Kettlehouse, Missoula

In Missoula, Montana, I used to enjoy dropping in at the Iron Horse microbrewery, a pretty good spot for fresh brewed ale during an I-90 roadtrip, so I was sad to learn on my last visit that Iron Horse has gone the way of so many once-promising microbreweries—it has stopped brewing and turned into more of a tavern.  The establishment is still called Iron Horse, and it has a decent selection of craft brew (in addition  to the yellow fizzy stuff preferred by budget-conscious University of Montana students) but it is no longer a microbrewery. 

I asked the waitress what they were pouring in the way of IPA, and she gave me a few choices, including one from a microbrewery I’d never heard of, Kettlehouse, right there in Missoula.  I ordered a pint of Kettlehouse' Double Haul IPA to go with my hamburger.  The Grizzly Burger was great.  The beer, not so much.  Let me put that in context for you.

In the last eight months, I’ve visited 50 different microbreweries and ale houses where I sampled about as many IPA’s.  On top of that, I drank upwards of 30 India Pales at our favorite local tavern, the Parkway in Tacoma, and 30 additional bottled IPA’s at home in the same time period.  Yes, I’ve had right around 100 different IPA’s in the last eight months.  And of all the IPA’s I’ve drunk, my least favorite by far was this one from Kettlehouse.  I'm sure the good folks at Kettlehouse will write me off as some sort of idiot for not loving their Double Haul, but I didn't find anything I liked about it.

The nose was funky.  The faintest hint of citrus might have been there, but it was totally overpowered by some sort of dank basement smell.  Upon giving it a sip, what I noticed more than anything else was a stale, dish-raggy taste.  There was some bitterness, but the vaunted Cascade hops weren't delivering any floral or citrus notes.  I was thoroughly disappointed.  The waitress came back around and asked how I liked it.  I said, “I drink a lot of IPA.  I wouldn’t order this again.”  She indicated agreement, giving the beer a knowing sneer.  

I found Double Haul so unpleasant that I figured something was wrong with Iron Horse’ taps, so I immediately reneged on my vow to not order it again and went over to Kettlehouse to try it at its source.  Kettlehouse has two brewing facilities in Missoula.  I went to the Northside location that straddles the Orange Street underpass at North 1st. Nice looking building.

I had five choices at Kettlehouse.  In addition to the Double Haul IPA, there was Eddy Out Pale, Lake Missoula Amber, Cold Smoke Scotch and Brick & Mortar Porter.  Nice graphics on the labels, I thought, and good names.

In spite of the other choices, it was the IPA I was curious about, so I ordered another Double Haul.  When I brought it to my nose I instantly knew it was going to be exactly like the one I had choked down earlier at Iron Horse.   There was nothing wrong, apparently, with Iron Horse’ taps—whether at Iron Horse or Kettlehouse, Double Haul had the same dank basement smell and stale taste.  

I learned that the North American Beer Awards gave this beer a Gold Medal in 2008.  How could that be?  Maybe it tasted different in 2008.  Or maybe entries were a bit thin that year.   I don’t know.  But from now on, I’ll be skeptical about the judgments of the NABA.

I've read some reviews of this beer, and they are all over the map.  Totally inconsistent.  I don't know if the beer varies that much or if the reviewers are just sorta stupid.    No one seems to find Double Haul as unpleasant as I do, but I did encounter the words "musty," "stale" and "weak" in a few reviews.  Some people have written glowing reviews of this stinker, praising it for things I didn't event detect. 

Kettlehouse encourages people to drink bongwater.  I’d rather drink Double Haul than bongwater, for sure, but now that I think about it, Double Haul’s aftertaste is vaguely reminiscent of a basement rug soggy with spilt beer and bongwater. 

Of course, Kettlehouse doesn't advocate drinking real bong water.  Evidently, the brewery has two brews, a Porter and a Pale, named Olde Bongwater and Fresh Bongwater, respectively. 

Rather than warning you to stay away from Kettlehouse, I'll encourage you to stop in and have a Double Haul.  I'd like your analysis of the brew.  I know what I like, and I don't like this ale at all.  But I'm sure there are more than six people who love Double Haul, so it is more popular than this blog.