Toppling Goliath advice

It's definitely worth it to stop by and spend a little time in the tap room enjoying what they have on draft/sharing bottles/talking with the workers/etc. I would also suggest checking out Courtyard & Cellar. They have had a pretty good selection lately and seems like a good place to end the night. I've never spent the night in Decorah but I would assume after visiting those 2 places you would certainly want to stay!

 

I always drink enough that I wouldn't consider not staying the night

And make sure you go to Courtyard and Cellar. It's only half a mile from TG

 

Decorah's a college town, so there's gotta be decent hotels around. When I went to TG I did not stay. The taproom's pretty small, with not much to look at. It's a taproom that's nice to visit for a couple of hours to sample some beers and talk with the workers and people. What I did was order a flight, skipped any that were bottled, and had one big beer you couldn't get a growler of. Then I took home whatever bottles they had, and filled up growlers of my favorite sample. In your case though, I'd fill up growlers of everything I could. By that time I was pretty much baseline.

I had no idea about Courtyard and Cellar, glad you guys mentioned that. I'll have to stop there next trip.

 

If you want to walk around downtown, look into the Hotel Winnishiek. It's a historic old hotel right on the main street. It's a nice little touristy downtown with a number of very good restaurants.

 

http://decorahareachamber.com/
I would say Hotel Winneshiek isn't too far a walk from TG. Courtyard and Cellar is about half way between. Best to stop there and grab a cold one for resting purposes!!

 

Thanks for the thread OP and to those who mentioned the Courtyard & Cellar. I'm making the drive from Mississippi to North Dakota this weekend and already have a place booked at a little B&B right around the corner from both Toppling Goliath and C&C. If you have any other suggestions (maybe a bottle shop?) that'd be helpful.

OP, I'll post back with my experience after I return in a couple of weeks … hopefully I'll have something helpful to add.

 

Is bottle availability hit or miss at the taproom? I'm stopping by Wed. and was wondering.

Any bottle shops in town? Sorry if this gets asked all the time, I couldn't find that info in the forums.

 

I'm not local, but I have been there, and am from Iowa originally. I would recommend you stay so you can sit and enjoy everything they have. There's not much else for beer within a couple hours from Decorah, so you might as well stay awhile. The bottle availability is pretty limited though. Hopefully you get lucky and some things are released right before you go.

 

Yah bottle availability is very hit or miss. Call ahead if you want to get bottles. They have growlers but I would bring my own. They have crappy plastic caps that are the worst I have ever seen. Not a great seal. Great place though. They have tons of taps. Where else can you drink that many Toppling Goliath beers?!?!?! I hope that others back me up and get them to sell growlers with better caps. Those things are really bad.

 

For the real deal look at what @TGanyone says. He is local and is a really nice guy.

 

If you have some extra time & you are a history buff, drive 14 miles to Spillville. Really neat old clock museum, http://www.bilyclocks.org/ . All the clocks were made in the late 1800's by two brothers. Henry Ford offered the brothers 1000's of $$ for one, but they wouldn't sell. Also, the Czech composer, Antonin Dvorak spent a summer there & wrote one of his greatest pieces of work while visiting...Just a little "off the beaten path" cool history to experience.

 

If you have the time & can adjust your route a little, you could also visit Brau Brothers Brewing Company in Marshall MN on your way to NODAK. They recently relocated to Marshall from Lucan MN. They ran out of space & now have the brewery, taproom/restaurant in Marshall. They make some great beers & will have several of them in the taproom, (try the 100 yd dash pale ale). Enjoy, cheers!!

 

Don't forget to check the out the Oneota COOP, nice little beer selection! Spencer is really trying to get a nice variety in there. Prices are reasonable as well. Other Iowa brewery stuff available.

 

Speaking of museums, you should really consider going to Potosi, WI on your way south. In a neat little town not too far from Dubuque, the Potosi brewery has an extensive beer museum, and the beer and food is quite good. Probably a couple hours from TG.

 

I agree! Their brewpub was very good and the museum is really neat too.

 

Stopped by today. Psuedo Sue bottles available in taproom. That's it. The Co-op in town had a TG lager. Very solid brews across the board, especially all the hoppy stuff.

 

Don't they always have Psuedo Sue on draft in the taproom? If not why would people drive there only to find out their favorite beer is out for weeks?

 

He was talking bottles