Toppling Goliath Brewing Co
- Cru and Hannah
- Sep 27
- 8 min read
Decorah, Iowa
Crusin’ Rating: B-
Booze Rating: B
This week, we are checking out a brewery that is fast becoming part of our puppy-pick up tradition! That’s right, Moretti’s first official brewery was the same day that we picked her up from Iowa! That means we were rolling in with her older brother Barlow, and Barlow’s favorite person in the world - the Thirsty Badger. Last time we were in Iowa picking up a puppy, we had to stop by and pick up the Thirsty Badger from one of his own adventures on a chilly September night and he and Barlow became fast friends. Following that tradition, we needed to find a brewery to give us some relief from the sweltering July heat in the form of some food and cold beverages. We needed to prep Moretti for a career as a brewery dog, so where else should we go other than the brewery that introduced me to IPAs and the first sour beer of Hannah’s career - Toppling Goliath Brewery in Decorah, IA.
In the not-so-distant past, Toppling Goliath was known to a lot of Midwest beer nerds as the king of the IPA- it’s flagship- Pseudo-Sue was somewhat genre-defining, being one of the first widely available and well known juicy IPAs. Now I get it- I was too young to be drinking Dogfish Head and Sierra Nevada in the 90's at the cusp of the hop-craze. To me, where we couldn’t easily get our hands on Zombie Dust (3 Floyds Brewing Co.) in that first decade or so of the 2000’s Pseudo Sue was the next best thing. At one point it was coveted enough to be one of the beers traded by those dedicated beer aficionados at various invite-only meet-ups. These days, now that the hop craze is in full swing and you can find IPA’s at any brewery you walk into Pseudo Sue has some half dozen variations as does Dragon Fandango.
Dragon Fandango - for its part, was one of the first sours that either Hannah or I remembers trying and I can distinctly remember a time wherein it was so sparsely allocated there were old-school forums and Facebook groups dedicated solely to spread the news of which bars may have a keg of it available. This bright magenta beer was an early introduction to the kettle sour and at one point we can also remember it’s first retail sale in Wisconsin of 4 packs clocking in at some $22. It’s easy to say that Toppling Goliath left an impression inasmuch as widening our horizons on what beer could be in those early days.
Only a brief hour ride from where we picked up Moretti - it seemed the perfect place to snag some food and beverages, knock out a review, and let the dogs take a break from a long day in the car. Having been there before once, all we could really remember is the sheer size of the tasting room. With a second story, outdoor area, open two-story concept and large swag area - Toppling Goliath is in fact, a Goliath of an operation. A practicable space with serviceable tables, chairs, large bar, and concrete floors - you know walking in that this is a spot to drink rather than spend time looking at the decorations. With an impressively large 37 beers on tap - 13 of the IPAs, 9 lagers/ales, 8 barrel-aged offerings, and 6 sours (and a CBD offering or two) - there are multiple options for whatever your tastes may be.
There’s a solidly large outside patio, covered patio, lawn space - complete with lawn games - and a few picnic tables to be had outside. We were able to get the pups into the shade and given water thanks to some very friendly staff. One of the lawn games was a giant game of beer pong that featured cups that were, in actuality, garbage cans that would serve as an epic challenge with a group of friends.
We ordered food straight away as the dogs got plenty of attention from tons of kids and wait staff alike. We weren’t expecting much from the food and our expectations were definitely met. Mostly everything was under seasoned, my sandwich was okay, the Thirsty Badger’s was okay, and Hannah enjoyed her pizza - the cheese curds did their best. It was serviceable food for a brewery, but I would try and snag something elsewhere if I were to go back and leave the brewery to do what they do best - beer. Speaking of, if you don’t care for beer, like more and more large operations these days, the brewery has somewhat recently gotten into distilling it’s own spirits and vodka and fruity variations of the same are available. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the cocktails were just alright - nothing too fancy, but nothing too special either. I think they could definitely benefit from consulting with a bartender who knows some things about balancing a drink and not making things overly gimmicky for sure.
We snagged a flight of 8 to share between the three of us and all but the last one (more on it later) were reasonably priced per 4 oz, of which, we will go into detail on 6 of them.
Camp Shandyshore (4.8% ABV) - This beer featured high carbonation, high clarity, and was served in a tall glass similar to a large German-Style Pilsner Glass. Slightly hazy gold in color this is definitely a pungent beer smelling of damp malt and lemon oil. Now - Summer Shandy isn’t exactly full of fresh lemons, and neither is this. I think this beer comes off as being both too sweet and too light on the lemon aspect. I wouldn't go insofar as to say sickly sweet but definitely the sweetness outweighs any kind of tang that the lemon should have - not unlike a lemonhead candy after that initial hit of citric acid coating.
