Santa Barbara Brewing Company

Yetiman420

Ohio

4.4/5  rDev +29%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 3 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5 | $$

In early May 2006, I had the opportunity to visit Santa Barbara on business. As is usually the case, I fit in a couple brewpub site visits/quality checks during my travels (~170 to date). I hit The Brewhouse first and SBB later in the evening (see review - worth checking out but not as good as SBB). SBB is about as good as it gets. It's hard to say things are touristy in Santa Barbara because it's so nice. The location is right on the main drag of shops and if you were going to be critical, you could say there were a lot of posers here. However, I come for the beer and this place gets it right. As a hop lover, I almost creamed myself when I saw they had three hoppy beers on tap - Pale Ale, IPA, and Hoptometry. All three were excellent examples of agressive Pac NW hoppy styles of beer. I look forward to the day I can return to Santa Barbara, enjoy the outdoors and indoors at SBB. Keep up the great work!

05-03-2006 21:44:23 | More by Yetiman420

PuckLSHS

Iowa

3.14/5  rDev -7.9%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3 | $$

Went to Santa Barbara Brewing Company one day with one of my old students from the East Coast.

We went at about 9pm on a Friday night and it was quite packed in the place. Found a couple seats at the classic wood bar and picked a few pints to enjoy.

I ordered the Eternal Sunshine and my buddy ordered an IPA. I enjoyed the beer a little, but found it pretty much dumbed down. Just didn't have that taste that I was expecting or hoping. Their beers are just standard everyday choices that would appeal to the large college student clientel on State Street.

The place was rather small, so it was VERY loud and the conversation was not easy to carry on. I wouldn't suggest this spot on a weeknight during the time students have the ability to show up to the bar.

I didn't have any of the food, but it looked pretty good and wouldn't mind going back to try some. The service was not excellent, but I would not expect that with the bartendars dealing with table orders and bar orders and only having two people behind the bar.

Average is a great way to describe this place, sad to say....I really do enjoy SB though. May not be worth the drive to SB just to go to the brewpub, but it is definitely worth going up there to enjoy the rest of State Street and the beautiful ocean that is only a few blocks away. Plus, the drive to get there is ridiculously beautiful.

05-03-2006 07:04:13 | More by PuckLSHS

JayTheFinn

California

3.8/5  rDev +11.4%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | $$

Brewpub on the lower end of State Street, the main drag in beautiful Santa Barbara. Good selection to choose from. I tried the White Star. It had a strong fruity favor. Had a sip of my wife's nut brown and that was quite good. My brother enjoyed his stout, which looked like liquid chocolate.

As many bars as there are in SB, this place can get busy.

This sort of place seems to be getting popular around here even though is "wine country". Probably because the locals are learning you can be a snob about beer too!

I'd definitely give it another shot sometime.

04-01-2006 05:24:10 | More by JayTheFinn

baiser

Massachusetts

4.08/5  rDev +19.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5 | $$

Went on a Thursday afternoon during Happy hour, $2.75 pints and discounted appetizers. Had their wet sand pale ale, and also tried some others. Beer was decent, but nothing was outstanding. Just a nice place to have some food, enjoy the good weather and beautiful Santa Barbara and watch the game. On a side note, the manager of this place really knows how to hire staff. They are all friendly, competent, and they are all knockouts. Every single waitress was a hottie. When our waitress approached us and asked if we decided on our beers, our tongues dropped and we were speechless. We had an all around good time. Definitely a must stop in SB.

12-04-2005 08:03:59 | More by baiser

aquaderek

California

3.88/5  rDev +13.8%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5

Santa Barbara Brewing Company is fun place to go, Santa Barbara is a wonderful place to live and the Brew Co. just make life that much better. Come on your birthday and get a free pint glass. The beers are about what you would expect from a nice local brew pub, the food is the same ok bar food, but state street has amazing resturaunts so its hard to compare, It is good pub grub. It also has a great late night happy hour. Some times the crowd is a little young but, that is what you get on state street. GO GAUCHOS>>>>>>>>>

02-05-2005 05:02:22 | More by aquaderek

donnebaby

North Carolina

2.93/5  rDev -14.1%
vibe: 3 | quality: 2.5 | service: 2.5 | selection: 4 | food: 2.5

Made a quick pit stop here on the way south to LA for the MLS Championship game (yeah DC United!). Wasn't overly impressed, but perhaps it was the time of day. The place was full of "beautiful people", many of whom were not drinking the beer...nor were they eating the food (!?!). Atmosphere was OK overall, big glass front looking out onto the street. Nice wood-paneled refrigerator.

They had ALL the standard US brewpub offerings, the red ale, the wheat, the pale ale, the blonde, the stout, the porter, blablabla. They had their pale ale on cask, but it was all out. There was also a saison, which was random -- and not very good. A good, standard (if small) selection of belgian and german bottles (Chimay, Franziskaner). Although none of their beers were too hot (of the ones I had), they had lots of them, which gets points I guess.

