For those of you in South Florida that didn’t know Big Bear Brewing Company has been in Coral Springs, FL since 1996.  That is a year before I even moved to this state.  So needless to say they have been a staple in Florida craft beer for awhile.  But for some crazy reason or another I have never made it way out west there to visit their brewpub.  Well that is until now.

Last night I finally was able to step into the bear’s cave.  I’m trying that on let’s see if it sticks.  But it is anything but a cave.  Very nice wooden floor and booths with white Christmas lights along the dining room area.  And on each side of you when you walk in are the big parts of the brewing process.  To the right is the mash tun and brewing kettle behind a glass wall.  You can also see the big bags of grain that go into the brews up top near the mash tun.

Our wait was very minimal on a busy holiday night before being seated.  I took a quick look at the bear menu but I knew what I wanted going in.  My friends who have been here have told me about the imperial stout on nitro.  I saw that on the seasonal listing and that is my choice.

If you don’t know by now I love beers off nitro.  Especially good stouts and this one was just that.  The creaminess for the nitrogen just went brilliantly with the sweet, lactose taste of the brew.  It had some nice roasty characters to it as well and was just smooth, smooth, smooth.

My girlfriend, Melinda, opted for the Hibernation Ale which is their pale ale.  The server immediately told her that it was bitter and if that was okay.  She nicely smiled and said yes as he didn’t know that she does enjoy her good craft beer.

I had a couple sips and enjoyed it.  It had a very hoppy bitterness going on that was much bigger than most pale ales.  To be honest it reminded me a lot of the Gnarly Barley Pale Ale from Corner Cafe.  Oddly enough both brewmasters names are Matt.  Hmmm.

For our meals Melinda got the Beer Muenster Cheese soup.  A very nice beer cheese soup made with Muenster cheese and their Grizzly Red Ale all poured into a bread bowl.  She was nice enough to let me try some.  The bread was sweet like Hawaiian rolls and could be tasted in the soup itself.  It added a nice little something else.

I ordered the Pretzel Encrusted Chicken that came with a white beurre blanc that uses again the Grizzly Red Ale and garlic smashed potatoes.  I was surprised by the size of the two pieces of chicken.  They were very generous.  The pretzel crust on the outside was a great mix with the chicken and added just another layer of complexity when dipped in the beurre blanc.

Our service was very good.  We were asked for our drink orders quite quickly and seemingly even quicker they came back to us.  Our server checked back with us a few times making sure everything was good and if we needed anything else.

The place is a bit pricey with many entrees floating in the $20 region and many of the steaks being well over it.  But my chicken was $16 and in my mind really worth it.  I’ll have to come back to try some other things to see if those prices really justify themselves.  To be honest I didn’t even look at the price of my beer because I thought it was that good that I was willing to pay anything in the normal range for that.

Overall I had a great first experience at Big Bear Brewing Company.  Very nice atmosphere with good beer, good food and good service.  If you find yourself out around Coral Springs or just want to take a beerventure then you should definitely head in.  They even have a nice looking lunch menu.

Big Bear Brewing Co.
1800 University Drive
Coral Springs, FL  33071
(954) 341-5545
http://www.bigbearbrewingco.com/