'Blood Brothers Brewing' - Brew Pub Review

Blood Brothers Brewing occupies a small space at 165 Geary Avenue (near Dupont and Dufferin and only a block away from The Greater Good), where they've been for about "two years" according to the bartender I spoke to. They have another fairly large space behind a door, but back there isn't sitting space - it's brewing vats. They also have a small patio out front, currently closed for the winter. They have a couple high tables for their visitors, and the available food appears to be nacho chips.

Their current legal status is "tasting room" - they are NOT a bar, and this leads to certain interesting consequences. They close at 2100 (9 PM) every night, including Friday and Saturday, and they serve no drink larger than 12oz. The bartender didn't seem to be willing to say anything about their attempts (I'm assuming they're attempting) to become an actual bar, but he did say they were looking into being a restaurant.

What they do have is beer, five or six varieties on tap at any given time. And they do flights of three 4oz samples for $11.

"Shumei" is their "flagship" IPA. Why exactly you name a beer after a Chinese dim sum pork dumpling, I don't know. I don't think the name evokes the right mental taste reactions to appreciate an IPA - or any beer, for that matter. But despite the odd name, it's a good IPA.

"Fall of Thebes" is a blueberry sour (they had three sours going, and only two non-sour beers, so I had to have one despite not really being a fan). It was okay.

"Unite or Die" (these folks like their grandiose names ...) is their current stout. It's made with "bourbon soaked coffee beans," and it smells fantastic. Mostly coffee, but the bourbon comes through too. And the first mouthful is wonderful: rich and sweet (well, for a beer). But I found that the second mouthful was only good, and things continued to deteriorate because the beer doesn't have any depth: it's got coffee and bourbon and a bit too much sweetness, and it hasn't got any other flavours.

They also have a bottle shop, and a good graphic artist making their bottle labels and shirts. All the shirts and labels are black, with fine white and gold lines on them - I bought a "Fall of Thebes" shirt with two helmeted skulls with arrows through them.

Beer Map: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1lD5bs_7kd9vN23SRrH5VdFT8fj8