Mad Horse Brewery

All of the beer option were very bitter (great if that’s your thing) and horrible female bartender. The WORST server I’ve had in recent memory. Rolled her eyes, slammed beer down, answered monosyllabically. I’ve never felt so unwelcome at an establishment. The next to us agreed and left after one beer. Ruined the entire effort of coming out on a Friday night. Too bad, I’d really like to see this place thrive.
The second star is for the red-​haired cook/​pourer. He was a nice guy.

We had lunch there on an early afternoon. Pleasant atmosphere that time of day and the service was friendly. However the food, BBQ nachos, was a serving of pulled pork almost floating in sweet sauce on top of a few soggy chips. Our beers were ok. The stout was average. The double IPA was not bad but it tasted more like a Shiner Bock with absolute no hoppy flavor.

I have frequented Mad Horse in the past and have had a very pleasant experience. Recently, however, it was a very different experience and Mad Horse is no longer an establishment that I feel safe in or feel safe visiting again. Mad Horse has always seemed like a family friendly establishment and there have frequently been children present during my visits. The children have always been well behaved and have never caused any trouble. During my most recent visit I observed some «locals» acting hostile towards the families that had children with them. These families felt threatened enough to pack up their food and leave before finishing their meals. I didn’t have any children with me, yet, felt threatened by these «locals» who were acting like they had more of a right to be there than anyone else. I also witnessed a couple, who did not have any child with them, try to stand up to these «locals» only to have the establishment threaten to call the police on them. Apparently, Mad Horse doesn’t need the business of families or any other respectful humans.
If I could give less than one star I would.
*update*
This is not a fake profile or review. I was at Mad Horse the night of May 2 and witnessed the events stated above. I never claimed to be a previous manger or have any ties to this establishment. The events I witnessed that evening inspired me to create a profile and simply warn others. As can see by their comment below, management is not using best practices and are quick to point the finger at anyone other than themselves.
If further confirmation is need here is a link to another witness’s account of the evening.

Like the brews, but just weirds me out that this used to be Brown’s Funeral Home. Had my friend’s viewing here.

*****Update*****
So I tried them out again and their beer has improved. I still think it needs some work compared to others locally but it’s gotten better. The atmosphere is always fun and I think the employees are taking their jobs more seriously then they did before. Overall they have made some steps in the right direction.

Nice local brew pub. Live music on Fridays. Beer tasting is a good way to sample their wide range of brews. 4 for $ 6. Growing food menu. I tried the wings which were tasty though not crispy. Their ginormous pretzel is a popular item.

Beer flights were good overall. Beer is a personal taste thing so hard to review but selection decent and covered Belgian beers which rocked. Not all hop heavy beers like some places have. Food is definitely not the star here but the wait staff was upfront about the beer being central, not the food. That being said the pretzel was good, albeit a frozen distributor thing and not handmade. But it should be huge for $ 9. This place is far away from my stomping grounds but I’d come back when in the area for an afternoon tasting mostly because the staff is nice, there are games for the kids and they honor our vets and other protective officers (go 82^nd airborne!!) I like that. I also liked that the manager talked positively about other area breweries and even had a few suggestions!

On my way home from Hunt Valley, MD, I knew my route would take me close to Lovettsville, VA — and this was an opportunity to visit still another Virginia craft brewery that I’d never checked out — Mad Horse!
It was a Sunday evening, so it was not super busy. I sat at the bar and ordered a flight of everything they had — seven brews in all:
Mogadishu Mile Lager (5.3% ABV)
Mad Corcoran Dunkel (7.0% ABV)
Olde Garde (5.4% ABV)
LocoTrail Pale Ale (5.5% ABV)
Audie Murphy Stout (6.0% ABV)
Chesty Puller Pale Ale (5.8% ABV)
Airborne IPA (6.1% ABV)
All of the brews were well executed. My faves were the Chesty Puller Pale Ale and the Airborne IPA.
The staff was friendly and answered all of the questions I asked about the brewery and their brews! Nice folks!

Very friendly local pub. Good selection of local home made beer. Sturdy pub food and friendly locals makes this place worth stopping at if you are nearby.

