St. Cloud’s New Pantown Brewing is Open and Awesome! [Photos]
"Pantown Brewing is open..."
It was about 5pm New Years day, and my wife Katie and I were driving back from the holiday weekend up north.
"Wanna stop?" I asked her.
"Kinda," she replied.
So we did!
Tucked away in the old Pantown Neighborhood of St. Cloud, Pantown Brewing brings the area's history -- and some old brewing equipment -- back to life.
Being the beer bloggers that we are, Katie and I tend to have a pretty critical eye and palette when it comes to visiting a brewery, especially a new one like Pantown. But I'd lying if I said we weren't completely impressed by St. Cloud's newest brewery!
The space itself is warm and inviting. A mural-filled entryway beckons you into a spacious taproom. Various bars and tables provide plenty of seating on the main floor, with a fun balcony offering additional seating and cozy chairs upstairs.
For a brand new brewery, the beers were fantastic! It's evident that headbrewer Nick wanted to put out a quality beer and took his time doing so. Everything tasted brilliant, and it was hard to pick a favorite. The Raspberry Dream fruit beer was particularly tasty (a favorite with non-beer lovers, Marty told us); Katie loved the Classic Cream Ale while the Drop Forge Milk Stout was easily one of the best stouts I've ever had! The Flat Iron Amber Ale and 1917 IPA -- for their parts -- were delicious as well, only just falling behind our favorite picks.
I asked Marty how the response from the St. Cloud area has been, and he enthusiastically told us very good -- a little quiet while we were there on New Years day, but the week leading up to saw a lot of people come through. For great beer and a great taproom, we're confident Pantown Brewing will continue to see a lot of people coming through its doors in the year ahead!
For a more in-depth look at Pantown's history and road to completion, read more here.