Dragon Fandango (4.2% ABV) - This unmistakably bright magenta kettle sour with the dragon on the can is as serviceable and as good as it’s always been. Now that we’ve done a fair amount of beer tasting - yes, there are other sours we like better, heck, there are even kettle sours that we like better, but Fandango is as solid as it’s ever been. Neon-bright with notes of dragonfruit and mango on the nose with tasting notes of passion fruit tang, spiced fruit, cranberry, and even a little ginger if you look far enough. This is one that is a solid choice if you’re looking for a kettle sour on tap and none of your local options appeal to you. While no longer hard to get - it's always going to be a good sour.
Dorothy New World Lager (5.0% ABV) - None of us were overly impressed with this one - though none of us thought it was bad, either. Pouring light yellow with medium clarity and a modest white head, with malts on the nose, faintly toasted and a hint of fruit that might be lemon-adjacent. Faint fruit in the hops - slightly reminiscent of lemon oil but you really have to look and nowhere near the quantities or strength in Shandy shore. Clean and good carbonation (high) - there was a bitter hop nibble at the end. I just don’t know if this one made a statement to any of us - drinkable, but sort of inconspicuous.
Pseudo sue (5.8% ABV) - Single hopped with Citra, and named after the largest T-Rex skeleton ever discovered on display at the field museum in Chicago. With a notably murky appearance as noted by the Thirsty Badger, and the color of cloudy lemon juice - there’s plenty of mango, grapefruit, pine, and a little citrus on the nose. We, collectively, noted pineapple, citrus, low pine resin and a wisp of warm malt. Pseudo Sue is popular for a reason, and while these days it may be slightly one note with only one hop varietal used - and though Toppling does make IPA’s I would prefer - it’s still a solid, solid beer. If you’re looking for something that is going to stand up to a strong option like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale - but lean less toward the grapefruit rind-bitterness-and juniper, and instead want something more fruity - Pseudo Sue is a great contender when you’re out and about traveling in Iowa or other states where our Wisconsin beers may not be available.
Pompeii (6.3% ABV) - Speaking of an IPA that I tend to pick over Pseudo Sue - Pompeii is pretty close to the top of my list at Toppling Goliath. Pouring a hazy orange and featuring a nose that featured sweet grasses, some dankness, peach, papaya, and deeply ripe pineapple. Mellow resin notes greet your tongue, with notes of stone fruits, papaya, and melon. Again, with a single hop varietal used - Mosaic - this one, for me, beats out the flavor or Pseudo Sue, but the Thirsty Badger said he preferred Sue to this if he had to select an IPA from Toppling.
MBCC (Mikeller Beer Celebration Copenhagen) Assassin (14.0% ABV) - Perhaps not the rarest variation on the ever-popular Assassin line of stouts that Toppling Goliath puts out - but the only Assassin we were able to get our hands on when we were there.
For a little background - Over half of the top rated beers on beer advocate are special-release stouts from Toppling Goliath - their Assassin and Kentucky Brunch Stout lines. For those wondering, the majority of the others in the top 10 or even 20 come from Side Project and Goose Island, with a sneaky little guy (Blessed) from Anchorage Brewing.
A special release blend of Assassin (stout) that will run you some $20 for a 4 oz pour. This beer sticks to your glass and pours oil black with a tinge of chocolate brown on the edges when held up to the light. Deep aromas of maple, cinnamon, toasted coconut, brown sugar, and slight raisin bread greet your nose. The richness is apparent even when holding up there, before you even get a taste. Very sweet, with a consistency reminiscent of drinkable chocolate, and notes of maple syrup, cinnamon, melted chocolate, coconut, candied nuts, and again, candied raisins. This was just on the cusp of being too sweet. With little alcohol presence when tasting it is dangerously drinkable but on a hot July day was not appealing (as well as the price point) enough to order a second. I can easily imagine this being excellent as the weather turns cooler and you settle down with a bottle of it - but again, you’d have to really like beer to shell out the 50+ dollars for a 12 oz bottle.
While the food may not have wowed us, and although the space isn’t exactly cozy, but rather functional - there is no denying that Toppling Goliath knows their stuff when it comes to beer. It’s well regarded as putting out some of the best stouts that money can buy. At a two and a half hour drive from Madison - it’s also a fairly easy day trip out if you’d like to visit. Fortunately, if that’s not in the cards for you, many of the standard offerings can be found in retail locations - the days of allocated Dragon Fandango are long gone but you might have a tough time finding some of those rarer stouts unless you’re willing to camp out for a special release day! I think, if we find ourselves in Decorah again, we might try one of the other breweries just based on the fact that we’ve been to Toppling twice now and so much of it is widely available. If you’re any kind of beer aficionado though, it probably does warrant at least one pilgrimage.
Until next time, keep on Crusin’, don’t stop boozin’!
If you would like to learn more about Toppling Goliath Brewing Co, please visit their website at www.tgbrews.com or on Facebook: @TGBrews or on Instagram: @TopplingBrews
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