Wabasha Brewing: Get Out Of Your Cave And Try It!

On our recent weekend field trip to St. Paul for the two day Winterfest beer festival at the Union Depot, my wife and I stayed downtown and explored the surrounding environs.  Coming from Waconia, we don't get to the St. Paul side of things very often, so this was a great excuse to check out a few of the newer taprooms in the area.  On the Sunday after the second night of Winterfest--we were feeling good--we went for another great breakfast at The Buttered Tin, followed by a trip to Wabasha Brewing Company.  We had tried two of their beers for the first time at the festival and been intrigued.  Our hotel was on Wabasha Avenue, so getting there was pretty simple--even for a directionally challenged guy like myself.

This was a Sunday, and the brewery opened at noon.  We were about the first ones inside and the place stayed pretty quiet while we were there.  The brewery is on the outside edge of town in an older neighborhood that borders between residential and light industrial--near the Wabasha Caves.  The building itself is pretty nondescript with small signs directing one into the parking lot--but hey, there was a parking lot!  A small picnic table patio area takes up a bit of space in the parking lot near the entrance to the brewery taproom, but it was snowing this morning and not looking like a great option!

Stepping into the very small taproom you walk down a small flight of stairs into a sunken area.  For those with mobility issues, they have a small lift (also used for moving kegs in and out of the brewery).  A few high tables and chairs fill the bright yellow painted room, as well as a tiny alcove with a couple of couches.  A twelve foot bar separates the taproom tasting area from the actual brewing space, but you can see all the equipment easily.  The brew system is 15 barrel (small but pretty big for this space) and the fermenters are 7 barrels each.  This is the opposite of most breweries I know of, who brew twice on a smaller system to fill a larger fermenter.  I'd hate to be the brewer for Wabasha since there is very little space between equipment and it looks like some mad contortionist skills might be needed for the job!

A very helpful and outgoing young lady named April was busy flushing taplines and getting everything ready for the day's festivities when we arrived.  She's been with the company since nearly the start of the taproom about a year ago and really seems to like her work.  I had her pour me a sampler of everything so I could get to work tasting and reviewing the beers.

A little background on me before we begin.  I'm a BJCP National ranked judge, homebrewer for over 25 years, and a serious beer geek.  I rate beers on a 1-5 scale with 3 being my default decent drinking beer, 4 being amazing, and 5 being my favorite beer of all time.  Sarajo tastes along with me but doesn't like to grade things with anything other than a smile or a bitter-beer-face.  April was happy to answer questions on the beers as we tasted through them.

1) Son of Eric Cream Ale--If I had a son, this would probably not be my spawn.  I get a nice maltiness up front.  Hint of corn.  Hopping is on the high end for the style, but adds some bitterness and keeps it in balance.  The description on this beer is "Nordic cream ale".  When I asked Sarajo what she figured that might mean, she thought for a second and responded, "It's repressed and won't admit how it really feels?"  Well done wife, well done!  3.75

2) West Side Popper--This takes the base beer of the previously mentioned cream ale and adds jalapenos that they smoke right outside the brewery.  Don't they know that the Nordic folk think that black pepper is too spicy?  Are they Mad??  I get a smoky, charred corn, green pepper aroma up front.  The flavor is pretty much the same.  Nice balance of malt, hops and spice dries this one out a bit.  Spicy but not overly so.  Solid beer.  4

3) Red Bonnet Amber--I'm not usually a fan of ambers, but this one is pretty good.  Not a ton of aroma to it--just a mild generic hop.  Flavor has light caramel notes, but not sweet.  Crisp more like a Vienna lager than an American amber.  Mild cherry notes.  Hint of smoke?  Asking about the cherry flavor April told me that they do add 13# of cherries to the batch--a small amount, but enough to explain it!  4

4) Snowblower Vanilla Porter--Aroma has roast, hint of smoke, dark chocolate, and vanilla.  Flavor is  quite malty. The vanilla accentuates the sweetness, but doesn't get to cloying territory.  Complex. For a 4.1% ABV beer, the mouthfeel is pretty good!  4.25