Fairly inexpensive growlers (about $12 to buy, $8 to fill up if I recall).

We got an appetizer of "Armadillo Eggs" which sounded cool, breaded, cheese-filled jalapenos, but they really weren't.

Wait staff didn't pay too much attention to us, and acted like they were doing us a favor by taking our order. Or maybe they were just busy.

They DID open up at 9AM on Sunday to accomodate East Coast football games--which is something that I ALWAYS want other bars to do, too.

11-18-2004 05:06:45 | More by donnebaby

Rumrunner

California

3.93/5  rDev +15.2%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | food: 3.5 | $$

Stopped in for lunch and I have to say it was a very good choice.

Located in a very touristy and trendy part of Santa Barbara. Plenty of parking garages are around if street parking is not available.

The atmosphere is somewhat rudimentary. One large rectangular building made from brick. The main bar to the left. A small ledge bar in the middle back. Booths along the right side of the building and tables and chairs make up the rest of the place. The brewing equipment is behind the bar and on a catwalk above the back wall. Plenty of t.v.s for viewing sports. The atmosphere is very easy on the eye but provides no oohs and aahs.

We sat at the bar and the service was good. We started at a table and since nobody came around to take our order we moved to the bar when a couple of seats opened up. It was crowded and so I will not be harsh about not being noticed right away.

The food is good. A mix of pub grub, better than pub grub and some quazi healthy items on the menu. It is California afterall. I thought the halibut sandwich was very tasty. They also serve wine and have a small bar with spirits.

They generally have about eight to ten beers on tap. They range from California styes, to Belgium, English and German. The IPA was very good. Nice and hoppy. A Belgium Golden ale was served up and that was nice as well. The amber is one of their biggest sellers and the pale is considered a fine brew as well. The stout was decent. Nothing to write home about. They are brewing some fine beers here.

This is a very fine establishment and I recommend it when visiting Santa Barbara.

Notes: They have growler service.
They have a cask and I was told that cask night is Thursday. Beers vary from week to week. Santa Barbara has a serious parking problem. If you park on the street beware the meter police are everywhere. The second your time is up there will be a ticket on your vehicle. It is best to pay for parking in a lot and not worry about the time, even if it is a few bucks.

07-11-2004 06:49:00 | More by Rumrunner

drewbage

California

4.08/5  rDev +19.6%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | $$$

Santa Barbara's main brewpub right in the heart of the touristy section of Old Santa Barbara right on State Street.

Big room with bar and 4 tall serving tanks lie to the left with the primary dining in the middle and right side of the room. In the back lies the brewing system, one of the most compact 7 barrel systems I've ever seen. There's a loft above the brew deck that holds the ferment tanks, glycol and other equipment.

The only separation from the dining and bar area comes courtesy of a removable rail. (Careful leaning.. I almost went head first into the brew deck!)

The feel here is brick and wood with a more industrial bent in the area of the brewery.

Service was crisp and professional and after asking a few questions about the deck, one of the owners came over to my party, bought us beer and then gave us the "brewer's" discount on our growlers. Not too shabby!

The beer here is directly in the American west coast and british traditions. The Barleywine was a little shaky, but the hoppy beers (IPA, XPA, DIPA) that I'va had from this place are top notch.

I recommend this place for the beer traveller, but if you want the truly local neighborhood place, you'll have to wander a few blocks off the beaten path and go the Brewhouse. Either is a good thing.

03-20-2004 02:08:29 | More by drewbage

bcm119

California

3.35/5  rDev -1.8%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3 | service: 4 | selection: 3 | food: 4

In a town where wine is favored by anyone with a passion for good beverages, this brewpub is surprisingly decent. The beer is average in quality, but it has fairly good food and excellent people-watching.
They usually offer about around 6 or 7 styles of beer, of which maybe 2 are pretty good. They always have a Blonde, which is can be refreshing but a little dull and sometimes muddled; their stout is usually decent with nice roasty flavors and not too sweet; and their "organic IPA", when available, is pretty tasty. Its a little on the syrupy side, but a healthy dose of hops almost makes up for it. The "Rincon Red" is a popular one, probably because its named after the famous surf break, but is a pretty boring beer- its malty and too sweet, with little hop character.
The atmosphere is kind of blah- except for the nice copper brewing equipment visible in the back- and is always very loud due to an abundance of TVs. But the wait staff is attentive and helpful, and the strange Santa Barbara crowd outside on State Street is always entertaining- in any glimpse you'll see born-to-shop victims of commercialism, suburbanite-turned-rastafarians begging for money to pay their $1500 rents, and vacationing mid-level managers covered in plastic beads and cheap sombreros.

08-20-2002 10:20:03 | More by bcm119