Coal Creek TAP
Microbrewery
in
Laramie,
Wyoming,
United States 🇺🇸
Associated Venue: Coal Creek TAP Brewery
- Out of business
Established in 2014
Closed in 2024
Contact
Description
I’ve worked in the restaurant & beverage industry for over thirty years, most notably as a co-owner of Coal Creek Coffee Co. which was founded in 1993 in Laramie, Wyoming where we currently operate two full-service restaurant-coffeehouses and a wholesale coffee roasting business.
My wife Jodi gifted me a homebrew kit in about 1990 saying “You should do this, this is right up your alley!”. She knows me very well. By about 2005 I began entering regional and national homebrew competitions and medaling on a regular basis.
When I built a brewery in the basement of my house, my wife finally insisted that it was time to take it commercial and stop taking over the house with beer. I was good with that. We opened Coal Creek TAP in March of 2014 right next door to Coal Creek Downtown, our original coffeehouse.
I love creating foods that I can share with people who appreciate my efforts. Crafting beer has become my absolute favorite expression. My preferred styles are American and English Pale Ales and India Pale Ales, Belgian beers and Scottish Ales. I find the history of beer and beer making fascinating. That a brewer can take four simple ingredients, water, malt, hops and yeast, and create so many varieties of delicious drink is a marvel.
Our staff of “Beer Stewards” are a well versed and educated group of young people. They will serve you whichever beer you like in the appropriate glass and are able to give you a thoughtful description of every beer we create, and their opinion of that beer, if you like. They all impress me in their own unique way.
We do offer and serve food at Coal Creek TAP. From 11:00 am to 5:30 pm our variety consists of salads, sandwiches, soups and hand-tied pretzels. After 5:30pm we add pizzas to the mix. All foods are hand-crafted from scratch right next door at Coal Creek Coffee Co. We also offer wine and cocktails.
All right then, please come see us and have a beer, or three.
John Guerin, Co-owner, Director of Brewery Operations
My wife Jodi gifted me a homebrew kit in about 1990 saying “You should do this, this is right up your alley!”. She knows me very well. By about 2005 I began entering regional and national homebrew competitions and medaling on a regular basis.
When I built a brewery in the basement of my house, my wife finally insisted that it was time to take it commercial and stop taking over the house with beer. I was good with that. We opened Coal Creek TAP in March of 2014 right next door to Coal Creek Downtown, our original coffeehouse.
I love creating foods that I can share with people who appreciate my efforts. Crafting beer has become my absolute favorite expression. My preferred styles are American and English Pale Ales and India Pale Ales, Belgian beers and Scottish Ales. I find the history of beer and beer making fascinating. That a brewer can take four simple ingredients, water, malt, hops and yeast, and create so many varieties of delicious drink is a marvel.
Our staff of “Beer Stewards” are a well versed and educated group of young people. They will serve you whichever beer you like in the appropriate glass and are able to give you a thoughtful description of every beer we create, and their opinion of that beer, if you like. They all impress me in their own unique way.
We do offer and serve food at Coal Creek TAP. From 11:00 am to 5:30 pm our variety consists of salads, sandwiches, soups and hand-tied pretzels. After 5:30pm we add pizzas to the mix. All foods are hand-crafted from scratch right next door at Coal Creek Coffee Co. We also offer wine and cocktails.
All right then, please come see us and have a beer, or three.
John Guerin, Co-owner, Director of Brewery Operations
7.9/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
On tap at the brewery. Pours dark brown with a small beige head, some lacing. Toffee, whiskey barrels, raisins, oak. Tasty
Tried
from Draft
on 15 Sep 2023
at 03:36
6.4/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 5
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Bought a 32 ounce Growler at Liquor Shed in Casper.
It pours a hazy ish orange gold with a small and receding head of foam, a little bit of lacing.
Initial smell is pine followed by light pitted fruits. The malt is strong and sweet, I'm guessing that is making it smell boozy.
The taste is pine but that gets overwhelmed by fruity notes of citrus and boozy sweet malt. Even has a semi tropical note or 2.
Mouthfeel is fine. In one word, I would describe this as sharp.