5) Implosion IPA--I get Sweet-Tarts on aroma.  Flavor pretty subtle with not much hop character.  Plenty of bitterness with a very dry to almost astringent finish. 3

6) Red Desert Red IPA--Plenty of citrus and malt in the aroma.  Flavor is malty but not sweet.  Orange flavors are strong.  Finish quite dry but pleasant.  Good beer.  4

7) Oak Aged Cave Stout--This is the brewery's strong stout.  It is aged in the cellar temperature of the brewery (not really in a cave, but at similar temps).  The version we had on this visit was in a firkin and had oak added.  Aroma sweet, mild roast, hint of oak tannin.  Flavors of malt, including plenty of roasted grains, and tannins.  Mouthfeel is a bit thin--probably accentuated by the oakiness.  Interesting beer and made smoother by the firkin.  3.5

Overall, I was pretty impressed with beers.  All were well above average to my palate and better than expected from a relatively small and new brewery.  I like the interesting things they are doing.  Other than the IPA, I think the balance and drinkability of these beers was stellar, and the use of adjuncts just added character rather than overwhelmed those beers.  The brewer has a subtle hand and knows his fermentation process.

I enjoyed our visit to Wabasha and they are hereby on my Beer Radar!  The taproom is pretty tiny and bare-bones, but does the job.  It looks like they are planning to move the taproom to a place with seating for 100+ people, so that may change soon.  For now, it's more about the beers.  Solid and interesting beers overall.  Both of our favorites were the Snowblower and the West Side Popper.

Off The Edge of the World: Flat Earth Brewing Company

Flat Earth Brewing has been around for a while.  They were originally established in 2007 (open by 2008) by former Town Hall Brewing alum Jeff Williamson.  The name was based on the Flat Earth Society--a group that to this day believe that the world is not a sphere.  Most of Jeff's original names focused on science fiction or geeky subjects--he was nerdy before it was cool!  The old brewery was literally spitting distance from their much larger neighbor Summit Brewing, and was a pretty small affair nestled into a warehouse building.  Several of our homebrew club (Jack Of All Brews) members made a trip out there for a Saturday tour shortly after they opened.  It wasn't much to look at, and this was prior to legal taprooms in Minnesota, so we just had a few free samples and hung out with Jeff a bit.  The first time I ever tried Flat Earth beer was at a tasting they held at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival--again shortly after they opened.  I was impressed--especially with the Belgian Tripel and was excited for what they would do over time.  They were really in the forefront of the the craft beer renaissance here in Minnesota.

Sometime around 2010 Flat Earth had financial troubles which necessitated bringing in outside investors to avoid foreclosure.  In May of 2012 Jeff either left the company or was fired (there was a bit of confusion about that matter at the time and I've never heard what really happened).  The then assistant brewer Friday Bob Roepke continued on as the head brewer at that time, and continues in that position today. Fairly recently Flat Earth moved into the old Hamm's Brewery building in St. Paul and added a taproom for on-site pints and growler sales.

Frankly, Flat Earth is one of the few older breweries I've not reviewed for this blog. In part, it was probably still out of loyalty to Jeff, but he seems to be doing fine these days.  This year my wife and I each bought a PubPass -- a passport-like book giving you a free pint at each of the locations involved in the program.  We did this because it included several places we already like (Freehouse, Indeed, Bryant Lake Bowl) but also some we've been meaning to try.  As a last minute replacement (when Glockenspiel went out of business) Flat Earth became a new spot in the program.  Then, in a feat of beer trivia madness at The Happy Gnome we won some Flat Earth shirts, glasses, and a free growler fill.  OK, the world was clearly trying to tell us something here...time to get out to the brewery and check it out!

