Lander Brewing Company

When Jon proposed this trip, he was talking Bozeman cutting the Yellowstone corner and out to Jackson before Boise. I interjected that I needed to come here for obvious reasons. Lander (that’s me), in Lander (Wyoming), at the Lander (Brewing Company). So, the Cowfish/Lander one-two late late late in the day on the heels of the Yellowstone 'the loop road is closed to the south so you have go back and run the long way around' boolshit. We are tight on time but will make this work…

In and to the right, a room with a wood plank straight bar to the rear, panel pieced base, & a foot ledge. Seating for 10 on hightop chairs as that is the width of the place. Logo Cowfish piece on the stainless 7 tap tower with logo handles and a fucking normally live except not today, not right now, not at this moment handpump aside on the bar (seriously?) The barback is glassware shelved 2/3 of the way + wines & a crowler crimper countered, and booze tiered fronting windows looking in over the brew room (tax determination tanks), and a large framed mirror to the left and another recessed in the other 1/3 of the barback space. Framed GABF medals, mounted World Beer Cup awards, and beer placards listing beer selections (beer, style, ABV) above.

Brick walls, concrete floors, beige pressed tin ceiling with crown molding. Ductwork, drop lanterny lamps tracing the bar, plate lamps in 2 rows across the floor, and track spots along the perimeter. Copper mash tun and small tanks platformed forward in the windows. Inlayed display case on the inside wall with more medals, awards, pint glasses w/malt, etc. 7 tables about the room; hightop squares, shorty rounds & recs. Cowfishing painting & Lander Brewing print. A roll up shorty door behind the bar for serving outside. Tall vertical doors on the side wall get you out there; a few square tables under awning. Cowfish is the dining side of this shared space. Upwards of a dozen and a half tables through the doorway there (me, pointing).

So, 7 beers up, I may have gotten to all of them. 5 of them full time beers (On Belay IPA, 6.3%, citrus, good bitterness; Rockchuck Rye, Brown Ale with Rye, 5.3%, good chocolate & toastiness, spicy rye notes; Atlantic City Gold, Blonde Ale, 4.2%, biscuit, floral; Half-Tanked Hefeweizen, 6%, banananana, clove, yep, that’s a Hefe, all right; Jack Mormon Pale Ale, American Pale Ale, 4.8%, citrus, bitter, not bad), and 2 seasonals (Red Wing Bomber, Belgian Stout, 7%, it’s a raisin cookie, plummy Belgian candy sugar, yum; Warming Hut, Chocolate Orange Porter, 5.5%, thankfully not over-Orangey, definitely more Porter than Orange). And the aformentioned cask (The Mayor of Cowfish, IPA, 4.9%, which was not up. You broke my heart, Lander. You broke my heart!). Am thinking Rockchuck Rye (Brown Ale with Rye), Red Wing Bomber (Belgian Stout), and On Belay IPA for the wins.

Jon did the ribeye (fabulous), with mashed potatoes (the best! On par with the Horsebrass), and broccolini (he ate it). I ‘et an amazing grilled chicken salad and the awesome carrot cake with vanilla cream cheese frosting and toasted walnuts. Food was unexpectedly upscale & excellent.

Additending tonight, polite, cordial, & attentive. Good tunes, and a chill crowd. I think the food menu was the total shocker, was expecting something pub grub and this was well above that. A couple of good beers had, Jon got cans to go. A Wyoming pleasant surprise.

@benito and @DrunkenMonkey have done an excellent job below detailing the history and otherwise confusing mix of names that apply to this “compound” of establishments.

We’ve imbibed and dined at both the Gannett Grill and the Cowfish Restaurant — the Grill is open many more hours than the Restaurant.

The food in the Cowfish is exceptional. We had perhaps a 15-minute wait to be seated at dinner on Labor Day weekend — reservations are accepted, though. We had the Grilled Blackened Mahi-Mahi sandwiches and side salads and would order them again in a heartbeat! There is comfortable seating both inside and outside.

The food in the Gannett Grill is good; we ate there last year though I don’t recall specifically what we had, but it brought us back this year.

The food, service, and comfortable ambience in this dining/drinking complex are very much superior to the beer itself (the beer quality is the only reason I downrated the “Quality” number). I’ve reviewed both the Atlantic City Gold and the Rock Chuck Rye; I did purchase a couple bottles of their (bottle-only) barrel-aged brews, and will add those to the BA roster and review them at a later time. But as of now, the food will bring us back here during our annual Wyoming backpacking vacation, though the beer alone probably wouldn’t.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The owner has bought out Snake River and this is now the "Lander Brewing Company & Cowfish Resturaunt." They have hired a new brewer and all brewing will be on premiss with outside draft distribution soon. Theese beers will continue to be regulars:
Atlantic City Gold - Kolsh
Rockchuck Rye - American Rye
Jack Morman Pale - American Pale
NEW- Black Trout Stout - Export Stout
Current seasonals/specials are:
Golden Summer Hefe - German Hefewiessen
On Belay IPA - English IPA
Comming soon:
Trappist's Ale - Belgian Tripple
Landerfest Lager - German Oktoberfest
Email inquireies to: [email protected]

As featured in Outside Magazine, the Snake River Brewing branch in Lander is split between three separate establishments--the Cowfish restaurant (where the brewing happens), the Gannet Grill (with the fantastic outdoor patio for shady summer beering), and the Lander Bar (a true Cowboy bar that keeps all the brews on tap). All in all, then, this is more of a compound than a traditional brewpub, and it captures that odd mix of Lander cultures. Lander is where ranching meets mountaineering, where old Wyoming and the headquarters of NOLS meet and don't clash. It's the strange hybrid that makes Lander the most interesting city in Wyoming, and SRBL (Snake River Brewing Lander) is at the heart of it all.

The only downside here is that the beer is only average. They've got an exceptional rye brew--Rock Chuck Rye--on tap all the time, but the other four brews I tried (of the five remaining on tap) were all mediocre to passable. To balance things out, the food at the Grill is a sound mix of pizza, salad, and sandwiches. They offer burgers with locally grown beef, and then the Cowfish is Lander's 'upscale' restaurant, specializing in foods that require silverware.

This brewpub has some of the best ambience in the mountain West, and with the rye brew on tap, there's always at least one very solid, go-to brew. All in all, the Lander Bar/Gannet Grill/Cowfish/Snake River Brewing Lander complex is a must visit if you're anywhere near the Wind River Range.