Bru Handbuilt Ales & Eats

Boulder, United States

4.3

20 reviews

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Telephone:
+1 720-638-5193
Website:
www.bruboulder.com
Address:
5290 Arapahoe Ave, Boulder, CO, 80303
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
0.5 mi55th St & Central Ave
0.8 mi55th St & Flatiron Pkwy
1.3 mi30th & Arapahoe
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Today –
Local time (Boulder) 14:30 Thursday, 22 May 2025

Business hours

Monday –
Tuesday –
Wednesday –
Thursday –
Friday –
Saturday –
Sunday –

Description

Specialties

Bringing together the art of food and beer. At BRU handbuilt ales & eats Beer Chef /​Founder Ian Clark pairs his passion and knowledge for deliciously crafted food with his never filtered, naturally carbonated ales. Some dishes even use beer (or the ingredients) like the Wood Roasted PEI Mussels with pickled lemon, citrum ipa broth, and cured pork sourdough toast, The BRU Wood Roasted Sourdough Pizza made with ipa tomato sauce, ale sausage, kale, and smoked shallots or the Ice Cream Sandwich made with spent grain chocolate chip cookies and housemade malt ice cream. The beers nod to Ian’s kitchen career as well; Obitus American Brown Ale handbuilt with roasted dates and caramelized sugar or his Citrum IPA handbuilt with fresh lemon zest and juniper are just a few of the 14 rotating ales on tap. Open daily for lunch and dinner and all day happy hour every Tuesday.

History

Established in 2011.

BRU handbuilt ales is a nano-​brewery that first opened in 2012 in the garage of Beer Chef Ian Clark. Ian Clark is a nationally acclaimed chef in Boulder, CO who fell in love with homebrewing in 2003. His passion for homebrewing turned into a business when he opened a 3 barrel nano-​brewery in his garage. Ian sold his handbuilt ales including Obitus Brown handbuilt with dates and caramelized sugar, Citrum American IPA handbuilt with lemon zest and juniper, and Beezel Golden Belgian Style Golden Ale handbuilt with honey, black pepper, and bitter orange peel to local Boulder liquor stores for just over a year and then opened his dream, BRU handbuilt ales & eats in June of 2013, bringing his passion for beer and food under one roof.

Meet the Business Owner

Ian C.

Business Owner

If we had to choose two words to describe Ian, it would be passionate & fearless. His cooking career started at the age of 14, from there he went on to graduate from New England Culinary Institute & then travelled from one kitchen to the next learning his trade. Working at the acclaimed Black Point Inn in ME, for the highly awarded Chef Mavro in Hawaii, & the Ritz Carlton in CA before finding a home in Boulder, CO. In Boulder, he spent hours behind the lines at Q’s, Jax Fish House, and Rhumba before helping open Centro in 2007. As Executive Chef at Centro he defined soulful Latin cuisine. Winning numerous awards & accolades like an appearance on National Television on The Cooking Channel’s Unique Eats, & named «Denver’s Best Restaurants» by 5280 Magazine.

Ian’s passion & insatiable curiosity for food led seamlessly to his art of building seriously delicious beer. Ian continuously puts his soul & passion in everything he does, & you can truly taste it in his beer and food.

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20 reviews of Bru Handbuilt Ales & Eats

