Valley Brew Family Restaurant

[10/29/08]

Too bad I never got to visit this place when Steve was brewing...

Large restaurant and space, big patio out front, and plenty of seating all around. Big U-shaped bar where I sat to have a beer or two and watch some brain damage inducing sporting events.

Seemed kind of empty, but whatever, it was Sunday at like 11am. Tap list isn’t too bad, but it’s kind of pedestrian in terms of the selection, though they did have some Altamont beers on tap. Unfortunately they weren’t as good as I normally find those same beers to be. A couple other random ticks, too.

Service was fine. Nothing too great. Seemed like the whole place was nursing a hangover and working on starting a new one.

my main memories of this place were our smoking hot waitress and the fact that the Uberhoppy they sold us was old as dust. haven’t been back in a loooong time.

Wow! No more Valley Brewing Company. When Steve left to start High Water Brewing everything worth going for left. I have fond memories of this place. Now it’s just a shell. A facade of a Brewery.

Bar with lots of open space and probably 15 feet or so to the ceiling. They had 3 housetaps and a few others like Sierra Nevada. When I asked for samples I got the three house taps for free, so value for money cant get any better.

Stopped by while in Stockton. Sampled 7 brews for 7 bucks. The pours were about 5 oz. Not a bad deal. Unfortunately Uberhoppy was not on tap.

Large bar/restaurant facility with a good sized patio and banquet room that seats more than 100. The ambiance is one of a sports bar with lots of signed jerseys displayed and about a dozen TVs througout the restaurant. Valley prides itself on its use of Belgian yeast to make Belgian style versions of American beers. The beers are good and a sampler is worth trying. I thought the India Red Ale, Stout, and Bourbon Barrel Barleywine were the best. I went on a slow, rainy day and the place was pretty empty. The service that day was disappointingly slow and the staff not very knowledgable about Valley’s beers. Decent food menu selection including appetizers, pizzas, salads, sandwiches, and burgers but food was pretty average. There’s entertainment on certain nights. Overall I like the place and woudl definitely go again.

Stopped by on my way to my parents house. Fairly nice atmosphere for a brewpub. Decent selection of Valley Beer’s, like Uberhoppy, no guest beers from what I saw. Service wasn’t great, bar tender didn’t know much about the beer. Average pricing.

Great beer. Definitely the best brewery in the Central Valley. I hope they find someone as skilled and passionate as Steve to continue what he has done, or it will decline until they sell to a chain or it goes under just as the rest of Stockton has done. As far as the restaurant goes, it is very accommodating for groups. No problem with a "party of five" or fourteen. The food is very good bar food. The service is often sub-par, mediocre at best. Nice girls, but get a notepad and write down the orders.

Stopped in here for a sampler on 8/7/10. Had a moral dilemma here considering the way they shafted their head brewer recently, but this spot was on the itinerary for months before the trip happened and I figured maybe we’d get to try some of the last beers he brewed. Decent looking bar and restaurant. Didn’t try the food. Service was okay. Beers were overall pretty good, with IPA, Uberhoppy and Black Cat Stout as the standouts. Worth the trip.