brewpubs in SD

[davesarman]

You probably wouldn't expect it, but South Dakota has some fine brewpubs. Sioux Falls has 2, The Sioux Falls Brewing Co. and Granite City (one of 3 locations in SD, MN, ND). Rapid City has Firehouse Brewing Co, Watertown has the Highland Laddie. Nice food, Scottish decor, friendly staff. I always try and stop there if im in the area.

[irishmac13]

Wifes friend moved back to SD and I'm reluctant to go visit. The sell on the brew pubs sounds good, but lets talk turkey. Is it worth leaving Colorado and all its fine breweries to go taste the brew in BFE SD? Are the beers at the aforementioned locales any good?




Sean

"Please make her three feet tall so she stands about to here, with a flat spot on her head where I can rest my beer"

-Pat Daily

[davesarman]

I would have to say the beer is very decent. Nothing very adventurous, no Belgian Tripels or anything like that. The offerings are your basic, mainstream brewpub beers: light, pilsner, red, porter, stout. Even so, they are usually very well made, fresh and tasty. I was at the Watertown brewpub over Thanksgiving and the food is good and very inexpensive. They had six beers on, including a slightly smokey Scottish Ale. The one in Rapid City has more adventurous quisine and live music on weekends, plus a beer garden which is nice in the summer. Not as familiar with the Sioux Falls pubs, been to SFBC once, the beer and food were good, they have a comedy club in the basement. I've not been to the Sioux Falls Granite City location, but have been to the one in St. Cloud, MN several times, and the beer is great. They usually have an outstanding cask bitter. My advice would be that coming to SD specifically for the beer might not be the best idea, but if you are in SD hit one of the brewpubs. Come for the Black Hills, Badlands in the west and wide open, beautiful prairies in the east. Many people don't like the open, flat spaces, but I believe it has a stark beauty that is just as compelling as the Rocky Mountains! Hope this helps!!

[hnrblbrbrn]

Here in Kansas we have a few local breweries and brewpubs. In Lawrence is Free State, a brewpub, in Topeka they have the Flying or Blind Tiger. If you cross the river into KCMO, the local breweries are Boulevard, one of my favorites, and 75th St which also has a restaurant.
Those are just the ones within 45 miles of me that I know of.