Mad Horse is absolutely delightful. I’ve been here twice, once during the Lovettsville Oktoberfest and once this past weekend, and each time the beer and service have been on point. The beer selection is varied and inventive and I have yet to taste something I didn’t like. On the food front, we’ve only tried the pork bbq nachos but they were absolutely delicious. If I lived closer, I would visit all the time, but as it is I will use Mad Horse as an excuse to come out west more often.

New Owners bring life to the Mad Horse Brewery! My wife and I visited the Mad Horse when it first opened under the original owners. We didn’t like the atmosphere or beer one bit. We were pretty disappointed because it would have been nice to have a local place to hang out on the weekends. Turn the clock forward to Oktoberfest 2015 when we heard new owners were running Mad Horse, We decided that it was only fair to try it again and boy are we happy we did. We ended up staying for the entire evening and closed it down. We have gone back numerous times since and it has now become our place to go. If you are looking for good beer, food and people then Mad Horse is the place to be. They also have live music on Friday nights which makes the wife and I extremely happy.

This is what a little brewpub in a small town should be. Nothing fancy. Beers were good, but not going to win gold medals. I found the dunkelweizen particularly nice. The food was great pub food — good size portions and matched with the beer nicely. The servers were exceptionally friendly, and made sure both we and our kids felt welcome. A nice place to spend an hour or two on a Sunday afternoon.

Tasty beer! Had a flight of four tastings for $ 6. Enjoyed a hot and fresh pretzel with spicy mustard and their stouty cheese. Musicians came in halfway through our time there and started playing. Nice atmosphere!

We really enjoyed our visit here. The owner — Michael was extremely friendly and helpful. The bar is made of a beautiful piece of wood. My husband inhaled the sausage and then helped me finish my yummy chicken quesadilla. We enjoyed all the beers that we tasted. If you are military or former military make sure you let Michael know and take him some pins or patches.

This place was dreadful. The service rotten. The little girl that «waited» on us was rude beyond belief, she rolled her eyes when we asked for things. Everytime we asked for water or beer she couldn’t walk away quick enough. The food was slow to come out and mediocre at best. Don’t waste your time coming here.

Fun place to hang out! Live music was very good, their new IPA is good, and the staff is nice.

Loved our time here. Friendly, approachable staff (thanks Rachel), delicious beers (Dunk a Shen and Blonde Bunny topped my list), washed down with the Bavarian pretzel. Generous pours on the beer flight. The facility was clean and the atmosphere great for a rainy Friday afternoon. I don’t have anything negative to say to warrant anything below 5 stars. Love supporting a local growing business!

So I’ve been twice now, once was at night and it was pretty amazing. Good beer, eclectic atmosphere… then things took a huge turn for the worse when I was here today. Romper room with beers is the only way I can think to describe it. Getting a beer involved stepping over kids, who were running rampant in the entire place. No one was immune. I realize that there probably aren’t a ton of options for parents in Lovettsville, but I’ve seen calmer and quieter atmospheres at Chuck E Cheese. Please let me know where to send the bill for babysitting.

Isn’t everyone thankful that Virginia craft brews have caught up (and maybe surpassed) Virginia wineries?
I’ve been to Mad Horse Brew Pub twice in the past month. I’ve done the tasting twice. For $ 10 it is a real steal. Last time I ended up buying a growler — I couldn’t resist the stainless steel beauty — and filling it up with «It’s a Trap!» Such good beer.
Also, the pretzel is perfect if you are sticking around for a tasting. Their Chicken Wings with Old Bay are also outstanding.
I just like the vibe of the whole place. It’s a bit rustic, not fancy or uppity at all. I love good beer, but I am not a beer aficionado. Mad Horse doesn’t make me feel out of place.
It is now my new place to take people on an outing or as a place to kill some time on a rainy weekend afternoon.

We decided to take a road trip with our two kids-​12 and 16. First stop was Sonic in Winchester. Then, to breweries. Mad Horse is right off Lovetsville’s «downtown.» The bar tender is very nice and accommodating. I usually drink hefeweizen so I ordered one. Then, my husband got his 1^st taster beer-​blonde bunny-​which I thought was much better than the hefeweizen. Then, I noticed their menu has hot wings and gourmet pies which you can get a la mode. My daughter ended up ordering both-​which she enjoyed! Nice place. Will be back!