Great Waters Brewing

zeff80

Missouri

3.94/5  rDev +2.6%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

Great location. Close to the St. Paul Hotel, Children's Museum and the arena. Nice looking interior. Modern pub look with a long wrap around bar. Seating is a little cramped but not too bad. The beers are pretty good. Most are English style and are well done. They offer a sampler of all their beers. Great Waters has about half their beers on cask and the rest are regular taps. The service was pretty good. It was pretty good and we were just their for drinks but our servers was attentive and helpful. They had 9 different beers on tap that nice - mostly English style but they had a Belgian Bruin that was very nice, too. Did not try the food, but they had some nice looking options - plus a kids menu for those with children. All in all this is a nice brewpub in the heart of downtown St. Paul.

01-04-2012 03:40:50 | More by zeff80

KarlHungus

Minnesota

4.28/5  rDev +11.5%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$

Whenever I find myself thirsty in downtown St. Paul I stop my Great Waters. The atmosphere is clean, and inviting. I can get quite loud inside though, but they do have a great patio area for when the weather is nice. The beer is usually top notch. They always seem to have eight to ten of their own beers being poured. They have three permanent cask ales that are very well priced. They also rotate quickly through there seasonals, and have something new on tap every time I stop in. The food is top notch. I would go there simply for the food. For the most part it is standard bar fair, but done really well. Pricing for both beer and food leans toward the more inexpensive side of the spectrum especially for the quality you are getting. Overall, I highly suggest Great Waters to anyone wanting a good meal, or a good beer.

07-29-2011 19:43:36 | More by KarlHungus

gatornation

Minnesota

3.68/5  rDev -4.2%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4 | $$

stopped in last sunday for some soup and sandwich and beers..was seated immediately and was told what the tap and cask selection were and our waitress knew her stuff ,,the brew pub is next to the hamm bldg and park square theater on a pedestrian street to one side, lots of seating inside with a few big screen tvs ..the soup and sandwich were good and the two taps i had were also good..they sell growlers and have a full menu selection..its a nice pub in a nice location,, some interesting beers on the chalkboard..i will go back if in the area but would not make it a go to destination

12-14-2010 23:21:06 | More by gatornation

herman77

Minnesota

4/5  rDev +4.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

Its like an old school cafe. The bar is pretty small, but they had a decent selection of liquor and scotches. About 8-10 different beers on tap, four of witch were on their english style beer engines. I've only been there a few times (great to go before Wild games) and the last time we were there, it was happy hour; $2.50 pints and half price apps, can't go wrong with that. Bartenders were a little quiet, but warm up to you if you ask them questions. Got a little sample of their English mild which was pretty tasty, but opted for their Sans Pantalons instead since I wanted to get a little more buzzed for the Wild game.

11-27-2010 22:37:38 | More by herman77

DesMoinesMike

Iowa

3.93/5  rDev +2.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$

After a marathon what better way to celebrate than some good food and micro-brew beer. G.W.B. is easy to get to from the interstate but parking can be a bit trim, but that wasn't the case on a Sunday afternoon. For being located in a downtown metro area I was expecting the decor to be more rustic but it was nice and bright with large windows to view the street and area high-rises. For beer there is about a dozen choices, my only issue is that most of them look and taste very similar, even though the styles were different. I chose the Myna Bock because it has the most punch flavor wise. The food menu has great variety, I can get American, Continental, Latin, Asia, plenty of different tastes. It's the first place in a while I've seen that has duck on the menu. Our waitress was very attentive until she got assigned another job. Overall it's a nice place that I'll definitely revisit when I'm in "The Cities"

05-04-2010 00:11:18 | More by DesMoinesMike

Redrover

Illinois

3.95/5  rDev +2.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 3.5 | $$

This is a nice airy space in the historic Hamm building in downtown St. Paul. It almost looks like the space used to be part of the lobby. The ceilings soar at least 20 feet and there are massive windows on two sides to let in light.

There are two distinct areas and both share the common bar and both have plenty of tables for groups. The brewing equipment is behind glass and located where a back bar would be. It smelled good as they were brewing the day I was there.

The paint scheme is cream with forest green accents. The bar top is the only downside. It is covered in the same linoleum my grandmother had on her kitchen floor....

I found the service to be Friendly and informative. The can be a bit slow due to the work load, but an extra couple of minutes is easy to forgive when the folks are trying and engaged. They were very free with samples, which is always nice to see.

The brewpub had a nice sized happy hour crowd. They have tunes in the background, but they are almost drowned out by the buzz of conversation. There are enough TVs, so you could catch a game while grabbing some beers and food.

They were offering 6 house taps plus 3 (!) cask beers. I enjoyed a solid APA, a nice mild brown on cask and a tasty mild/bitter on cask. Unfortunately the cask oatmeal stout was past its prime.

They have a good menu with some unexpected options. I went traditional and had a good 1/2 burger with mushrooms blue cheese and Canadian bacon. Fries were just ok. Ask for their house made beer mustard.

I can easily recommend a stop if you find yourself in this part of St. Paul.

02-22-2010 18:51:06 | More by Redrover

slander

New York

4.14/5  rDev +7.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | $$

Post breakfast during lunch hours already setting the tone for what's left of the day fleeting fast. This, the stay fairly close day with nominal traveling involved breather. I'll surely make up for it tomorrow and tomorrow, and the day after that. For now, it's back to the backup city Minneapolis keeps around just in case...

Fed the meter on North St. Peter and had to trek back a bit to this grand, nearly century old brick & limestone building of awesome ornamentation. Entered off the corner through the big vestibule entrance with barrels, sacks of malt, and plants with sprawling vines atop. Cavernous space with high high high framed ceilings with blended duct work, beige walls over wood slat lowers, deep green trim & moldings, and 4x4 block floor tilings with thick black crisscross borders. Giant windows on both walls off the corner and canopied outside. Rows of sunken spots above and some mounted glass lamps. Flatscreens in the corners and a space on the wall for projection screen action. A potted plant or two, a few shirts displayed for sale, and a framed "Western" jersey from an NHL all star game.

"L" shaped spotty gray formica topped wood bar with a copper foot rail spanning both rooms seating nearly a dozen and a half on green leather chairs. Logoed glass front brewroom behind the bar with a copper kettle or two and a 3 sided, ½ a hex barback counter space below with a row of 8 taps on a single tower. 4 handpumps 2 & 2 off to the left with stacked glassware of all sizes and shapes, and tiered booze & wine, and fridged growls to both sides of center. Small festive gourds displayed here and there, if only (Evil) Davo could be here to enjoy the season.

A dozen and a half tables square sitting mostly angled here overlooking a side seating pen outside. A dozen and a half tables there amidst caged treeing & bubble lampposts along a brick lined strip of pedestrian mall space. And through to the side room, where lies the main stretch of he bar with a Hamms bear painting on the windows of the brew room windows and wine & booze tiered below. A dozen+ tables sit between the bar and front windows, and further along, a narrower side side room seating pretty much the same; framed St Paul pen & ink prints and paintings displayed here for sale.

Tap selections are displayed on a blackboard off the corner. I will opt for the sampler, currently offering 6 house beers (St Peter Pale Ale, 5.5%, nicely balanced; Golden Prairie Blonde, 4.8%, grainy with some light hoppiness; Brown Trout Brown Ale, 5.8%, some roastiness, caramel & chocolatey; Hauch Von Rauch Hefe, 5.2%, band-aid on banana; Tightey Whitey Wit, 5.25%, good wit, coriander & orange; Rye PA, 5.25%, dry hopped, nice spiciness, piney & fruity, good bitterness), and 3 cask beers (New Centurion Mild Ale, 5.2%, darkish, a bit of roastiness; Great Waters House Ale, 4.8%, a good, clean bitter; Black Watch Oat Stout, 5.8%, oaty, some good chocolatey, nutty roastiness). Tighty Whitey Wit, Rye PA & New Centurion Mild Ale are the best of the lot. And it looks like they keep the Ace Pear Cider as well.