On an overcast day we set out from distant Waconia on our trek to the very Edge of the World--St. Paul!  In usual fashion, shortly after crossing the river, my car's GPS decided to have a seizure and try to send us in circles on roads that no longer exist.  Luckily, Sarajo was able to get Google Maps on her phone functioning and we eventually found our way to the huge old brick monstrosity of the Hamm's Brewery.  Much of the complex is decrepit, with holes in windows, crumbling brick walls, graffiti tags, etc.  The entrance to the taproom is actually down a fairly tight alley between two of the looming red brick buildings with a small sign claiming "Brewery" that is somewhat easy to miss.  Into the darkened recess you go but once inside, there's a wide central area providing plenty of parking.  The taproom is up a short flight of stairs and through a large wooden door with just a tiny chalkboard sign indicating that you are at the right place for Flat Earth Brewery.

I'd love to go spelunking in this old derelict pile...

Entering via the old fashioned heavy oaken door, we found ourselves in a dark (that day anyway) large open space with high ceilings and minimal lighting.  Thick brick walls fairly radiated the cold of a meat-locker, requiring us to keep our coats on for much of our stay. A few windows at the back of the taproom provide a bit of a view and some much needed light.  Strange old antique furniture including a throne-like chair, a mini pipe organ, and some large industrial scales are scattered about the space without much rhyme or reason.  For a room this size there was surprisingly little actual seating--one large table and a few more mismatched garage sale reject tables.  A small bar in the corner provides growlers and swag for sale.  On arriving we actually discovered someone we knew--Pio (the super friendly brewer for Minneapolis' Freehouse) and his friend Ryan.  Small world!

Continuing past our friends, we wound through some dark labyrinthine hallways and alcoves, passing odd murals, curling photographs, crumbling brickwork, groups of quietly conversing people, and outdoor patio furniture.  The dark, the cold, the twisted byways, bring to mind the dank subterranean vibe of a sepulcher or the Poe story The Cask Amontillado.  Eventually we made our way to the taproom bar (fairly high and without seating).  Our winter-coat-wrapped server was happy to serve me up two sampler boards so I could try through most of the line-up.  No worries about the beer getting warm here! We carted our beers back to the front room since there was no space to sit in the back room.  When we first arrived the place wasn't especially crowded, but by the time we left (4:30ish) the joint was jumping and the whole back bar was crowded with people standing by for beers.

Here's the part where I go through all the beers and give a quick thumbnail sketch of my impressions.  I'd go into more detail, but everyone would be bored (and my wife would probably be upset that I was ignoring her even more at the taproom!)  I rate on a 0-5 scale with 3 being my average beer, 4 is stellar, and 5 is one I'd take to a desert island with me.

Starting with the Flagships

1) Angry Planet Pale Ale: Citrus/orange aroma with some caramel. Flavor very orangey up front and a hint of sweetness. Not much body to it and the finish is bitter and dusty tasting.  3

2) Northwest Passage IPA: Hopping present in aroma and flavor, but not extreme.  Flavor sweet and biscuity with a dry and bitter citrus finish. Much better than I remember this one. Decent balance. 3.75

3) Belgian Style Pale Ale: (Up front, I don't tend to like super hoppy Belgian beers.)  Lots of ester, clove, fruity Belgian yeast character in aroma and flavor. Sweet balance to this one.  Citrus hops strong.  3

4) Cygnus X-1:  Classic porter.  A very pleasant mix of roast malt, coffee, and chocolote.  Balanced with some initial sweetness and finish is fairly dry.  A well done American style robust porter. The best beer they had by far. 4

Moving on to the Seasonals

5) Red Cape Ale: Brewed for the Winter Carnival.  Not much aroma here.  Flavor is subtle with a hint of roasted barley and caramel.  Off dry finish.  A decent Irish Red if that is what they were aiming for.  3.75

6) Spoon Thief: Oatmeal stout.  The body is thin, but there is still a slickness to it.  I get a meaty or brothy flavor that can come from yeast autolysis (breakdown).  Slightly astringent burnt finish.  Did not like this one at all.  2.5

