Just did the Keweenaw Brewing Co tour

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Brad

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Pretty cool to see such an upscale compared to my 5 gallon carboy and bottling bucket. The co owner of this brewery was explaining the brewing process and breaking it down to normal people talk. It was pretty cool to see there canning procedure. 30 cans a min on a machine not much bigger than a mini doughnut machine. All in All a very neat opportunity. Got samples at the end also. What does everyone who has tried there beer think?
 
Probably be going up near Lake Goegebic for hunting grouse later in the month, I'll be hunting down some local brews also. As for the Keweenaw Brewery, which is on top of my list, I haven't tried any yet but want to get some of their black and amber ale...
 
I'm not a fan of their beers (I think they're too sweet, underattenuated and out of style) but I am a big fan of their business. They give their customers good service and what they want, and have done it very intelligently. I really respect their hard work, and wish them well.
 
I love the KBC... They help turn me turn from the dark side of commercial flavorless beer. Great atmosphere in their tap room. IMO the beer is good would consider most of their beers to be 'safe' and not too bold or extreme like some of the other craft brews out there. My favorite is the Red Jacket Amber Ale.
 
KBC's brown ale is one of my all-time faves. If I ever make it up to Houghton again, I'll definitely have to go to the brewery. I've actually been to the brewery before, but unfortunately It was before I was 21 :(
 
I felt like there was a strange twinge to the beer unlike anyother? Does anyone know what this would be. It is there water profile? or the fact that they have it canned in about 2 weeks?
 
I don't know where they get their water from...South Range is where the brewery is so I would assume from there. I was going to ask the brew master next time I catch him in the tap room. Didn't they go over that in the brewery tour?
 
I'm not a fan of their beers (I think they're too sweet, underattenuated and out of style) but I am a big fan of their business. They give their customers good service and what they want, and have done it very intelligently. I really respect their hard work, and wish them well.


I agree I do not like there beers at all.
 
He just said it was runoff from South Range so I don't know what that means? It made me question the flavor once I heard that because like I said they all had a strange flavor about them.
 
Pretty cool to see such an upscale compared to my 5 gallon carboy and bottling bucket. The co owner of this brewery was explaining the brewing process and breaking it down to normal people talk. It was pretty cool to see there canning procedure. 30 cans a min on a machine not much bigger than a mini doughnut machine. All in All a very neat opportunity. Got samples at the end also. What does everyone who has tried there beer think?
That's great. I heard they were giving tours of the South Range brewery, which is by far the biggest of the two. I used to give tours of the Houghton brewery when I worked there, but that's a 16 BBL brew house, not 100 BBL.

KBC's brown ale is one of my all-time faves. If I ever make it up to Houghton again, I'll definitely have to go to the brewery. I've actually been to the brewery before, but unfortunately It was before I was 21 :(
I loved their Brown back when it was "Hilde's Brown Ale" and still brewed downtown. Ever since they started brewing it in South Range I haven't like it as much. It's still good; don't get me wrong.

I felt like there was a strange twinge to the beer unlike anyother? Does anyone know what this would be. It is there water profile? or the fact that they have it canned in about 2 weeks?
Maybe a green batch?

I don't know where they get their water from...South Range is where the brewery is so I would assume from there. I was going to ask the brew master next time I catch him in the tap room. Didn't they go over that in the brewery tour?
The beers brewed in South Range use SR water, the beers brewed downtown Houghton use Houghton City water.

TB
 
I've only had their Widowmaker. I was seriously bored with it. Sorry.

I WILL say they used up MANY cans at the UPtoberfest this past weekend. Lots of interest in their beer from the attendees.

A strange flavor from water from South Range?? Is it overwhelmed with iron ore like Mqt county, or is it just full of copper? Either of those affect the water flavor?
 
Honestly, the Widowmaker is a boring beer. Black ales are incredibly simple, but since they're dark in color, some people seem to be a little intrigued by them. I've also come across way too many newbies who love to be able to say "I'm drinking a dark beer!!!! LOL!!!!111!!!!ZOMG!!" but no one ever tells them it's like a blond ale with some choc/patent/roasted...etc. for color. I mean no disrespect to anyone who likes them, or certainly not to KBC for brewing it, hell, they're just giving the customer what they want.

I wouldn't judge KBC's beers just by the Widowmaker (which, by the way used to be called "Tower Black" when it was brewed downtown, before they bottled it). The rotational beers are pretty good usually. They move their stouts and porters with nitrogen, which you gotta admire. There's something to be said about a good nitro tap beer. MMmmm.... Those, as we should all know, don't work well in a growler, so you gotta get it at the taproom.

