Cumberland Brews

No Longer In Business

Rather dreary interior may explain why the staff seemed less smiley and friendly than most places I visited in Louisville. Eight or so house brews on tap, only tried one (a supposed Schwarzbier) and promptly bailed (due both to the low quality and aforementioned atmosphere).

Stop 5. Had a flight of 5 beers. All pretty good.

(Annual abstinence backlog) Visited 17/09/2012. Cozy little place on funky Bardstown road (lost some time in the guitar shop down the road), packed at 8pm, with a small bar looking out at the equipment in the back. Fast, engaged and friendly service. Brews were certainly above average brewpub par and the growler of their signature PA gone in one dinner sitting. Cream ale was ok for the style as well. Definitely a more welcoming, homely venue than the Bluegrass Brewing Company sportspub downtown.

Overall pretty good. Servicencould have been better. Not the bartenders fault, there were just too many customers. Beer a lection was limitednto own beers. Small footprint for bar area. Food was good.

Visited right before dinner on a Wednesday. Funky, narrow interior with a long bar with smaller tables. Perhaps a bit on the run down side of the spectrum. There is also an upstairs, which I did not visit. Decent crowd, I was in the position of being the only person who didn’t have a seat at the bar, I was in that awkward position of floating nearby the bar. The small brewery is featured behind a glass window, behind the bar. 7 beers on, decent service. Food looked ok but I didn’t eat. The beer I had was a session IPA and it was tasty. Worth visiting.

70 = ★★½ (Locals should check it out, visitors with extended time)

I only use the total score, not the component parts.

Stopped by here yesterday for the first time in at least a couple years because I used to not be overly impressed with their beer or food. What a difference a few years made! Beers and food have gotten substancially better. While the beers are nothing amazing when compared to other national breweries, they do seem to be much better than the other local breweries’ fair. Had a Vanilla Porter cask ale, Rosted Pumpkin ale, and a Nitro Porter. All were quite tasty. The place itsself it quite small for the amount of people there on any given night. The lower bar area is generally always overcrowded, but the upstairs is generally a little less crowded and noisy. Our waitress last night was a little quiet, but friendly and attentive. Great decor of old beer and jam band memoriabilia, as well as some framed pictures of rather random people, places and things. Had music playing upstairs, classic rock from the 60’s-70’s, that wasn’t too loud. I was able to carry on a conversation with my friends at normal speaking range. Overall I was impressed at how much better they seem to have gotten. Will definitely be back.

Cool place, especially upstairs where there are 4 leather chairs right in front of the bar. The decor is old beer cans, nice tough. Service was southern nice, but not a wealth of beer info. What lets this place down is the beers. I had 10 beers, 2 were passable, the rest were just not good. I can’t recommend coming here, even if directly next door at River City.

Finally updating my original obnoxious review. PROS: Service was solid, food is tasty (had a HUGE portion of cheese fries on my last visit that were decked out and perfect drinkin’ grub), Prices were low for the area. CONS: It’s a tight little space, so don’t bother when they are busy unless you are flying solo or perhaps with one other person. The beers are nothing to write home about, but they are certainly drinkable- just not something to make a special trip for. OVERALL: Cumberland is a local establishment that has a loyal fanbase, but it’s not a stand-alone destination. Worth a visit if already in the area. Very close to the newly improved Old Town Wine and Spirits. I usually park on Bonnycastle Ave.; there’s a school about a block down which has an accessible parking lot after hours.

Stopped in with the wife while in Louisville. Cozy spot with a good menu (wings are great), with a decent draft lineup and a mead running too. Staff and value are solid. Worth a stop if you’re in the area.

I enjoyed the beers here, and everyone was very friendly. I think it’s worth a stop while in Louisville. Always nice to drink beer while looking at the fermenters they were born in.