Grumpy Troll Brewpub

The Grumpy Grandpa Troll Brewpub

Angie's kids like to tease me (where did they learn that) and the call me 'grumpy grandpa', therefore this place makes me think of that and smile:)

Deb was supposed to land at O'hare ate 4:01 and I left work at 3:55 to meet her - yeah, traffic was a bitch once I got within 25 miles of the airport.  I finally made it at 5:30 and we were off.  The kitchen closes at 9:00 and we (at least I was) were hungry so we rushed to Mt. Horeb.  We got to the motel, checked in and walked the 1/2 mile to the pub and arrived at, you guessed it, 9:00 pm.  The bartender asked the kitchen and they had no problem with cooking for a tad longer.  The food was very good even if I'm stupid.  I meant to order a cajun burger but ordered the bleu cheese burger instead (how does that happen?).  All their burgers can be ordered with a black bean vegie patty instead of meat - who orders a vegie burger with bacon?  I might be the first idiot to do so:).

Now for the important stuff:
The beer rocks.  I had 2 different ipa's and the stout (hey, I was walking) and they were all awesome.  The ipa's were to die for.  The bar was crowded and noisy - obviously a popular place.  I would (will?) definitely go back, service was great and I have nothing but good memories.

The motel:
We stayed at the village inn, a small 11 room (I think) family owned place on the state trail that we walked to the pub.  The rooms were very clean, simple and small - just what we want.  The problem that I had was when I got up during the night to go the bathroom - I tripped on the bedspread which had been pushed off the bed and I went down.  My pinkie on my already mangled left hand caught the bed and yeah, something ain't right.  I think I might be better off if I just amputate that hand: broken finger falling running, table saw, router and now this - yikes.

The run:
The trail that runs through Mt Horeb is awesome - did a 5 mile run - 4 on the trail and it was great.  Thank god for spring.  The birds were singing, the sun was out and all was good.
later

Saint Louie Bound

My newest growler:)

Doug posted this on facebook:)

What:  Great Brewpub Tour

When:  Today at 1:00

Where:   The Civil Life Brewing Co

Details:  hitting up St Louis brewpubs via public transportation. Meet Muskett's father - possibly get explanations as to what went so horribly wrong in the raising of him. Starting sometime between noon and one in the loop and heading to Civil life, then Perinniel, then making our way back via Urban Chestnut and stuff in that area. 

Left work yesterday and drove to Peoria to visit the Rhodell brew pub.  It was an awesome place with reasonably good beer.  I have to do some research but it appears that people brew beer there.  When I arrived people were carrying several cases of beer out (assortment of cases that appeared used and abused).  It appeared very strange.  Then by the bar they had a bottling area that they were cleaning.  Still very strange.  I then saw one of the bartender's shirts, that said on the back:

I work here

I brew here

I drink here

Like I said I need to look into it - of course a smarter man than me would of just asked.

The beer was good.  I had a 12 oz stout and a 12 oz ipa.  Both were  good but not outstanding.  I thought $4 for a 12 oz. beer was a tad pricey,  my 32 oz. growler filled was $10.  The place itself was very nice - the old factory/warehouse type place.  Worth returning to.  My motel (super 8) was 3 miles away - never would have found the place without gps.  I need to find brew pubs within walking distance of cheap motels.

on to saint louie:)

Saint Louis

I arrived yesterday at 1pm at Dougs.  We immediately (more or less) went on a Schlafly's run for Bill (Crabby Bills) to buy, what else, beer.  Afterwords we headed out.  The public transportation system is great.  (side note to dumb shit Walker: trains and busses will encourage people to visit your town/state).We took the train and then a bus to the Civil Life brew pub.  It took a while to get there (45 minutes?) but it was well worth it.
Civil Life:
The pub is awesome.  Pints are $5 and half pints are $2.50.  What a novel concept: a set price per ounce.  The bar has slate inset on the server side which is used for keeping track of tabs and calculating bills.  They use chalk to record what you drink and eat and then you settle up at the end.  It's all done on the slate.  They are a cash only pub but their beer is served in maybe 30 different establishments around Saint Louis.  I had a half pint of their APA which was very good and then had 2 half pints of their porter which was outstanding.  Doug and I had subs (vegi for me) which were excellent.  My sub had hot peppers on them so I was happy:)

We then caught the bus to go to the Shlafly Tap Room.  I like this place better than Doug.  It was loud and busy (lots of packer fans) but the beer was good (really awesome).  I had a pint of their Tasmania IPA and a pint of their Stout.  Both were very good.

