Due to seating limitations and the size of our group we ended up sitting in two different areas of the pub for most of the night. Part of us sat at 2 tables we pushed together while the others sat at the bar. Those of us sitting at the tables received attentive service, with the whole experience being satisfactory. Our server had a moderate knowledge of the beers on tap, but not as much as I would have liked. Conversation was kept to a minimum which is understandable because she was busy. I’d give our service experience a passing grade though.
The other folks sitting up at the bar were reportedly treated to a much different experience. They happened to be served by one of the owners who was working behind the bar that night. Apparently he was very friendly and full of conversation. His knowledge of his liquid product ran deep too. The folks served by him had nothing but positives to report. Might I suggest heading to the bar on your next visit? I know I will.
Ambiance 3.5
Most of the setup at Naked City is pretty standard for a pub of this caliber. You’ve got your long wrap around bar. A good grouping of taps. As many tables as will fit in a long and narrow storefront. Some sort of fairly upbeat music droning in the background. And a wall covered in dozens of nudes. You know… the usual. Well… maybe the nudes are a (pubic?) hair unusual. But with a name like “Naked City”, can you blame ‘em?
There isn’t a lot to do here but drink and eat. If you’re like me that’s the makings for the perfect night out. But if you’ve got hopes of doing more I suggest you plan on starting out here before heading somewhere else to fill up your activity quota for the evening.
Seating is limited, especially considering how popular this place is. We showed up at 6:30 on a Thursday evening and were only able to scrounge up 2 bar stools and a small table in another part of the pub. Get here early if there are more than 2 of you in your group or plan on getting creative with your seating as we had to.
When you do visit make sure to head to the back of the joint to steal a view of the brewery that occupies the back half of the storefront. It’s a small but impressive setup they have back there. You can’t see a lot of it, but it will give you some idea of how serious these guys are about their beers. Pretty cool touch.
Cost
In the “Just Right” Column you’ll find Pints generally priced at $5 each, and some pretty respectable sandwiches for $10 that come paired with salads or Tim’s Cascade Chips (Add a cup of soup for a buck).
In the “Too Cold” column we’ve got 12 oz beers priced at $4.50. While there are undoubtedly some beers in this world well worth the price of admission at this portion size, I argue that most on this list should cost less than $4.50.
Happy hour runs from 4 to 7 which knocks a dollar off of beers. Hmm… Suddenly a 12 ounce pour @ $3.50 isn’t sounding so bad…
* For more pictures of the night’s offerings please visit Nicholas Tucker Photography
