Sidhe Brewing Company

Small quirky tap room. 8 beers on tap. All very good. IPAs are not too hoppy. Cream ale and brown are my favorites.
They do a good job of bringing in events. Music, comedy, cabaret and belly dancing, storytelling, trivia are all there.
Can get crowded when they have a popular event, otherwise usually quiet and low key.
Worth going!

well, what a pleasant surprise this place was! lured in by the beautiful artwork and creative recipes, i had a real experience in here! lets start with the brewery. its a great space, big and sort of cobbled together on the cheap it seems, mismatched furniture and all, but an endearing charm. the brew house is in the back, small humble operation, but apparently fairly prolific, they had something like eight beers on tap, and all were quite well done. i most enjoyed the stout and the sour, but none of them were bad in any way at all. the folks that own and run this place are awesome and unique too. transgender or transsexual im not sure exactly what the term is, the brewer and owner was engaging and honest and fun loving and very open about her identity, which i thought was both refreshing and comfortable, nice to see people being their true selves, and with beer, nothing is better than that. the beer here is very good, better quality than the surroundings it seems, and worth a trip to east saint paul to check it out. a very original place, liberal and fun. ill be back before long.

 

I had the chance to visit there a week ago before I went to a wedding reception down the road at Flat Earth. I do like the Irish theme to the place. The beers were delicious. he bartender was very friendly, and helpful describing their beers. I will be back.

 

 

 

I live pretty close to Sidhe's taproom and had wanted to stop by for a while. When I first entered the door I thought it was a neat location because it was down a small set of stairs, reminding me of a cheers or underground location. The beer tender was very friendly and she offered us a tour of their brewing facilities. There is plenty of room for social gatherings and board games if one is interested in that. I thought the chairs being non uniform was a little odd, but kind of added to the quirky charm of the place. I plan on going again!

The brewery itself has been open for about two months now, and my wife and I finally got a chance to get over to East St. Paul to check it out. Normally I try to give about 4-6 months before reviewing a brewery to let them get the kinks out, but I thought I'd break with tradition and write this up anyway. The name Sidhe (pronounced "she") comes from Irish mythology and usually describes the fairy folk, especially female fairies like the beautiful and dangerous Leanan Sidhe and the deadly Banshee. The group of women who started the brewery are self described "fringey folk" including members of the LGBT community, and have brought a unique point of view and style to their project. As such, the group is very open and inviting to those of alternative religious and sexual orientations. Despite focus on their woman-owned and operated tag-line, their admirable goal is to make the brewery a comfortable place for all people.

At the time of this writing we found the brewery to have a small sidewalk placard and a vinyl banner outside to draw us in. I really like their colorful logo, bringing in the classical elements of Fire, Air, Water, and Earth in a pleasing and beer-centric way. After entering the doorway, you make your way down stairs into a fairly small sunken taproom. I'm not going to lie, the place is not the most attractive taproom I've been in. Mismatched stools at the utilitarian bar, small tables, and a stage in the corner round out the space. A few paintings on the walls add a bit of character, but the room needs a bit more work to get that comfortable pub vibe that I think they're looking for. Hey they opened this tiny 2 barrel brewery on a shoe-string budget and I think they have done what they need to do to get the place open and running! Hopefully, once they start getting some publicity (that's why I'm writing this!) they can start bringing in money to spruce the place up a bit.

There were several people at the bar when we arrived, without the place being crowded. There were a couple of servers behind the bar, including Jacqueline Stoner, a recently made homebrewing friend. These folks all knew their stuff--being able to describe all the beers in detail! We also got to say hi briefly to brewer Kathleen, who was actively working back in the brewery.

Soon we had our sampler glasses before us. Both my wife and I agreed that our favorites were the Bast Kissed (a fantastic example of a cream ale) and the Greenman's Harvest brown ale (more balanced and tasty than the preview tasting I had previously had.) My next favorite was the well-done dry Irish stout Dark Moon Rising--very spot-on for style. I still want to try this on nitro! The Barking Cat strong Belgian golden was very tasty as well, and funny to us since our cat Freya will often bark at the birds nesting outside the house. I think my least favorite of the group was the Hopped Up McGonigal--a higher ABV (8.6%) IPA--while beer was not bad, it really lacked hop aroma and flavor. I'm hoping to see some cider or mead in the future...

We were sitting at the bar when a fellow on my left (also tasting through everything) commented on how clean and good all the beers were. I had to agree! Even my least favorite beer was well fermented, just not to my personal taste for the style. No sign of infection or poor yeast handling here! For a place just recently open, I think the beer quality was better than many places I've been to that have been open over a year. This is more impressive when you take into account their home-made 2 barrel brew system and the potential for quality control issues inherent in small batch brewing. Good job so far Kathleen!

Overall, I was quite pleasantly surprised with the beer quality at Sidhe. I think they could spruce up the taproom a bit, but it works and gives folks a place to hang out and try that beer! I like the inclusive nature of the brewery's mission and, as a geek, find their mythology/Wiccan/fantasy vibe to be fun and very different from most breweries. I'm looking forward to seeing how they do over the coming year and encourage people to give them a chance. And if you need any other incentive to get to East St. Paul, the wonderful fine dining restaurant Tongue In Cheek is right across the street.