Decorah, Iowa, is a college town in the northeastern corner of the state. It attracts beer travelers from around the country, thanks to the popularity of the state’s largest craft brewery, Toppling Goliath Brewing Company. In that cavernous taproom, fans snap selfies with hazy IPAs and check into apps. Most leave with heaping piles of beer in their car.
But if you want to drink like a local, you make the 7-minute drive to the other brewery in town: Pulpit Rock Brewing Co. To continue the metaphor, this is the David in town and a reminder that great things come in small packages. How small, you wonder?
“We have an 800-square-foot brewery that holds a 7-barrel system, four 7-barrel fermentors, two 15-barrel fermentors, two 15-barrel bright tanks, and two 7-barrel bright tanks,” explains Co-Head Brewer Robert Slack. “It’s tight in there.”
Photo: Erik Dutcher