50 from 50 – South Dakota

If you had asked me to name a state that I would NEVER get during this challenge, South Dakota would have been near the top of the list. But now it is cleared, thanks to the Beer Bloggers Conference and Dale Miskimins who brought it to Boulder. Here is my review of Crow Peak and their IPA.

50 Beers from 50 States – UPDATE

42!!
UPDATE: NOW I HAVE 43!

The inital goal of 40. Check. Now onto the next goal. 45!

Ambitious? Maybe, considering my only travel was to Oregon and Colorado this year.

I still have feelers out there that might garner me some local brews from Tennessee, Alabama and North Dakota. And thanks to the Beer Bloggers conference, I got Indiana and the incredibly hard South Dakota knocked off the list.

As usual, if you have access to these states:
Alabama
Arkansas
Kentucky – THANKS TO ALLTECH BREWING – OFF THE LIST
North Dakota
Oklahoma
Tennessee
Virginia
West Virginia

Send me an e-mail and I we can work out the details. Including a donation to a local food bank.

Crow Peak Brewing

growlers
We use the power of a beer map to focus on a South Dakota brewpub, Crow Peak!

LOOKOUT LAGER: This straw colored, medium-bodied lager is dominated by a dry maltiness. Hop bitterness is very low, however, a mild note of hops lingers on the tongue.

SPEARBEER: This is a light copper-colored English style Pale Ale with a malty character and just a hint of fruitiness balanced by medium hop bitterness. The ale finishes with a pleasant hop flavor and aroma.

11th HOUR IPA: Hop aroma and flavor dominate this IPA. However, the malt character of this deep amber colored ale nicely balances the hop component thus avoiding a harsh bitterness. A truly quaffable beverage!

BEAR BUTTE BROWN: This deep brown colored ale has a strong malt character with a hint of roasted barley. There is a slightly detectable hop bitterness, but no hop flavor or aroma.

PILE O’ DIRT PORTER: Named for the ridiculous 4 foot dirt pile we had to put our brewery on to get us out of the FEMA-designated 100 year floodplain (no-one can remember this part of Spearfish ever flooding). This robust porter is black in color, is medium-bodied and has a rich, roasted malt flavor ending with a pleasing hop flavor and mild hop bitterness.

I always get a brewery history lesson from the names, so I would sample the Pile ‘O’ Dirt first because of the floodplain reference.