We have now arrived at the Michigan brewery that is furthest West throughout the entire state, Cold Iron Brewing Company in Ironwood, Michigan. Cold Iron opened in 2017 and has been serving stellar beer to the community and tourists alike for the past 7 years.
The brewery is located in Downtown Ironwood and is in a building that was built in 1967. It originally served as an Ottawa National Forest office. The bar itself is polished and authentic wood, along with all the furniture in the building.
Cold Iron is a nice wide open space with plenty of tables for you to enjoy a few beverages at. The bar area is a big u-shaped bar that has the capacity to seat approximately 20 thirsty patrons. There are also a few decent sized communal tables spread throughout the brewery. They even have a small outdoor area to enjoy a beer at while you enjoy the sights and sounds of Ironwood. The space that they occupy is also dog friendly, so Fido can come and enjoy a few beers with you on your trip.
Cold Iron hosts quite a few different events such as trivia, live music, open mic night and many more events. Another option for entertainment here is they have foosball, shuffleboard and ping pong tables setup at all times.
When it comes to food, Cold Iron Brewing does not have a kitchen. But they do allow and encourage you to bring in outside food to calm your hunger while you enjoy a few pints. There are quite a few places in the area for you to pick up some food from.
Last but not least, we have finally come to the part of the review where we get to talk about their beer. Cold Iron has 12 taps that are pouring beverages at all times. We ended up getting our normal flight on our visit which consisted of Black River Ale- Dark Ale, Tapped Out Maple- Pale Ale, and Leif’s Imperial Ale- Double IPA. All of these beers were absolutely outstanding and true to style. I could have sat here drinking all day, and one day in the future, I just might. These were just the beers that we checked in, but the bartender basically let us try a sample of everything they had on tap at the time.
My favorite beer of this particular stop was their Spring Peeper which was a Maibock. I absolutely love beers from the Bock family and this might have been the most delicious version of a Bock that I have encountered on all of my travels to Michigan breweries. It was a sweet, malty beer with a considerable nose on it. The beer was a light copper color and finished very smooth, almost too smooth. I wish I had this beer on tap at home all the time, but unfortunately I live 10 hours away from Cold Iron, but I would definitely make the trip for more of this Bock. It weighs in at 6.7% ABV, so be careful with this one, due to how smooth it is, this one can really creep up on you. I bought two growlers of it to take home with me on our visit.
I never thought that I would have to travel 10 hours away from Metro Detroit in order to drink some of the best beer that Michigan has to offer, I was wrong. It may be the Westernmost brewery in the entire state, but Cold Iron Brewing will always be worth the 10 hour trip. Salud!
#drinklocal #beer #upperpeninsula #yooperlife #craftbeer #beerlovers #michiganbeer
0 Comments