Read about our night in Chippewa Falls here!

BREWSTER BROTHERS BREWING COMPANY

Brewster Brothers just recently opened its doors and was a week away from its grand opening celebration when we visited. Despite it being a soft open it was a packed crowd when we visited on a Saturday evening.

This brewery is unique in a couple of ways. For one, it has a level of coolness in appearance that is uncommon in this blue collar Wisconsin town. Patrons are served in a large open space that seems like it was probably at one point a commercial garage.

The other thing that makes it unique isn’t quite so cool, at least for a lover of traditional breweries: it is a combination brewery and distillery, with the space also serving as the tasting room for sister organization Chippewa River Distillery. From what we could tell, the focus wound up being more on the liquor than on the beer. We had to wait several minutes for any acknowledgement from the bartenders as they were too busy mixing cocktails, which most of the customers seemed to be drinking. That said, if we lived in Chippewa Falls, we would likely go to Brewster Brothers to drink the liquor as well; we didn’t love their beer. Their IPA was malty and sweet, not bitter and crisp like it is supposed to be. And it surely wasn’t “pale.”