Crooked Eye Brewery

I had the opportunity to visit Crooked Eye this weekend. The whole family went, including my two younger children. While I feel a little odd about bringing my kids to a bar, I found that craft breweries have a different vibe to them, they often seem more accommodating. Breweries seem more about the beer, the craft, the experience, rather than lets go drink our faces off and raise some hell. Of course I had to throw in something for the kids, so prior to our visit we stopped at the go-​kart Speed Raceway right up the street, about 5 minutes away. Got a race or two in, then we were off to do some «beering».
As mentioned by other reviews, parking was a bit of a challenge, It seemed like the only parking area was also the parking lot for Silvios Deli, and that area was packed tight, I didn’t dare drive into the lot, as escaping would probably require an 8 point turn, and possibly trading paint somehow. It was early in the evening, and I was hoping to miss the parking issue, I ended up just parking down E. Montgomery, a very short walking distance, no problems. My initial thought was that the residents on the street would instantly hate the new business and the increased traffic, which they probably do, but I didn’t have anyone stomp out on their front porch and scream at me because I took their shoveled out parking spot, but I was certainly ready for it.
When we walked in I noticed that the place was busy, packed actually. This is a good thing, btw this is my pizza shop «barometer», if its lunch time at a pizza shop and its empty and or the phone isn’t ringing, then don’t expect much. So busy is good, busy in this case means the likelihood of decent beer. I looked around for a vacant table for the family, but there wasn’t one single table available. The wife was giving me the «you’re going to hear about this later» look. Then something happened that I wasn’t expecting, one of the owners motioned us down to the end of the bar, he was setting up another table he grabbed from storage and four chairs for us, I had to pause and mentally reset, I just got bailed out big-​time. I felt like I was in the Goodfellas night club scene, where they pulled up a special table to accommodate Henry and his date. Wow. Massive points here with trying to make us happy. They even put a nice bowl of peanuts on the table. At this point, I am looking around for the hidden cameras like I’m on a gag tv show or something. Not accustomed to this type of treatment at a brewery. * Round Guys comes to mind, where the owner sitting at the bar can barely lift his head up over his laptop to acknowledge your presence.
I ended up getting two flights of beer, some lighter ibu beers for me and some hoppy stuff for the wife. The beers were good, tasty, I was really starting to dig this place. My wife said the Crooked and Hazy Eye were home runs. I recalled seeing something on their website about BBQ, I then asked one of employees about the food. I was led outside and personally met the owner/​chef of the BBQ setup. This guy was just as nice as they were inside. I ended up throwing two pulled pork sandwiches on the tab and we were set for food. The sandwiches were very good. Nice soft Liscio rolls.
The kids had their heads buried in their cellphones, check that box, so we finished out the night with another flight. I really enjoyed the Black Eye Stout, sweet chocolate and coffee notes, not too charred/​smokey, this was probably my favorite of all the beers we tried.
This place has a fun vibe about it. Good beers, good food, vintage vinyl records playing, owners having fun walking around in kilts, just a do what you like atmosphere.

Right off the bat, I have to say how parking is an absolute nightmare. Parking is a pain in general in Hatboro, but finding how to even pull up to this establishment was nearly impossible! You have to travel down a treacherous looking (one way?) lane to get here. The parking lot is the size of a postage stamp, but I was lucky enough to find a space. That’s my biggest gripe, but it’s a really big one, since I was a bit angry when I finally got in the door.
As for what really counts — the beer — I was pleased with their offerings. All of their brews were tasty and went down very smooth. One thing I noticed about the beer here is that even the heavier, higher ABV beers have a very light mouth feel. All are extremely drinkable since you don’t feel as if you’ve just ate a whole loaf of bread, which can happen when you drink a lot of beer.
Their White Tail Ale is extremely unique in that it has absolutely zero hops in it. I’m not a huge hop head, so I was very interested in it. It’s a lower ABV brew, but I think it’s a good beer for anyone who is a beer enthusiast to try, since it was the beer that was drank many centuries ago before the advent of hops in beer. In fact, I think this place is doing the good deed of introducing modern audiences to old style beers. They also had the Regimental 80 on tap, which was a beer formerly drank in Scotland, considered a bargain drink at the time. It was a very tasty brew that is reminiscent of a lager, except a bit more flavorful. The owners of this brewery are very friendly and willing to let you know anything about the brews on tap, as well as let you sample anything that catches your fancy.
If I have any issues with the brews it is only that there wasn’t much on tap the day I went (five taps open) and that it seems most of the beer brewed here is very traditional. I don’t have any qualms about traditional beers, they serve a purpose, but I also feel every brewery should have a beer that strikes out against the grain. If you exclusively like beers enriched with fruit, exotic spices and odd combinations, you might not be pleased with the offerings here. If you like more traditional style beers, I would suggest you give some drinks here a shot.

