Earth Rider Brewery | Superior, WI
Beer Trip: Earth Rider Brewery in Superior, Wisconsin
When you stop and think about it, we’re all just temporary residents in this world we live in. From the time we’re born until the time we perish, our lives are just one big ride on our planet Earth. Enter Earth Rider Brewery - these folks hope to enhance everyone’s journey on our planet via quality beer and camaraderie!
The Brewery
Earth Rider has a completely different feel than we’re used to. To start, their campus (yes, campus) is huge and broken up into three areas. The brewing operations are housed inside of a large building at one edge of the property, where they host tours every Saturday. The middle section is the outdoor space, and calling it massive would be an understatement. We would estimate it to be over an acre in size, with a commercial-level stage centered along the back fence. The bartender said that they host live music 2 to 3 times a week and will bring in bigger bands from time to time, with some events selling over 1,500 tickets!
The third area is their taproom, which is inside a late 1800s building that operated as a brewery for close to 70 years. A U-shaped bar occupies over 50% of the room, with just a few tables and chairs along the walls. The entire place has a true dive bar feel, as there are tons of vintage nautical and outdoor items hanging from the walls and ceiling, most of them being the owner’s family belongings. The interior also houses a small stage in the corner, perfect for a one or two man band. During the wintertime, this place has got to be rocking!
The Beer
Earth Rider has one of the more extensive beer menus in the area, with 20+ brews on tap. We were informed that their selection features 4 flagship beers, and the remaining tap list rotates as they run out. With that said, many of the favorites will come back from time to time. We’re not sure we’ve been anywhere with as many styles as they have to offer. This visit consisted of IPAs, traditional lagers, wheats, a radler, pilsner, scotch ale, and amber, to name a few. With so many to choose from, they actually made their own chart to follow based on your flavor preferences. By following your yes and no answers down the sheet, you’ll land on a recommended brew.
Having never tried the beer from Earth Rider before visiting, we were really impressed with its quality. Clearly we aren’t the only ones either, as they’ve won multiple medals for several of their brews from the Great American Beer Festival and the World Beer Cup. Their beer with the most accolades is their flagship, the North Tower Stout. This one has a great combination of both chocolate and roasted coffee, yet is fairly smooth. While this one was good, our favorite was actually the Duluth Coffee Pale Ale. For a warmer day, this light ale was very easy-drinking, yet had the perfect coffee taste to mask the hops.
Food, Merch, & More
You won’t find a full kitchen at Earth Rider, but they can make you a soft pretzel or even cook you a frozen pizza. With the tap room being fairly small, they do a nice job of organizing their merchandise in milk crates near the front door. There’s a nice selection of colorful t-shirts, as well as glassware available for purchase. Unfortunately for us, they didn’t have any brewery stickers. On a brighter note though, a great deal of their beer is available for to-go purchase in 6-packs - so we were able to bring some back to Kansas to enjoy.
Places like Earth Rider are why we enjoy our brewery travels so much. This place has an abnormal taproom and we are here for it! Combine this with some awesome beer, and it’s clear why we’d love to make a return visit someday.
Cheers!
