*This is the forty-fifth post in an on-going chronicle dubbed the Great Wisconsin Brewery Tour. Follow the journey here.*
Lion’s Tail Brewing Company
116 S Commercial St
Neenah, WI 54956
(920) 843-3020
Visit date: 01/30/16
Quick Hits:
1) How many different beers?
4 of their own, goal is 6-10.
2) How long operational?
November 2015.
3) Why? (here, this, etc)
Building owner is a big part of the community. Owner was a homebrewing engineer.
4) Distribution?
Crowlers.
5) What sets you apart?
1st brewery in Neenah. BYO/delivery food. Carry guest taps & bottles.
6) How did you get your name?
The two tailed lion is a symbol of Bohemia (and its beer culture), which is part of the owner’s heritage and which he tweaked with barley stocks on the lion’s double tail.
Lion’s Tail Brewing Company in Neenah, WI. All photos by Joe Powell.
A new brewery seems to open up weekly in Wisconsin, which is something we’re surely not complaining about. But because of the brewery-boom we’ve gotten the question from readers: “Aren’t all these new places exactly the same?”
The front bar, busy on a Saturday afternoon.
Lion’s Tail Brewing Company in Neenah is a perfect illustration of how these fresh faces are setting themselves apart while keeping the vibe familiar.
In back there’s plenty of space to stretch out and place games.
On the one hand, Lion’s Tail is a setting that’s proving popular with microbreweries: dark woods, open concept, communal bar games, free popcorn (YUS!). But from the get-go they started brewing from new angles.
There’s even a semi-private room furnished in the banking-style of the building.
While their double IPA may be the beer-du-jour, who else is opening shop with an island wheat next to a traditional German Dunkel? And for the first time I witnessed something called a “custom brewed beer”: a cool concept where you pick your hops and enjoy your own style of beer after 15 minutes of brewing in a french press-like machine.
Hops on hops on hops.
While they’re brand-new and ramping up production, we tried their 3 styles plus the custom brew.
Though they’ve got plenty of other local beers to try as well.
All Along the Clocktower Double IPA
Balanced hops; a gateway IPA.
Kula Wheat
Islandy, laid-back on a beach.
Mile of Munich Dunkel
Malty, slightly-nutty nose.
Custom Pale Ale (Centennial Hops)
Mellow, drinkable.
The brewing-process walkthrough art changes depending on what they’re currently brewing.
While Lion’s Tail doesn’t feature a kitchen of their own, they allow you to bring in outside food and partner with local pizza restaurants for delivery, which is added onto your tab for a hassle-free transaction. The space was obviously new, but had a comfortable quality that really invited you to stay there for a long time (the addicting popcorn and beer helped).
