Brewery Visits

MARTO BREWING – SIOUX CITY, IA

Hoppy’s next visit was at Marto’s Brewing in Sioux City, IA. It opened in July 2019 and they have 105 seats in their taproom as well as 50 additional seats on their outdoor patio. They have a wood fired oven from which they offer pizza and other entrees.

Hoppy enjoyed a flight of four plus one additional pour while there. These were as follows:

What A Show Apricot & Tangerine Sour – They packed the fermenter full of apricots, tangerines and marshmallow in the brewing which also contains lactose. It is 6.6% ABV.

Conduction American IPA – Described as a current of beer carrying notes of citrus, stone fruit and a touch of pine. An easy drinking IPA with Simcoe, Mosaic, Centennial, Columbus and Cascade hops in the kettle. Then it was dry hopped with a modest amount of Mosaic and El Dorado hops. 6% ABV

Hop-Wired Hazy Imperial IPA – This is a double dry hopped hazy IPA brewed with Citra and New Zealand grown Motueka, Nelson Sauvin and Rakau hops. This one hits with a mix of tropical fruit flavor and aroma, with citrus, passion fruit and apricot being at the forefront. 8% ABV.

Smell of Money New England IPA – Sabro – According to Marto, hops are expensive and are therefore the smell of money. Sabro hops have notes of coconut cream, pineapple and lime. 8% ABV.

Razzle Fruited Sour (collaboration with Old Chicago, Sioux City) – Brewed with raspberries, vanilla beans, vanilla wafer cookies and lactose. 5.8% ABV.

Pictures follow:

LOST CABIN BEER – RAPID CITY, SD

The adventure continued at Lost Cabin Beer in Rapid City, SD. They opened in 2016 and expanded this summer to Hill City, SD with a beer garden.

While there, Hoppy enjoyed a Double SoDank IPA. This is a hopped-up, imperial take on their SoDank IPA. It is described as loaded to the brim with all the fruity, tropical notes that they could fit in a glass courtesy of a stupid amount of Mosaic and Hellertau Blanc dry hops. The lupulin filled beauty rounds out with an assertive bitterness balanced by a smooth malt bill. 10.3% ABV, 108 IBU.

Photos follow:

BLACK TOOTH BREWING – SHERIDAN, WY

The next visit on “The Back Home Again” trip was in Sheridan, Wyoming at Black Tooth Brewing. They began as a ten-barrel brewery in November 2010 and have since expanded to become Wyoming’s largest brewery with a thirty-barrel brewhouse. They also opened a new location in Cheyenne, WY in 2020 and a third location in Casper, WY in 2021.

During his visit, Hoppy quaffed a Hot Streak IPA. It is described as bringing you back to the night that you went on a hot streak, reveling in the glory of tropical fruit and western pine scents, making this IPA definitely worth the gamble. Its juicy mouthfeel and clean finish allow you to walk away on top. 6.1% ABV, 65 IBU.

Images follow:

MOUNTAINS WALKING & NEW HOKKAIDO BREWING – BOZEMAN, MT

The next stop for Hoppy was in Bozeman at Mountains Walking Brewing which also brews for their subsidiary, New Hokkaido Brewing. They opened in 2017, have over fifteen house brewed beers on tap and serve scratched made food.

As well as a couple of brews, Hoppy also enjoyed their wood fired pizza which was made with dough that has a 48-hour cold fermentation process.

The beers that he imbibed were as follows:

New Hokkaido Yabai Tanuki Cold IPA – Described as using big rice additions of Hokkaido rice and jasmine rice in the grain bill to accentuate a clean canvas concept. Hopped with new New Zealand variety Kohai and Galaxy hops, expect big aroma and flavor notes of papaya, kiwi and mixed berry. Pours very pale in color and bone dry in the finish, each sip welcomes the next. 6.9% ABV, 65 IBU.

Mountains Walking Twisted Karma MT Huckleberry Sour – Described as a sour golden ale brewed with 100% local Gallatin Valley Malt and fermented with huckleberry and natural flavors. Pours vibrant fuchsia in color with upfront tartness and exciting berry flavor and aromas. 5.3% ABV.

Pictures from the visit follow:

DAFT BADGER BREWING – COEUR d’ALENE, ID

Hoppy’s first stop on his “Back Home Again” trip was at Daft Badger Brewing in Coeur d’Alene. They are a neighborhood ten-barrel brewpub that opened in 2015 that is committed to excellent food and carefully brewed beer. Having been here before, he was not only looking for a good beer, but also their pulled pork nachos!

While there, Hoppy enjoyed an Experimental Fresh Hop IPA which uses an experimental hop, HBC 586, from Perrault Farms in the Yakima area. It is described as a bit of a sweet fruit aroma with that big hop bite most are looking for in a fresh hop beer. It is 5% ABV, 40 IBU.

Pictures from his visit follow:

WHISTLE PUNK BREWING – SPOKANE, WA

Next stop? Whistle Punk Brewing in Spokane. What does Whistle Punk mean, you ask? It is an obsolete term for a beginner lumberjack from the early days of North American logging. (See here.)

They were established in 2015 and opened their taproom in 2017. They state that they, “craft traditional ales and lagers inspired by the Pacific Northwest.”

While there Hoppy enjoyed a Whistle Punk Fernhopper IPA – described as a West Coast IPA brewed with LINC Malts and hopped with El Dorado, Mosaic, and Chinook hops. Prominent bitterness, with a juicy finish. Notes of orange peel, pineapple, and pine. 7.2% ABV.

Photos follow: