SRB in Jackson

My summer vacation this year took me through Jackson, WY. Jackson is home to one of the most highly acclaimed small breweries in the US; Snake River Brewing Company and BrewPub. I like to catch these guys at GABF every year, and they like to show up and take home well-deserved ribbons every year. It was nice to show up and “drink from the teet”….

OB-1 (Organic Beer One) - According to the girl that brought me my dinner, and their website, SRB received their Organic certification in 2007. If you want the technical description then their site probably says it better than I could. “OB-1 utilizes organic 2-Row Pale malt, organic Carastan 120L, organic Munich 9L and organic Carastan 20L make up the nice amber hue….The hop used for this beer is organic Hallertau, imported from New Zealand in both the brew kettle and dry-hopping as well. The only other ingredients are Teton mountain spring water and an imported strain of English ale yeast.” You shouldn’t have to sacrifice anything to go organic and you certainly don’t sacrifice any flavor from this beer. The only sacrifice I made was an extra $1 per pint, and I suspect the 6 packs have the premium price tag as well. Fantastic beer though, so it was totally worth it. I believe this one brought in 3rd in one of the Amber categories at GABF this year.

Male Rail Pale Ale- I had a few pints of this one each time I visited the brewery. I couldn’t find it on their website last time I checked so I suspect they have rotated it out since my visit, but no doubt it will return in time. Of the two pales I tried while visiting (this one and the Snake River Pale) this one was my favorite. My server described it as a “more modern pale” which seemed accurate as it had a good hop bite to it. I’ve never seen it in a bottle though so you’ll probably have to go to Jackson to get a pint.

Snake River Pale Ale - This is the SRB brew I most commonly see in the liquor store. It’s another great pale but with a mellower hoppiness (kind of a smoothed-out Sierra Nevada).

You’d think I would have a few more beers to talk about but these were the highlights. As for the brewpub itself, it’s on the top of my list of places to get a bite and a brew in Jackson. If you’ve ever been to Jackson then you probably know that it isn’t exactly a budget-friendly place to hang out. SRB seems to break the tourist destination mold by offering a good menu of reasonably-priced dishes, both unique and standard. It seems to be a local favorite as well; there were a good number of locals in the bar area each time I was there, tourists filling the tables on the balcony, and a mix of everyone on the patio (the hardest seats to obtain in the summer time).

The bartender was a little unpleasant on my second visit but I eventually softened her up enough to get her to explain the 300+ numbered mugs hanging over the bar. It caught my eye because each mug was personalized with a sticker or two. They have some type of club (obviously designed for locals) where for a very reasonable price (something like $40/year) each member gets their own personal mug, a cut rate on brews, and two private parties per year. Sounded like a hell of a deal to me.