Smartmouth Brewing Co. — Restaurant in Norfolk

Not usually a 1 star reviewer, if I don't like a place or a product I usually just don't support that estalishment but when it comes to food safety and plastic being found in beer, I feel the need to blow the whistle. We have tried various brews from smartmouth, and honestly the beer isn't bad, but whoever owns this brewery must not have a food safety/restaurant background because every single time we get cans they are absolutely disgusting. There is always a layer of oil and grime on the edge of the cans where the beer will be poured or where the customer will be drinking from. What makes it weird is that smartmouth actually has protective plastic on the top of their cans, meaning the dirt, oil/grime/bacteria ended up on the can at the brewery from Lord knows what (are y'all walking with dirty shoes on your cans in the brewery??)and the packaging just locks in the bacteria to fester on the top of the cans. We really liked the saison and would diligently clean the cans off before drinking ,sometimes we didn't buy smartmouth simply because of the labor invloved getting the cans to a point where it was safe to drink. Today was the last straw. After cleaning the cans and starting to drink a saison I noticed chunks of debris in my beverage, I cut off the top of the can only to find small pieces of red plastic INSIDE the can, in the beer and on the edge of the interior of the can. If anyone has ever been made sick by this beer it might not be from overindulgence, you might legit have gotten food poisoning. Will not be drinking smartmouth anymore and I encourage any people who drink this beer to do so at their own risk and to thoroughly clean the packaging and check for debris that isn't hop/beer related. Sorry to have to do this review,I really wanted to support a craft brewery, I would have given up on a big box/inbev beer after one incident, but over a year of cleaning cans nothing has gotten better, the dirtiness has only gotten worse and there is clearly little to no oversight with regards to health codes and food safety at this...

I’m usually not a 1 or 2-Star reviewer but I was incredibly disappointed by my visit. I have been enjoying their beers for the past couple years but had never actually been to the brewery. Went here with my boyfriend one Sunday afternoon, and arrived about 30-40 minutes before they closed. When I walked in the staff seemed to collectively roll their eyes. I wasn’t sure immediately what I wanted and the male bartender seemed frustrated and impatient so I was too scared to ask for a sample. Also, their website said a food truck would be there til 6 but was long gone by 5:25.

Outside several of the staff were talking to people who I assume are regular customers and their dogs but didn’t even acknowledge our existence when we tried to mingle. Further, they started cleaning outside tables and stacking furniture well before closing. We felt incredibly rushed and as though the staff considered us a nuisance. Made our way down to benchtop instead. The staff there are always welcoming and helpful, and never seem annoyed to have patrons. Needless to say I won’t be returning any time soon to smartmouth. I guess going corporate and increasing distribution has made the staff care less about their local patrons - too bad because I really...

Really disappointed. We came to va beach and planned our trip to visit this brewery on a Thursday. 1. they close at 9 (the earliest I’ve ever seen of a brewery, and my husband and I are traveling craft beer enthusiasts) 2. they were closed for a corporate event, which wasn’t listen on their website. We’ll never know if they have good beer, but we plan to go elsewhere which may have a younger atmosphere. Update: we are need up going to Benchtop down the road-it felt like a safer area with more parking and the beer/atmosphere/staff was all exceptional.

UPDATED: finally made it a year later. Honestly, overrated. It doesn’t live up to the standard of other craft breweries in the area. We were more impressed with commonwealth, new realm and Reaver beach. The staff was friendly and the environment was nice and not overcrowded. I just wish the beers were more up to par with other...