7) Bermuda Triangle: Belgian Tripel with honey.  Aroma is fairly quiet--not much Belgian yeast character at all.  Flavor is very sweet and seems under-attenuated.  Bitter on the end.  Yeasty tasting.  Some green grape ester flavors as well.  A bit hot. 2.75

8) Winter Warlock: Single malt English barleywine based (if I remember correctly off Bass Number 1).  Very light in color with excellent clarity.  Smells and tastes like a strong but dry apple wine.  More cidery than many actual hard ciders I've tried.  Hot alcohol.  I couldn't finish this sample. 2.75

At this point I had tried most of the beers and we still had our free pints coming!  So Sarajo got the Cygnus X-1 (also her favorite of the bunch) and I got Black Helicopter.

9) Black Helicopter: Coffee stout.  This was one of the first good coffee beers I tried back in the day and was my favorite Flat Earth beer--that's why I saved it for last!  This version was served on nitro and had a thick tight off-white head on it.  Mild coffee notes and sweetness in aroma.  Much stronger cold press coffee in the flavor for sure.  The body is really thin--accentuated by the nitro I think--which makes this taste like a good slightly sweet cold press coffee on nitro.  Not as good as I remember, making me unsure if the beer has changed, my tastebuds, or if the nitro has altered it that much.  3.5

Overall the beers were a mixed bag.  My two favorites of old (Black Helicopter and Bermuda Triangle) were kind of disappointing to me this trip out.  The Cygnus X-1 was our favorite and I got my free growler filled with this.  One thing I'll point out here is that other than the Red Cape and Spoon Thief, the brewery hasn't exactly been changing up their line-up or trying many new things since 2012.  I'm curious to see how much they expand production or try out new recipes now that they have plenty of space in their new building. (Addendum: I did get to try a stout aged in Waconia's own J. Carver Distillery Gin barrels at Winterfest that was pretty interesting...)

Our experience at Flat Earth was (like the beers) a bit mixed.  The place is big, has parking, and had pleasant staff.  However, the place comes off as dank, somewhat somber, and a bit tomb-like.  Scattered oddities and mismatched furniture give it a thrown-together-from-grandma's-musty-storage-unit kind of feel.  Just to see the old brewery building (in all its derelict glory) it was worth the trip.  I'd love to get a chance to explore the rest of the grounds and building complex with my camera...  Here's to hoping that Flat Earth takes full advantage of the space, and starts experimenting more!

Bang! Brewery of Few Words, Many Beers

On a recent trip to St. Paul (someplace I don't tend to visit often) I finally had a chance to visit Bang Brewing.  I first went to Urban Growler Brewery since they serve food and I was famished, but then discovered that Bang was only about 50 feet away!  Of course in the time it took me to eat my lunch and have a half-pint of beer the skies had decided to dump a ton of cool and heavy rain upon me.  I ran across the intervening distance, becoming drenched with rainfall, to the circular metal silo building, unsure if they were even open, or where the entrance was located.

Eventually finding the entrance on the opposite side from which I was scrambling, I dove into the shelter provided.  The brewery is simply one large circular open space, with the brewing equipment and fermenters located along the external wall.  A very small stainless steel bar seating 7 was arranged near the center of the building, with a glass-ware washing station and taps behind it.  A portion of the building behind the bar was walled off (covered with an attractive mix of reclaimed woods), featuring a tiny bathroom and probably hiding much of the brewing gear.  Everything (minus the wooden wall) within the space was of bright, reflective metallic tones.  A scattering of 14 camp stools in the center of the space provided some seating for patrons.  Despite the weather, the place was fairly crowded and vibrant with activity.  Americana and country music played over hidden speakers, accentuating the fact that we were drinking beer in a 42 foot diameter metal grain bin!

