Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin
Crusin’ Rating: C-
Booze Rating: C-
Welcome to Part 2 of last week’s article, Chippewa River Distillery! This week we are checking out Brewster Bro’s Brewing Company, a Brewing Company located in the same building as Chippewa River Distillery, and is owned by the same people! We even heard that the original owners, Jim Stirn and Kurt Schneider, were engineers that designed a lot of the brewing equipment!
While we have been to one other Brewstillery - Eagle Park - this brewstillery is a little unique in that it’s a “separate” business (or at least label) for the beer and the various lines of spirits!
We covered a lot of the vibe in last week’s article, so this week I am going to focus on the beer! We had to rely on some beer apps to snag some of the ABV’s we couldn’t find on the website, so make sure to check your cans if you’re sipping at home!
Pre Prohibition Pilsner (5.2% ABV) - With a puffy white head that vanished quickly, light gold body and high clarity, there was some low corn kernels here when smelling. Sweet and slightly grainy when tasting, this may not have been a flavor-packed punch but was easy-drinking. I found this beer to be crisp with a high hop punctuation that didn’t linger. I also appreciated that this brewery seems to lean into historical brews.
Tilda Weizen (4.9% ABV) - I got excited and ordered a Hefeweizen. You know I love Banana and Clove and I am always on the lookout for great offerings in this category. Bringing this to our noses though, there was definitely something going on here. Hannah and I both picked up some vanilla - which can be alright in a wheat beer - but the tanginess of greek yogurt. There was not banana or any clove or fruit to speak of here. I could only speculate as to what would cause that yogurt tanginess. I thought that tanginess and slight acidity was also present when tasting the beer. I picked up a little creaminess, but not really banana. Neither did Hannah.
Kentucky Common (4.8% ABV) - Another historical beer, this is one I have not run into before. This was a darker brown beer with medium clarity. I smelled almost caramel-biscuit on the nose here. Tasting brought some light fruitiness and low amounts of floral notes from the hops. I detected some minerality in the finish, but I came to find out that this is to be expected with this style so I appreciate that this beer forced me out of my comfort zone to learn a little something new.
Rooster (N/A ABV) - An IPA that smelled of dry peaches - almost like a bellini with a lot of champagne - minus most of the usual champagne aromatics. Tasting this IPA started out with some refrigerated, slightly dry peaches but then moved into the bitterness that was starkly pine and earthy. We’ve had many an IPA that have similar notes, but something here was getting muddled. Neither Hannah nor I could get past this peach and pine mix that was reminiscent of eating fruit after brushing your teeth.
I think Brewster Bro’s can have a chance to shine if they really stick to their historical brews. I don’t know of another brewery that is strictly doing historical brews in Wisconsin, but maybe there just isn’t a market for it. I did appreciate having to delve into the history of these older beers and checking them against my own notes. When I say older beers, I’m talking about beers that have sort of become retired styles you don’t see anymore - obviously a Hefeweizen is an old old beer style, but it’s still very popular. Kentucky Common - not so much. I think the beer here is serviceable and I understand it must be tough trying to peek out from a possible looming shadow of the brewery everyone knows Chippewa Falls is famous for.
If you’re in town, and you have some time, I won’t sway you away from Chippewa Distillery or Brewster Bro’s at all, but I don’t know if I’d recommend a two hour trip solely to visit.
Until next time, keep on Crusin’, don’t stop boozin’.
To learn more about Brewsters Bro Brewing Company please visit their website at: https://www.chippewariverdistillery.com/home-1 or on Facebook: @ChippewaRiverDistilleryBrewsterBrosBrewingCo or on Instagram: @chippewadistill_brewsterbrew
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