Riggs Beer Company

 

Large gravel lot off the road with marked parking spots, a long row of solar panels to the far right, and a food truck parked on the far left. Large red barn building, modern inside. Biergarten out back, and event room in between. L-shaped bar and interior, view into the brewery to the right of the front doors. Clearly marked service area at the bar, with 8-10 barstools on the end. Long bierhalle style tables along the wall, perpendicular to the bar.

Vibe was pleasant, the staff were really helpful and enthusiastic. Modern "German beer hall in the cornfields" sort of vibe.

Beer selection was their core lineup, plus a handful of seasonals. Maibock, Doppelbock, and imperial IPL on my visit. They had a calendar posted with all their monthly seasonal releases. Quality was good, everything was drinkable and enjoyable, the Pilsner and Doppelbock were probably my favorite. I'll continue to look for their cans at retail when travelling in central Illinois.

Red barn-ish building on the east side of town. Spacious interior with L-shaped bar in the L-shaped bend of the room with a variety of seating options and a large shed like patio area with big garage doors to open the area up. 8 or 10 lagers on tap, I has the IPL which was solid. Lively local crowd, great space to have an event at.

A totally cool bier hall with many different seating arrangements. Hound and old in this clean, rustic new brewery. Authentic, homely German beers that are pretty good. 11 minutes from one of my favorite Triptych brewing in Champaign.

A great new brewery along the edge of Urbana. At first look, the outside exterior looks like a dentist building. Once inside, the brewery equipment can be seen on the right, with the comfortable bar area on the left. A horseshoe shaped wood bar, plenty of seating with couches and a large outdoor area. No TV's, which I always appreciate. Just a comfortable spot with plenty of patrons and lots of good conversation. Nice no?

Service is spot on. I think most, if not all the owners were working the bar. All knowing the beers and operations of coarse. Willing to talk shop when nobody had an empty glass. They also fill growlers by purging all the oxygen, and using tubes to fill from the bottom. Not all breweries do that, which I find surprising. Good for them for doing it correctly.

Seven beers on my visit. They do a mix of American style lagers and traditional German styles. Hefeweizen, Dunkelweizen, and Schwarzbier are all on point. Impressively so. It takes a lot of craft to make those styles on point without any off flavors. They also had a Nitro Porter, I am not a nitro fan so I skipped that. An adjunct lager, and a few other beers. All are well made, some are just a tad on the thin side, but for the most part not an issue at all.

Really well done, and am impressed with the traditional styles (these have only gotten better with time, so upping the quality part a little). I will be looking forward to trying the rest when I get a chance.

Great lagers from 2 highly experienced brewers. Hefeweizen is world class. IPL outstanding. 4 on selection since they only have 4 or 5 choices, but they just opened. Great country setting and tremendously comfortable. If you are in the Urbana-Champaign area, make sure to come here.