Driving through SD during this pandemic

Tagging @bbtkd as I think he's your best source of information, for Sioux Falls area at least. I use to live in South Dakota for years but the scene has been changing and expanding pretty rapidly over the past 4-5 years. He is far more up to date.

 

Welcome to Sodak.
The downtown Fernson tap room is a nice stop w/ several very good beers. Also downtown is JL Beers, good selection & great burgers. A couple blocks from downtown, over the river is Monks House of Ale Repute w/ a great draft list.

I haven't been to the Sioux Falls Lupulin location, (only the one in MN), but Lupulin makes outstanding beer & well worth tracking down, (my choice for best in SD).

Enjoy your trip & don't forget Wall Drug & the Corn Palace!

 

For Sioux Falls, I would suggest staying at the Hilton Garden Inn on 8th St downtown. It is in the heart of the Sioux Falls "beer district", and is a nice newer hotel right on the river. There are four going on five brewery/taprooms downtown (Woodgrain, Remedy, Covert Artisan, and Severance). There is also the Fernson taproom (separate from their brewery/taproom elsewhere in the city), plus JL Beers, an independent taproom. There are other bars with some craft. That's just the beer district within crawling/walking distance of the hotel. Gandy Dancer/Monk's is reopening in the near future under new ownership and name.

Elsewhere in Sioux Falls you'll find another JL Beers taproom, Obscure brewery/taproom, Fernson brewery/taproom, Lupulin brewery/taproom, Miner wineroom/taproom (for their winery/brewery in the Black Hills), Looks brewery/taproom, Sickie's taproom, The Barrel taproom, Taphouse 41 - and a few others. I can't keep up.

As far as stores, though there are others, I only hit three; Fogies at Marion and 57th, Taylor's at Minnesota and 41st, and JJ's on 57th. JJ's is a big liquor/wine/craft store with a taproom, plus wine and liquor tasting. They have live entertainment, a boozy bakery and axe throwing and craft beer at another location (a dubious combination). Williquors on Louise is a big liquor superstore that has lots of beer. Liquor stores and taprooms here can fill growlers (some crowlers), and most do. You can get well over 100 different beers in growlers/crowlers. It would take at least a full weekend - and a Lyft - to hit everything here.

I'm probably missing something - revised this from an Email I sent someone last year.

 

Also want to say that A Homestead Brew just outside of Sioux Falls is worth a visit IMO


http://ahomesteadbrew.com/

 

Does Covert finally have a taproom?

That, along with Severance, Obscure and Looks. I need to hit up Sioux Falls again.

 

I always wanted to visit Dakota Shivers Brewing in Lead in the Badlands just because of the name and setting. It seems they are still in business.

 

I back JL beers and definitely don't skip Woodgrain Brewing. They are making great beers.

 

Covert had a tap room of sorts when i was there last September. They cleared out the front of the brewery and had a few tables. They only do sours.

 

Woodgrain is great, I don’t go up there often, but it’s a must stop for me.

Can’t help you with restaurants I eat at the teriyaki madness every time, it’s my favorite Asian fast food and I get it every time I see it.

 

We may be staying at that hotel this Sunday. Is there a good casual restaurant to eat close by....burgers...pizza...seafood....nothing too fancy...

Also what are the rules in South Dakota for masks etc....I know you got that hot looking Governor who hasn't put many rules in place. Is Sioux Falls much of a hot spot right now for covid?

 

Also is Monks open? Doesn't look that way on-line. Was there about ten years ago and liked that place.

 

Crave, in the hotel, is pretty good, though fancy. Within 10 minutes walking distance are several casual sit-down options, such Phillips Avenue Diner, MacKenzie River, Jacky's (Mexican), and Blarney Stone. Of these, I'd advise the Diner or MacKenzie's. You'll need to research to what extent they're open for dine-in. We haven't eaten out much since COVID hit.

I just saw that Monk's is hoping to open "early to mid August", though not sure what it will be called.

As far as masks, it's pretty random, so best to have them with you. Some places are either requiring or encouraging use and this has been on the uptick the past few weeks, particularly with national chains.

Note that the 100-year-old bridge just West of the hotel is closed for overhaul, so you'll want to come in from Cliff Avenue on 8th. There's a foot-bridge right behind the hotel to get to the West side of the river, and the hotel is on the bike trail. The hotel has a parking ramp that's free to guests. Enjoy yourselves, plenty to do!

 

I haven't gotten there yet, but Covert now has a taproom across the alley to the East of Monk's. They gutted an old train maintenance building and built new inside the frame. Sounds like the brewery is still at the old location.

Also note that Covert does other styles (IPA, Saison, Wheat, Fruit), though they specialize in sours.

 

Thanks. Appreciate all the help.

 

I will post more details soon on our visit but I found all the places we went to in Downtown Siuoux Falls had most people wearing masks. All the workers at the bars and restaurants and hotel were and I'd say 95% of the customers were until they were at their tables or sitting outside. This includes JL Beers, Fernson, Remedy, and Crave.

 

I thought the OP was interested in the best served & packaged beers in SD?
I didn't realize we were suppose to provide a mask update for the state.

Let me check on that for you:

Barrybeerdog: Hello Governor Noem, do folks need to wear a mask in Sodak?
Governor Noem: Hell no!
Barrybeerdog: Thank you Ma'am, beer is on me!

Cheers

 

Here's the update on our stop on Sunday on the way back from a wedding in Kansas. Stayed at Hilton Garden Inn. Great location and nice to have the Crave restaurant and patio connected.

We got into town around 4 and after checking in went and played a couple sets of tennis at McKennan Park. Great courts. One of the nicest courts we've played on.

Got back and showered and then walked over to Woodgrain but they were closed. Went over to JL beers for a quick burger and to see what they had locally on tap. The local tap list was disappointing. The had some good beers but ones I can easily get and really nothing from Sioux Falls..Had the Take 16 Hefe and waiter never came back before my burger was gone so we just had a quick one and went over to Fernson across the street. Solid beer there. Had the orange oat cream IPA which was good.

Walked over to Remedy from there and had quite a few half pours. Dakota Classic was well made and on style. Maibock was "off". Nor-Wheat-gian wood beer was unusual...not my thing. Nonsense IPA was decent enough as was the barrel aged Imperial stout. We enjoyed sitting out back on the large patio with plenty of social distancing. Bartender let us order beer right to closing then stay out on the patio as long as we wanted after they closed. We had an enjoyable stop here.

Walked back to the hotel and hit Crave for a couple more beers and some wings. I can't remember the beers but they were good and places I can't get in Minnesota. Finished up with a Macallan 12 which was perfect to close the evening with.

Next day went for a run on the river trail. I guess that runs all the way around the city. What a treasure that is. We wished we had our bikes with.

After checking out we stopped at JJ's on 57th which wasn't much out of the way. What a great place. You legally can't have places like that in Minnesota. Brought back a good load of local SD area beers in cans in bottles, then filled a couple growlers including a Woodgrain IPA which I was excited to see since we missed out on them downtown. Growler prices were very fair. Good cigar selection to and ended up picked up a half dozen different sticks to add to my humidor.

From there it was on to the 80 MPH speed limit highways which were in great condition. Amazing how your roads seem in better shape than our and your taxes are much less.

Thanks for all the help on suggestions. We had a real nice quick stop.