About
All over the United States, craft breweries are continuing an American tradition which experienced an almost 50 year drought after the repeal of prohibition. Big Muddy Brewing in Murphysboro, Illinois is much like many of these new “microbreweries” all over the country, reinvigorating an industry and continuing a heritage that has skipped several generations.
Until 1940, Murphysboro was the home of a thriving brewery and until prohibition; it was one of the cornerstones of the town’s industry. In 1910, the Stecher Brewing Company produced more than 40,000 barrels of beer a year. However, passage of the Volstead Act in 1919, which ushered in the era of prohibition, began a slow decline to the brewery’s demise.
Big Muddy Brewing’s founder Chuck Stuhrenberg attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale in the 1980s. After graduation, he opened a franchise of Chicago’s Rosati’s Pizza in Carbondale and in 1990, began another venture, Spray Shield Industries.
It was while Stuhrenberg was in college at SIU that he began making his own beer.
Stuhrenberg and his college buddies would homebrew, and as the years went on, he began to take his hobby more seriously.
Stuhrenberg always had professional brewing in the back of his mind, but it stayed a hobby until 2009. In July, 2009, Big Muddy Brewing finally began production, the first brewery in Murphysboro in over 50 years.
Until 1940, Murphysboro was the home of a thriving brewery and until prohibition; it was one of the cornerstones of the town’s industry. In 1910, the Stecher Brewing Company produced more than 40,000 barrels of beer a year. However, passage of the Volstead Act in 1919, which ushered in the era of prohibition, began a slow decline to the brewery’s demise.
Big Muddy Brewing’s founder Chuck Stuhrenberg attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale in the 1980s. After graduation, he opened a franchise of Chicago’s Rosati’s Pizza in Carbondale and in 1990, began another venture, Spray Shield Industries.
It was while Stuhrenberg was in college at SIU that he began making his own beer.
Stuhrenberg and his college buddies would homebrew, and as the years went on, he began to take his hobby more seriously.
Stuhrenberg always had professional brewing in the back of his mind, but it stayed a hobby until 2009. In July, 2009, Big Muddy Brewing finally began production, the first brewery in Murphysboro in over 50 years.
7.6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Bottle at Craig's power cut tasting, before the candles got cracked out. Probably black with a thin tan head. Bretty nose, chocolate and toffee. Taste is woody, more brett funk, dark chocolate behind that.
Tried
from Bottle
on 07 May 2018
at 12:34
6.8/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Bottle at home.. during the power cut.. so just gonna assume it black... big tan head... Soft sweet dusty chocolate roast malts.. soft brett nose... Dark black.. big brett.. dark dusty chocolate roast malts.. long btett
Tried
from Bottle
on 26 Apr 2018
at 17:16
7.6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Bottle at Craigs. Pours black, nose is funk, blackberry, roasted, taste is blackcurrant jam, funk, bretty, roasted. --- Beer merged from original tick of Dark Noon (2017) on 02 Oct 2018 at 17:37 - Score: 7
Tried
from Bottle
on 21 Apr 2018
at 07:50
6.5/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
Bottle. Vanilla, chocolate malt, grass, and light ash aroma. Dark brown with moderate tan head. Moderately sweet vanilla, light chocolate malt, and mildly bitter dry hay flavor. Okay body. Decent but malt flavor is a bit light.
Tried
from Bottle
on 10 Mar 2018
at 21:33
6.2/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 6
Bottle from Big Muddy tap room, bought during August eclipse. Deep reddish brown with a fizzy soda head that disappears quickly. Smell has a pleasant nose of vanilla, though I might like to have found a bigger backing of roasty malt. Taste has plenty of vanilla, and there is some sweetness, but not in cloying amounts, like many vanilla beers. Still, it's kind of light, more like a vanilla porter than a stout. But I do like it.
Tried
from Bottle
on 31 Jan 2018
at 05:04
6.5/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
Purchased August 2017 at Big Muddy. The smell is pleasant, at first like a strong dark malty beer, then lightening to show the cinnamon and ginger. Luckily this is not another pumpkin pie spice type mix. Pours a deep brown with bit of a spongy head. Still the taste carries a bit more spice than the nose does. The vanilla shows up after a few sips and get a pit perfumey. Nothing has gotten aged here yet, though this bottle is a couple of months old. But I think the malt needs to be a bit stronger to keep uo with the spice.
Tried
from Bottle
on 28 Jan 2018
at 05:08
7/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
12 oz. bottle, bought 8/21 at Big Muddy. Kept refrigerated for 4 months, but hop nose does not seem as strong as their description would suggest. But a pleasant, slightly piney nose. Sudsy foam atop a murky amber body filled with "floaties." But the taste does indeed have plenty of pine resin, and a bit of citrus and floral hop notes. IPA style malts are a bit thicker than normal for the style. Alcohol is apparent, and some "chewiness." Still, it's starting to show a bit of phenol. I clearly should have gotten to this sooner. But it's still pretty good.
Tried
from Bottle
on 17 Dec 2017
at 22:34
6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 5
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
First impression is a smell of blueberry pancake syrup. Then a generally light fruit beer smell. Golden lager color with a tinge of punk. Taste is OK. Blueberry is not overwhleming, in fact, it looks like juice was added during ferment, so it fermented out and doesn't add too much sweetness. I do warm up to the taste as I go along. Pretty much as good as any of the blueberry fruit beers I've found.
Tried
on 26 Oct 2017
at 22:02
7.3/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8
Bottle in hotel room NYC... Amber... Small white head.. Massive pumpkin.. Light spice... Soft sweet... Soft sweet toffee fruit... Light pumpkin.. Soft pumpkin.. Lightest dry spice
Tried
from Bottle
on 18 Oct 2017
at 06:28
7.6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Bottle from the Big Muddy taproom. After the Oktoberfest, I was worried the beer I bought had been overheated in the car ride home. But this one is a marked improvement. Good, malty dunkel smell with no astringency, just a thick rich malt. Rich brown color under a fine-grained head. Taste is mellow for a dark malt beer, again, very low roastiness, no peat taste. But after the first sip or two, I do think of Newcastle Brown Ale, but then there's just the slight note of yeast. I want to just drink the rest of it down. This remains the standard bearer of Big Muddy's beer lineup.
Tried
from Bottle
on 10 Sep 2017
at 21:48