TB
 
Honestly, the Widowmaker is a boring beer. Black ales are incredibly simple, but since they're dark in color, some people seem to be a little intrigued by them. I've also come across way too many newbies who love to be able to say "I'm drinking a dark beer!!!! LOL!!!!111!!!!ZOMG!!" but no one ever tells them it's like a blond ale with some choc/patent/roasted...etc. for color. I mean no disrespect to anyone who likes them, or certainly not to KBC for brewing it, hell, they're just giving the customer what they want.

I wouldn't judge KBC's beers just by the Widowmaker (which, by the way used to be called "Tower Black" when it was brewed downtown, before they bottled it). The rotational beers are pretty good usually. They move their stouts and porters with nitrogen, which you gotta admire. There's something to be said about a good nitro tap beer. MMmmm.... Those, as we should all know, don't work well in a growler, so you gotta get it at the taproom.

TB

Sorry, Tiber, I know you're loyal to them. But ALL of their beers are like the Widowmaker. Safe, boring, too sweet, not to style. The only beer I can stand is the Scottish, and that's because it's SUPPOSED to be boring, safe, too sweet. I don't like it, but it's not way out of style for what it is.

Their blonde is the worst blonde I've ever had. The brown is beyond dull (and again, too sweet). The hefe was boring. I've never had a good beer there. Ok, maybe a nitro stout is ok, but so is Guiness on nitro. A couple of years ago, I judged a Wisconsin county fair, and our calibration beer was a brown. Of course we didn't know it was KBC, but we scored it out. Our table gave it an average of 17.

I admire their business, because in a college town they are doing a great business and most folks enjoy the taproom. Their canned beer is selling well throughout the UP (and now it's in Northern Wisconsin), and people are enjoying this "craft" beer. I'm very glad for them. But honestly, the beer is sub-par and I cannot drink it. I wish I could- I love supporting craft beer and local besides. But I was given a glass of Pickaxe at the bar the other evening, and couldn't even drink a glass of it that was free. It's awful. There is an underlying off-flavor, the aroma is terrible, and the flavor is too sweet.
 
Sorry, Tiber, I know you're loyal to them. But ALL of their beers are like the Widowmaker. Safe, boring, too sweet, not to style. The only beer I can stand is the Scottish, and that's because it's SUPPOSED to be boring, safe, too sweet. I don't like it, but it's not way out of style for what it is.

Their blonde is the worst blonde I've ever had. The brown is beyond dull (and again, too sweet). The hefe was boring. I've never had a good beer there. Ok, maybe a nitro stout is ok, but so is Guiness on nitro. A couple of years ago, I judged a Wisconsin county fair, and our calibration beer was a brown. Of course we didn't know it was KBC, but we scored it out. Our table gave it an average of 17.

I admire their business, because in a college town they are doing a great business and most folks enjoy the taproom. Their canned beer is selling well throughout the UP (and now it's in Northern Wisconsin), and people are enjoying this "craft" beer. I'm very glad for them. But honestly, the beer is sub-par and I cannot drink it. I wish I could- I love supporting craft beer and local besides. But I was given a glass of Pickaxe at the bar the other evening, and couldn't even drink a glass of it that was free. It's awful. There is an underlying off-flavor, the aroma is terrible, and the flavor is too sweet.

I hold no biased loyalties to KBC, other than remaining good friends with the staff (mostly just the owners, manager, and current brewer since all but one of the bartenders are new since I quit working there), so no offense is taken by your dislike of their beers.

However, I must ask...when and where were your impressions made? I ask because their beers now don't compare to what most of them were. It also matters where you have them, since some retailers don't keep them cold (probably because they assume since it's in a can they could leave it out with the BMCs). Also, the beers not sold in cans (read: brewed downtown) rotate frequently and vary greatly. Some good, some not so good. If you've had a KBC stout or Hefe that you didn't like, try that again in a few months and you might change your mind.

However, KBC has always (as long as I can remember) battled with diacetyl. There's a "house flavor" that comes and goes and is stronger in some beers than others, but it's there. I won't go into too much detail, but I do know that for a long time they only used WL001 and repitched for many generations. They have a few other strains in house now, including a couple lager strains and a Belgian (that I propped for them from one of my beers). I certainly can see why some discriminating tasters don't care for KBC beers. Heck, I've been told by several people that the beer on tap at my house is better than KBC's. Whether or not that's true isn't up to me to verify, to be honest, since I brew what I like to drink.

I will always have profound respect for the owners, and their business. It's the dream of every homebrewer. They've achieved what I dream of every day. I would do things a little differently if it were my brewery, but then again, I don't own a commercial brewery...

Thanks for the comments, Yoop, I know I can count on your opinion and I respect that!

TB
 
Sorry, Tiber, I know you're loyal to them. But ALL of their beers are like the Widowmaker. Safe, boring, too sweet, not to style. The only beer I can stand is the Scottish, and that's because it's SUPPOSED to be boring, safe, too sweet. I don't like it, but it's not way out of style for what it is.

