I visited one of my favorite brew pubs on Thursday evening with my wife and son. Brew It Up which is located on the corner of 14th and H Street in downtown Sacramento. While wine is my first love, I am an absolute freak for hops. If you are not familiar with Brew It Up, let me bring you up to speed.

Owner Michael Costello opened the original location in Davis 13 years ago. The first spot was more of a place for locals to do some home brewing. Along the way Mr. Costello decided to go the route of a full service restaurant and move the operation to Sacramento.

This establishment is truly one of a kind in the area as it covers all of the bases. You can come in for a beer, glass of wine or a cocktail, some bar appetizers or a full meal. If you are in the mood, you can make an appointment to come in and brew your own concoction. After a few weeks your beer is ready and you return to bottle it or have the brewer’s place it in a keg for you.

When we arrived it was 6:30 PM and the place was packed. The hostess seemed a bit frazzled by the crowd but was steadily holding her ground. Since we sat in the back by the bar, we seated ourselves once a table became available. FYI, if you are looking to have a quiet conversation with your guest, you don’t want to be near the bar. The crowd was loud and lively and set a great tone for the pub. The bar was stacked 3 deep.

As I looked around there were several parties of people brewing beer. For myself, there is nothing like the smell of malt in the air when you walk into a brewery, it’s absolutely intoxicating!

We sat for 10 minutes before being greeted by our server. I noticed she had a large group of very needy folk’s right behind us which is something I will always take into consideration. Once she arrived, Kristen swiftly got us back on track and took our drink order. Something everyone should keep in mind is I write these things with a very open mind. I have worked in this industry for years and I think it is vital to keep your expectations reasonable. By no means should you ever lower your standards, but don’t walk into a ridiculously crowded bar and think the world will stop for you. Kristen was busy, period. Once the girl came over to us, we wanted for nothing for the rest of the night. Some might argue that sitting for 10 minutes is a ridiculous amount of time to wait for an initial greeting and it is but I evaluate the entire experience. For those of you reading this and saying “I would have gotten up and left” I say more beer for me! By the way, there is also actual time and what we in the business affectionately refer to as the “guest perception”. Guest perception is something altered by what a guest perceives as reality. For example a guest may have waited 6 minutes for a drink but in their mind it was 23 minutes. I’m not sure how this happens but I don’t use rough estimates, I use a clock.

Being a fan of hops, I ordered the Skydiver Barley Wine. This beverage is extremely strong and can’t be purchased in a glass larger than 14oz. We also tasted the Autumn Ale called Curbit The Grog, Czars Tar and the Vanilla Stout . Curbit is full of flavor with hints of cinnamon and pumpkin pie. The Czars Tar is a very dark imperial stout with a deep roasted malt flavor. The Vanilla is a light bodied, lightly carbonated stout with a smooth and creamy flavor, subtle hints of vanilla and nice roasted undertones. I dare say if you are a beer lover, you need to try this place.

Brew It Up offers Happy Hour every day from 4-6pm and Thursday – Saturday from 10 – close. You can also check out Pub Quiz Monday, Twenty $$ Tuesdays (pizza and a pitcher for $20) and wine Wednesday’s when there are ever changing specials on wine.

Brew it up is located at 801 14th Street there is plenty of on street parking as long as it is not a theater night, otherwise there is a parking garage in the same building, enter on 14th. 916.441.3000

Andy Soto