August 26, 2008

Brass Monkey Brewpub

We had a chance to stop by the Brass Monkey Brewpub on our way up for a long lake weekend. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised. What might have surprised me the most was the size of the samplers - wow - about 6 oz. for each glass - I don't remember exactly how much it was, but I'm thinking $9-$10. Here's a pic of the sampler I enjoyed on their alley porch:Here's a photo of each side of their beer descriptions:


Here's a picture of their (impressive) tap board and their taps (most of them made it into the pic):


I decided to sample only the Brass Monkey beers because I knew I couldn't get them in Indy. Overall they were more polished than I expected - I enjoyed them quite a bit.

Here are my notes:

White Flag Wit - 3 rating - Fruity, clovey (or maybe a little rubbery?) and appley. It was very smooth with thick mouth feel. I really enjoyed it except for small off flavor I couldn't identify, but by no means was it not worth trying.

Green Tea Pale Ale - 3 rating - Hmmm...tastes like green tea. Interesting. I don't have strong feelings one way or another about green tea, but I do like a good pale ale. This fits in the good pale ale category. It's a good change of pace.

Tenacious Apple Triple - 2 rating - This was my favorite beer of the outing. I had the lowest expectations for this one (just due to my personal tastes), but this was a good beer. Extremley smooth, especially for a beer with 10% abv. I would have had another one of these if we didn't have an hour and a half drive ahead of us.

Speak No Evil Belgian IPA- 3 rating - Solid. Nothing remarkable, but a very well done IPA.

See No Evil IPA- 4 rating - I think it's a matter of personal preference and not brewing ability. This beer was well done, but I don't think I enjoy dry hopped beers.

I tried to sample the Silver Back, but they were out of it when we happened to stop by.

As far as the food is concerned, I tried their tenderloin and it was definetly home made (and good). The food was cheap (we ordered two sandwiches, an order of sweet potato fries, regular fries, an iced tea and a beer sampler and got out of there for under $30), and the service was attentive (and helpful). I was a little leery about our server's knowledge (when I asked about their beers she told me the Wit was kinda like a Coors Light - I don't think the brewer would have appreciated that), but she ended up steering me in the right direction on which beers to include in the sampler. She also was very interested in how we like everything, but not in an annoying way.

One interesting note from the wife - how in the world does a place that brews their own beer not brew their own iced tea (the wife will only drink brewed iced tea - she's doesn't drink beer, but she knows good (and bad) tea when she sees it).

If you're in Kokomo, or passing through Kokomo, it's definetly worth a stop. I know we'll probably make it a must stop every trip to (or from) the lake.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Where is this place? Until today I didn't know Kokomo had a brewpub. We drove through Kokomo today and I saw the half moon brepub and now your post on the Brass Monkey. I'll see if Amber would like to stop by on our way back to Indy on Monday.