Moon River Brewing Company

azorie

Florida

2.75/5  rDev -25.9%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3 | service: 3 | selection: 2 | food: 3 | $$$

This was our 3rd visit to Savannah, and 3rd visit to the brew pub.

We go in the door and its empty except for 4 folks at the bar. We get seated right away. I have held off reviewing this place before mainly because I never judge a beer or a place by 1 try.

Since there was 3 wait staff or more lurking around, we got service at first right away. Since I hit there web site before we left, I knew what they had on tap. Of course they do have a few guest beers usually, and so there not your typical brewpub in that regard. I want to say this place has very good food, and its a good value. The beer is good to great, but sadly you think a brew pub this small, would not rip you off price wise on the beer, but they do. a pint during the daytime is now 5.50, and I hope this is not a happy hour price! Sadly neither the waiter (which is understandable) had a clue about the beer that the web site claimed they had, which in my book is sad when even after he got the asst brew master down, they had no clue about the web site being out of date by 6 months. Too be honest it was the only reason we drove 2.5 hours up there , so was a tad upset the web site with so much detail did not reflect what was really on tap. WHY Have such a big web site, if your NOT going to update it? anyway they get more that 6 tables full get ready to wait for refills of beer. They also need a list of there current beers, sad when they cannot even do that, I know they had time, the manager had time to pass out coasters you think they have time to keep a simple list of beers up to date. Oh well.

That said there were very friendly and we chated (with the assit brew master) about there beers. I did complain about the prices, and he said they use imperial pints, which they do for the beer under 6% abv, but after that you get 8oz for the same 5.50 which is a rip off IMHO. The porter and wit where outstanding, the porter was the best I ever had outside England! the wit was damn tasty. I also had a cask ale that had fermented peaches added to it, it was a burbon aged wit, I believe. Sadly they only had a list of 4 main beers, the rest you need a tape recorder to take in what is they had, I think they had a RIS and DIPA also, but since they would also come in a 8 oz glass I passed. I hate samplers so I did not do that. I rated service as nearly poor because they are damn slow with nearly empty place. If you want to drink sit at the bar, they service is much better. Even in a true tourist town, I don't understand why there prices for beer are so expensive, but I can only compare their prices to Florida, so maybe its a tax thing, but with no middle man, you think they be at 4 bucks or less a pint. Its in a old building, but so is everything in downtown Savannah. !

Sept 2008: Was up here for the Savannah beer fest, with the bros doing a pub crawl, service was much better this time. Beer was better also. prices still too high for me.

05-31-2008 17:07:13 | More by azorie

cyclonece09

Virginia

4.34/5  rDev +17%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.75 | food: 3.5 | $$

Went here while in Savannah for 6 pm toasts. The experience was awesome. The brewer was willing to talk to all and gave his toast (funniest part being the news that the hole where the beer garden is going now has posts!). Beer quality is very good and service is wonderful. They have a full line of beers ready for your enjoyment. The food is your typical fair but is still good. Overall, this has to be your go to spot in Savannah to get your first beer and your to-go beer.

02-22-2013 22:05:28 | More by cyclonece09

goatsby

Florida

3.58/5  rDev -3.5%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3 | $$$

I go to Moon River mostly because I love their Rosemary IPA. The other beers I have tried are good, nothing memorable, and their service and food is fair (for the price). The staff does not seem too knowledgeable or engaging when it comes to the beers, and even on slow days the service is lacking. A cool place to have a drink, especially at night. Have not done the haunted pub crawl, but this would certainly be a good place to do it in. For food, there are certainly better places in Savannah, but Moon River Brewing should be on your radar for some interesting beers and the haunted atmosphere. That is what you are in Savannah for, is it not?

11-14-2012 01:40:36 | More by goatsby

Larrydoherty

Massachusetts

3.63/5  rDev -2.2%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5 | $

Moon River Brewing Company brews their own beer on site, and while the beer selection is rather large, the food left a little something to be desired.

Located in Savannah, with plenty of competition, Moon River does not do enough to differentiate itself. The atmosphere is rather bland, not offering anything to exciting. It certainly felt like a tourist trap to me.

I enjoyed their beers, but in a city like Savannah, where you can get your beer to go, I recommend grabbing a plastic cup, and checking out the rest of the city.

08-17-2012 16:57:35 | More by Larrydoherty

theshoe316

Ohio

3.98/5  rDev +7.3%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3 | $$

My wife and I visited this place while we staying on Hilton Head island and took a day trip into Savannah. This was definitely a good find when compared to the Hilton Head's Brewery.