Upwards of 4 cask beers on at any one time here, interesting. Happy hour pricing offers a 10 ounce glass for $.99 and a pint for $2.50, so you can loophole maximize the effort in a pair of 10 ouncers for $2, versus paying $.50 more for 4 ounces less otherwise. Pretty sneaky, sis.

Clean, comfortable, inviting place, although the "shared with the rest of the building" bathroom scenario is a bit strange, but I guess that makes them running out of toilet paper someone else's problem. Chuck amok behind the bar friendly and attentive, and we talked with the Town Hall kitchen kids barside with us for a bit. Food they do but we're not in that place yet and Witz has some German meat place he's been going on about. Beer was good overall ('cept for that bananaid Rauch Hefe) and there's a most amazing malt aroma wafting about, it does smell lovely.

12-29-2009 02:00:54 | More by slander

mwagner1018

Minnesota

2.93/5  rDev -23.7%
vibe: 2.5 | quality: 3 | service: 1.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

Recently went here for dinner with my girlfriend. I had read some reviews, and checked out their beer selection in preparation for my trip across the river to St. Paul. I was really looking forward to the adventure....

It was a Saturday evening...we arrived...waited to be seated...decided to take a spot outside on their patio...I checked out the chalk board at the bar and didn't see any beers that I had anticipated trying...but I understood that...it's a brew pub with a rotating selection. We were seated...then came our server...she was was horrible...she had no clue about beer...zero passion for what she was doing...I asked her what the cask special was...and she said it was like a Belgian Beer..., with no more description than that....and before I had a chance to have her clarify...she said oh, you aren't ready...."I'll be back in a minute".... "what"....?? I got on beer advocate on my blackberry and looked up, by the name she gave me...turns out the special on cask was an English Mild...pretty similar to her description right!!

Anyway...the food was pretty good and the "Mild" on cask that I had was a decent beer, and having come from the service industry with years of experience in bar tending and serving...I understand that there are some people just not cut out for the job...but at a brew pub...I expect more...that the people at least know about the beers they are asked to serve...it should be the heart and soul of the operation...

We will be going back to try it again...but...what a bleh experience that one person can make...when you are so excited to try some new craft beers...

09-15-2009 21:48:10 | More by mwagner1018

Chaz

Minnesota

3.95/5  rDev +2.9%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3 | $

I've been visiting this place infrequently since it first opened and was happy to stop in for brunch on a recent Sunday morning - hard to pass up a $2 bloody mary if you have a liking for those, eh?

Seriously though, the beer is the draw here and for good reason: Bob D crafts some very fine brews! I'm probably not the biggest fan of cask ale*, but a pour of the silky-smooth and multi-textured Blackwatch paired well with this morning's board of fare, and complimented a nice black cup of coffee particularly well.

Although it's somewhat cavernous when lightly-peopled, I've always enjoyed Great Water's space in the Hamm Building. The big windows facing 7th Place and Landmark Center give it a very inviting and inclusive sense of place.

There's good food and even better beer here, and with a little something for everyone on the menu (and moreover, with prices that surprised me in a good way!)

Service was very good as always, even though I flustered the waitress a bit with a couple of questions relating to the brews available (she had not been on-shift in a while so it was all very understandable.)

I'm already looking forward to my next visit - I may even break with (recent) tradition and take home a growler or two: that Tartar Control IPA is something else!

*Folks, I am a heathen. I actually enjoy canned Hamm's... out of a can!

04-20-2009 17:24:28 | More by Chaz

cadenwhitaker

Minnesota

3.7/5  rDev -3.6%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4 | $$

Great Waters is like Flying Dog to me.

Both tend to build beers that have more mass-appeal. That's perfectly fine to me.

I like Great waters because they have decent happy hours, and the service is good, and the beers are good. I think more places should brew their own beer so I support Great Waters for doing it.

So yeah, not bad, not bad, I enjoy going there. I think the only reason I give this place more of an "average" score is only because the Twin Cities has quite an exceptional list of places with fantastic service/selection.

03-07-2009 23:35:47 | More by cadenwhitaker