Due to my limited travel (and time) budget, most of the breweries I cover are in pretty close proximity to Beerverse HQ in San Francisco’s beautiful East Bay. Or at the very least distribute here.
So when I get a chance to taste something I don’t normally see, I jump on it.
Roadhouse Brewing Company (RBC) in Jackson Hole, Wyoming recently shipped some samples to announce their entry into Southern California (they currently distribute in Wyoming, Montana, Colorado and Idaho), and the recent release of their first canned offerings.
RBC was founded in 2012 by a home brewer and a chef, each wanting to create fare to pair with the other. Their first brewery was a converted billiard room in the already existing Roadhouse Pub.
The brand embraces the spirit of adventure and the outdoors embodied in their mountain location, with beers like Trout Whistle Pale Ale, Mountain Jam IPA, Highwayman Belgian Session Ale, Loose Boots Session IPA, and Teton Pass Pilsner.
At the same time, they don’t take themselves too seriously. They suggest pairing their Mountain Jam Hazy IPA with “wild trout tacos, Nine O’Clock sunsets, and three-finger banjo pickin’.”
Being surrounded by National Parks, Roadhouse’s core values embody preserving and sustaining their wilderness environment. They’ve partnered with many local groups to promote active, creative, and eco-friendly lifestyles.
To that end, their solar-powered brewery conserves energy by recapturing and recycling steam from the brewing process, shipping spent grain to a local ranch for cattle feed, having louvers built in to their cooler walls to incorporate the biting cold winter air, and sourcing their ingredients as locally as possible.
RBC is definitely in growth mode, having opened their facility just about a year ago. They recently closed the original pub with the converted billiard room and are opening their new space on Jackson Hole’s Town Square this summer.
As to the samples, you guys know I don’t typically do reviews, so keep that in mind as you read the following:
Family Vacation American Blonde Ale (4.9%) — hazy light straw color, a touch sweet and creamy, a slight bitterness that finishes clean, with a dab of Belgian funk.
Mountain Jam Hazy IPA (6.5%) — a collaboration with Bridger Brewing of Bozeman, Montana. This hits all the HIPA notes — murky, juicy, 6.5%, although a touch more bitterness at the back than most I’ve had. Overall a solid pick.
Wilson West Side IPA (7.5%) — leaning west coast, pours cloudy gold, standard pine aroma on the shy side, grapefruit palate with a touch of peach, firm bittering on the finish.
Beyond the usual lineup of IPAs, pale ales, blondes, pilsners, and stouts, Roudhouse offers some deceptively smooth Belgian styles. Be careful, these will trip you up if you’re not paying attention.
Avarice & Greed Belgian-Style Golden Ale (9%) — pillowy white head that dissipates quickly, banana/bubble gum esters that continue on the palate, clean bitter finish. Hides its strength a little too well.
Siren Song Belgian-Style Imperial Ale (14%) — pours bronze with a frothy head that again fades fast, mango/ripe plum aroma, peach, cantaloupe, and a smidge of ginger on the palate. Alcoholic heat only becomes evident as it warms, and even then only slightly so. Very, very dangerous.
So if you’re in SoCal (and maybe sometime soon in the Bay Area??) and you can’t make it to the Tetons, bring some of the Tetons home with you. It’s worth the trip.
BTW, if you’d like your brewery featured in these pages, contact me to arrange shipment of samples. If I dig ‘em, you’ll read about it here.