I chose a rare wet and windy day to Gold Line myself to Union Station to make my first visit to the new-ish Imperial Western Beer Co. Part of the 213 Hospitality Group and sister brewery to Arts District Brewing a few blocks away. I had super high hopes for ADBC which is fine but hasn’t really super impressed me. That left me wondering how the beer would be here. On the flip side, the photos from various websites were fantastic looking Well, expectations are just that. The space is smaller and less grand than the shiny photos made it look. Don’t get me wrong, the space looks really nice. There is a good amount and different seating set-ups and you can’t go wrong with the look and architecture of the space. There is a weird little front bar that is part (not working yet) coffee bar and host/hostess stand that I think would be better utilized for more seating. At the rectangle bar near the kitchen there is a businessman with ear piece, travelers coming in for a quick beer and local workers. The oyster special seems a big draw, saw three sixers of the slimy things go by. (Not a oyster fancier am I)
And while the surroundings were fine the four beers from the quite large selection sampled were good to above average. I would pick IWBC or ADBC based on this initial taster tray. Below are my quick takes on the beers…
Table Manners Patersbier
Nice Belgian character. A little sharp. Banana prominent. A bit viscous on the palate
Calliope Hazy IPA
Bright fruit character. Haze has left. Concord grape. Nice medium hop hit.
Union Station Pale Lager
Lots of grain and corn. Smooth and easy to drink. Really light yellow.
Fred Harvey Hefe
Not super hefe’y. The Table Manners has more banana. Might have gotten the beers flipped? Couldn’t quite tell from the color.
Lastly, I tried the new…
Some S’mores Stout
Arts District will do the More version. A serviceable Stout. Some chocolate notes. Expecting more flavor components to it.
Next time I go, I will test out the Streamliner bar which wasn’t quite open when I visited.