Their blonde is the worst blonde I've ever had. The brown is beyond dull (and again, too sweet). The hefe was boring. I've never had a good beer there. Ok, maybe a nitro stout is ok, but so is Guiness on nitro. A couple of years ago, I judged a Wisconsin county fair, and our calibration beer was a brown. Of course we didn't know it was KBC, but we scored it out. Our table gave it an average of 17.

I admire their business, because in a college town they are doing a great business and most folks enjoy the taproom. Their canned beer is selling well throughout the UP (and now it's in Northern Wisconsin), and people are enjoying this "craft" beer. I'm very glad for them. But honestly, the beer is sub-par and I cannot drink it. I wish I could- I love supporting craft beer and local besides. But I was given a glass of Pickaxe at the bar the other evening, and couldn't even drink a glass of it that was free. It's awful. There is an underlying off-flavor, the aroma is terrible, and the flavor is too sweet.

When was the last time you were there? Unfortunately, I left town in 2003, and I think the brewery opened up sometime in 2004. I came back to campus about a year later, had their beer, and like you was generally unimpressed with it. I was there for the 2nd time about a month ago, and found that their beer had improved. I think I enjoyed their brown the most. What's weird is that I'm usually not a fan of sweet beers, but I did enjoy this one.

For some reason, all the recent grads from MTU think Widowmaker is the greatest thing to happen to beer. I don't think there's much going on there, pretty one dimensional. But like the poster above said, since its dark it must intrigue people.

I hope they continue to tweak their recipes and keep on improving.
 
I don't go in there very often, as I prefer the IPA at the Library when I go out for a beer. Since it's a bit of a drive, that's usually a "two beer stop" at most! I like hops, so even if KBCs beers were more to-style and tasted better, I'd still prefer an APA or IPA as a rule. A good amber is also a winner for me, but I think KBC's is pretty bad. Now that I think about it, I don't think I've been in KBC for nearly a year.

KBC beers are available on tap in my town, though. Usually I see the brown, amber, the blonde, the Scottish, and now the Widowmaker, and a few in our group order the brown or blonde by the pitcher. One of the girls in our group only likes Corona and KBC, either the blonde or the brown. Luckily, our local bar has KBC on tap for that 1/2 of the group, and Bell's Two Hearted for the other 1/2. I do occasionally try a glass of "their" beer if I don't want to order a whole pitcher for myself and Bob.

I just can't stand any of their beers that I've tried, either on tap or in a can. Bob also dislikes them, even though we both want to like them for all of the reasons Tiber mentioned.
 
I don't go in there very often, as I prefer the IPA at the Library when I go out for a beer. Since it's a bit of a drive, that's usually a "two beer stop" at most! I like hops, so even if KBCs beers were more to-style and tasted better, I'd still prefer an APA or IPA as a rule. A good amber is also a winner for me, but I think KBC's is pretty bad. Now that I think about it, I don't think I've been in KBC for nearly a year.

KBC beers are available on tap in my town, though. Usually I see the brown, amber, the blonde, the Scottish, and now the Widowmaker, and a few in our group order the brown or blonde by the pitcher. One of the girls in our group only likes Corona and KBC, either the blonde or the brown. Luckily, our local bar has KBC on tap for that 1/2 of the group, and Bell's Two Hearted for the other 1/2. I do occasionally try a glass of "their" beer if I don't want to order a whole pitcher for myself and Bob.

I just can't stand any of their beers that I've tried, either on tap or in a can. Bob also dislikes them, even though we both want to like them for all of the reasons Tiber mentioned.

Just want to clarify, the KBC beers you've had on tap outside of Houghton are the ones that they can. They're brewed on the 100 BBL system, not the 16 BBL pub system. The current IPA on tap, which isn't distributed elsewhere, is pretty good. Next time you're in Houghton, let me know and I'll buy you a KBC beer. If we're not impressed, I'll buy you one of Bob's Miner's IPAs (from Library). Sound like a deal? (Not that I'm convinced you'll like a KBC beer, but I'm just looking for an excuse to toss a few back with ya.)

TB
 
Just want to clarify, the KBC beers you've had on tap outside of Houghton are the ones that they can. They're brewed on the 100 BBL system, not the 16 BBL pub system. The current IPA on tap, which isn't distributed elsewhere, is pretty good. Next time you're in Houghton, let me know and I'll buy you a KBC beer. If we're not impressed, I'll buy you one of Bob's Miner's IPAs (from Library). Sound like a deal? (Not that I'm convinced you'll like a KBC beer, but I'm just looking for an excuse to toss a few back with ya.)

TB

That sounds like a plan! :rockin:
 
KBC is what I normally order from the Tin Can in lansing, mi. But not much of a choice from a place that specializes in canned beer
 
I'm not a fan of canned beer, but I have had their Pick Axe Blonde at a few restaurants here never toured the Ho-town or SR but would like to see it some day. I'd definitely take one of their beers over a Bud any day though.
 

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