Barbarian Downtown Beer Bar — Restaurant in Boise

Boise, Idaho is the state capital and largest city in the state and many who visit here will want to explore the capital building, museums, and other urban and government attractions. These destinations are great and worth taking a part of your day to explore. But at some point, you are bound to get thirsty and a good place to visit for delicious craft suds is Barbarian Brewing near downtown.

This location is a taproom and sister location to the main brewery in nearby Garden City, Idaho. The taproom space leans toward the small side, but it is extremely inviting, with soft lighting and a home- like feel. The bartenders know their stuff and everyone is poised and ready to make your visit a memorable one.

Barbarian Brewing has about 24 beers on tap and they are all displayed on the large board behind the main bar. You will find several sours and barrel aged beers- more than what you expect from the typical craft brewery. This fact sets Barbarian Brewing apart from the majority of breweries and adds tremendously to its appeal.

Deciding what to try at Barbarian Brewing can be a challenge. I relied on flights of beer when I was here and my only regret is that I didn’t have sufficient time to try more beers from the menu. There are several excellent beers in the mix and they are constantly changing the taps. This is why a repeat visit is a must. There is too much to sample and enjoy to be able to cover everything in a single trip.

Most breweries serve the usual IPA, pale ale, light ale, and perhaps a stout or amber ale. These beers are fine and the places that brew and serve them are certainly deserving of a look. But if you want a brewery with beer that is more cutting edge and quite unlike that of the typical drinking establishment, then Barbarian Brewing is the place for you. Check it out the next time you’re in downtown Boise and see how creative and memorable craft...

Pretty solid beer, especially the stouts! Good service and excellent music playing! I met some cool people here too. My one and only complaint…when I got my bill for my flight of beer. I asked if it was correct because it wasn’t itemized and seemed pretty high. I told the bartender that I only had a flight. He tried to explain it was a couple of the selections I had. I totally understand that different beers carry different ABVs, and some are barrel aged,etc. I will say though that I have had better, higher ABV, barrel aged beer in my flights at many different breweries in many states, and I have never had a flight anywhere that came to over thirty dollars!! Any two of the flights I had from other places in town combined came to just a little bit less. I guess I made a very small contribution to the new location project. 😂

Update…there was a mistaken charge on my bill and the owner is taking care of it. I think that Barbarian has some of the best beer in all of Boise by the way, and would recommend it to anyone. Also, if and when my ventures take me back to Boise, Barbarian is definitely one of the stops I will be making. It would be cool to check out the new space in Garden...

Arrived in Boise early Sunday evening on a business trip and was looking for a place to grab some interesting beer and food. Saw Barbarian I'm Google's search results, and it immediately resonated with me because they make a lot of unusual beers (Belgians, Gose, Sours, etc.) in addition to the usual IPA's, Porters, and Stouts. Ambiance was good. Loved the chill music!

Being a Sunday, there wasn't much of a crowd which was fine by me. The server helped recommend some good beers and was more than happy to provide me with samples of many of them so I could choose exactly the right beer for my mood. Had three beers - a Saison with a low dose of Brett funk and lactic acid, a Gose with several herbs and Yuzu, and a Triple. All were top-notch.

Food was provided by a local restaurant serving street-style Mexican. Ordered online and it was delivered to my table in about 10min. Super tasty!

They've got cool shirts for sale, too. Bought me one.

Easy recommend if you enjoy unusual...