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Place rating: 5
Boulder, CO
Great food, great beer (try the Wee Heavy), friendly staff, and relaxing environment. Also loved the classic rock and Grateful Dead playing the two times we’ve been in. Very kid friendly and accommodating. Home made sodas, ice cream, beer. Everything was perfect! Pricing seems right. Nice reprieve from the pretentious and overpriced restaurants that are common downtown.
Place rating: 5
Boulder, CO
I feel like every time I come here, the food and company gets better and better. The happy hour menu has a range of options for the specific or particular eater. whether vegan, grain free or meat, you’ve got the choice of unique dishes.
Get the cauliflower, hands down. You will want to get one for yourself.
Place rating: 4
San Francisco, CA
Yum, yum, yum, yum! That’s all I have to say! The cheese plate with pickled apples, blue cheese and other yummy things with herb butter candle in middle (edible) and yes, you read that right-​is a must have!
Place rating: 5
Springfield, MO
So Good, this place is great if you are looking for good micro brews and great food. I went with high hopes as per the reviews and not let down.
I had The Bru pizza which was so good, the sourdough crust, moist, flaky, buttery. The sauce was sweet with a little spice and the sausage on the pizza was soft and so savory.
Follow that up with a coffee stout beer to die for and great service, I would go back again and again.
Place rating: 2
South Boulder, CO
The best part of our visit was the beer. The types we tried were all tasty. Might consider dropping by here again just for a hoppy beverage.
The food? Not so great. I’ll divide the food review into two parts– quality and price. Quality first. Overall, not particularly good. The poutine was the best of the three items we tried. The fries were freshly cooked. The pork green chili was good. Only two little bitty pieces of pork were included, but again, the chili was good. Very little cheese. Overall, a decent tasting dish. The wings. We’d never seen such small wings with so little meat on them. What little meat we could find was properly cooked and tender. The glaze and sauce however… Why does everything have to be super sweet these days? Don’t want super sweet wings. Nothing about the description indicated that they would be sweet. Ack. The sausage bahn mi. Kinda pitiful. One little, cold 3″ piece of sausage that had been cut lengthwise in half. Yup. Not the entire 3″ piece of sausage. Half of it. The bun was fine. As for being a bahn mi? One sliver of cucumber, one three-​leaf sprig of cilantro, and a chunk of jalapeño. None of the carrot-​daikon slaw usually found on bahn mi, which would have provided some desperately needed texture, flavor, and moisture. This little bahn mi tasted like absolutely nothing, except for one bite that was pure raw jalapeño. Not good at all.
As for prices. Extremely high for the quality and quantity of food delivered. That pitiful, tiny bahn mi? $ 5. Five paltry chicken wings? $ 5. The poutine was reasonably priced at $ 4.
Though only three other tables were occupied, the place was extremely loud. So loud that the two of us barely could hear each other speak. Can’t imagine how loud the place would be when full.
Service was decent.
Had to decide whether or not to give Bru 2 or 3 stars. Beer, 4 stars. Food, 2 stars. Which, as you may notice, averages out to 3. But Unilocal’s description of 2 stars– «Meh. I’ve experienced better.” — suits this place perfectly.
Place rating: 5
Boulder, CO
If you like delicious places that smell like bread and beer, skip the rest of the review. Just go to Bru. Especially on Tuesday for all-​day happy hour. (!!!)
Word for the anti-​glutenite: this place might not be for you. Bru is kind of like a temple for the gluten gods. I imagine they can make accommodations for you, but I think the whole spectacle might just make you sad. Sorry.
Moving on.
As soon as you walk in, the smell of fresh baked bread and malted barley slaps you in the face. I love those smells. I can’t overemphasize how powerful those smells are. Either they make all their own bread and beer in-​house, or it’s a very expensive air freshener. There is a giant stone oven and a bunch of brewing equipment, though.
We go for happy hour and the menu and prices are legit. I think we’ve tried every beer they had, and order almost everything off the happy hour menu. The «Brutine» and the corn fritters are favorites.
One thing I love about this place is that it keeps it’s menu small, and rotates things regularly to accommodate local and seasonal ingredients. Prices on main dishes can be a little pricey, but seem worth it. Besides, I think I’ve already extolled the virtues of the happy hour. Embrace happy hour, fellow impoverished food snobs.
Only drawbacks– the room is quite small, so I wouldn’t recommend it for big groups or for taking the kids. Optimal for date night or for eating with a small group.
Place rating: 5
Aurora, CO
