June 14, 2009
Went here late on a Thursday night and they had a band playing that made it too loud to even sit in the main bar area. The beer selection was pretty amazing with the number of different taps and variety of styles. I didn’t try any food or even see a menu for that matter. Beers were ok, a few good and a few that seemed off. 4oz samples were $1 which was good given all the beers I wanted to try from them.

February 10, 2009
I like IPA’s and they will always have some very good ones on tap. Nice outside seating area. Good happy hour deals on food

January 3, 2009 [ Updated April 13, 2009 ]
Interesting ratings here...both for the place and their beers. First off...this was easily for me the only beer destination worth going to in all of santa barbara...it easily trumps downtown brewing and santa barbara brewing. The vibe is aggressive beach bum...which is slightly out of place in santa barbara, but i did not mind it. They had 13 of their own brews on tap...and i would say about 7 of them were not regulars...3 belgians, strong scotch, double ipa, harvest red, and a smoked porter. I tried all of the mentioned and they probably ranged from about a 3.2 to a 3.8. So I would say this place would fall into the category of brewpub that is not great, but at least is trying and does not flat out suck. So I say go check it out.

July 13, 2008
Not good at all to be real honest. Definetly not yuppy, but really just a off crowd and atmosphere. Not welcoming at all. Wait staff had the what the f*ck do you want personality. The 4 samplers I had were all pretty crappy (each one completely astringent). Not going there again anytime soon.

June 7, 2008 [ Updated September 5, 2008 ]
The Brewhouse was, by far the worst brewpub I’ve been in since getting to the US, honestly I can’t understand why this place has so many fans! For starters this place has a rather unwelcoming dive feel to it, the kind of local atmosphere that makes you feel like your crashing someone’s party. The beers were over-priced and VERY poor, I thought there was something wrong with my taste-buds, but I don’t think that was the case. The worst excuse for a Saison I’ve ever had, only the Abbey was worth drinking, I was fortunate that I only did a sample selection, but even that was way too expensive for what you got. The service was really appauling both at the bar and the table, they were rude at the bar when i ordered a beer and the service at the table was so slow and unfriendly. I felt like I’d done something wrong, the woman serving just seemed to ignore me and walk straight past my table even though I’m pretty sure she saw that I was out of beer. The food was really expensive and for no good reason I could see, although it wasn’t awful and I wouldn’t have minded paying $7 I felt totally ripped off for paying $13 for a chicken sandwich that looked like it had been knocked up in a fast-food joint. I was informed by a guy at the Telegraph Brewery (cool place I don’t think it’s listed on here) that the Brewhouse is rather hit and miss (more often miss), but I must have got it on a really bad day... I can’t recomend it in the slightest!

May 26, 2008
Nice place downtown right in back of the train station. The beers are pretty solid, especially the belgian style ales plus they usually have a decent selection of guest beers both on tap and in bottles. Pretty large place with seating outside and a good sized bar. Nice tasty appetizers at really good prices during happy hour also, really cheap pints of house beers. Definitely the brewpub to hit first when in the area. Last time I was in, they were remodeling and only had a couple house beers on, but when at normal capacity I think that they had around eight at a time.

March 25, 2008
I get there and the place is totally packed, but I still get a table in about 15 minutes. The beer selection on tap was slightly limited, and if Im not mistaken was only beer brewed in-house. The beer was pretty good, and the food was incredible!! The place was pretty cramped and loud, but the environment was still pretty cool, lots of energy. I think this was a great place to spend my night in Santa Barbara.

February 19, 2008
Visited at lunchtime on Monday, 02/18/08. The decor is funky and local with local artworks that tend towards surfing and landscapes for sale on the walls. Walls and restrooms have fairly well-done murals depicting Santa Barbara scenes. The vibe of the place was relaxed and local. Seems as if this place was two businesses once upon a time and a wall got knocked out between them. Confirmed this with Pete the brewmaster later. There were seven of their own beers on tap, and all were at the very least okay. The whole flight of seven in my taster may have been the most consistent and well-done batch I have had in a SoCal brewpub. In addition, there were Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Bitburger and North Coast Old Rasputin on nitro. The waiter was a youngish guy who reminded me of Keanu Reeves. He knew a lot about beer and was friendly and attentive. There were an amazing array of foods that all sounded good on the menu. I ordered a mixed grill of tri-tip, shrimp, suasage, pork and chicken with a side of mashed potatoes and peas. My friend got blackened pork loin. Both our dishes were very, very good. The wait for the food was about thirty minutes, but it gave us plenty of time to talk and enjoy our beers. Overall, I loved the vibe, the beers were very good and the food was excellent. This is my new go-to place in Santa Barbara.

October 20, 2007
I’m not quite sure how to sum this place up. The beer was average more or less. The server didn’t seem to know anything about beer. I didn’t try the food. I wasn’t really impressed overall, and I doubt I’ll be back.

September 8, 2007
Disappointing beer albeit with some interesting creativity in the styles attempted, but the food was worse. The $20+ entrees would have been badly overpriced for mediocre pub fare -- even if I hadn’t gotten a nasty case of food poisoning from the tuna steak I ordered.