Moylan's Brewery

drewbage

California

3.64/5  rDev -8.5%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5

Stop number four on the 2004 Great Sonoma Beer Run.

Moylan's is the sibling brewery of our 3rd stop, Marin Brewing. Located in a freestanding resturant on a corner lot with a big malt silo right next to the bar entrance.

Similiar to Marin, the room is dominated by a long narrow bar with a large restaurant area running behind.

Unlike Marin's beers, which tend to be along the lines of west coast hoppy beer, Moylan's brews tend to flow more to the UK side of the fence. This time D, the erstwhile navigator, joined me in a whopping sampler of 10 beers each. The funny part is once you move beyond the obligatory blonde and wheat beers, the remaining 7 beers were all in the same color range.

Service was genial and just aloof enough to allow road weary beer geeks the peace and quiet needed after a long period of tire hum.

Not a bad place, a lot quieter than Marin, but since I prefer Marin's beers, I have my preferences.

11-14-2004 13:56:22 | More by drewbage

beerwolf77

Wisconsin

3.78/5  rDev -5%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4 | $$

Stopped in here for lunch and beers on our way up north. We were waiting for them to unlock the door so we had the place to ourselves. Apparently locals don't drink beer at 11am on a Monday. Nice wide open restaurant feel to the place. The taps were all standard Moylans offerings. My wife went for the gusto and started with hopsickel. She regretted it but finished it like a true beer geek. We cycled our way through every beer they had and enjoyed a hearty lunch. The bartender was super friendly. She didn't have much else to do since the place was a ghost town.

Overall a nice pit stop on our way up to the north.

02-15-2012 02:20:27 | More by beerwolf77

dgilks

Australia

3.74/5  rDev -6%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | $$

For the tourists like me, Moylan's is in the middle of nowhere but it was also a convenient stop on the way to Santa Rose from SF.

Basically a large shed in a commercial area north of SF with a brewery and a big restaurant/bar in the way only the US does it.

The beer on tap was all house beer with a couple of hand pumps for a bit of interest. The quality was varied with the beers I had being average for the American craft scene.

Service was decent but with only 1 bartender tending a full bar, it was a touch slow.

On the whole I'm sure Moylan's is popular with the local suburban crowd. It offers a reasonable environment for dinner with the family and is equally suited to a couple of drinks with friends but to me it felt a little dull and lacked the character of a Hair of the Dog or Lagunitas.

11-22-2011 01:25:58 | More by dgilks

GJ40

North Carolina

3.88/5  rDev -2.5%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

I visited while in SF on business. The pub is in a pretty commercial area and has a pretty commercial feel to it (not that unlike a Chili's or Friday's). They have TVs and draw a big football crowd on NFL Sundays. I prefer the more unique and authentic brewpubs that simply grow out of the brewery.

The beer selection is solid with basically everything they brew on tap. There were about 20 when I visited. This was a brief stop for us so we just went with samples of the IPA, DIPA and Hopsickle. It was a nice progression. They were tasty and very fresh.

The Moylan's Brewpub isn't unique, personal or especially memorable but they get the job done and offer some great beer.

09-12-2011 12:40:57 | More by GJ40

Dogbrick

Ohio

3.5/5  rDev -12.1%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5 | $$

(Visited 01/2011): Moylan's is located off the 101 in Novato right past a busy intersection on Rowland. The brewpub has a private parking lot.

Inside the bar is along the right wall, and there is restaurant style seating elsewhere. The place is relatively dark and has a casual atmosphere. Some Moylan's breweriana as well as TVs behind the bar, along with a tap listing. Dart boards in the back too.

The brewpub has around 12 beers on tap with some seasonals and at least one cask ale. Aside from the flagship beers they have one-offs like Wet Hopsickle (Chardonnay Barrel) and a 2 year-old Old Blarney on my visit. The beers are average to above average overall.

Service on a slow weekday lunch was good. The bartender was approachable and knew their beers.

Salads and sandwiches for me and my colleague were pretty standard fare.

Overall this brewpub doesn't really stand out, especially when compared with a place like Russian River, but it is worth checking out for travelers in the area.

08-31-2011 20:09:00 | More by Dogbrick

avaldivia

California

3.93/5  rDev -1.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3.5 | $$

Moylan's along with Marin Brew Co. are the two brewpubs that got me into going to brewpubs. Moylan's is more Irish themed and you can see that simply by the name of all of their beers.

