Plank Town Brewing Company

 

 

Beer is above par, and they usually have something on cask, witch is all too rare locally. Great atmosphere and people. The only negative is the food is hit or miss. Sometimes the fries are soggy, sometimes the recipes just don't work out. The highlights are the burger,the fried chicken, and the salads. All very good!

 

 

This place is very popular with my friends at work, who are always raving about the food. After stopping by for an early dinner today, I can see why.

Located on the corner of Main St. and 4th Street in downtown Springfield, the brewpub is a sizeable place, with picnic tables, some wooden tables and chairs, and also some modernistic looking metal high chairs and tables back by the brewing equipment. There's also a small room to the left (as you walk in from Main St.), where you can buy schwag and beer to go (I believe). There's also a fair size, horseshoe shaped bar area in the middle of the pub, holding roughly 20 stools I believe. There are no TV"s in the pub, but the place otherwise has a very informal, relaxed, laid back vibe. Service was pretty decent I thought. I don't know how much my server/bartender knew about the beer made here, but she was friendly and personable enough, and my beer flight order and food came promptly.

In terms of the beer, I've yet to have anything from Plank Town that's impressed me. I see their stuff at most of the local festivals in town, so I was somewhat familiar with their beers. On this day, I ordered the foggy Scottsman porter, barrel aged blue pool pils, the riptooth IPA and the Hobbit's Little Helper strong ale. The IPA and strong ale were the best of the lot, but even they were hardly anything to get excited about. The pils and porter were average at best. On this day, they had both the regular Blue Pool and Barrel Aged version, and I was intrigued by the idea of a barrel aged pils. It seemed like a bad idea to me, but the barrel aging was so light it was barely noticeable, and the pils character shown through. Otherwise, they had 13 different beers on tap today (nothing on cask, though normally they have a cask offering), priced between $4 and $5.50 a glass (the BA Blue Pool and strong ale were the two most expensive beers, with the Hobbit's Helper served in a 10 ounce glass, and priced at $5).

As for food, I went with the Nachos with pulled pork. They were nothing short of outstanding, made with homemade chips and served with a LOT of pulled pork. My guess is that the white cheese sauce was homemade as well, and the dish came smothered with sauce, pork, white beans, lettuce and cilantro. There was just enough hot sauce to give the dish a noticeable kick. I can see why my friends like coming here for lunch and dinner, and I'd definitely come back just for the food here.

Just wish the beer here was better...