Good food and beer keep Scott Riley’s customers happy

Print More
By John R. Nieb

With many hours of hard work and dedication, Scott Riley, owner of the Cambridge House Brew Pub, insures that his customers are happy. The Granby Chamber of Commerce recognized his hard work when he was named Granby Businessperson of the Year for 2015.
The Pub’s menu offers a variety of dishes from soup to fish and chips, unique sandwiches, pasta dishes, and steaks. Riley’s favorite on the menu is the Reuben. “I love a good corned beef,” he said. “But I try to eat a little bit of everything to keep tabs on our quality.”
He tries to change the menu in the spring and again in autumn. “This spring we hope to really change the menu,” Riley said. “I think our customers will be pleasantly surprised with the improvements.” The popularity of weekend specials helps to gauge whether they future menu offerings.
“Our beers are hand crafted on-site, but we also offer guest beers,” Riley said. “The guest beers are from breweries we specially select.” The brewery is visible through windows behind the bar.
The brewers at Cambridge House Brew Pub use traditional ingredients, including well water, malted barley and yeast. Sometimes, they use wheat or oats and a lot of specialty hops.
“Generally, we brew a batch or two of beer every week,” Riley said. “Not as often as a production brewery, but still very regularly.”
 “My favorite beer style is a Bock beer. We will be brewing our special Rock Bock beer again soon,” Riley said. “We try to emulate an old world Stein Bier by heating some granite blocks on a fire and dipping them into the boiling wort to enhance the flavor of this beer.”
“I love experimenting with food and beer. It is great when those two things come together,” Riley said. “We use a lot of beer and wine as ingredients in the food, which really helps meld the flavors together.” And when holidays like St. Patrick’s Day come along, the Cambridge House offers a list of specials.
“I get to meet a lot of people from the community, and I’m invited to pour beer at a large number of beer festivals and charity events,” Riley said. “Unfortunately, I have to pass on most of them because they just require too much time and resources. It takes a lot of work and hours to manage the pub, he added.