Pump House Brewery

eveninghawk

Massachusetts

3.73/5  rDev -5.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4 | $$

The layout inside is laid back and cute, and there's plenty of patio seating out front in the nicer weather. There are hints to the firefighter-related theme all over the please. In terms of food, they're known for their pizza and steaks, and the menu does include recommended pairings.

So far so good.

All of the beer weighed in at about 5%ABV, and the prices are low. I'd say these are beers great for consuming with lunch or for an early evening meal.

I can't give the beer overly high marks just because they seemed so mediocre. Not bad, just not much wow. They do balance their flavors really well in the fruity products such as the Blueberry Ale and the Raspberry Wheat Ale. The Cadian Cream Ale was tasty as well. Stay away from th Scotch Ale and the Pale Ale.

08-29-2005 00:36:18 | More by eveninghawk

PiratePete

New Brunswick (Canada)

4.1/5  rDev +3.5%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4.5

When in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada you have to go to the Pump House Brewery on Orange Street. There are bottled beers, none of which are anything special, but who goes to the Pump House for that? One goes for the Pump House beer of course. There are 8 types of beer on tap at any one time. There is also a tap for their own root beer which I found very tasty. It reminded me of Little John's Sarsaparilla Root Beer (if you are an American Civil War reenactor than you know that means good root beer).

Anyway, a trip to the Pump House is in order to try their beers. Many have a fire fighter related name (i.e. Fire Chief Red Ale) as the place is the old pump house (as in the pumpers parked there) and the owner is a fire fighter with the City of Moncton. Lots of departmental patches adorn the bar and there are other things of that ilk around the place. Oh yeah, the pale ale is called Pail Ale - cute, huh? There are always a couple of seasonal beers around like the very excellent barley wine as well as their regular brews like Muddy River Stout. Only one of their beers is bottled - the popular Cadian Cream Ale, but today I saw the packaging for the Blueberry Ale due out at Christmas 2003.

But, let's not forget this is also a good place to eat. It seems that nearly half the menu uses beer in the making of the food. The bread for sandwiches (and they are thick) is made using their own beers like the braized onions or the Fire Hazard Chili. The Pump House also has the only brick oven in Moncton so if you like pizza - you can trust me on this - its very good pizza. Yep, I ate it all by myself too! The service was great and very friendly and accommodating.

Located at 5 Orange Lane the Pump House is just half a block from the Delta Beausejour Hotel, and right behind City Hall. In deed, the Pump House is within sight of the base of the large communication Tower in Moncton so if you can see that you'll find the Pump House and if you can't see the tower you aren't even in Moncton. Try the Pump House; you'll like it. My son (he's a wine guy) was with me as he was taking me to the 13th Annual World Wine Festival and we had a great time there. However, his take on the trip: the Pump House was the highlight. So how's that for an endorsement?

Oh ya, have the coffee chocolate chunk cheesecake with a glass of Pump House Barley Wine. Mmmm, mmmm, good!

11-17-2003 12:01:40 | More by PiratePete