It pours a hazy ish orange gold with a small and receding head of foam, a little bit of lacing.
Initial smell is pine followed by light pitted fruits. The malt is strong and sweet, I'm guessing that is making it smell boozy.
The taste is pine but that gets overwhelmed by fruity notes of citrus and boozy sweet malt. Even has a semi tropical note or 2.
Mouthfeel is fine. In one word, I would describe this as sharp.
Tried
from Draft
on 02 Apr 2023
at 20:17
7.2/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 8
Bought at Liquor Shed.
Pours a pale/straw gold with plenty of foam.
It smells hoppy, has notes of toasted malt, bready malt to a lesser degree.
The taste has very noble hops like character, toasted and bready malt of roughly equal proportions, light in body but not watery.
Yikes, that's a lot of flavour in a 4.2%abv beer. Well done!
Pours a pale/straw gold with plenty of foam.
It smells hoppy, has notes of toasted malt, bready malt to a lesser degree.
The taste has very noble hops like character, toasted and bready malt of roughly equal proportions, light in body but not watery.
Yikes, that's a lot of flavour in a 4.2%abv beer. Well done!
Tried
from Can
on 16 Oct 2021
at 00:57
7.5/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8
1 pint, 6 ounce bottle. No dating but this has to be really new. Only 4 check ins on Untappd.
It pours a hazy yellow with oodles of foam that just doesn't quit. The bottle, I had to watch as it kept oozing and oozing.
The nose is bitter hops and a very large presence of Brett. I mean very large and that's why Wild Saison is in the name.
Huge Brett taste, makes it very dry besides the obvious funk. Pilsen malt and Saaz hops are used and I can taste the hoppiness, more than the malt, which I expected. It has a fruity note or two but I reckon that's an attribute of the hops.
Nothing wrong with the body/mouthfeel.
Surprisingly good! ~$12 for the bottle, iirc.
It pours a hazy yellow with oodles of foam that just doesn't quit. The bottle, I had to watch as it kept oozing and oozing.
The nose is bitter hops and a very large presence of Brett. I mean very large and that's why Wild Saison is in the name.
Huge Brett taste, makes it very dry besides the obvious funk. Pilsen malt and Saaz hops are used and I can taste the hoppiness, more than the malt, which I expected. It has a fruity note or two but I reckon that's an attribute of the hops.
Nothing wrong with the body/mouthfeel.
Surprisingly good! ~$12 for the bottle, iirc.
Tried
from Bottle
on 11 Apr 2021
at 01:44
6.2/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 7
On draught at Frontier Brewing and Taproom.
Pours black but not pitch black as I can see hues of red. Some lacing left after initial pour which doesn't produce much of a head of foam.
Roasted malt is big in the smell. Hints of coffee and dark chocolate, firmly on the bitter side.
Taste wise, there's a nice dark chocolate bitterness with some light coffee, some hints of lactose, not all that roasty as what I got in the smell.
Body is a little thin for the abv.
Overall, it is a good Porter.
Pours black but not pitch black as I can see hues of red. Some lacing left after initial pour which doesn't produce much of a head of foam.
Roasted malt is big in the smell. Hints of coffee and dark chocolate, firmly on the bitter side.
Taste wise, there's a nice dark chocolate bitterness with some light coffee, some hints of lactose, not all that roasty as what I got in the smell.
Body is a little thin for the abv.
Overall, it is a good Porter.
Tried
from Draft
on 23 Jan 2020
at 22:57
6.2/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 4
Overall 7
On draught at Frontier Brewing and Taproom.
Pours a very dark brown, reddish highlights, tiny head of foam that is gone quickly.
The smell has big notes of roasted malt, dark chocolate, some light coffee, hints of lactose.
Delicious roasted malt and chocolate, light coffee, a wee bit of lactose in the finish.
Good body but the carbonation is too low, imho.
Very nice taster but it suffers some from the lack of carbonation.
Pours a very dark brown, reddish highlights, tiny head of foam that is gone quickly.
The smell has big notes of roasted malt, dark chocolate, some light coffee, hints of lactose.
