In all seriousness, I'd doubt it will be TG clones, if my assumption about Chris being involved is accurate.. The guys at Pulpit Rock are TG alumni as well, and their beer definitely doesn't seem to be ripping off TG at any point.
Cedar Rapids/Iowa City corridor breweries 2018
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In all seriousness, I'd doubt it will be TG clones, if my assumption about Chris being involved is accurate.. The guys at Pulpit Rock are TG alumni as well, and their beer definitely doesn't seem to be ripping off TG at any point.
We went to Quarter Barrel last night and wasn't as impressed as previous times. They've always been hit-and-miss with me for their beers, however usually I loved their stout. This time they had a bourbon aged stout that was popular, however not my cup of tea. Their Irish Stout was good and I got that after my wife and I had our flights. Their Irish ale and amber ale were flavorless, and my wife didn't care for their IPA and pale ale, and ended up getting a Lion's Bridge Workman's Comp there.
She also kicked my butt in pinball.
She also kicked my butt in pinball.
Good info on some of Thew’s beers
https://iabeerbaron.com/2018/03/26/a-trip-to-thew-brewing-cedar-rapids-newest-brewery/amp/
Depends on who you ask...I think if you go back 3 or 4 years when TG's hoppy beers were still OG, they were pretty low bitterness, high aroma, "juicy". I think they're finally starting to get that dialed back in, but like you said elsewhere about GNug, it's not even the same beer. Not a bad thing right now, but the current iteration of GNug is not the beer it was 4 years ago. Same with Sue and just about any other hoppy beer they're putting out.
I've talked about the TG/Pulpit connection with some of my beer buddies quite a few times. In my opinion, Pulpit is the premier brewery in Iowa. Sure TG has their big stouts, but Pulpit is so much more diverse and it seems like every thing they put out is solid. Have there been some beers from Pulpit I didn't particularly care for? Sure, but I can at least appreciate where they are coming from. With TG it seems it's either Dotz or hops...and that's it.
Agree completely with your last paragraph, and that's kind of my overall point. While Pulpit's brewers are former TG brewers, their beer is pretty different than TG.
If anything, the recent TG hops (which have been great) are influenced by what Pulpit's done.
While I still have not tried any of the Clocktower brews, nor any of the Thew brews, I now have a small sampling of opinions from people whose opinions I trust.
Clocktower: my friend said, "Passable beers, nothing special."
Thew: a different set of friends said, "Their stout needs a lot of work. The other beers are pretty good."
No one cared to offer any more on these breweries or their beers. In my experience with these former and current brewers, I understand this to mean that they found no special beer nor special reason to visit these breweries. Perhaps I will be surprised by them when they show up at these breweries more often than I thought they would (the two guys who visited Thew already show up more often at Backpocket in Iowa City more than I expected, principally for their birthday boot). Anyhow, I'm sure that everyone has a slightly different taste requirement. So please, DO NOT let these opinions influence your decisions. All independent breweries are better than macro brews. So support your local brewer.
Clocktower: my friend said, "Passable beers, nothing special."
Thew: a different set of friends said, "Their stout needs a lot of work. The other beers are pretty good."
No one cared to offer any more on these breweries or their beers. In my experience with these former and current brewers, I understand this to mean that they found no special beer nor special reason to visit these breweries. Perhaps I will be surprised by them when they show up at these breweries more often than I thought they would (the two guys who visited Thew already show up more often at Backpocket in Iowa City more than I expected, principally for their birthday boot). Anyhow, I'm sure that everyone has a slightly different taste requirement. So please, DO NOT let these opinions influence your decisions. All independent breweries are better than macro brews. So support your local brewer.
I had Thew’s DIPA in Decorah on Saturday. It was very good. I’ll be stopping next time I’m down that way.
Just a friendly reminder that it's Clock House, not clocktower haha. I saw they just recently released a New England IPA that is getting pretty good ratings on Untappd.
Dang (or really, another word which may get blocked here)! I keep remembering it as Clocktower, even though I know there is no clock tower in that building (nor a clock house). That's it... change the name...
Was coming through CR yesterday afternoon and stopped at Thew. They're NEIPA was very good, and all of their hoppy beers were solid at worst. Didn't try much outside of that spectrum, but enjoyed what I had. Great location and a solid space. I think they'll be excellent within a year, as these were literally the first batches brewed on that system.
"Great Location".. You don't know CR well do you?
Probably correct about being better within the year. Most places have some small adjustment period when going to a larger system. Hope they can support the large number of taps until the influx of new cash can become comparable to the cash levels they see once they have been open for a year plus. There's always a dip in there. And how deep it is, is critical in the success of a brewery. Those who have been successful in Cedar Rapids, have not been more than a block or two off the main bike path. The exception being Third Base Brewery. Anyhow, Thew is several blocks plus a major river away from the main bike path. So if they are to survive, they HAVE to have a very good beer that appeals to multiple palettes. Either that or the City of CR invests heavily in a new bike path on the west side.
Have you tried the mosaic version of GNug? I thought it was excellent. Much better than the original.
Unless the Casino is ever built, yea, that is not a good location. West side of the river is what we called FWF (flood water ******)
I don't know CR that well. I just thought it was really convenient to get to, and would be an easy walk if you were hanging out downtown.
Speaking of floods, has CR ever decided on a flood wall plan and will be implementing it? It's approaching the ten year anniversary of the first great flood. Don't want to get into politics, as it will be affecting any new breweries (Thew) on that side of the river.
Sorry Al_4_State, didn't mean to be so gruff. As a guy who grew up in CR and returned there after 20 years in Minneapolis, I can tell you that 'downtown' is almost universally considered to be the 'east' side of the river. Those who go downtown, would almost never consider making the 2 plus block long crossing of the river plus island, and then walking the additional 3+ blocks west. In winter, the wind will blow you off the bridges. Summer is doable, but why? The main 'action' is in downtown (east side) and into Czech Village. Yes, access from the interstate is very doable as long as you know those exits (which are weird from both north and south, and now made worse since they've effed up Second and Third Avenue).
Most of us who grew up on the East side of the river wouldn't cross it unless we absolutely had to. There's nothing worth while on the West side of Cedar Rapids.
