*This is the one-hundred and fifty-third post in an on-going chronicle dubbed the Great Wisconsin Brewery Tour. Follow the journey here.*
Barrel 41 Brewing Co.
1132 S Commercial St
Neenah, WI 54956
Visit date: 05/26/2019
Quick Hits:
1) How many different beers?
9 of their own on tap.
2) How long operational?
Since the end of 2018.
3) Why? (here, this, etc)
Homebrewing friends returned to start a business in their hometown.
4) Distribution?
7 bbl system, crowlers to go, and taps in a few bars.
5) What sets you apart?
“Our beer is our beer.” Revitalizing a sleepy part of town.
6) How did you get your name?
Named for the Interstate (41) that runs through town and that they traveled on to get back home.
7) Do they have free popcorn?
Yes 🙂
Barrel 41 Brewing Co. in Neenah, WI. All photos by Joe Powell for The Squeaky Curd.
Downtown Neenah has a quaint main street, with plenty of shops (and its own established microbrewery) for the perusal of countless summer vacationers. If you take the long way south out of town, you’ll start to get a look into the lives of the northerners who call this special spot “home” year-round. There, after Degroot’s House of Leather, before Tom’s Drive-In, and next door to the immortal Family Video, is a brewery for locals by locals: Barrel 41 Brewing Co.
A walk through the strip-mall doors transports you to the nearby forests, with plenty of woods and murals to set the mood. The space is larger and more open than you’d think possible from the street, and the flow between bar seating, high-tops, and lounge space is well-organized.
Though these relatively new brewers have plenty of their own on tap, they’re also willing and excited to host local food vendors and an array of hand-picked beers from other Wisconsin micros. We stuck with the house pours.
Birthday Suit Blonde Ale
Ice-cold, and well-suited for a hot day. Kolsch-like with its brusque hops, but with a light honey tinge added for good measure.
White Mustang Saison
Smooth and satisfying. Lean into the subtle farmhouse wheat & blueberry.
Sonoma Stang Saison
Immediate hints of Chardonnay. A dry finish. Are we sure this isn’t a wine?
Belgian Tripel
Serious attention to the true-to-style taste, but lighter bodied to allow for more than just one per sitting.
Our bartender, Dan, didn’t mince words when discussing the draw of Barrel 41:
“Our beer is our beer. We’re not trying to do anything too much with our ingredients or flavors.”
But that doesn’t stop them from trying to set a new path for the beer selections locally:
“We’re excited to be open here (in this part of Neenah). There’s a spark in this part of town.”
And ultimately that spark, the allure of a blue collar timber town like Neenah, is not only what helped name this brewery, but inspired owners Nathan and Lance to take the “odyssey home” and open up shop. Next time you’re headed up Interstate 41, make a pit-stop in Neenah to taste Barrel 41’s hometown brews.