This will be a mixed review.
The vibe is good. The people are friendly. The service attentive.
The food wasn’t available for order well after lunch time. Actually ordered from Silvios next door.
There was no lighter beer option on tap for beer lovers who don’t prefer a super hoppy beer.
I would try it again, but if the same experience happens, I wont be back despite being a fan of the vibe.

Love the Crooked IPA! No better place to go in Hatboro on a nice summer evening. Great beer, nice people and happy customers. I sometimes walk over with my dog (yes, they are welcome there). Bring your own food or check online first as they sometimes have food being served.

Great atmosphere. Fair prices. Delicious brews. The Scottish Ale was my favorite. It’s getting really busy in there but it doesn’t effect the service. Keep up the great work.

Simply put, the best place to grab a beer in Hatboro. All beers made in house with a great relaxing feel. They are experimenting with food offerings and outdoor seating. They are also expanding capacity which is good because they sell out about as quickly as they can brew beer. The Crooked IPA and Hazy Eye will knock you out and they are really good. Nice people who like to take care of you and easy refills on growlers make this place a must see.

I had Crooked Eye’s IPA this weekend. Awesome! Jeff the owner and brewmaster is a great guy and
he has a very cool place with great beer. I am looking forward to trying the rest of his brews.

Very good beer. Great prices. I suggest the Boro Blonde.
The only down side is finding the place. It’s in the back half of a building, not facing the street, in an area with a decent amount of rush hour traffic, making it hard to spot unless you really know where it is.

nice little nano-​brewery, was part of our self guided brewery crawl on 1÷17÷15. Got there just a bit before they closed so not a ton of exposure, but they welcomed us in, we had a round of beers, loved the IPA. One of the owners (?) gave me a bit of a tour and explained their process which I thought was very nice of him. They have peanuts on the tables, table games to occupy yourself, they also had a nice bar food menu, but we weren’t there to eat nor were we there to keep them past closing time. I want to go back when I can spend more time and try more of their beers. I can see myself checking this place out a bunch of times.

This is a nice little spot in downtown Hatboro. Besides good beer, they have a popcorn machine and play vinyl records in the taproom. My favorite beers were the pumpkin porter, IPA, blackout stout, and the pale ale.

Found this recent start-​up brewery near my parent’s house today.
I stopped in with my wife and mother for a sampling, and quite frankly was astounded with how good the beer is. They only have four beers in tap and available for purchase at the moment, but the owner told us that he had some seasonals that are almost done and that he was getting more taps installed in the next two weeks.
I sampled all four beers that they have for sale right now and they are very, very good. I’ll admit that I’m kind of a beer snob and I’ve had plenty of small batch beers from small breweries over the years, and I always try to sample the full range of beers from a new brewery when I find it – and I’m rarely impressed. Not so with this place. Every thing they offer really good! And not just small batch brewery good, this stuff is GOOD.
This is a brewery that’s going places. Check it out if you’re nearby, the beer is awesome and the samplings are free. The owner seems like a really nice guy and was more than happy to explain the beers to us and tell us about the brewery while he was pouring us samples. I wish Crooked Eye Brewery the best of luck in their endeavors. Check them out and talk to the owner, I’m sure that you’ll leave feeling the same way that I do.