Taprooms – Toppling Goliath in Decorah, Iowa

The Eastern Iowa Airport is a little bit further away from Decorah that I realized.  When I plugged the route into my GPS it told me that I was 112 miles away from my destination.  112 miles is a pretty good distance, but I figured I could burn through it pretty quick.  No problem… I had an entire afternoon to kill.  But I was thinking like a city boy.  What I didn’t realize is that I would not be travelling on an interstate.  Between me and Toppling Goliath was 112 miles of two lane highways, a half a dozen small towns, residential streets, oversized tractors, and thousands upon thousands of acres of corn.  The posted speed limit constantly changed from 70 miles per hour, to 25, and back.  All in all it took me around two and a half hours to drive each direction.  It’s a good thing I had my evening open as well.

The Toppling Goliath taproom is in what could have been an old Pizza Hut or Chinese food restaurant.   The parking lot appeared to be fairly full, but when I walked inside there was maybe only six to eight patrons.  Half of them were nestled up to the little bar area, and the other half was sitting at a table in the front “solar”.  I settled into a little table between the two.   

I came for the fabled pseudoSue, but I wanted to see what else they had to offer as well.  I ordered a pint of Naughty 90, a heavily oaked English IPA, and began my self-guided tour around the small taproom. The arched ceilings are tiled, and the floor is a nice hardwood.  The first wall you see upon entry features an array of merchandise, an open wood frame that leads into the front area, and a flat screen television.  Over the bar there are pictures of their “Mug Club” participants, and small posters that promote several of their brands.  There are two TVs on this side too.  Of the three televisions in the place, two featured big game hunting (not the same channel).  I got the impression that animals would be dying on the third one too, but it was late in the baseball season and some playoff races were getting down to the wire.

I transitioned into a little people watching as I sipped on my pints of Rover Truck Stout and ZeeLander (the latter is a brilliantly assembled, single hop IPA made with Nelson Sauvin).  Beer drinkers of all ages came and went throughout my stay.  The population of Decorah is only about eight thousand people, so I felt like I was seeing a relatively good sample size of the town.  The dialog at the bar was rich with Midwest-isms, and focused largely on guns and cars.  Beer orders were affirmed with an “okie-dokie!”, and folks left with a hearty “so long!”  I loved it.

Toppling Goliath may be grabbing a lot of attention, but it’s unquestionably in a little town in northern Iowa.  I really appreciated that they weren’t trying to be anything else.  I ended up taking my pseudoSue back to my hotel and drinking it out of small, plastic cups.  This probably wasn’t the best way to enjoy one of the most respected pale ales in America, but it worked out just fine in the end.  Ultimately it was a much longer day of beer hunting than I expected, but fortunately it was worth the effort.

310 College Dr.

Decorah, Iowa 52101

563-387-6700

http://www.tgbrews.com/site/

-Matt