This year my oldest son asked me what I would like to do for my birthday. I have always wanted to go to Toppling Goliath Brewing Co. in Decorah, Iowa! Without hesitation, Paul said, “let’s do it.” A pleasant drive from Omaha, Nebraska so we decided to find a few breweries on this trip, including Pulpit Rock Brewing Company also in Decorah and Barn Town Brewing in West Des Moines.
King Sue Double IPA has been a longtime favorite of mine
We left Omaha early on a Friday morning. I have not in traveled Northern Iowa, so we decided to leave the interstate and make our way on state highways. The fun part about doing this is discovering all the small towns along the way. My favorite town name was Spillville.
Before the trip, I had contacted Toppling Goliath via messenger on Facebook. I told them how we would be heading to the brewery on June 1st and if at all possible, it would be great to get a tour. I got an immediate, friendly response, and we kept in touch even on the day we traveled. I wasn’t expecting that, but I was so excited!
Payton told us all about the history and everything going on at the brewery
We made it to the brewery and I was immediately blown away by how big it is. This would be the largest brewery I had ever visited! After being greeted, we were seated and started to look over the extensive menu to put together a couple of flights.
It wasn’t too long when one of the managers stopped by. His name was Payton and he offered to take us on a tour.
The massive 100-barrel brewing system and 400-barrel fermenters were mind-blowing! Distribution of their fine beers occurs in 30 states and places around the world like Europe, China, Japan, and Australia. An acquaintance in Australia recently posted how thrilled they are to get Pseudo Sue and King Sue, just to name a couple.
My flight consisted of the IPAs that were ones I hadn’t had before
The heart of Toppling Goliath is still about their state even after the massive growth since opening in 2009. I love the fact that one of my favorite beers I had on this day was a collaboration beer with another Iowa brewery. Ferrari Backpack with done with Lua Brewing Company out of Des Moines.
Toppling Goliath also has a large staff of around 160 employees. From the time we arrived, until the time we left, the team was amazing! Gillian, who does the social media for the brewery, introduced herself. It was fun getting to meet the person who was so kind to answer my questions and get us a tour!
This is the space where all of the marvelous barrel aged stouts come from
On this trip, I didn’t have any of the magnificent barrel-aged stouts. We were able to see the space where these stouts get to rest and take on the flavor of the various barrels. I am looking forward to having some of these on my next trip!
It was time to get a variety of 4-packs to take back home and share with friends as we left. I had such a great time!
Now we would find our way to the other brewery in Decorah - Pulpit Rock Brewing Company.
Beautiful patio space with a great mission sign
Prior to coming to Pulpit Rock Brewing, a gentleman who grew up in northeast Iowa told me a little bit about the Norwegian family background of the founder. He went on to say that the brewery has a great variety of craft beer.
The brewery was established in 2015. One of the founding beliefs of Pulpit Rock Brewing was to keep a constant rotation of diversity of styles of beer. I really like this in a brewery!
As we parked the car, the first thing that we noticed was the very lovely patio. The patio provides a relaxing, chilled atmosphere. It was the perfect evening to be there with it being around 80 degrees out.
Pour-Over Porter infused with Tanzanian Peaberry coffee
We walked into the taproom to select a couple of different beers to try. My son chose the Skal Til Steinen. This beer is a lager style Kviek ale made with Norwegian yeast. Nice and light at 5% ABV with tropical fruit notes. I have only had one other similar Farmhouse Ale to compare this one too. The Skal Til Steinen was delightful and also one we brought home!
My attention was quickly drawn to the Pour-Over Porter that is infused with Tanzanian Peaberry coffee. For those new to Peaberry coffee beans, the difference occurs as a mutation in the coffee cherry itself. Ordinary coffee cherries produce two beans that have a flat and rounded side. Peaberry is one bean in the coffee cherry and it is more rounded since it isn’t competing for space with the other bean. I often find Peaberry coffee that I have had to have this unique sweetness quality.
This version of the Pour Over Porter was deep in flavor with an excellent soft body. The coffee flavor is present throughout and a nice touch of sweetness. An excellent porter indeed!
The banner out front of the brewery
It was time to call it a day. It was great to see that there were 16- ounce cans available to take back. On the other hand, it was somewhat tricky to choose. Here is the list of the ones we brought back:
Skal Til Steinen - Norwegian Lager.
Koffee Kolsch - Kolsch infused with coffee from Impact coffee in Decorah and Sidecar Roasters out of Waterloo.
Little Italy - Italian Pilsner.
Dave-O - Mosiac American Pale Ale.
B.T.O (Bockman Turner Overdrive) - German Bock.
The Barn Town truck with taps
On our way back to Omaha, we stopped in at Barn Town Brewing in West Des Moines. A good friend recommended this brewery, so I was excited to get to try it out!
It was a Wednesday around noon and the place was hopping! Lots of people were enjoying lunch and a beer. I was looking over the extensive menu and it is was challenging to choose four beers for a flight. My son ordered the Enamored Amber.
The decor was so cool! From the truck with taps to the wall of cans in the shape of Iowa, I was busy snapping photo after photo.
The selection of the day at Barn Town Brewing
My flight arrived, which was three hazy IPAs and a Mexican-styled lager. The two that stood at most were the Mexican-styled lager that was spot on! The second was the Neon Hazy. The Neon Hazy is made with Citra and Mosaic hops. An excellent hop combo in a nice hazy body!
In the meantime, a gentleman delivering food stopped by and told me to say hi to Sam at Cosmic Eye Brewing in Lincoln, Nebraska. It is such a small world when it comes to the brewing community! I happen to be wearing my Cosmic Eye shirt that day. The tall, bearded man introduced himself as Alex and told us he was one of the brewers. Alex said he was helping during the lunch hour rush but would be glad to show us the brewery after we finished our lunch.
Alex showed us the brewery, which is right next to the restaurant. You can tell they are very busy keeping up with the restaurant and also doing local distribution. One of the fun things was seeing all of the past beer labels on various walls.
Alex said they love creating specialty beers. He said one of the latest ones was a coconut pastry stout that was packaged in bombers. This decadent stout to me sounds like dessert in a glass!
Such a fun afternoon getting to meet Alex and the guys!
A whirlwind of a two-day trip getting to visit three Iowa breweries. It was a very fun trip, and I look forward to seeing others in the future.
Cheers!