I made myself a spot at the end of the bar for a closer look at the process.  I dripped more water onto the shining surface of the bar to join condensation rings from freshly poured cold pints.  The owners, Jay and Sandy Febbo, were serving at the bar, cleaning glasses, changing kegs, and everything else that needed to be done.  This is a two person show.  After talking to Sandy and discovering that little gem of information, several of the questions I'd come up with prior to the visit were answered.  No wonder they are only open Friday and Saturdays!  With only two people to do everything needed to run a brewery and taproom on a commercial scale, I totally understand the slow/relaxed style and vibe of the brewery.  They have a 10 barrel brewing system which is fairly small in the grand scheme of things, but not minuscule.  They do provide beers to about 10 or 11 draft accounts--mostly upscale eateries like Heartland, Tongue in Cheek, and Ngon Bistro.  The brewery uses only organic ingredients and they seem happy to take a small niche within an already small niche market of craft beer.

But what about the beers?  When I sat down I asked about samplers.  Sandy was happy to give me samples of the beers, but served (a small splash) in full pint glasses--I hadn't realized that they didn't really have a "sampler tray" of the beers.  I appreciate getting to try them all though!

1) Neat--Described as a sparkling bitter, this was a tad unbalanced to the bitter side for me, but still good.  They also serve up Bloody Neat with organic heirloom tomato juice for that bloody Mary vibe.

2) Dave--An American lager brewed in collaboration with Dave's Brewfarm.  This had a sulfury lager note that concerned me, but also a strangely pleasing and crisp finish that I enjoyed.

3) Good--A well named and humble beer!  4.2% ABV, 42 IBU.  Somewhere between and English bitter and an American pale ale, I found this very drinkable.

4) Nice--STP Dark Ale.  This was my first choice but was crossed off the list when I first entered the taproom.  Jay came out of the back a bit later, poured one, tasted it, then started pouring for folks.  I ordered a short pour of the version with cold press coffee added.  I found it to be very roasty and just the pick-me-up I needed on this dark and stormy day.  I would like a hint less bitterness and more body to be perfect, but still a very good beer.

5) Boss--Hoppy Strong Ale.  Well described, this one was very hoppy and bitter, a bit out of balance for me.  Not really a classic IPA or DIPA though--something in its own class.

Overall, I was more impressed with the beers than I had expected to be.  There was certainly a house style--most things were fairly dry and perhaps a bit high on the IBU scale.  However, everything was cleanly fermented and no major flaws jumped out at me.  By personal taste my favorite was the Nice.  I also appreciate the concise nomenclature and lack of pretentiousness in the beers.

One thing I noticed during my lurking at the bar was that the owners were actually having a good time, not just working and selling beers.  They were really enjoying talking to people and providing folks with the fruits of their labors.  This is a small brewery and taproom that seems to have a relaxed and comfortable personality.  Organic without being militant or tree-hugging-love-fest.  Fun without being forced.  The one thing I might recommend to the owners would be working a bit on the marketing side--perhaps a more robust website and more swag for us consumers to buy.

I would highly recommend checking out the place.  Bang is certainly one of the most interesting taprooms you are likely to see and the beers are worth trying.  Make a Friday or Saturday afternoon of it and visit Urban Growler as well--there's room enough for both places on your schedule!

The view from below!

Urban Growler Review

Just before the first heavy snow of 2014, I was able to finally take a much delayed field trip to visit some of the new breweries that have popped up in the Twin Cities this summer.  I've been lax in visiting some of these places due mainly to traveling, but others I have given a bit more time to "ripen" and get into the swing of things before passing judgment on them. 

Our first visit on this overcast and dreary Sunday was Urban Growler Brewing Company in St. Paul, MN.  Our good friend Hassan (whom we have traveled with to Belgium) is a card carrying member of their version of the Founder's Club, and has been singing their praises to me for a while now.  On this visit we were happily able to meet up with Hassan and his wonderful wife Chris for a bite to eat and some good beers.  My wife, Sj, and I found the place without difficulty by following our (sometimes) trusty GPS unit from Waconia to St. Paul.  When we arrived, our fantastically bearded server Shane informed us that their credit card machine had just gone down, but that they would figure something out for us if needed.  Luckily they got it working before they put me to work washing glasses or hauling grain bags...