I tried their beer flight which was made up of 7 4oz glasses and did not cover their whole selection, american ales, wheat, IPA's, stouts, you name it they probably have it. The food was excellent and so was the service. The brewery is in a convenient location off a main street in downtown Savannah. The brewery also offers to-go glasses for those on the run!

06-14-2012 17:05:00 | More by theshoe316

DoubleSimcoe

New York

4/5  rDev +7.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

What a great find! We walked to Moon River after enjoying a stroll through Savannah's River Walk. The town was busy with SCAD graduation but Moon River was rather empty on a Friday night, which worked fine for us.

We sat by the brewing equipment and even saw the brewer playing, letting his daughter carry lab samples, so cute. Very relaxed atmosphere, great for a pint or five.

Eight house beers on tap, with a bit of everything: Belly-washer golden ale, Wild Wacky wit, Apparition ale, Dixie Kristal trippel, Slo-vannah APA, Swamp Fox IPA, Captain's Porter Stout... and the absolute star: Dixie Merveille!!! This is a blend of fresh Dixie Kristal trippel with vintage Kristal from September '08 aged in Cabernet barrels ever since. Outstanding.

We didn't have any food at Moon River so can't comment on that, but service was nice and friendly and the experience a very positive one. Pints are five dollars and the Dixie Merveille was $10, which is a lil' much but absolutely worth the splurge. I even thanked the brewer for such a masterpiece.

06-13-2012 06:26:29 | More by DoubleSimcoe

kylehay2004

Florida

4.14/5  rDev +11.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Nice location in the downtown, nightlife are of historic Savannah. The service was very good, friendly and attentive. I did not try the food. The selection was broad with many beers on two coverIng many genres including rare releases and flights. The beer quality was as good as expected for a microbrewery with a few surprisingly good finds. The ambience of the facility was balanced wIth many age groups noted with a small but quaint bar. Definitely one if the two or so must try places in the savannah area for beer lovers. Everything on the beer menu was appropriately priced.

06-09-2012 05:40:49 | More by kylehay2004

wapcap

4.15/5  rDev +11.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

A very cool place right on the river walk in Savannah. You can even do reservations online which helps in prepping.
Food was interesting and not bad. Some was local but not sure about organic or sustainable foods.

Beers are very well done here and is one of the main reasons to not only visit Moon River Brewing, but Savannah. Later in the evenings Ghost Tours begin at this location. Their seasonals are always interesting and well done and provide a glimpse of the culture of Savannah and the history. The regular ipa, pa, stouts, etc, are always well done. Definitely worth checking out.

04-15-2012 22:23:34 | More by wapcap

Aiptasia

Florida

3.05/5  rDev -17.8%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3 | service: 3 | selection: 3 | food: 3 | $$

The DW and I visited moon river last Tuesday night just prior to the a hanuted pub crawl. The decor in Moon River is average. Trendy little dining area with hardwood floors and tables and neo-trend lights. The square bar area is small with a limited number of taps. They have a few guest beers but they are short on selection if you're not into their house craft beers. The most unique beer of the night was their Rosemary IPA (which I could detect nary a hint of Rosemary in it).

The coolest part of the bar is the basement which is only used for overflow and private parties and the unfinished upstairs. It's brick and has a small bar of it's own, and we visited it as part of the ghost tour. The upstairs levels are unfinished and we were allowed to explore the second level a little bit. They do store their brewing supplies (pallets of malted barley, etc) and corny kegs on this level, but for the most part, it's unfurnished.

Our table in the dining room abutted the brew area and I was actually a little grossed out by the lack of cleanliness around the mash tuns and the conicals. Spotless inside (as it should be) but there was no lack of wort spillage and mulm buildup on the outside of the vessils. As a brewer myself, I know the most important aspect of any brewing is cleanliness, and if I were their head brewer, i'd scrub the place floor to ceiling and then spray everything down in idophor.

12-22-2011 15:41:02 | More by Aiptasia

bigdrewsmoove

South Carolina

4.05/5  rDev +9.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4.5 | $$

Weekend trip to Savannah for their inaugural RockNRoll Marathon. The whole town was crazy busy from all the people in town for the race. Place was slammed but we walked in and immediately got a table for 4. Ordered their Swamp Fox IPA to start. With dinner I got their sample flight with 7 or 8 samples for only $9. All of them were pretty tasty with the highlight being their sweet potato beer. Best of all their nachos are extraordinary. I would def. recommend stopping by if you are in the downtown area and want some better beer than the macro stuff at other bars.

11-06-2011 22:06:31 | More by bigdrewsmoove