“No Crap On Tap” – A Motto To Live By (Except for when the “crap” is really cheap of course)

A few of us were looking forward to the Yelp Elite event to preview Zengo a week or so ago, but unfortunately it was postponed because Zengo was unable to secure its liquor license in time. To drown our sorrows, we expanded our little group and headed over to Rattle n’ Hum Bar, per our friend’s suggestion. Upon entering, my first thought, along with others in our party, was – how have we never heard of this place/been here before? With tons of beer options (for instance, today there were 2 casks, 40 beers on tap, 95 bottles and 5 cans of beer available), this is just as diverse as Ginger Man, but a more casual alternative.

Like Ginger Man, prices are higher here than at typical bars, but you pay for what you get. However, we’re quite happy to report that Rattle n’ Hum does offer a happy hour (unlike Ginger Man). Weeknights, 5-7 pm and 11 pm – 1 am, you can get $1 off your draft, $3 select bottles $5 select mixed drinks or $5 glasses of wine. But when in a beer Mecca like this, why would anyone choose a mixed drink or wine?

To help you decipher the overwhelming beer menu is a board up at the front that tells you “If you like ____, you’ll like ____.” So in my instance, I love wheat beers and it said “If you like Hoegaarden and Blue Moon (and I do!), then you’ll like Magic Hat, Circus Boy (and I did!).” One person at our table wasn’t thrilled with her beer (she thought she was going to get something a little lighter) and another person went with the beer flight which typically ranges from $7-9 for four 4 oz beers. He seemed to enjoy his samples and I think I may try that out next time. The rest of our beers were all $7 and ranged from 16 to 20 oz with higher ABV levels than you’ll find in your standard beers.

We also tried a round of their nachos with beef and were a little underwhelmed. There was, if possible, too much cheese and the beef had a deep, musky-like flavor that just didn’t seem to work for us. It did, however, have a great topping-to-chip ratio, but still, we weren’t impressed. I really wanted to like them and kept trying a few more, but unfortunately they weren’t a home run. Nonetheless, I’d go back in an instant for some more of their beers, especially at happy hour.

Also important to note – they have a bunch of cool events offered like beer and food tastings on Mondays (typically about $25) and other “educational” sessions hosted by breweries. For more info, check out the link above.