Sparrow Brewing — Restaurant in Tainan

Considered three stars but settled on four.

The positives:

A great location full of people passing by in one of the most well trafficed areas in town. Lots of people visiting from out of town and lots of locals mixing together. You may find yourself pulled into a conversation and have a good time, but theres plenty of folks minding their own business too, but its more social than other spots nearby. The choice to be social (or not) felt great.

The beers are very affordably priced between $100 and $150 for a 330ml sized pour, average abv seemed 3.5% to 5%.

They offer three beer sampler flights for $180.

People on Google say that it's hip. To me it felt like a normal bar and people were spilling out into the street, if that's what qualifies as hip then yes it's hip.

They have lots of shiny tanks that your beers come out of, which makes you feel 'at a brewpub' or similar.

The not as positive:

Part A: 8 taps in the place, and 3 were out before 11pm on a Friday night. Also only one cold selection in bottles that wasnt also on draft. Probably should switch the warm bottles out from the shelf nearby to supplement what's on tap versus double dip on the same taste.

Long story short I wanted to try them all, but just kept the money I wouldve spent on them for a different bar.

I get it. Youre a small business and beer takes time to make. But when your owner is apparently out of town opening a new branch and can't supply his flagship in arguably Tainan's busiest neighborhood it feels…odd.

So theres a few supply issues that occurred and may get ironed out, I hope. Heres where we lost the star.

Part B: It gets more subjective here, and its why its a 4 not a 3, so youre just as well off to go try if you've read this far. Reviews on Google and the staff all say the goal is to have beers that are welcoming to new, local drinkers who might not enjoy heavy IPAs or ultra bitter beers.

That goal, which they achieve, and the generally chill atmosphere got the 4 stars. For me the majority of the tastes for the advertised styles were way off. If youre offering 3 different types of IPA they should likely look and taste different - theyre only mildly different - notably when you name them after firmly established industry standard styles like New England IPA.

Its not that the NEIPA was bad as a beer, it just…wasnt what this particular beer person was looking for in a NEIPA. If you called it ' Sparrows IPA ' or some other otherwise more fantastical, fun sounding name I wouldn't have expected something NEIPA-like and been primed for disappointment.

Overall it was good enough to suggest to others who live nearby, and Im glad theres another place in the south thats slinging beers that work on broadening Taiwan's local...

The friendly neighborhood bar specialized in their seasonal draft beers 🍻. Very friendly owner, awesome bar tender (Ryan - gals spoiler alert ⚠️ he is kind of cute and charming). It is one of the best draft beers in the tainan or in Southern Taiwan, also the only place where u van bring outside food, as they don't serve any kind of snacks or sides for the beer (except they give u masala fried peanuts 😉).

Ryan (the bar tender) is very enthusiastic and can also speak English. They have like 8 to 10 diffenrt kinds of freshly draft beers, which keeps on changing according to the seasons; they are basically famous for their exotic fruit combo beers, which is also 5.0 % alcohol. I feel their beers are a little sweet, but apart from that, it really gives u a kick and make u tipsy after 6 or 7. glasses.

I always prefer the NEW ENGLAND and GALAXY because they don't have any fruit involved and also give u the really feeling of a beer (sour dusty and worth of the name beer).

The prices are quite cheap, starting from 100$ NTD to 120$ NTD, and the quantity is also affordable 👌. We always go there and drink for 4 to 5 hours in a straight and spend around 2000 to 3000 for a group for 5 to 6 people, mostly its our weekend spot or pre-drinking place before going to a night club haha lol 🤣.

Thank you, Sparrow brewing company and Co. We will be your loyal customers till we stay in Tainan, haha 😄.

Bon appetite fellows Peace ✌️ ✌️ ✌️ Drink responsibly. Don't drink and...

The super nano brewery aspect of sparrow brewing was really cool, I like the idea of frequently changing taps with a range of styles. This place has great potential, but the beers just fell flat.

And I mean that in a literal sense.

Weird style mashups that just don't seem to make sense flavour-wise or style-wise ("super sour" lager with "wild yeast"?), Lack carbonation and taste as if they've been watered down. My beers certainly didn't look like the pours of the same brew posted on reviews a few weeks earlier - maybe staff are drinking the product and adding water to the kegs so they weigh the same? Maybe unfermented wort went into the kegs by mistake? Who knows.

At least the prices are cheap though, and the open-air setting allows for some great afternoon...