Event - Haven Gastropub 3rd Anniversary

If Haven sends me an email saying that all ten of their small-batch brews are going to be on tap for reduced prices for one night only, I make plans to go. That's what happened when they emailed out about their 3rd Anniversary specials going on this past Monday.


I dragged Duc along with me and though it started at 6:00pm, we ended up getting there nearer to 6:45pm and waiting about an hour for our table. It was SO crowded. Though the wait wasn't desirable, I felt glad for them to have such a jam-packed house that night. I mean, an hour wait on a Monday night is quite impressive and a definite showing of how much support your establishment has so cheers to Haven!


So let's focus back on the beers. Ten available equates to ten being ordered. Luckily the tasters were only 5 oz each and split between the two of us, that's only 25 oz. of beer to be had...on a Monday night. I keep it classy, apparently. In the order from left to right of my first picture, here were the brews:

• Hello World ($2 taster): American Pale Ale | ABV – 6.3% | IBU – 73 | SRM – 14.4
  (Hops – Centennial, Warrior, Cascade and Columbus / Yeast – American Ale Yeast)
• Gross National Happiness ($2 taster): Cream Ale | ABV – 5% | IBU – 20 | SRM – 5.2
  (Hops – Summit and Tettnager / Yeast – American Ale Yeast)
• Hafen Hefe ($2 taster): Bavarian Wheat Beer | ABV – 5% | IBU – 13.5 | SRM – 3.9
  (Hops – Hallertau / Yeast – Weihenstephan)
• upRYEsing ($2 taster): Rye IPA | ABV – 6.5% | IBU – 81 | SRM – 17
  (Hops – Columbus, Centennial and Cascade / Yeast – American Ale Yeast)
• Diana Brown ($2 taster): American Brown Ale | ABV – 6.5% | IBU – 28.3 | SRM – 22
  (Hops – Columbus, Nugget, and Willamette / Yeast – American Ale Yeast)
• Sosigenes ($3 taster or 16 oz pour for $7): Double IPA | ABV – 8.2 | IBU – 248 | SRM – 9.6
  (Hops – Warrior, Glacier, Galena, Chinook, Columbus and Centennial / Yeast – American Ale Yeast)
• Brewmaster's Breakfast ($2 taster): Breakfast Stout/Oatmeal Stout | ABV – 7.5% | IBU – 86.5 | SRM – 35
  (Hops – Centennial and Cascade / Yeast – American Ale)
• Brewmaster's Breakfast on Oak ($4 taster or 10 oz pour for $8), The Lion’s Share - Barrel Aged Beer Program: Breakfast Stout/Oatmeal Stout | ABV – 9.5% | IBU – 86.5 | SRM – 50
  (Hops – Centennial and Cascade / Yeast – American Ale)
• 100 Rubles ($3 taster or 10 oz pour for $6): Imperial Russian Stout | ABV – 12% | IBU – 75 | SRM – 37
  (Hops – Galena, Northern Brewer and Centennial / Yeast – American Ale Yeast)
• 100 Rubles on Oak ($4 taster or 10 oz pour for $8), The Lion’s Share - Barrel Aged Beer Program: Imperial Russian Stout | ABV – 14% | IBU – 75 | SRM – 50
  (Hops – Galena, Northern Brewer and Centennial / Yeast – American Ale Yeast)

Of course, food was needed before we could demolish everything in a series of poor-decided-upon gulps. We opted for the corn chowder (with stone crab, leek, and cilantro oil) and the mac-and-cheese (with black truffles, Gruyere, Fontina, and Parmesan) for starters. The corn chowder was delectable and very smooth for a chowder, composed of well-pureed corn and sweetness. The mac-and-cheese is always great at Haven, especially for all the crispy cheese on top of the entire handle.


Since they also had menu items from their other restaurants on hand, we opted to share The Veg burger (cheddar cheese polenta patty, vegetarian black bean and hatch chili, house sauce, fried green tomatoes, pickles, and jalapenos on a roasted shallot potato bun). It was an impressive mouthful to look at and since it was Duc's first time with polenta, I wanted to see the reaction. It was definitely a softer polenta consistency than I have had before but it was still very rich and creamy. I enjoyed the little zing that the sauces gave and the southern touch given through the fried green tomatoes. It was a delightful entree.


We finished all ten glasses by the end (and probably annoyed the waitstaff by telling them not to clear our cups until we had taken a picture). The verdict was that we, as expected, still loved stouts so the 100 Rubles was impressive. I took a liking to the Gross National Happiness, and we shared a mutual respect for the Diana Brown. IPAs in general are not to our taste so we had to chug those down before we gave up, and for me, the oaked stuff was stronger than I liked. Overall, a great variety of beers were had and a great time was enjoyed!