Smiling Toad Brewery

This is a nice, friendly addition, in a very odd location in the SW area of Colorado Springs. They tend to have a good, experimental set of beers, including a pale ale made with lavender (I know, I know...sounds weird, tastes better than you'd expect) and usually 2-4 IPAs of any kind on tap. Kind of a dead vibe in that not many people are there at any one moment, but I really like the owners and the brewer and wish them well. Their regular IPA (IPAfreely) is pretty solid, and if they have any double IPAs, the pale ale lavender, or a brown/stout on tap, those are usually solid too. Try 'em out.

 

 

Cool little out-of-the-way place that looks like was once a residential building. Taproom is upstairs with an inverted L-shaped bar in one corner, a stage area across from it, and a few tablesaround the room. There is also a deck on on side of the building. A dozen beers on tap, I enjoyed the IPA Freely. Live music , place had a roadhouse sort of vibe. Friendly bartender.

 

It is a small out of the way place but worth visiting. They have a good selection of beer with better than average quality. There is no food on premises but there is a pizza place a couple of doors down that you can bring in and eat.

 

 

 

what a cool place, apparently recently moved from downtown into their new home, and i really like it, having never been to the old one. minimalist decor with a stage on one side of a big bar room and a long bar spanning the length of the place. the brew house is small and pieced together it looks like, some plastic fermenters, but they cool the whole room so i didnt taste too warm fermented beer at all in here. the guy behind the bar, biff his name was, could not have been any more friendly and inviting. he was proud of the beer, generous with tasters, and keen to tell me his story. i really enjoyed his hospitality. the beers were better than expected looking at the brew house they came from. the brown ale was honestly one of the best i have ever tasted, chocolate laden and bigger without being bitter like porter. they obviously love their ipa in here. i think they had maybe five of them on tap, including a cool single hopped one and a raspberry one, both of which were exceptional. i liked their porter too. everyone in there was friendly, and he had an awesome food truck out front. i think with some live music on their little stage area this place would be tough to beat. the beer was yummy and i am surprised it hasnt gotten more attention. thanks biff for a great experience!

 

 

The address has changed to 1757 S 8th St. This was my first COS microbrew experience and it did not disappoint. A nice selection of typical blondes reds and a dynamic chili lime concoction as well as a limited edition lavender brew. A great place not to be missed while in the Springs.

Pretty hard to find place. It's behind the Little Napal place in the strip mall back there. The place has a lot of potential . The beer was on better side of okay. Seems to be a malty heavy brewery. Cozy little place for a nano. Nice small stag for close live performances. When I visited they had a ad for a chili contest so they obviously have plans to do things other than be a brewery which is always cool when you have a reason to go other than drink good beer.

Smiling Toad recently took over KB Kraft Beer. The small space has been redone and now features a bigger L-shaped bar right in front of the fermenters.

Intimate space with room for 20-25 people max inside. There's an outdoor patio when the weather is nice.

Rotating taplist has all sorts of styles, wheats, belgians, barleywines, scotch ales, etc. They update new brews on their facebook page.

Five brews on tap when we stopped in. Had the IPA, which used a new Australian hop and a new experimental hop from Oregon (similiar to Simcoe I was told). The hop bill changes in the IPA so there's always something different.

Also had a Vanilla Porter and Lavender Ale on tap. The vanilla porter had loads of vanilla in it. The lavender smells and tastes like soap, but it sells well so its been a holdover from the KB days.

The new bar seems to give the place more space. Despite it being a cold snowy night, there was a steady trickle of folks coming in.

Our pourer had 15 years of homebrewing experience and was very knowledgeable about all the brews. Gave us samples before we got a pint, told us about future beers coming out and also informed the hard-core beer nerds in there what hops went into the latest IPA (went out of his way to let us smell a fresh sample of the hops they used).

Its a tiny neighborhood place adding to the ever growing C Springs craft beer scene. The friendly service and friendly folks at the bar made for a welcoming intimate environment.