Sunday 25th of September 2011 08:09:04 PM

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I would agree with many of the comments in the other review. When I visited, they had 5 of their beers on tap including the Dirty Helen Brown, IPA, Pale Ale, Hefe and Blonde. Overall I the Brown was a GABF medal winner and was decent. The Pale Ale was also very good, but otherwise, the brews were average.


I was there on a Sat afternoon and there was no one else there when I arrived and only a few had come in to watch the college football games at noon. So the lack of people was sort of surprising.

I'd also agree that the food was pretty average bar food with no better than moderate pricing. Service was only ok for being not too busy.

I would argue that their root beer was of very high quality.

The building is a converted horse stable and the inside has been redone very well.

Sunday 12th of December 2010 07:21:30 PM

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This person needs 3 or more reviews on the site for their scores to start counting.

Barley Island is a place that in some ways has amazed me simply for surviving. They hadn't done any advertising or promotion for years. Their service ranges from really slow to indifferent. This is all a shame, because the brews are really good. Their newish location in Broad Ripple at last has expanded their reach.

At the Noblesville location, they almost always have Dirty Helen (Brown Ale), The Barfly IPA, and the Blind Tiger (Pale Ale). Their Scotch Ale is excellent, especially the cask conditioned version, which they occasionally serve. But if you're going there for beers, you're going there for THEIR beers. They have very little else to pick from. No problem for me, but if you're going with someone with non-micro tastes, they might settle for a Coke.

The food is decent bar food, a tad pricey, but not so much that you would decide against. They also brew a good flavored root beer that is sadly under-carbonated. It's been this way forever. Why they don't address something so simple is beyond me.

This may not seem like a stellar write-up, but I've been there better than 40 times over 7 years. I go for for one reason only, their brews. I overlook everything else, because they are good enough to warrant it.