Had a great time at BRU and it was so tasty we came back the same day. We started off around lunchtime with a taster tray. My favorite beer was the Beezel which was their Belgian Strong. We also got a fondue tray that was quite delicious. I also had a bowl of their pork green chili which was some of the best I ever had. It had a lot of pieces of pork in it, and a strong green chili flavor.
As we enjoyed our lunchtime snack we chatted with one of their managers, Brian. He was extremely nice and helpful, and provided a fantastic experience by providing some beer samples, and talking to us about all of their different ales. I wish more establishments had service as good as this.
That evening we returned for dinner and had one of their pizzas along with the chicken wings. Both of these items were great as well.
We enjoyed the experience so much we signed the four of us up for their Valentine’s Day special.
Place rating: 2
Longmont, CO
Noisy and sloooooooow for lunch. Took over a half hour to get food.
Place rating: 4
Los Angeles, CA
Good food, good prices, great service, good ambiance. I think this is going to be my team’s regular lunch spot when I’m in town.
One drawback is that they don’t have any diet soda at all. Another is that they only have burgers on one day of the week. Those are strange oddities for an otherwise great place with easy parking and a lot going for them.
Place rating: 5
Columbus, OH
Awesome place for both food and drinks. The bartenders and waiters/​waitresses were very knowledgeable and quick to help us, as we initially had some questions about their extensive beer selection. I choose to sample several different beers with a flight, and enjoyed all of them. For food, I had their honey fried chicken — soooo good, especially with the sweet honey taste! The portion size for that dish is pretty big, so be prepared! My table also split some appetizers, including the cauliflower, butternut squash soup, and cheese fondue dish. All were excellent. Next time I’m in Boulder, I will definitely make this one of my stops!
Place rating: 5
Boulder, CO
I’ve now eaten there three weeks in a row and am seriously thinking about getting a new job just so I can afford to make it a regular thing. It can be a bit pricey but I love that it’s not downtown, and not too cool for school. And I really really love all day happy hour on Tuesday!
Here are things I’ve had and loved and made other people take bites of:
1. Kale caesar with grilled shrimp. I love the copious shaved cheese. I love the polenta croutons. I want to marry the charred kale and perfectly grilled shrimp
2. Carrot soup — delicious and surprisingly filling.
3. Corn and cheddar fritters. Ate them the first time I was there with my buddy and he insisted we get them again — good call
4. Chili lime popcorn. An awesome starter for $ 2. Do it. Thank me later
Here are things others have gotten and been really into:
1. BBQ pork sandwich — my boyfriend wanted to lie in the grass and happily take a nap afterwords
2. Bahn Mi pork sandwich. Every time I’ve been someone has gotten it and loved it
3. Fries. I keep stealing them. They are delish
I finally just did it and got a flight of beers for $ 9 and that was fantastical because I got to taste 5 awesome beers.
If this place has one flaw it’s that they keep feeding me so well that I do not have room for their desserts which I hear are also quite wonderful!
Place rating: 3
Austin, TX
We had a nice dinner at BRU. At he waiter’s suggestion, I started with a Rubus Belgian dark ale. The menu says this beer has a 5.3% alcohol content, which is low for a Belgian dark, which is usually a very strong but drinkable beer. If I didn’t know, I would have guessed it was a porter. It tasted pretty good though not what I’d say is a good Belgian dark strong. Later in the meal, I ordered a Beezul Belgian strong ale. It again tasted ok but wasn’t what I was expecting for the style.
For our entrée, we split an order of fried chicken. We asked for the chile honey glaze on the side but they put it on the chicken anyway. It didn’t really matter because it was pretty light and I couldn’t pick up much chile. The chicken was very good but we weren’t too impressed with the sides. The pickled collard greens were pretty plain and served cold. The biscuit was ok but nothing special. We also ordered the oven charred cauliflower. The menu says its made with yellow curry but we didn’t detect much curry in the flavor.
All in all, the meal and beer were fine. Not special but enjoyable. Of course, it was enhanced by sitting outside on a gorgeous evening in Boulder.
Place rating: 4
Denver, CO
Don’t get up to Boulder often, but we’re two for two in making sure we stop at Bru. Pretty tasty beers each time, always nice folks behind the bar.
Quite a selection of beers, If you’re like me and more a wheat beer, mild beer drinker, not many options, but those I’ve had I’ve liked.
Place rating: 5
Boulder, CO
Great beers and seriously delicious pizza! I love the Citrum IPA and BRU pizza. Service is friendly and the atmosphere is unbeatable.
