Toppling Goliath Brewing Company

jera1350

Minnesota

3.9/5  rDev -10.8%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | $$

Pretty small building set up high on a hill overlooking the street. Small bar that seats about 10 with several tables for four scattered throughout the rest. You could maybe get fifty people in the whole place. Lends to a small town feel, which it is.

About eight beers on tap with all but one being a pale ale or IPA. Not much in the way of variety which is too bad. Just the one brown ale, the rest were all hoppy beers. I do like hoppy and their pale ales are amazing and the IPA's follow suit. They do have some interesting blends of their beers which can be fun too.

No food available, just tap beer and growlers to go. Friendly bartender who was the only person working so waiting at times becomes an issue. Prices were fair for the product.

Not much else in Decorah as far as beer goes. A couple of bars, but mostly with TG on tap also. Fun place to visit and sample world class hopped up brews.

12-27-2012 23:10:05 | More by jera1350

EdwardFortyHands

Iowa

5/5  rDev +14.4%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 5 | $

these are the best salt of the earth people on the face of the planet. they are dedicated to running a customer service friendly experience. could not be more opposite of some of the eat and get out type places. I love Toppling goliath and will return again and again, and again!

04-24-2013 20:36:02 | More by EdwardFortyHands

Erdinger2003

Iowa

4.03/5  rDev -7.8%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4 | service: 3.75 | selection: 4.25 | $

This place is all wood with a nice sky light. 4 or 5 round tables, a large long table and 6 or 7 seats at the bar.

Big selection of TG Beers, some you can't get anywhere else they're so special. Service is good, it's like a local bar. It has a kind of Cheers feel to it for Decorah.

I enjoy the specialty beers here, like the Firkin Fridays. You can also buy TG t-shirts, glassware, and growlers of TG Beer.

I have seen people ordering pizza in from Mabe's I think, other than that no food is sold on premises. There are pretzels at the bar.

02-22-2013 02:13:27 | More by Erdinger2003

morimech

Minnesota

4.16/5  rDev -4.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3.5 | $$

Decorah is a very pleasant small Iowa town. The brewery itself is not far from the college. The building it occupies is not the most beautiful to look at, or the most pleasant to sit in, but it is all about the beer. Mostly for those that love pale ales. I did not enjoy all the pale ales but I absolutely loved a couple. I did try their oatmeal stout which I also enjoyed. Did not try the two lagers they had on-tap. The Naughty 90 was quite surprising. Have not been a fan of oak-aged IPAs, but this one I really enjoyed. Maybe branching out in a few more style directions would not hurt. The people drinking was a mixture of college kids, cyclists wearing way too tight biking shorts, bikers, locals, and me. Everyone was friendly and ready to start a conversation. The two gals working were friendly, effecient, and knowledgeable. Could of spent hours here but I had a long ways to go on my travels and had to hit the road. Cannot wait for their beer to get more distribution. Bought a growler ($18 which I thought was expensive and it was clear glass WTF!) to fulfill a commitment. Have no feedback yet how it traveled.

10-27-2012 01:38:34 | More by morimech

mynie

Indiana

4.5/5  rDev +3%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Decorah is weirdly set up. I turned off of 52 into what looked like the beginning of a populated area but 30 seconds after passing some gas stations I was driving through a sea of trees. This part of Iowa bears a superficial resemblance to the Northwest--a resemblance that actual northwesterners would dismiss out of hand, but that the occasional visitor may understand. There's these big hills covered in trees, see, and then beneath those hills there lies pockets of buildings. It's beautiful, makes you feel warmly isolated, apart but secure.

Most of the buildings in town appear to be over 100 years old, but I'll guess that TG's was built sometime in the 60s or 70s, and has probably been a long line of restaurants. It sits atop a small hill, underneath trees and overlooking a street.

The bartender was wonderful and the crowd was affable. Trying to describe why I liked it so much is proving difficult, because the visit just felt so damn personal. The bartender actually seemed to enjoy talking to me. The locals said things I was interested in hearing, and they seemed to appreciate my company. There was absolutely no pretense, no artifice. Just a bunch of people sitting together on a patch of cement beneath a pocket of green, talking and drinking good beer.

The beers were fantastic, probably the best in Iowa. There was no food, nor any fancy-ass decorations or anything like that. Just peace and beer.