The space is small, but seems bigger due to high ceilings, and is very comfortable.  Large windows would have captured a fair amount of light if the skies hadn't been filmed with looming gun-metal clouds.  A small half-circle bar sits ahead and to the right of the entrance.  The brewery proper is sectioned off along the right side of the building, but is easily visible to visitors (something I always want to actually see in a brewery).  I really liked the effect of the fermenters right behind the bar that were bound with shiny copper rings.  Small chalkboard signs hung in different areas containing famous and not-so-famous quotes about beer and drinking for a little ambiance.  A row of lower tables is situated along the left side of the building, with the now vacant outside patio visible from there.  Between the tables and the bar are several high-tops, one of which we took over.  The building itself is very old with thick yellow brick walls.  With all that solid brick and glass I'll bet this place will be cold in the wintertime. 

Shane brought us a photogenic sampler of all the house beers to try, and Sj and I worked our way through them very deliberately.  Urban Growler is one of the few local breweries that has food options, not having to rely on sporadic food trucks to satisfy hungry drinkers.  I was quite pleased with my Cubano Panini sandwich and buffalo chips, and Sj liked her carnitas tacos. 

The beers were an interesting mix, with most being fair examples of their styles.  Their flagship is the Cowbell Cream Ale--a well done version, but not my favorite style of beer.  Think Spotted Cow from New Glarus and you will be on the right page.  They had a good seasonal Pumpkin Saison that had a very restrained hand on the spice and pumpkin leaving most of the heavy lifting to the fruity and funky Belgian yeast.  The De-Lovely Porter was a perfect example of a robust porter that I could find no fault with.  The Graffiti IPA was an really well balanced and somewhat spicy rye IPA.  All of the beers were well done, but my favorites were the porter and the pumpkin ale. 

Talking to Hassan, I was pleased to find that the brewery was opened by two women: Deb Loch and Jill Pavlak.  Let's be honest, brewing has been a very male dominated field until fairly recently.  I mean women can't even grow a glorious brewer's beard!  All kidding aside, I think this is fantastic for them, and they are certainly bringing some much needed female perspective to the marketplace.  Looking at their website, it looks like Deb and I competed in many of the same homebrew competitions before she went pro, though she has outdone me by winning a medal at the National Homebrew Competition!  It sounds like she still does small test homebrew batches before scaling up to full brewery batches so hasn't had to give up the experimental nature of homebrewing.

 

 

I really enjoyed my brief foray to Urban Growler, and if I lived closer to St. Paul I would surely frequent this comfortable and well-run tap room often.  The service was friendly and quick, the food good and filling, and the beers varied and tasty.  I highly recommend this place as one of the best new breweries I've been to in the Twin Cities.  (Oh, and apparently the big round silver unmarked building just outside is Bang Brewing--so check them out too while you are there!)

Great Waters Brewing Company Review

I've focused recently on reviewing several of the new brewpubs in the Twin Cities, (see my entries on Free House and Day Block at these links if you haven't checked them yet,) but realized that I have not done reviews of many of the old veterans of the Minnesota beer scene.  With a recent trip to the Minnesota History Center to see their prohibition exhibit, I finally had a reason to return to Great Waters Brewing Company for lunch.  I'll be honest I'm a creature of habit and living in the Minneapolis (far) suburbs I rarely go to St. Paul.  My car's GPS also seems to dislike the Old City and will often send me on random wild goose chases at times.  It is always nice to get out of your safe areas and try new places though!  Sj and I met with our friends Bill and Jackie S. around 12:30 at the brewpub on a Sunday.  As with any review, I'll talk about the experience we had, but your results may vary!  I always encourage folks to comment on this post if you have had different experiences or thoughts--good or bad.

