Wauwatosa, WI
Crusin’ Rating: C-
Boozin’ Rating: C-
This week’s stop is at Good City Brewing Company in Wauwatosa, WI. Good City has three locations in Milwaukee that seem to fall squarely into the brewpub category, although the look of each one varies some, it very much is reminiscent of the Madison brewpub chains that we’ve visited.
As with many other places we have reviewed, we walked into Good City for both a review and some lunch on 40 degree December day. The space was the typical industrial feel, full of plenty of black iron and reclaimed wood. The ‘Tosa location sported plenty of windows, garage doors, a “private seating area”, additional lofted seating on the second floor and what looked like a solid patio for summer seating. The bar only served beer, so don’t plan on going for cocktails and leave the pups at home since they feature a full menu.
The food was pretty middling that we could take or leave. They do have a nice little gimmick with the “curry fries” that was a nice twist but they weren’t enough to make me want to go back there even as a casual lunch spot. With so many spots to eat and drink in the Milwaukee area, and even ‘Tosa moreover, they would really have to be serving up some outstanding fare, which was, unfortunately, not the case. My Cuban was nothing to write home about and Hannah found the “Giant” pretzel to be pretty standard-sized. Bummer!
With a place that seems to be pretty successful over the six years (opening the first location in 2016 and then two others in the following years) I had moderately high hopes for the beer. The brewery is deeply rooted in bettering Milwaukee; their moto being: "Seek the Good". Good City Brewing is "commitment to direct 1% of its annual company revenue towards housing issues in the community."
Passion Fruit Wheat (6% ABV) - This wheat beer is full of the smells of pineapple and a sort of farmy smell that hints at wild fermentation. I found this beer bitter like a Pale Ale and the style seems to be a fluid definition of a hybrid of both a wheat and a pale ale. I could definitely pick up on the two styles with a little passionfruit flavor that came through after the tartness in my mouth and then it finished with definite resinous hop presence. I must say, I do not like that style. If I want a pale ale I’ll drink one, and if I want a wheat, I’ll drink that. I guess I can understand the appeal for those who want the sweetness of a wheat and the hoppinness of a pale and there are some known examples but it’s just unnecessary to me. I found this beer to have medium carbonation and a really wet sensation for mouthfeel which was a rare sensation to be sure.
Space Time (5.4% ABV) - New England Hazy IPA - This IPA was the color of cloudy straw that featured hints of grapefruit when put to your nose. Low carbonation gave this a full mouthfeel with high hop presence that featured notes of pine, citrus rinds, and earthy tones with a dry finish. Overall, not flavors either of us were fond of.
Firefly (8% ABV) - This New England Hazy was golden orange (think wet straw) in color, perhaps even if you picture the color of a mimosa. The scent was full of strong mandarin orange and there was medium carbonation. Smooth hop presence made for a pleasant mouthfeel and the flavor was almost like Tang from the 90’s that finished wet. It was different and I was a reluctant fan.
Shifting Winds (9% ABV) - This Double Dry Hopped Rye Triple IPA has so much going on and takes so long to say that I was already exhausted just working out what was all going on with this clearly overproduced beer.
I can break down the basics for you: a triple IPA typically has higher than 9% ABV and a syrupy body. It essentially has triple the amount of hops and malt from the original recipe. A Double Dry Hopped (DDH) is a term that’s fairly trendy and new (less than 10 years old) and refers to adding dry pellet hops AFTER the wort is boiled which ideally only passes on aromatics to the finished product instead of the bitterness. The Rye of course references malted rye grains to create the beer.
Lots of techniques are being used and, unless you are a brewer or really, REALLY into beer science, you probably don’t care too much about all these adjectives.
If you ask me, it is really the description of how the beer was made and also a marketing ploy. There are many that will flock to a style like this because the hoppier the better but I bet 1 in 50 knows what all of these words mean together for a beer.
Some easy science to understand is: there is a distinct positive correlation between the number of months you wear a beanie in Wisconsin and the amount of adjectives coming before “IPA” that you enjoy drinking.
Aside from that thesis, this beer smelled of grapefruit, mango, and other tropical fruits, was a hazy pale gold in color with plenty of carbonation and tasted bright and sweet, like slightly overripe mango juice. Neither of us found any hints of rye and there were enough hops to power an army of hipsters for a fortnight.
Barrel-Aged Maple Cinnamon Density (13.5% ABV) - This Imperial Stout was espresso brown in color and smelled of cinnamon, maple syrup, french toast and chocolate. It tastes of rich dark chocolate and cinnamon and really felt heavy in the mouth. Low carbonation and decidedly strong alcohol presence made this almost feel like a cocktail and if not for the hop and malt notes you could almost fool yourself into thinking this was some type of aperitif that was carbonated. I found this beer too busy and Hannah is not a fan of dark chocolate so we both pass on this one.
Barrel-Aged Coconut Cream Density (12.9% ABV) - With a name like that I was fully ready for a full, coconut cream and rich chocolate beer, but it was not meant to be. Although there were hints of coffee and coconut in this brown stout when put to your nose, everything tastewise was overpowered by the forwardness of the alcohol. I missed out on all of those notes and was left with a bland tasting, heavy, boozy beer. Pass.
Audacity (12.4% ABV) - This Belgian Quadruppel smelled of maple and bourbon. It tasted of nutmeg, butterscotch candy and plum. Caramel candy in color with medium carbonation, this beer left an aftertaste of sassafras that can be very polarizing. I found the finish to end dry and thought it was again a little too alcohol forward. More sweetness of that deep rich plum would be welcome.
In all, while we were grateful to spend some much needed time with some of Hannah’s family in Tosa, this was a pretty middling experience for everyone involved. The curry-fry gimmick was cute and tasty, but not so that I find myself craving them. The beer was all just okay and I don’t think I’ll be tempted to go back to try new offerings or pick it up in store but we didn’t have any illusions of what we were getting into when entering a brewpub.
We have higher hopes for the other spots in ‘Tosa when we visit next.
Until then, keep on crusin’, don’t stop boozin’.
To learn more about Good City Brewing please visit their website at: www.goodcitybrewing.com or on Facebook: @GoodCityBrewing or on Instagram: @GoodCityBrewing