06-18-2012 18:34:06 | More by mynie

KAF

Iowa

4.64/5  rDev +6.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | $

Great place up in the middle of nowhere Iowa. I have visited this brewery three times now and spoken with several of the employees and brewer at several events. Very good beer and easily the best beer being made in Iowa right now. Their IPAs and stout are wonderful. The taproom is nice and you can bring in outside food since they do not serve any. The bartender has always been very accommodating and knowledgeable. Prices are very reasonable and you can purchase flights as well. Nice people and great beer. This is a must visit if you're in the area and a must drink if you see any of their IPAs and APAs at a bar. Cannot wait for the expansion.

05-30-2012 21:35:05 | More by KAF

tvv375ia

Iowa

4.58/5  rDev +4.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | $

Visited on March 11, 2012

Nice stand alone bulding that is smaller than I expected considering they have bands in there sometimes. About 8 seats at the bar and 6 tables for seating inside with an outdoor deck that normally in Iowa in March would not be a option but this year it is.

They had about 12 offerings on tap and of the ones that I sampled all seemed to be great examples of the brewmasters talents.

Service was excellent, I never worried about an empty glass and the choices were more than I could try.

Overall, if you are anywhere close it is probably worth the trip, lots of great beer and even though it is 200 miles from home I think that I will go back before long to try some of the beer I didn't get to yet.

03-12-2012 07:46:51 | More by tvv375ia

bismarksays

Iowa

4.44/5  rDev +1.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Visited on Aug 2, 2011

It was a nice friendly athomosphere, about 8 seats around the taps, tables for overflow patrons and a patio as well. Cozy without feeling cramped and ideal for striking up conversations with other patrons.

The bartender was very kind and knowledgable, did a great job making sure everyone was getting what they wanted, and was able to answer any questions

They had 7 of their own beers on tap which was very impressive seeing as I was hoping to get 4 or 5 different choices. There was a nice variety as well(pale ale, california common, maple ale, iperial stout, ipa, barrel aged ipa, dark ale)

The pint prices and the sampler prices were very affordable, well worth the price of the quality that you were getting.

If you are in the Decorah area, I highly suggest stopping by and supporting a great Iowa microbrewery.

08-03-2011 17:03:22 | More by bismarksays

bwiechmann

Minnesota

4.29/5  rDev -1.8%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3.5 | $$

Stopped in while visiting relatives nearby. Atmosphere is awesome for the area- vaulted ceilings, wood floors, friendly and knowledgable patrons.

The brews were surprisingly delicious and complex- very pleasantly surprised.

Selection was low at the time of our visit but the bar keep told us that they had been unusually busy over memorial day weekend and had been cleaned out of three IPA's that they usually have on tap as well as their Pilsner. Future brews included a wheat ale, maple pale ale, and a Smoked Maple Porter which sounded great.

I had a pint of Cran Stout- just over 5% abv and really, really delicious. One special for 2 bucks a pint. My wife had their Tsunami Dark which was a moderately hopped amber and was pretty darn good too.

Overall- an abosulte gem for Decorah- a must stop for any beer fan. Free pretzels, awesome beer and an all around great hang out. I might have to come visit my sister more often!

(Growlers are 18 bucks for new and 14 for refils. Pints are usually 4 bucks while specialties are 5 bucks.)

05-31-2011 16:26:17 | More by bwiechmann

mdwalsh

Iowa

4.18/5  rDev -4.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 3 | $$

Toppling Goliath Brewing Company - 12-17-10

I stopped in here on a personal beer tour on a Thursday just after they opened around noon. I was the only customer in the place, but the staff of five was having their meeting in the same room, so it wasn't awkwardly quiet which was nice. The tap room looks brand spanking new with a nice wooden bar that would seat maybe 12 people, and then chairs around the rest of the room. There are 6 taps (I think) at the bar and another three behind. A chalk board tells what's currently on tap and the prices while a white board just outside of the brewery (more on this in a moment) lists all the beers they make total, which I really liked because it enticed me to check back to see when some of those beers might come on. There is also a cooler with a pretty solid grouping of guest beers, some of which also make an appearance on tap.

Behind the bar and through a door is the kitchen and brewery, though they have recently purchased a new brewery facility off the property where they have a larger brewing system. I believe the plan in to brew mostly at the larger facility and brew some of the specialty/smaller batches at the tap room.

The service was good, even though they were in the middle of the staff meeting I never waited for a beer for too long. The owner was present, so after the meeting I was able to talk to him at length about the beer, their plans to expand distribution in Iowa and Minnesota and plan to bottle their beer. This guy has an aggressive plan to expand.

I ate, but it was just French fries because most of what was on the menu of appetizers was not available, the delivery truck was late. But the bartender didn't charge me full price for the fries at least.

This is definitely a place I plan to go back to and would highly recommend to others.

12-20-2010 14:28:59 | More by mdwalsh