Water Street Brewing Lake Country

Delafield, Wisconsin

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Crusin’ Rating:  C-

Booze Rating:  D+

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This week, we are checking out Water Street Brewing Company - a brewpub chain with locations in Grafton, Oak Creek, Delafield, and Milwaukee.  I admit, I did not previously realize that there were multiple locations and you know we’ve been to Delafield Brewhaus and weren’t even aware water street was just across the highway - honestly, I also didn’t realize that they were a chain, and that’s coming from someone who has definitely spent some time on Water Street in college.  

Hannah wasn’t able to join with this one, so the Thirsty Troll joined me, but I was largely on my own for the beer review itself.  Thirsty Troll is getting ready to make a big move, so it will be some time before we see him again so we figured we’d do one last huzzah as he did some testing on his new camera equipment. 

Now, I will get some slight unpleasantness out of the way - we aren’t a food blog but I was hungry so I snagged some food - pork schnitzel on special since I hadn’t seen someplace with it listed since I was in New Glarus last.  To put it lightly, I’d recommend eating at Applebees or McDonald’s over what I had.  I won’t go into the details and our server was so polite and kind that I didn’t want to send it back -  but it was quite bad.  It was not unlike a microwaved Hungry Man TV Dinner.  The appetizer I ordered wasn’t much better.

I was hopeful that with the food so lackluster that the beer would be good and put some faith in the brewpub paradox.  

But I’m jumping too far ahead!  On a sunny but chilly Spring Sunday the Thirsty Troll and I rolled up to the Delafield location of Water Street Brewery, located just on the edge of a parking lot of a strip mall - reminding me of a Texas Roadhouse in placement and slightly in appearance.  All of that vanished however upon crossing the threshold.  The inside evokes German Beer Halls and Wisconsin taverns - a mixture of the Pabst Brewery, Miller Beer hall, and other such places.  There was a case of old tap handles, floor-to-ceiling displays of old beer cans, Schlitz signs and paraphernalia - including some of those lamps that seem to be ever-present in these types of bars.  There’s lots of dark wood present and the space is huge.  We didn’t count but the capacity has to be at least 200 (probably more).  There was a fireplace with a roaring fire (although a bit warm for a Spring day), and the tanks are all copper which is always an impressive sight.

What was more impressive though, was the bar area.  A sunken bar area with an old-school, rounded-edge bar top in dark wood and a tinted skylight above.  It was a great space and we snagged a booth right near the bar - enjoying plenty of natural light as the sun began to set over the course of the review.  

I snagged a flight of four beers and our very kind server offered up additional samples that I sipped at, but chose not to review (or finish) since I had to drive home to Madison.

Duplicator (7.8% ABV, 15 IBU) - This doppelbock poured a ruddy brown. I somewhat struggled with aroma on this one.  What should have been a highly malty aroma, maillard notes, maybe caramel or something toasty was just not there.  Instead I got a little bit of fruitness and hops, not fruity in the terms of actual fruit, but just a fruity sweetness in general and it wasn’t a dark fruit character as I’ve experienced here and there with this style.  

My hopes were also dashed here as I continued to get lots of fruitiness, almost red fruit and some definite metallic bitterness, almost like drinking out of a copper mug and the finish had a note of dark honey sweetness which was appropriate but the finish was the only thing I found appealing in the flavor.

Bavarian Weiss (5.2% ABV, 5 IBU) - Pouring a deep gold that was only slightly cloudy, the aroma of this beer was wrong.  I got a lot of burnt flour, raw dough, and even a woodiness when smelling.   Interestingly enough, the flavor of mushy banana, a little clove, and dougihness played well together but I found the mouthfeel to be too light and the beer’s appearance and aroma made this a "skip" for me. 

Yabba Dabba Doo (4.5% ABV) -  This kettle sour with fruity pebbles poured peachy-pink with little head.  With aromas of sourness, orange, strawberry, lemon-lime soda, and fruit punch and a flavor that didn’t quite do the cereal justice.  There was some sugary fruit notes and I guess I might be able to see fruit loops, but to me, fruity pebbles have a pretty distinct flavor that I don't think was present here.

Pineapple Express (6.0% ABV, 30 IBU) - This IPA had the aroma of pineapple, citrus, peach, and apricot. With fuzzy notes of pineapple when tasting not unlike dole whip - soft really, with a little touch of piney hops at the end.  This was my favorite of the bunch and while it wasn’t overly deep in terms of flavor - fairly two-dimensional, it was a serviceable beer.  

In all, I touched on the food - less than good, and the beer was also not something that I found myself relishing.  I was going to say it wasn’t worth writing home about, but here I am at home, writing about it!  Anyway,  this is fully a place that I would skip out on revisiting again and I don’t think I can recommend a visit based on what I tasted even if you’re in town.  There’s lots of spots for beer, food, and atmosphere in Delafield and all over the greater Milwaukee area.  The only saving grace here is that our server was great and friendly.

Better luck next time!

Until then, keep on crusin’, don’t stop boozin’!

To learn more about Water Street Brewing Company, please visit their website at: waterstreetbrewery.com or on Facebook: @WaterStreetBrew or on Instagram: @WaterStreetBrewery