We then headed (another bus ride) to the Urban Chestnut Brewing Company.  I would like to go back as we spent very little time here.  I had an IPA which was very good.  I liked the ambiance of the place.  They had a fire going outside in their 'beer garden'.

It was outstanding afternoon/evening of sampling local Saint Louis Brews.  I loved all the beer, and all 3 locations were outstanding with outstanding servers.

We then headed back (had to wait maybe 20 minutes for our last bus) and went to a middle eastern restaurant.  I had a vegetarian platter which was very good.  I had a Schlafly Pale Ale with my meal.  The restaurant had a belly dancer doing her thing between tables.  All very interesting.

We finished our evening at Ciceros and I had a not so good IPA which Doug loves.  Chain Breaker from Deschutes.  It is a white IPA (whatever that means).

We went home and crashed.

a 'Normal' town

I arrived in Normal Illinois at 8:30 last night and was at the Destihl Brewpub by 9pm.  The beer was outstanding but pricey.  $6/pint for the Vertex IPA (a good name for a geometry teachers beer) and $5/pint for the Black Angel Stout.  They had about 15 beers of their own on tap.  I would of stayed longer, but I drove as it was raining.  My motel was less than a mile away and I had planned to walk.  I will definitely be back next time I'm on my way to Doug's.
On a side note:  the FIB's reputation as speeders may be unfounded.  The only asshole driver I saw was from Wisconsin and as far as speeding goes the Wisconsin drivers were fastest.  I drove at 73 -74 mph and almost no drivers from Illinois passed me, but I passed a ton of them.  Wisconsin drivers though regularly passed me.  This begs the question then; Who are those Illinois assholes that come to Wisconsin?  The answer is simple.  The only Illinois residents that can afford to own property in Door County and Minoqua are the rich republicans (aka romneyites) who believe that no laws apply to them - and when caught they just buy their way out.

Michigan

On Saturday Doug (son #2) and I headed for Michigan to see my brother and his family. What a perfect opportunity to explore some brew pubs:)
First stop was the Blackrocks Brewery in Marquette ( http://www.blackrocksbrewery.com/ ).  I had a Jasmine IPA.  It was different but very good.  We got there about 1pm and the place had a good Saturday afternoon crowd.  They have as much outdoor seating as inside.  It was an absolutely beautiful day to sit outside and sip a delightful brew.  Pints were $3.50.
Blackrocks has been around for only a short time (2010 or 2011) but definitely know what they are doing.  They don't serve food but you can order food to be delivered from other establishments.  There is another brew pub in town (Ore Dock Breweryl ) that has a similar philosophy regarding food.  Ore Dock even has a special from noon to 4pm on Tuesdays thru Fridays - a $1 off your pint if you bring your lunch.
My only complaint is that they were out of growlers - guess I have to head back to get one  (and to visit Ore Dock).

Patio at the Black Rocks Brewery

After a pint we left for Grand Marais.  It was a crazy trip.  You need to understand that Grand Marais is in the middle of nowhere - it might be the most remote brewpub in the Continental US.  So we leave Marquette and Doug types in Lake Superior Brewing Company to his IPhone and proceeds to tell me it's in the middle of nowhere.  Now I have never been there, but am well aware that its in the middle of nowhere so  I really didn't worry about it too much until 15 miles (give or take) down gravel roads that turned into damn near impassible roads.  Don't always trust google.  A bit of backtracking and some more back roads got us to Grand Marais.

The Lake Superior Brewing Company (Dunes Saloon http://www.grandmaraismichigan.com/LSBC/ ) is the place to be.  We got there at 5ish on a Saturday and had to wait 5 to 10 minutes to get a beer.  The bartenders were methodical but lacked a real sense of urgency.  The waitress on the other hand was busting her ass.  

This place was packed.  Apparently the food is very good and there are many rustic campgrounds within 30 miles.  When you have good food and beer and there is nothing else for miles around....