Great Waters Brewing Company opened back in 1997--one of the first brewpubs in the Minnesota and up until about a year ago, one of only about 4 that have remained in business over the years.  The brewery is in the Historic Hamm Building on St. Peter Street in downtown St. Paul.  I enjoyed walking past some of the old buildings after leaving the pub.  There is a pedestrian mall that abuts Great Waters and provides an outdoor seating area for warmer weather.  When we visited the temperature outside was just warming up and the Ice Patio from the Winter Carnival was just starting to melt.  I would love to be served a pint at the ice bar some time!  Yes we Minnesotans are incredibly weird.  Parking is at several area ramps as well as metered street parking (meters are free on Sunday!)

The quickly melting remnants of Minnesota ice culture...

The restaurant itself takes up a sizable area with a large bar at the entrance and a spacious dining area off to the right of the main entrance.  The bar itself is no shiny newfangled bar imported from Ireland, but rather a well-used working-man's bar-top.  The place has high ceilings and plenty of space to spread out in and get comfortable.  One can also see the small brewery through some logoed glass behind the bar.  The wall-paper and decorations are a bit dated, but not in need of desperate overhaul like some places I've been to.  The ambiance fits exactly with what this place is--an unpretentious and serviceable bar and restaurant. 

Regulars at the bar.

Where the newer brewpubs are trying unusual menus to differentiate themselves, (pizza, haute cuisine, smoked sandwiches,) Great Waters has a pretty old-school brewpub menu of sandwiches, burgers, pastas and salads.  They do have some fancier items like steak and duck breast on the dinner menu as well, but I can't speak to them at this point.  While I appreciate fancier foods, I'm also just as happy having a nice burger or some chicken wings with my ale!  I've had food here several times over the years and have not had a bad experience with it, other than the fact that those Rasta Wings are not "Minnesota Hot", they are "Jamaica Hot!"  On this most recent trip we arrived during Brunch on a Sunday and Sj got the Eggs Florentine, while I ordered the patty melt with fries.  The burger was done exactly to my specifications and my meal was exactly what I was in the mood for.  I think Sj was a little less excited about her meal, but I think she just wasn't completely sated after eating.  Bill ordered a huge open faced meatloaf sandwich smothered in gravy that he continued to rave about. 

Grilled meaty perfection...

Decent food aside, this is a brewpub--so lets focus on the beer!  This place has been brewing their own beers for 17 years, starting long before the current craft beer craze.  They were an anomaly back then but have waited out the years, continuing to craft unusual beers over that time.  Now with the craft beer boom, I feel like some of these old-guard places like Great Waters, Town Hall, and Barley Johns sometimes get ignored in favor of the next new thing.  I'll also admit, the last time I checked out Great Waters I was less than impressed with the beers I tried.  It has taken me well over a year to get back and try it again.  That last visit was right at the time when their old brewer left and they had just hired on Tony Digatono as the head brewer that very week!  I had just taken up using Untappd to keep track of my beer ratings around then and looking back now I was less than glowing about my tastings at that time.  Luckily, I was quite pleased by the improvement in the beers since that trip!

A nice mix of beers, with up to date info print-out to go give details.

Great Waters has an impressively large tap list of house brewed beers.  I ordered the full sampler to try them all and ended up with 10 different beers!  Their standard beers like the Saint Peter Pale, Brown Trout and Golden Prairie Blonde, were all decent and much better than I remember them.  The seasonals were interesting with a very flavorful and malty O'Byrne's Irish Red leading the pack.  But where the beers really shone for me were in the cask conditioned ales.  Firkins and casks have been getting more popular the last few years but these guys have been serving these for over a decade now!  I did not love the House Ale--it tasted a bit metallic to me--but the Joe Moment Mild and the Invidia Barleywine were very tasty and made the most of the smooth mouthfeel and warmer temp of the cask serving method.  And by far the best beer I had there was the Blackwatch Oatmeal Stout.  This is the beer I ordered a pint of once I had worked my way through all those samples, and may be one of the very best oatmeal stouts I've ever had! 