Delicious roasted malt and chocolate, light coffee, a wee bit of lactose in the finish.
Good body but the carbonation is too low, imho.
Very nice taster but it suffers some from the lack of carbonation.
Tried
from Draft
on 19 Sep 2019
at 00:01
6.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 5
Texture 8
Overall 8
The one I'm drinking is batch XXXVI.
Pours a slightly hazy gold, nice looking head of foam, good lacing.
Smells bitter. Grapefruit, some dankness, again smells bitter and hoppy.
Grapefruit citrus bitterness, hints of tropical fruit, cracker malt, finish is decidedly bitter.
Medium bodied with medium carbonation. Good but in the one and done camp.
Pours a slightly hazy gold, nice looking head of foam, good lacing.
Smells bitter. Grapefruit, some dankness, again smells bitter and hoppy.
Grapefruit citrus bitterness, hints of tropical fruit, cracker malt, finish is decidedly bitter.
Medium bodied with medium carbonation. Good but in the one and done camp.
Tried
from Draft
on 18 Sep 2019
at 23:34
7.4/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
On draught at Frontier Brewing and Taproom.
Pours a really dark brown with hues of red, small short lasting head of foam, some lacing.
Smells of dark and sweet chocolate, big roasted malt, hint of lactose and coffee.
Roasted malt and dark chocolate run neck in neck, light sweetness, light hint of lactose, mild hop bitterness. Well integrated flavours. Coffee there but mild.
Medium bodied with medium carbonation.
I can drink more....
Pours a really dark brown with hues of red, small short lasting head of foam, some lacing.
Smells of dark and sweet chocolate, big roasted malt, hint of lactose and coffee.
Roasted malt and dark chocolate run neck in neck, light sweetness, light hint of lactose, mild hop bitterness. Well integrated flavours. Coffee there but mild.
Medium bodied with medium carbonation.
I can drink more....
Tried
from Draft
on 24 Aug 2019
at 20:59
6.8/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottled April 10th 2019.
Pours a clear 24k gold, with a small head of foam...at least this has carbonation. Too many of their beers severely lack carbonation.
Smells of grapefruit citrus, grass, some light pine. A good nose.
Good flavours from the hops that I mentioned in the smell. Hoppy with a lower level of bitterness. Some toasted malt but it is barely noticeable. No problem. I enjoy what the hops are bringing to the table.
Good mouthfeel, slightly juicy. Carbonation is spot on.
So many entries for their For The Love Of Hops series. Is that really necessary? Gonna try to get them merged.
Pours a clear 24k gold, with a small head of foam...at least this has carbonation. Too many of their beers severely lack carbonation.
Smells of grapefruit citrus, grass, some light pine. A good nose.
Good flavours from the hops that I mentioned in the smell. Hoppy with a lower level of bitterness. Some toasted malt but it is barely noticeable. No problem. I enjoy what the hops are bringing to the table.
Good mouthfeel, slightly juicy. Carbonation is spot on.
So many entries for their For The Love Of Hops series. Is that really necessary? Gonna try to get them merged.
Tried
from Bottle
on 05 Jul 2019
at 23:32
7.2/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8
On draught at Wyoming Ale Works..
Pours a mostly clear orange gold with an inch of foam, leaves lacing behind.
Smells of pine, citrus, rye, quite hoppy and kinda bitter.
Taste is very hoppy. Pine, grapefruit citrus, spiciness of the rye, malt seems to be of the toasted side. Bitterness is up there.
Sticky bitter mouthfeel.
Very nice. Carbonation is appropriate and it's a good choice if you're looking for something hoppy.
Pours a mostly clear orange gold with an inch of foam, leaves lacing behind.
Smells of pine, citrus, rye, quite hoppy and kinda bitter.
Taste is very hoppy. Pine, grapefruit citrus, spiciness of the rye, malt seems to be of the toasted side. Bitterness is up there.
Sticky bitter mouthfeel.
Very nice. Carbonation is appropriate and it's a good choice if you're looking for something hoppy.
Tried
from Draft
on 05 May 2019
at 21:13