Reclamation Brewing

I made my trip out to Moraine State Park for some trail walking and saw a brochure for this brewery. I have heard about it for quite some time and decided to head over there since Bulter is very close to Moraine. Butler is a very small town and when you get to Reclamation it doesn't look like much from the outside. There is a banner with the name hung near the door and a mural with a unicorn. My girlfriend liked the unicorn, but it does look kind of misplaced on the outside of a brewery. Anyways, on the inside it looks much nicer and more like a full scale restaurant and pub. On to the important stuff.
The beers are all Reclamation crafted items and they have a very nice selection. They have wacky names like wee heavy, way sour, spurgeon milk stout, smash ale, Egan's Irish stout, promised land ale, blanc mosaic, domestic cheese(name of a beer, not food) etc. I liked the Wittenburg wheat beer. It is pretty much your standard wheat beer, but light and still tasty. I had the Spurgeon milk stout which is light for a stout, but it has nice coffee notes with just the right amout of bitterness on the back end. The Wee Heavy, Way Sour tastes like a very sour champagne type of beer with a lot of grape notes on the tongue and vinegar on the nose. It ends up a very interesting beer that my lady really enjoyed.
The food is about 2 steps up from your standard bar food and it works for the environment. I would certainly go back if I am in the Butler area at some point and I have been meaning to check out the Meridon gallery again.

Reclamation is trying hard. The food is their best feature. The venue is adequate and their beer is their weak link. I am usually disappointed by the brews and think they should focus on finding 4-6 styles they can make well. They are also charging world-class prices for very, very average beer. I sure hope they can survive and thrive. I keep going back, but have seen little growth and improvement in their products since they opened.

 

 

Come here a minimum of once a week. The Egans Irish Stout (nitro) is my go too. Great atmosphere, great banter. Infusion night every Thursday is not to be missed! Beer filtered through interesting ingredients. Get yourself a Big Ass Pretzel and some Drunken Cheesesteak.