Date and Time: Numerous. For burger review 7 July 2019, during the Women’s World Cup Final.

Next to the New Picture House, on the Old Course end of North Street, within a stones throw of golf-tourist heaven, is St. Andrews Brewing Co., North Street location. This review was undertaken in the company of several dozen very enthusiastic, passionate, and vocal USWNT soccer football fans.

It is important to note that this is not to be mistaken for the previously-reviewed South Street location of the same name. The two locations share a name, a beer and drinks menu, even staff on occasion, but have slightly different menu’s and significantly different vibes.

Went for the St. Andrews Brewing Co. Pale Ale as the choice beer for this stop, due to a need to branch out, and taste some new options. The go-to at St. Andrews Brewing Co. has been the Yippie IPA (for some very good reasons), but it’s good to try new things, get out of your comfort zone, etc., or so I have been told.

The Pale Ale was significantly heavier on the citrus than one would expect, which wasn’t unpleasant. The smooth taste at the front of the beer is than followed up with a harsher, ‘cloudy’ finish that feels a bit heavy in your mouth. Out of character for a pale ale, and definitely not the best of St. Andrews Brewing Co.’s offerings.

The burger, the self-titled BrewCo. Burger, was a double-decker monstrosity, speared with a tree-trunk of a skewer to keep the bits from exploding all over the plate.

The towering behemoth needed the spear to keep its’ two patties, cheddar cheese, tomato, house relish, garbage red onion, baby gem lettuce, and bacon. This healthy in size, if not in actual, you know, real health benefits, burger looked pretty impressive in first take, and arrived sharpish from the kitchen, which was no doubt swamped due to the busy (largely American) women’s football watching crowd.

Before launching any more into the specifics of the burger experience, a quick pause is needed to talk about bacon. The function of bacon on a burger is to provide a layer of crunch and texture to the experience. A counterpoint to the soft bun, firm patty, and liquid sauce. Bacon only works on a burger if it is crunchy. In the event that you are a complete pyschopath person who enjoys your bacon soggy and limp, that is fine, but please understand that a burger is not a place for that sort of thing.

This is the second experience in St. Andrews where the bacon on a burger has been closer to the pig than to cooked. While I’m not ready to call it a trend, due to small sample size, it’s worth keeping an eye on, and something to consider when ordering burgers in the UK.

Back to the business at hand. The lightly toasted bun had decent structural strength, and certainly looked good holding the bits together. While ambitious and visually impressive, the double-patty nature of the burger caused some immediate challenges to consumption. Bites were difficult, as the stack was too tall to handle in one go, short of dislocating your jaw. It also became clear two bites in that this was going to be a slippery battle, as the soggy bacon combined with the grease of the two patties quickly overwhelmed the moisture-absorption threshold of the bun.

With any hope of the crunch gone with the poor bacon, the bun turned into a wet mess, the only hope for redemption were the patties. Unfortunately, this was the third strike for the burger, as they were stiff and almost a bit gritty in terms of texture, not offering anything redeeming for the consumer.

Ed. Note: It must be said that the falafel veggie burger is very good. An earlier trip resulted in sampling a portion of a friends’, and it was significantly better. Score one for the vegetarians.

As I sadly ruminated about the state of my burger and my ill-chosen beer, I took the chance to get a sense of the vibe of the place.

North Americans will feel at home at the St. Andrews Brewing Co. North Street location. It’s billed as a sports bar, and each of the three major indoor seating areas has great TV coverage. Almost anywhere you sit will give you solid viewing of at least one TV. The only complaint here is that all of the TV’s seem to have been installed 10 feet up in the air, meaning that anyone wanting to watch the action has to crank their neck to an uncomfortable angle to catch some action. It also has a small outdoor patio in the front where you can sit and have a beer and some sun.

Perhaps due to the above mentioned sports-bar billing, and perhaps due to it’s location on the ‘Old Course’ end of North Street, closest to the accommodation frequented by American tourists, there are always a lot of Americans in the bar.

And it’s very much more of a bar experience than a pub experience. There are very few dark, quiet corner booths, the lighting is bright and crisp, and the drinkers are more students, young professionals, and tourists than locals. Whether this is attractive to you will likely depend on which of the aforementioned categories you belong to. It also should be noted that the prices seem to be about 10% higher than the quality or experience dictates, and the suspicion is that the proximity and target market (ie. tourists) is the main driver.

Overall, the burger was a big whiff, and would not do again or recommend to others. The beer was not a factor, but St. Andrews Brewing Co. offers so many good beers that you can easily find something else that is excellent. And the vibe very much depends on what you’re looking for, as on this occasion the communal feel was excellent, as everyone enjoyed Megan Rapinoe posturizing Donald Trump. Oh, and also the USWNT winning the World Cup.

Good For: Bonding with like-minded sports fans during events. Medium to large sized groups. Falafel burgers, although more investigation needed.

Bad For: The burger itself. A pub vibe with dark corners. Cheap eats.

Cost: 18.80 GBP

Editors Note: There are some issues with St. Andrews Brewing Co. electronic and physical communication. The website does not currently list a menu for North Street, and the posted menu outside is in fact different than inside.