13 Aug TwoDEEP Brewing Celebrates 2nd Anniversary with Great Beers, Great People
By Charlie Sasse
On August 2, 2014 something amazing happened. My daughter turned 15. Oh, and TwoDEEP brewing opened their taproom at 714 N. Capitol Ave. Owner Andy Meyer tried his first craft beer in 2004 and instantly fell in love. Six years later he founded TwoDEEP brewing and three years after that he located a home for his new brewery. After a year of hard work and design, he and his team finally opened the taproom and his dream of serving his own malt forward brews to the public began. It wasn’t all rainbows and kitten farts but TwoDEEP created a place hip enough for the skinny jeans and ironic shirt wearing hipsters, and comfortable enough for blue collar service workers to sit in harmony and enjoy a cold beer together.
Two years later the brewery and taproom are still going strong and serving beers even Andy most likely never dreamed of creating when he had his first craft pint. I missed the grand opening and the first anniversary party due to Andy’s poor planning by opening his baby on my baby’s birthday! This year I was able to make the party because there are very few 17-year-old girls who want to hang out with their parents on the weekends.
When I walked in, Lizzy Hineman (Marketing Manager) draped a custom media pass around my neck. So much glitter and twine I thought I was important (see the pic). After being welcomed it was time to begin the in-depth quality check of these so called “special releases” Brewer Austin Elsbury had created.
Since it has been two years I will share a secret, Andy allowed me to purchase a quarter barrel as one of the first beers I poured through my kegerator. This was when he was struggling to keep up with the demand of bars and restaurants wanting to sell his creations. It was, and still is, one of my favorite Scotch Ales and I was excited to be Andy’s first… personal keg sale, that is.
That is why I chose the 2015 Barrel Aged They’ve Gone to Plaid! Scotch Ale as my first beer. The barrel aging was handled with a deft hand, which complimented the sweet malty flavors very well. As it warmed, the barrel came out slightly more and helped combat the increased sweetness. My only regrets were there were so many other beers to try and I couldn’t take any home. As much as I like the regular version, the BA version was even more delicious. I hope Austin makes this one again in the future!
I followed this up with a cask pour of Lake IPA aged on tequila soaked oak spirals and clementines. I wasn’t sure what to expect with this beer, and I enjoyed what was in my cup. The IPA wasn’t the super hoppy concoction one would expect, but there was a hop presence. The oak and tequila flavors were very forward and worked well with the IPA. I’m not sure the clementines shined as much as I thought they would, and I have to attribute that to the tequila and oak. I’m not very experienced with clementines in beer but I don’t know if they could have added anything more to this IPA. I would like to see this version of Lake IPA end up in cans/bottles one day to add to my cellar. Cellaring beer is something I am familiar with and I imagine it will get better as time goes on, at least for a couple of years.
I had several more BA and cask offerings before I left, but the one beer that stuck out most was Love Machine Cream Ale with Brett. This was the first sour beer I have had from TwoDEEP, and I believe it was their first public offering. It read Brett and Andy assured me it was Brett, but it had a slight vinegar sour of Lactobacillus beers. If this was a standard or summer seasonal offering, it would be my go-to beer for sitting in the sun as I sweat profusely! If you know me, you know why I say that. The beer is crisp and tart without being too sour to enjoy multiple servings of. If I didn’t had to leave, I most likely would have enjoyed a couple of these. Life sometimes gets in the way, but when someone offers to take you to dinner at your favorite restaurant you have to go (it rhymes with Black Market). I have to say though, while devouring some delicious rich bone marrow I kept thinking how Love Machine would have paired with it wonderfully. The tart flavor would have cut through the savory and salty marrow in a most wonderful way.
Other than the beer, TwoDEEP did a fantastic job of providing activities, food, and a fun environment for their patrons. There were BBQ and Asian food truck offerings, corn hole sets, live music, and brewery tours throughout the evening. Anna Boyer and her team behind the bar did a fantastic job of keeping the beer flowing into people’s hands without having long waits. The music was enjoyable and the musicians interacted with the crowd, keeping everyone’s feet tapping and heads bobbing. Andy made sure there were a few pop-up tents in the parking lot to allow the crowd some shade on a hot day. The anniversary shirts were different than TwoDEEP’s standard shirts, they showed a muscular cartoon version of Andy holding barrels. The caricature or Andy was a bit beefier than the real Andy, but made for a fun visual when you saw the man wearing a shirt with himself on it! I wish I would have had taken a picture of him wearing the anniversary shirt. You have to love his sense of humor!
As you can tell, I am a fan of TwoDeep and the people that work there. Watching the team over the last two years has been fun. During that time, there have been some great people move onto their own greener pastures, along with employees who decided the industry wasn’t for them. But on this day, their second anniversary, TwoDeep was running like the well-oiled machine that it has become. I look forward to see what year three brings!
Keep drinking great beer and talking about it- I know I will!
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