I had a pint (OK 2 pints, but Doug drove) of pale ale.  It was good, not memorable but good.  I bought a growler of their stout which also was quite good, but again, not memorable.  I was disappointed that my growler, which on the shelf looked awesome,  really wasn't.  It is the only growler in my collection that has a glued on paper label.

We left and Doug drove down to US 2 where we got a $50 motel room for the night before heading south of the bridge - damn can that kid snore.

Grand Marais - Lake Superior Brewing Company

On the way home to Two Rivers we made a detour to Marshfield and the Blue Heron Brew Pub. I love this place.  The last time I was here I had their fantastic IPA, sadly this time they had neither a pale ale or an IPA.  I had a pint of their nut brown - for a nut brown it was very good.  I chose the nut brown since they have a special.  Each day of the week they have a different beer of the day ($2.50/pint) - what would you have done?  It was a nut brown day, so said the calendar.
They have 10 beers on tap and have a 6 beer sampler and a 10 beer sampler (3 oz each) so after our pint Doug and I split a 6 beer sampler before hitting the road.
Before leaving I bought a growler of their stout (which I'm drinking as I type).  They had 2 different growlers, the $5 and the $25.  The $5 one was your typical growler, while the $25 was really cool but sadly, not in the budget (maybe next time).

Me and the requisite pic at the Blue Heron

When it rains...

Well it  was raining, not hard mind you, but it was raining.  What was I to do?  I wanted to lay stone but it's not an activity to be done in the rain - when it rains one should find a brew pub.

We took off at noonish for Superior (or Duluth).  I didn't make up my mind till we were in Superior and Deb was at the (damn) quilt shop.  The Thirsty Pagan won out (they had an IPA on tap) - but we will be back and try out Duluth (if we can get past the Pagan).

The bar is awesome - it is the most unpretentious place you can imagine.  They have decorated it with old beer memorabilia.  It was happy hour and I had the India Pagan Ale (IPA) and Deb had an amber.  I loved my beer, but as much as I enjoy an amber there was something about it that I didn't care for.  It wasn't my beer though and Deb enjoyed it.

While paying for the beer ($3.25/pint during a 3 hour daily happy hour) I asked about growlers (I had ice in the cooler - and to think, I was never a boy scout). She said the growler was $5 and $12 to fill it.  I inwardly flinched as this was a tad too much for me although reasonable.  She continued however with the information that Tuesday's special was a pizza (in house) and the growler was only $6 to fill.  That was any pizza - it could have been a small plain cheese.  Well I was kind of hungry.....
We ordered the medium (13") TPB special

	10"	13"	16"
TPB Special Spicy Italian sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, onions and green peppers.	$11.95	$17.95	$24.95

The pizza came and I took one look and thought to myself that this pizza can't possibly taste as good as it looks - it actually was better.  I can only think of one other pizza that I had that was better.  This pizza was unbelievable.   We only ate half of it.  Can't wait till lunch (or my midnight snack).

This place has live music basically 6 nights a week and open mic on Sunday's - aah, to be rich enough to spend the night drinking the beer and listening to live music and then walk to the motel.

On our way home between Ashland and Hurley a bear lumbered across US 2 - and no, it wasn't a figment of my beer.

In the infamous words of Arnold, "I'll be back".

http://www.thirstypaganbrewing.com/

I would be negligent if I didn't mention the staff.  The bartender, waitress and some employee when we entered were great.  I love the Thirsty Pagan:)

Bull Falls Brewery

Yesterday Deb and I drove home and today I headed back (crazy huh?).  Did laundry, shaved and ... yeah.

Today after my run (90 degrees in TR - unbelievable) headed to Sheboygan to visit Dave in the hospital and then headed north.  Arrived in Wausau around  5:30 and found the tap room for Bull Falls Brewery ( http://www.bullfallsbrewery.com ).  I had a .3 liter of their Five Star Ale which is an amber.  It was very (very) good.  The bar was crowded so they must be popular.  Their beer list is heavy on the German type of beers and lagers.  I really was only interested in the one that I had and their red ale.  They do brew an oatmeal stout and an IPA but not available.  I will definitely make a return visit.