Place rating: 4
Boulder, CO
Awesome place to go get some food in Boulder. The flights of beer are great too and they even write the names of the beers on the flight board. I wish they wouldve organized the beers from lightest to darkest (as they should be drunk) but I’m not color blind so I was able to tell. The beer is fresh.
I did order food but I cant remember what I got. Oops, maybe that speaks to how good it is. I didnt think it was bad but it wasnt anything special.
Place rating: 5
Fort Collins, CO
Hands down my favorite destination in Boulder. The venue isn’t too large, the food is really really fabulous, very well put together. The beer suits my tastes better than anything else outside of Ft Collins — not too many hoppy selections, beers rotate, Belgium selections sometimes available.
Please don’t tell too many people about this place though, I don’t want it to grow.
Hint — sit at the kitchen counter (only has three seats, seats two ocmfortably)
Place rating: 5
Denver, CO
Stopped here on a mini beer tour of the «not so famous» breweries in boulder. IT was an amazing day and this place made us very happy!
There are a-​lot of beers on tap — a lot!
The tap handles are super fun and adorable.
The staff is amazingly friendly — helpful, very informational with all the beers!
The pizza oven looked fab — but we had just had brunch and the rest of the menu looked delish too. I hope to return and enjoy some of the food options.
But as far as the beer — i did a flight of 5 to get a feel for their beer:
Solus patersbier– not very sour but drinkable
Bru tang cream ale — not bad, not amazing
Osito stout — not bad
El oro– tasty — do again!
Hers — tasty
Place rating: 4
Arvada, CO
We’ve been here twice. Each time, we were first rebuffed at Blackbelly. The happy hour was a great bargain. And it was popular! It got crowded towards the end of happy hour each time I was there. Probably because of the great beers and good happy hour food. The Citrum IPA was delicious.
The pickled vegetables were really good. The mussels, too. And I really enjoyed the BRU pizza, as did my toddler. The sauce on the pizza was really good.
Somewhat kid friendly with a decent kids menu and lots of crayons. The food wasn’t really toddler friendly, though. The grilled cheese was huge and had some sharp toothpicks in it that we had to take away from our toddler. She was fixing to do some damage with those things. After we took those away, she lost interest as the thick, crusty sourdough bread was too much for her to handle. She didn’t eat the chicken tenders either, even though they were delish. And no diaper changing table that I could find. But there were lots of people with small kids there during our visits so at least we didn’t feel out of place.
Place rating: 4
Aurora, CO
The smoke from the wood oven here overwhelmed my sinuses almost as soon as I sat down. I was just getting over a cold and this hit me like a hot and smoky, wet wool blanket. Despite my oxygen deprivation issues, I really enjoyed the beer they were serving on this visit. I had several brews that I enjoyed, but the Obitus American Brown Ale (with dates and caramelized sugar) was my favorite of the bunch, and it was truly delicious.
Surprisingly, I think I liked the food even more than the beer. They were on the brunch menu while we were here. I went with the Sourdough Breakfast Pizza (sausage gravy, cheddar cheese, and roasted chiles with an egg on top). It was fan-​freaking-​tastic. I had this right before we left and it was scorching hot from the oven and pumped full of flavor. I would order this again in a heartbeat.
Place rating: 5
Boulder, CO
I’ve never been much of a beer lover, but I think that Bru is about to change that!
I’ve stopped in at Bru 3 times now, once for a light on-​the-​run lunch, once for Happy Hour, and once for «brunch» with the family. I’m hooked.
First the food: fresh, with both innovative twists on old standards (spinach, roasted beets and goat cheese — fondue!- salad) and some new and interesting flavors — charred cauliflower with a curry, lime and garlic aioli. I won’t even get started on the Bru-​tine hand cut french fries smothered with cheddar cheese and gravy! Watch out, Quebec!
Now the beverage: I’m sold on the lovely, light and refreshing brus: The Saison is my favorite, followed closely by the Belux, but not to be outdone by the richer and heavier Loch Wee Heavy Scotch Ale. So many brus to choose! Lucky for me, they have a nice «flight» of 5 samplers for $ 9, or head over for happy hour, when a nice selection of their beers is offered at the bargain price of $ 3/​pint. Whoo! Just don’t have too many… at up to 10.9% alcohol, some of these beers will have you under the bru bar before you know it. (And if you find yourself getting a bit tipsy… there is always a home-bru’d soda alternative. Tasty!)
All in all, a very pleasant few experiences at Bru. Lovely atmosphere, excellent food, and a friendly, attentive staff make this a place I’ll put on my «regular haunts» list.