Against The Grain Brewery & Smokehouse

cagocubs

Illinois

4.43/5  rDev +2.1%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$

My night in Louisville ended up being amazing, it also helped that two of my favorite events have combined into one perfect place; Louisville Slugger Field.

A: I had bought tickets to a Bats game and had some time to kill, so to my surprise there was a Brewery attached to the stadium. Located near the Ohio River and adjoined to a beautiful baseball field. You can access just the brewery from the street. Has a nice outdoor patio area where you can watch all the fans stroll into the game, much like MLB Ballparks. A nice setup, I did not spend much time inside as I opted for the nice weather.

S: Great service. Sitting outside I had a waitress regularly visit me to see if I needed anything or another beer. Fast, prompt, and polite.

S: A basic offering of beers didn't have me thrilled, but they did have I believe eight mainstage beer styles. What had me thrilled was how good their beer was. I had the dark and IPA beer which both impressed me.

F: I did the Memphis Sandwich which consisted of slow $23, not bad for a brewery right next to the stadium.

05-10-2012 01:25:20 | More by cagocubs

KevinmusPrime

Kentucky

4.5/5  rDev +3.7%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.75 | selection: 4.25 | food: 4.25 | $$

Cool set up. Very spacious, lots of room at the bar. AtG does a lot of different styles well. Their barleywine, London Balling, is superb. Very tasty fare. I am excited to see the beers that come out of this place. Highly recommend a visit if you are in the Ville.

05-04-2013 16:17:46 | More by KevinmusPrime

scruz

Kentucky

4.91/5  rDev +13.1%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.75 | selection: 5 | food: 4.75 | $$

Beercentric brewpub. Food is a smokehouse fare, with a twist. Very good. Beers are world class and service is good. Its located downtown near most other beer destinations in Lville. Definitely a must see for any visitors looking to get a breath of KYs thriving beer culture.

02-10-2013 16:47:25 | More by scruz

klyph76

Kentucky

4.44/5  rDev +2.3%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 4.75 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4 | food: 4.75 | $$

Expansive main dining area with very high ceilings. Awesome local art work for decor. Delicious bbq and in-house brew. Located in downtown Louisville right next to the Louisville Sugger's stadium. Highly recommended for foodies and beer lovers alike.

01-23-2013 01:13:49 | More by klyph76

craftbrew502

Kentucky

3.91/5  rDev -9.9%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 2.75 | food: 3 | $$

Not a very wide selection of beer, the atmosphere is really nice, the food is descent but not great. Not my favorite spot in the ville, but cool place to go every now and then. Their house brews are pretty basic nothing really stands out to me, watery porters and week IPAs

01-11-2013 03:32:24 | More by craftbrew502

RblWthACoz

Pennsylvania

4.18/5  rDev -3.7%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$

Lots of genuine character at AtG. I like the vibe, the design, and pretty much everything about the place. Selection and quality was on the mark, with an interesting variety of different kinds of beers. I took a growler of Shart Pants with me. Food was pretty good. The brisket was nice and the corn on the cob was a good touch. The green beans were cooked to oblivion though, but 2 out of 3 ain't bad. When I am in Louisville again, I would definitely come back. I imagine that AtG will continue to put out a lot of interesting brews for some time.

12-17-2012 22:49:56 | More by RblWthACoz

JDizzle

Indiana

4.9/5  rDev +12.9%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5 | $$

I have been to this place about 4 times now and it had never disapointed.

They always have ureal draft selections, most of their own, but also guest taps from around the world. I have had Mikeller 1000 IBU, Three Floyds BooGoop, etc.. on tap plus most of their high gravity beers. The service is great!! Will, the bartender, is always willing to give you nice samples of anything you want and shoot the shit about beer.

The atmosphere is great with the high ceilings and the brew tanks viewable in a nice window above.

The food is really good as well. I am a vegetarian, and their mushroom burger is epic, but they also have a ton of meat entrees that would be very nice if I ate meat. They have a ton of sauces that are homeade as well that are killer! The hot sauce is brutal.

By far the best all-a-around place in the Ville.

09-15-2012 04:02:27 | More by JDizzle

Bourbon

Kentucky

3.5/5  rDev -19.4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 2.5 | service: 5 | selection: 3 | food: 3 | $$$

First, the service was excellent. Among the best I've ever had.

Second, The atmosphere tickles me. Having been to Browning's (the previous brewpub at this location), I expected the high ceilings and visible brew equipment. What changed was the diagram of the brew equipment in Street Art-style, the huge portraits of the (assumed) proprietors in their mohawked and hoodied glory and every listing on the On-Tap board is its' own piece of art. The place is brash and arrogant. I like it!

Third, the food was good to excellent. The low score I gave reflects the lack of options and the menu that manages to not make anything enticing.

And now, the beer: meh. I had a Triple IPA that i would describe as "meek" and "inoffensive." There was an Irish Dry Stout that was comparable to Kaliber in flavor. I was so disappointed! I gave as high a score as i did for the ambition of having every tap rotating, but I think they need to knuckle down and just make good beer. It almost feels like they can't be bothered with such a thing.

I'll go back in a few weeks. My fingers are crossed.

09-04-2012 22:05:27 | More by Bourbon

GJ40

North Carolina

4.1/5  rDev -5.5%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$

My family and I stopped into Against the Grain while visiting Louisville.

The building is fantastic with authentic wood floors, high, wooden ceilings, two levels of brewing equipment above the bar and an artistic flair mixed into the warehouse foundation. They have TVs, probably to cover the baseball games, but they don’t detract from the overall atmosphere.

They offer six beers that are all brewed on the premises. Based on the website, I expected the beer lineup to be geared to the masses and not craft beer fans. But they manage to pull off both. The menu presentation simplifies the descriptions so a beginner can easily make a decision. But having tried them all, they’re substantial and interesting. They’re much more balanced and mainstream than over the top but they’re flavorful and interesting.

The food is fantastic as well. They have smoked BBQ including pulled pork, brisket and chicken. And they have several options for sauces. Two came with the meal and we added a sauce sampler for $1.50. It was great to try all of the different meats with the different sauces. We also had the smoked wings, hash and salad. If there was any flaw, the meats were a bit dry. But the sauces help mask that and there were no disappointments.

Against the Grain is surprisingly good for a commercial, touristy place in a minor league ballpark. It’s well worth a visit.

07-05-2012 00:11:57 | More by GJ40

MikeFromMarsPA

Pennsylvania

4.1/5  rDev -5.5%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

We passed through Louisville this past Friday around lunch at the end of a week-long brewery tour. We figured we'd catch the downtown location of Bluegrass Brewing, and I saw that this was just 7 blocks away or so, so we figured we'd give it a shot, too. I did not expect much from a brewery located in a minor league ballpark in Kentucky, honestly, so this place blew away my admittedly low expectations.

You'll forget about the ballpark angle pretty quickly. Unlike most brewpubs in well-traveled entertainment districts, these guys are focused on making beer, not money. Each of the six beers they had on that day had bite, character and class.

We only split an appetizer since we were still planning on lunch down the street at Bluegrass, but the app was unique and tasty and huge for the price. The crowd was light and we had the bar area to ourselves, so our server was always right there when we needed her.

Everything here was surprisingly good. We were glad we were able to stretch a single into a double when we went looking for lunch and brews in downtown Louisville. It will be on our list for places to go back to when traveling.

07-02-2012 17:57:08 | More by MikeFromMarsPA