Overall I had a very pleasant experience at Great Waters, with tasty food, many good beers, and a great time hanging out with friends.  This type of place is really where the craft beer movement came from and it is worth it to pay homage to the folks who have been slowly and steadily educating our palates over all this time.  If you haven't had much experience with English cask conditioned ales, you owe it to yourself to check this place out--and get a pint of that Blackwatch!  Oh, and they have a nearly up to date tap list on line so you can get a good idea what's on tap before you head over!

Head Brewer Tony Digatono has been brewing for Great Waters over the past few years.  Tony is a really nice guy, somewhat quiet as many brewers are, and doesn't really live in the spotlight.  Because most of his work happens behind the scenes and only shows up in your beer glass, I thought it would be worthwhile to learn more about him.  Sj and I met Tony back when he worked for Town Hall and he was one of our favorite servers there.  We were very surprised and excited for him when we heard he had taken a professional brewer's job at Great Waters.  Look for Tony at beer festivals or Great Waters events and say hi--just look for the slim guy with the red beard!   

1) Tony, tell me a little about yourself: where did you come from and what did you do prior to becoming a brewer?

I went through my late teens and early twenties without any idea of what I wanted to be when I grew up. I started taking night classes so I had an excuse to go part time at my crappy warehouse job. Six years later I ended up with a B.A. from the U of M in Religious Studies. Naturally, after earning that degree I took a job as an apprentice with the plumbers union. Which, leads us to question two.

2) What made you want to become a professional brewer?  Did you have any formal training or did you just jump right in?

I made a ton of money working construction, but work became intermittent when the economy crashed. About that time I took up home brewing as a hobby. After getting laid off for the umpteenth time, I knew I had to do something else for money and wondered if it could be brewing.  I got my toe in the industry by getting a job as a server/manager at Town Hall Brewery.  Mike (Hoops) and his crew were incredibly generous answering my questions and letting me shovel grain on my days off.  After about two years, an assistant job opened up here at Great Waters. As soon as I accepted the job here, I signed up for the Brewing and Malting Science Course through the MBAA. The course was good, but in some ways I wish I could retake it now that I have more practical experience.  I am currently trying to find the right correspondence course to further my formal education. If I was younger and single, I would love to go through a long formal education.

3) I noticed that you guys had a LOT of different beers on tap at the brewpub.  Do you enjoy brewing this many different beers or is it difficult to keep up?

Yes and yes. I feel obligated to give our loyal customers something new to try when they come. I also feel it's good for the front of house staff to be able to have a wide variety of styles to recommend to their tables. At the same time though, I have to remember this is a business. Space is at a premium in the cellar and I can't risk running out of our best seller because I wanted to brew something fun for me.

4) Great Waters has always prided themselves on serving some of the beers in traditional English fashion.  Is it easier or more difficult to brew beers that will lend themselves to that method?

In my mind beers brew the same regardless of the style. We are very proud of casks though. Physically it takes a lot more work.

5) If you had to choose a style  (or styles) of beer as a favorite, what would you choose?

Like a lot of drinkers, my tastes go through phases. Right now my fridge is entirely full of German Pilsners. If I'm out to eat, I'm probably going to get a local pale. I'm also about out of my mind waiting for Maibock season to start.

6) Many of the beers on tap at Great Waters have been around for years.  Have you been able to experiment much since taking over as head brewer, or have you kept more to traditional Great Waters recipes? 

There's a reason those beers have been around so long. I count four former Great Waters brewers as friends and want to stay true to their legacy. That's not to say the recipes haven't been tweaked a little. Some tweaks were happy accidents caused by something being on back order and a substitution was necessary.  Other changes were made just to satisfy my curiosity.

7) Is there anything else you would like to talk to my readers about? 

I would like people to know how much I appreciate that their hard earned dollars allow me to make a living doing something I love. My assistant Shane and I are trying to make the best beers we can and always want the next to be a little better than the last.

Thanks again Tony! 

Cheers!