Brewbakers Brewing Company - Huntington Beach

Visited July 2, 2014.

Finally stopped in after about eight years of seeing this on the map. I find it really strange that only one person has rated this place since just five years ago it was one of about only five breweries within a 20 mile radius. I would have thought that SOMEONE would have stopped in. Oh well. It’s a brew on premise kind of place where you can choose a premade recipe from their catalog. You also have to come back and bottle your beer after fermentation. Everything is extract in case you’re curious. They also offer kits for rootbeer and some baking projects like pizza and soft pretzels. There was a group of kids from some team there with their dad’s making pretzels while the dad’s drank beer. They also serve food, but they have to bake everything fresh so even something like a slice of pizza or what I wanted, the bratwurst in the pretzel bun, takes 30 minutes to make.

The beer is pretty meh. They don’t do tasters or flights, pints only. I asked which one the best was and I was told that the hefe was selling really well so I got a glass. It had the banana flavor I suppose but it was a golden brown color and it had some green apple flavor, not to mention an acidic bite (not sure if that’s lacto or what but it was kind of mild). Yeah, not impressed. I tried a sip of a few others too. Meh. I didn’t want to wait for the food so I didn’t try it. The server was very friendly and talkative, though he was the only server and had to pour beers at the bar, sell the occasional customer some root beer to go, and help the team bake pretzels. Also not sure how this place gets it’s permits (I guess 1994 was a different time). There is a single person bathroom in the back. To get there you have to walk through the "kitchen" and the around some drums of malt extract. The block where all the phone/internet wires connect to is exposed and on the wall right next to the door handle for the bathroom. I don’t really care but it’s interesting to see a place like this still operating.

Can’t say that I’m in a hurry to come back but they are opening a new brewery next door (literally) called Revel Brewing. Between that and Four Son’s there will be four breweries in Huntington so I’ll have to come back at some point.

(Visited 01/2011): Brewbakers is a brewpub of sorts located in Huntington Beach on Heil Avenue not too far off the 405. There is a decent size lot in front of the building. Inside there is a small bar on the left and a few picnic benches for restaurant seating. There is a lot of beer making equipment and supplies around, and a small cooler full of Brewbakers bombers to go. Brewbakers has a lot of beers available, with around 6 on tap and another 20 or so in bottles. However this is not necessarily a plus as the majority of the beers were average or below. The beers are all similar tasting with similar flavors a lot of times. Almost like what I would expect a beginners homebrew kit beers to taste like. On the plus side, the guy tending bar was really friendly and happy to talk beer with me and my siblings. As for food, Brewbakers bills itself as a bread shop as well as a brewery, and they sell loaves and bread-based foods like pizza, which is why I call it a "brewpub of sorts". All in all I was disappointed in the beers but had fun on the visit. Personally I feel they would do better if they brewed fewer beers of higher quality (their beer menu lists nearly 100 unique brews, although not all are available at any given time). There are better beer spots in HB but this place may be worth stopping by when visiting the area.