Big River Grille and Brewing Works is a chain brewpub worth visiting.
I have many activities that occupy my spare time, but what I enjoy more than anything else is travel and sampling beer. So, you can only imagine the great rush that overtakes me when I am participating in both activities at the same time and this is why I try to include breweries or brewpubs on my travel itenerary whenever pssible. One brewpub with multiple locations that I have visited and enjoyed is Big River Grille and Brewing Works, a brewpub/restaurant with locations in Chattanooga, Tennessee; Nashville, Tennessee; and Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
The Beer:
Big River Grille & Brewing Works produces six regular, year- round brews along with few seasonals. Here’s a list of what you are likely to find on tap when you visit:
Southern Flyer Light Lager– Light beer, with a grainy taste and a good hop nose, this is Big River’s lightest offering. It has a sweet taste profile and a moderate to low alcohol level of 3.8 percent by volume. Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5
Vienna Lager– Not as rich of some of the heavyweight Vienna lager on the market, Big River’s Vienna is light and amber colored, with a somewhat toasted taste of malt and German hops that manages to be very thirst- quenching as well as good- tasting. The alcohol level is 5 percent by volume. Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Sweet Magnolia– Sweet brown ale, with a more complex flavor profile than the other beer in the lineup, Sweet Magnolia combines flavors of maple syrup, chocolate, and molasses with the finishing touch of Mt. Hood hops. There aren’t many hops here- just sweet malty goodness. The alcohol level is 5 percent by volume. Rating: 5 stars out of 5
Imperial 375 Pale Ale– This pale ale has a vanilla- like aroma and a taste of toasted malt and American Perle hops that impact a honey- like citrus taste to the body. The alcohol level of this product is 5 percent by volume. Rating: 3 stars out of 5
House Brand I.P.A– This beer has a more pronounced hop flavor than the pale ale, but it’s really not that aggressive. The aroma is one of citrus- possibly orange and lemon. The beer is infused with Fuggle hops and is dry- hopped, making it more aromatic. The alcohol level of this beer is 5.7 percent by volume. Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Iron Horse Stout– Featuring the taste of coffee and roasted malt, Iron Horse Stout is sweet and dark black and color, and it ranks with Sweet Magnolia as the best beer in the bunch. The alcohol level is 5.4 percent by volume. Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5.
Food is also an important part of the experience at this establishment. Big River Grille and Brewing Works features a menu that is fairly typical of a bar and grill type of establishment, with options that include categories such as appetizers, soups & salads, sandwiches, meals, and desserts. Food is tasty at Big River Grille, and it’s also fairly priced. Sandwich platters, which usually include fries, are priced below $10 each while dinners range in price from $9 to $20, depending on how fancy your feast happens to be. Food is cooked to order and is served by friendly waiters and waitresses who are very good at explaining the menu items and the beer products, to help aid in making a decision. The portions are large, too, so dessert will probably be out of the question.
Going back to the beer, it appears that Big River has succumbed a little bit to the pressure of selling beer to as wide an audience as possible- i.e, watering down the beer or making it otherwise bland, with the hope of increasing sales. With Big River, it is easy to see that this trend has begun. But, thankfully, it has not become the norm for all of the beer in the lineup and it has not been taken to the extremes like it has in other chain brewpubs. Among the year- round brews, two of them- Sweet Magnolia and Iron Horse Stout- are quite noteworthy. In fact, each of these products has won awards at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, with Sweet Magnolia winning a Gold medal in 1998 and Iron Horse winning a Bronze in 2000. Iron Horse also took home a Gold in the 1998 World Beer Cup. Other than these two products, the others rate pretty much middle of the road, and that includes the seasonal products that I have tried. They are all very drinkable and non- offensive, but not good enough to warrant a high- rating from a finicky beer snob like myself.
Big River Grille and Brewery is owned and operated by the Gordon Biersch Company, which includes a chain of restaurants and brewpubs located mostly in the western United States. It has only a few locations but it will likely expand in the near future as Gordon Biersch allocates more funds toward growing this chain.Many are familiar with the Gordon Biersch name, but not the Big River Grille and Brewery name. This could easily change in the future as the company looks for further expansion opportunities.
Big River Grille and Brewing Works is a nice place to visit and at least two of the products on tap are worth the effort to seek out and enjoy. The other beer could use some work, but none of it is bad and when you factor in the tasty food and lively atmosphere, Big River Grille and Brewing Works ranks as a chain brewpub worth paying a visit to.
Rating: 7 Cheers out of 10
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