Crooked Ewe Brewery & Ale House

Best brewery in South Bend in terms of nice environment,service,average beers but trying. Kamloops River runs in back for great late day pic. If uou are here, worth a stop.

 

 

Pretty cool brewery with decent beers. Nice atmosphere by the river. 12 house beers on tap, and a good variety of styles. Eclectic looking menu. I had a good pulled pork sandwich and fries. Lots of vegetarian options, also ramen and pad Thai looked good. Overall cool place.

Cool little brewpub on the river bank. Building reminds me of an industrial lumberyard or hardware store. Long concrete bar opposite the entry seats about 15 and has a nice view of the river. There are about a half dozen table opposite the bar. A dozen beers on tap, I had the Vital IPA, a solid offering. I did not try the food, but it smelled fabulous. Friendly service; great place to grab a quick one.

My wife and I stopped here for lunch and to try their beers. The place is located along a busy street among other businesses. There is parking to the side of the building. The inside seemed a bit darker than most breweries, but that's okay as long as I can still see my food. A long bar with about 20 stools is located along the window wall which gives views to the rear of the building, and high and standard-height tables/chairs filled the rest of the place.. A patio is also located on this side of the building. The brewing equipment is visible when entering the building and along the hallway to the restrooms. Overall the vibe is about right.

We ordered a sampler flight of 7 of the 11 beers that were on tap to evaluate them for this review. (There were also two small batch offerings listed on the chalk board menu which we did not notice until we were ready to leave.) Each beer was brewed well to its respective style, and we felt the notable ones were the two IPAs, Turtle Tamer and Vital. Overall the beers scored a 3.82 (out of 5).

The food menu is a little unique with the ingredients that were used for many items (kimchi was a frequent ingredient used), and each of the items that we ordered was a bit on the spicy side. That's a characteristic not to my liking, but we both felt the food was prepared very well for that style. We'd visit here again, but I'd probably scour the food menu a little closer to avoid the spicy stuff. Wine and a cider were also noted on the menu for the non-beer drinkers. Stop by if you are in the area.

 

 

The view is outstanding, looking over the St. Joe River, the food is pretty decent, but the beer (the most important component) is fairly mundane. I may go back, but my visits will be limited.