Monday 26th of January 2009 09:09:12 AM

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Worth Brewing is a nugget in the tiny town of Northwood, Iowa. They brew on a 10-gallon system to supply the local population, and passers-through, in their small pub.

The atmosphere is wonderful--they did an amazing job rehabbing this old building. Original hardwood floors, stained glass pieces, old photos. Bassa Nova music when we were in. The bar was a salvaged tellers window from (I believe) another building in town.

The people were very friendly, though the server helping out assumed that my wife would be wanting to try the cherry beer they had on. In fact, we did want to try that one, but assuming the chick would want cherries and not the stout was annoying to both my wife and me. Peter, the brewer, showed us his system in the back and sat down and talked with us for as long as was reasonable, considering he had other things to do.

The "brewpub-ness" is confirmed by the fact that they have food, but it's a modest offering of 5 simple plates ($5/), a German Plate, English Plate, etc. We shared the Greek Plate, which was tasty, but app-sized. If you're quite hungry, you should not plan on a full meal here.

We tried the pale, brown, stout, winter warmer, cherry elixir and Tettnang lager. I liked the brown, cherry and Tett best, but considering the place, town, region, all were beautiful. These guys have a great attitude toward the old days of local and regional breweries, as well as historic preservation. They've put their money where their mouth is and have created something very beautiful. In addition to the 6-8 in-house beers on offer, there are also a number of other craft or import beers available, FYI.

If you're road tripping anywhere near, you really should stop by and check this place out. Check the website for hours, as they're limited to sorta Wed-Sat nights.