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.
5.9/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 5.5
12 oz bottle from Big Muddy. Bottle gusher is not a good first impression. Pours amber in color, very little foam. Smell has some phenol to it under a good size note of Marzen malt. Taste is decently malty. Not much hop in evidence here. Decent, but I can't be sure whether this is this year's batch. Trying to tune my palate to Oktoberfest beers now after most of the year spent dealing with over-hopped IPAs.
Tried
from Bottle
on 30 Aug 2017
at 21:45
6.1/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Plastic cup at Big Muddy. We’ve stepped inside as the 2017 Eclipse is just starting, and this is my last beer here, as we have a long way home. Actually a little cloudy for a beer that’s usually highly filtered. Thin lager head. Can’t totally judge the color since it’s in a translucent plastic cup. Has a bit of the salty nose I usually find with pilseners. Initial mouthfeel is a bit more hearty than the usual lawnmower beer. Has a bit of fruit to the palate, like maybe it had a warmer ferment than the usual lager. It’s pretty good, but might be considered off style. I can give Big Muddy some slack, since this is contract brewed. Has a slightly salty finish, which I could put down to being very sweaty sitting out in the sun watching the big solar show just starting.
Tried
from Can
on 21 Aug 2017
at 12:24
6.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 6.5
Pre-eclipse taster at Big Muddy. Smoky Bamberg nose, but not quite as strong as the Schlenkera. There’s even a little malt in the nose. Beer is dark amber color, with a thin ring of foam. Taste is mostly smoky Gouda cheese, with a note of ham as well. That may not be the way one describes a smoked beer, but I call ’em as I see ’em. I may never find myself a 5.0 in smoked beer, but this does do well by being a bit lighter in smoke, and by still having a good malt backbone.
Tried
on 21 Aug 2017
at 11:47
7.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Pre-solar eclipse taster at Big Muddy. No doubt about it, a big pumpkin spice smell, and there is a note pumpkin sweetness. A slightly cloudy gold color with a thin scrum of suds on top. Taste is very big on pumpkin spice; cinnamon and nutmeg are very easy to pick out. This is the kind of pumpkin beer that has a creamy texture, like whipped cream on your pumpkin pie, that dies seem to occur with the use of actual pumpkin.
Tried
on 21 Aug 2017
at 11:21
8.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 9
Draft at Big Muddy, hours from the Eclipse. Intrigued as I am by the prospect of day drinking, I needed to stay on a level for the drive back, since the Minor only got about an hour of sleep. So I started with their eclipse special. They had already sold out of bomber bottles by 10 am, but there was still some on draft. I wanted just a taster, but they only offered it in this 8 oz tulip. Still, at $6, not a bad deal. It shows very little foam. The smell has some prune and warm alcohol with very little roast to it, partly smoothed by a six month residency in oak bourbon barrels. The taste is warming with alcohol, fruity, and quite thick. A "motor oil mouthfeel," as we say. It’s a very mellow brew, but very strong. I’d like to be drinking it during totality, but I know I’ll be running around with the camera.
Tried
from Draft
on 21 Aug 2017
at 11:09
7/10
Tried
on 15 Aug 2017
at 20:57
5.9/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 5.5
12 oz. bottle. Pours dark brown with a light beige head. Aroma of dark malts and vanilla. Taste is roasted malt, vanilla, lactose, chocolate notes. Moderately sweet finish.
Tried
from Bottle
on 02 Aug 2017
at 11:31
4.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 2
Texture 4
Overall 2.5
Shared 22 oz. bottle. Pours dark brown with a tan head. Aroma consists largely of chocolate with a bit of roasted malt. Taste diverges completely from aroma - sour and tangy. Couldn’t come close to finishing my share.
Tried
from Bottle
on 14 Jul 2017
at 22:51
6.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 5
Flavor 5
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Bomber from Wine & Cheese. Pours very dark brown with a transient tan head. Aroma of coffee, and, I think, marshmallow. Med body or so. Seems slightly woody sour. Otherwise it’s coffee. Not a great deal of bourbon. Not dry, but not very bitter. Somehow it seems to have failed to reach its potential. Not recommended. Drinkable tho.
Tried
on 19 Jun 2017
at 15:47
5.1/10
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Appearance 4
Aroma 5
Flavor 5
Texture 6
Overall 5.5
12oz bottle. Doesn’t really taste like a Pils that much. Gross sour garbage aroma off tones and an aggressive pop when it opened are bad signs. A bad, earthy session beer perhaps, but in no way a Pils of any sort.
Tried
from Bottle
on 07 Jun 2017
at 00:14