The selection is always fairly large and they usually have 1 or 2 beers on both Cask and Nitro. I like the beer for the most part (I'm a huge Giants fan and it pains me to say Orange and Black is terrible). It doesn't compare to RR or Lagunitas usually, but it is solid and enjoyable. I typically come here on Wednesdays because it is $3 Pints for everything below a certain ABV. The prices for the beers are actually really good even if you don't go on Wednesday.

The food ranges from decent to pretty good standard bar fair. I usually go with the Moylan's Burger which is pretty good. They have a decent size menu and I have never had anything that wasn't at least decent.

The Service is really good typically. I usually sit at the bar, and come during less busy hours. things can be hectic if you come here during peak hours, so keep that in mind.

Overall, this is a place I go to every now and then, and always enjoy myself. I recommend it to anyone in Marin who wants good food and beer for a decent price.

08-04-2011 14:47:03 | More by avaldivia

alanforbeer

South Carolina

4.53/5  rDev +13.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$

A friend of mine and I dropped by for an afternoon of beer drinking while on a trip up the CA coast this past December. I have to agree with some previous reviewers that the location of the place (in the middle of a giant shopping complex) is less than desirable.

I found the atmosphere to be very comfortable. Not particularly unique, but there is plenty of beer paraphernalia on the walls and the wooden rafters overhead to keep your eye busy, and the conversation going.

We showed up on a Saturday just minutes after they opened, and were the first ones at the bar, but within an hour or so the place was full. Ordered up some lunch. My overall impression of the food (although my review is based on just one visit to the place) is that its high quality pub fare, definitely above average, although perhaps a bit on the rich side.

I was a little disappointed to discover that their imperial stout was not on tap. I live on the East Coast and Ryan Sullivan's IS is a rare find. However, pretty much everything else was available. Had a couple rounds of Dragoons, which I think is a somewhat underrated beer, and tried everything else on tap. Solid beers all around, all highly drinkable, with the exception of the Pomegranate Wheat, which is far too fruit-infused for my taste.

The best part of the visit was the way we were treated by the bartenders, and the rest of the brewery employees. All were pleasant and professional even though we were there for several hours (after all that beer-drinking we had to sober up before hitting the road). Bought a couple of bottles on my way out.

I'll definitely visit again next time I'm in SF.

02-19-2011 20:40:25 | More by alanforbeer

BBP

Ontario (Canada)

4.2/5  rDev +5.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$

Nice place. Great food, great beer, and considerably reasonable prices. Selection was limited to Moylan's brews only, which was the reason I went there, so I wasn't one bit disappointed. I found the beer availability was just about how I expected it. The food was what surprised me the most. It was presented quite well, and was very delicious. It stood up against the the brews fairly well. I tasted garlic and hops for a few hours after I left.

Would definitely come back. I didn't have anything to complain about from my stay there.

01-14-2011 23:43:45 | More by BBP

MilwaukeeCrusher

Wisconsin

3.94/5  rDev -1%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

In San Francisco I broke my camera, so after staying in San Rafael I need to get off 101. Seeing a Target I got off the exit and to my surprise there was this brewery, which for some reason I always thought was in Ireland. Feel of the place was ok, but felt more like an eatery than a brewery... although that aspect was definitely there. Marveled at the fact Kilt Lifter could be had here for $8 a sixer, where in Wisconsin I rarely see it for less than $14. Had my favorites, the aforementioned and the Imperial Red. I sampled the other beers and they were ok, but not exemplary. Delightfully surprised when I heard the 70's progressive band Flash playing on the box, something I never thought I would hear in a bar.

01-04-2011 00:51:59 | More by MilwaukeeCrusher

BigB415

California

4.75/5  rDev +19.3%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | food: 5 | $$

This is my hometown and local brewery. It's more Irish themed since the owner is Irish. They brew their own beer which has one several medals over the years. The owner also owns Marin Brewing Company which is about 10 minutes south of Moylans and just like Moylans, Marin BrewCo brews their own beers which has won medals. Their beer is great, my favorite is the porter and the stout. It's a great place to go with friends, have a beer and watch a game since they have 3 TV's.

They have a dart room which is sometimes used for large parties. One of my favorite things about Moylans is pint night on wednesdays. 3 dollar pints of beer for all beers under a certain ABV since they have to put beers with really high ABV's in a 10 oz glass instead of pint glass. The bartender's are really friendly and will recognize you if you go in enough so all the bartenders know me(don't know if that's a good thing)

If you're in Marin check out this place!

10-20-2010 06:03:59 | More by BigB415