Thursday 12th of July 2007 03:58:01 PM

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The lineup was fine, dandy and good, but nothing stood out to knock me off my feet, nor my socks off those feet. I tried a sampler of the standards (Northern Light Lager, Brother Benedict’s Bock, Duke of Wellington IPA, Broad Axe Stout and Two Pull!), as well as a few extras (the seasonal wheat beer, the Admiral [a blend of the Northern Light and IPA] and a black and tan.

Stylistically, I thought the front-runners were the wheat, stout and maybe the IPA. I’d generally be happy to have 8 beers to sample, but it turns out that 3 of these beers were blends: the aforementioned Admiral, the appropriately-named Two Pull! and the black and tan. I think this rubbed me wrong, though it would have been forgiveable if new ground were being broken. It wasn’t.

Two other frustrations: my buffalo burger was lackluster and my waitress didn’t know two of the beers she handed me. As far as she knew, the black and tan was “some other stout, I think,” and the Admiral, well, she didn’t know what that was. Her lack of knowledge was offset, however, by a very friendly manager-type, who greeted us and fielded our questions about those two beers.

The atmosphere was clean and city-folk friendly with fermenters visible behind glass and a sharp looking bar. From the outside, the font on the signage was so plain the branding may well have been for a Wal-Mart or Organizing-stuff Store. No offense intended, just a little plain.

Generally, it was a nice lunch spot, but if one’s looking for amazing beer, phenomenal food and an earthier atmosphere, you might be a bit disappointed. Despite that, this chain-pub is brewing beer in Clive, so you should go there for the beauty of that alone.