Author: timandjohnna

Nestled in a remote area of Kentucky about 30 min south of Cinncinnati, we started our race weekend dining with our Florida friends Chris & Shannon at a local chain restaurant that serves up some delicious Cinncinnati-style “3 way”. It was an action-packed weekend with 3 races scheduled for Thurs thru Sat but rain disrupted plans pushing the Xfinity race to Saturday at noon continuing with the Cup race later that night. Joining us for the infield activities were our Iowa friends Steve and Sharon, both first-timers to the close-up race experience. The rain didn’t dampen our spirits as Steve skillfully smoked ribs, burgers and yes, shrimp! Along with the racing and beer, it was the perfect weekend.

Well, this is our 2nd tasting room that is a converted residence! If you have been following our blog, you will recall our 1st one was the Poison Frog in Jackson, MI. I remember this house back in the day when we used to short-cut over to Hacienda mexican restaurant from LaPorte. The tasting room is pretty straight forward located in the basement right next to the brewing operation. We had the More Zaik pale ale and the Sprucealicious american pilsner – not bad for basement brews!

 

Formally the Phillip Zorn brewery opening back in 1877, the history here is very deep. The brew house was located next to the current tasting room until it burned down in the early 1900’s forcing the relocation across the street until brewing operations ceased in 1938. Prohibition transformed Zorn to Zurn Soda Pop its last few years of existence. The current tasting room and brew house is located in the converted carriage house and serves up not only their craft brews but also craft liquor from local distilleries. Sam, the head of sales & distribution, shared with us their future plans for retail expansion and even a hotel in the old brew house across the street. We will definitely come back next time we are in town for another delicious round of York Street English brown ale and 1st Gear pale ale!

An old hometown favorite! Chuck has been brewing beer here for over 20 years – long before craft beers and tap room were mainstream. Located in the basement of an old factory next to the railroad tracks, the beer here is excellent – something you wouldn’t expect in a small town like LaPorte. We had a pint of the Scotish Ale and the namesake ale while visiting with local patron Ron Carlson (a former coworker from the hospital) and other nameless but familiar faces.

Popular downtown brewery with live entertainment (magician tonight) and good food. We tried the Monkey Mouth IPA, Lake Rat american ale and the Jacktown Logger ale. All beers had traditional bitter starts but smooth, sweet finishes. But offering more than just beer, this downtown hotspot also a distillery and wine bar.

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Another great tasting room but this one had a unusal brewery odor – it actually smelled like a barn! The hops, barley and malt bags gave off an odor that lead me to look for the horse stalls. We drank the White Stripe wit and the Boyk Star brown ale. The beer was good but the company made the experience all that much better. Running into a couple we met at the Poison Frog (Kyle & Holly) who were on a brewery tour as well for their 3rd anniversary, we got to talk about our travel and love for beer.

“AHH beer – the cause of and the solution to all of life’s problems.” – Homer Simpson

Serving up flights on a wooden sword, this tasting room is located in a strip mall just outside of town.  Decorated with part modern barn – part rustic barn with hand-hewn beams, steel siding and a concrete bar top, they serve up nearly a dozen brews ranging from cream ales to stouts. We dranks the Big Oz amber & Holy Grail hefe and both were smooth & tasty.

Well, this is a first – a tasting room  located in a house! Watch out for the yellow frogs! While this place has one of the more unique themes we have experienced including live frogs, pool tables and a brewery map of Michigan on the wall, the folks we met during visit were fun. We started out requesting the Styrian Goldings ESB and Summer Wheat but due to mechanical (CO2) difficulties  the bartender was unable to deliver pints so we settled for the Kermit’s Kolsch which lacked depth and complexity.

Barn themed brewery located on the historic, quaint downtown Main Street. Offering only 8 beers (four are seasonal), we drank the 1841 Cream Ale, Iron Furnace pale ale, Leatherwood brown ale, Golden Eagle ale and the Yeastie Boys hefe since this was our only stop for the evening. All were GREAT beers as well as the delicious artichoke dip, french dip sandwich and beer cheese dip fries. A friendly, helpful server made the whole experience a 10!

What turn 4? 

Known as “the tricky triangle”, we had 3 action packed days in the infield camping area along the backstretch. Starting with the ARCA series race Friday night followed by the Xfinity on Saturday afternoon then wrapping up with the CUP race Sunday afternoon. There was live music Saturday & Sunday at the infield concert stage serving up everything from country to rock & roll and everything in between. They even had am awesome fireworks display Saturday night! Not much for food or beer offered at the Fan Zone – only the Busch mobile bar.