March 6th, 2010 will go down in Valparaiso as the day a Brewery came back to town.
Figure Ei8ht Brewery, the first Valparaiso Brewery since the brewers at AberDeen Brewery folded up shop and moved a county over to start Shoreline Brewery in Michigan City (that’s if I’m getting my story right)
And NWITweeps were there to witness the opening. – And leave it to the Daver to make sure our presence got mentioned in the paper :-P (good work, Daver)
I got there at 1pm to see the Daver, in shorts, waiting for me to show up. And between the two of us, finding a parking spot was the first trick.
Not only did people flock to Valpo’s newest brewery – Figure Ei8ht Brewery – but their initial location shares traffic with Rios Country club right across the tracks from Creekside Golf Course. Lucky, a golfing family pulled out in their Sedan Deville just as I was pulling in. Jeff Eriks of Cambridge Construction made short work of a nearby grass patch with his truck :-) .
Now theres’ more parking :-D
Other tweeps who made an appearance included Jeff Buckley, and an assortment of #pretweet and #aftertweetup friends still learning the arts.
The Post Tribune’s James Wolf & Mike Ward were on site to check out the brewery in action (which made me wonder why they didn’t do it before the doors opened. It sorta slowed up the staff as they tried to keep up with demand, but whatcha gonna do). And, “no,” Mr. Editor of the Post – swearing upon a stack of my one-time-Post-Tribune-editor Grandfather’s stack of published articles, I did not see your staff sipping the elements, as tempting as it was for them.
Me and The Daver did it for them. Then the Daver pointed the Post Tribune gang over to the owner of Brickworks Brewery of Hobart and one of his brewers sampling the Figure Ei8ht’s initial offerings.
The Brews
Figure Ei8ht has four initial offerings:
- First Ascent – a Belgian Honey Lager
- Ro Shampo – Imperial Red Ale
- Camp 4 Brown Ale – a hazy Northern England Nut Brown Ale
- Rye Knot – a complex rye brew. Part Baltic porter, part stout with flavorings to entice
The Downside
1. Two square tables and walkway – At the time of this writing, Figure Ei8ht has limited seating. Just a couple tables in front of a Chicago-loft wall that has a big window which gives those privledged enough to snatch the chairs a place to check out how the brewing process begins. It left us and the tweeps with standing room only. But so it goes. That is Figure Ei8ht, today. Hopefully, before long, they’ll be able to expand. 2. It is not a restaurant, today – At this time, the only way you’re getting your protein with a glass of Figure Ei8ht brew is from the brew itself. And that’s okay. 3 Floyd’s didn’t have a brew pub till the sold stock to get their own place, and it was some time after that. And I still very much drink Gumballhead.
The upside
- Let your stomach growl for beer – Figure Ei8ht sells their brew by the growler, 1/6th keg, 1/2 keg, and I think even a full keg. And, if the new state law is passed, this will be the swinging place come Sunday’s because they’ll be able to sell it then. Glasses and T-Shirts are also on the merchandising list.
- Sampler Sets – if you want to stop in, check out the brewery, and sample their selections, you can buy the Sampler set. A double-shot or more of each of their four selections are available.
The unknown
Tours – The owners seemed liked good folk. My guess is that if you ask real nice, they’ll give you a tour. But please don’t stand in the doorway and barter while the line is out the door. Only idiots (like me) do that.
Overall NWITweetup Review of Figure Ei8ht Brewery
I’m very much a fan. You put the fledgling effort of Figure Ei8ht Brewery with those of Brickworks, 3 Floyds, Shoreline, Backroad, and Crown Brewery, and you’ve got the making of a community that starts to give The Region an additional layer of culture and experience to go with The Dunes, the Casinos, and The Tweeps :-D
How to get to Figure Ei8ht Brewery
Golfers who frequent Creekside and Rios can probably find the place while blindfolded. As for the rest of us, Figure Ei8ht is on the Southwest side of Valparaiso on IN-130 / Lincolnway – just west of Joliet Rd. And nearly catty-corner to the Knights of Columbus building. You’ll find it at the West end of the strip mall on the south side of the road, just a bad chip shot from the tracks.