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
108 Grand Ave, Laramie, WY, 82070, United States
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

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4.2/10 Appearance 4 Aroma 6 Flavor 3 Texture 2 Overall 5
22 ounce bottle, no dating.

Pours a clear reddish brown, small head of foam that disappears almost immediately. Seems like all of their beers in bottles suffer from that.

Caramel malt with some light smoke in the smell. Deep whiffs reveal more sweetness than I normally care for.

Taste has some smoke, caramel malt, and a big dose of, what I perceive as, diacetyl. Butterscotch. Nasty bi product.

Body is very thin, watery in the finish.

Oh my. These bottles from Coal Creek TAP are very disappointing. I hope they can do better in the future. As is now, I won't buy any more.
Tried from Bottle on 19 Apr 2019 at 22:49

7.8/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 8
22 ounce bottle, no dating.

An inch of tan foam sitting on a black liquid, foam dies down to a ring around the glass fairly quickly.

The nose is dominated by coffee, has dark chocolate, vanilla, not getting much of a Belgian character.

Little bit of Belgian spice..cloves in the taste but that's it for the Belgian portion of this beer. That's cool. Coffee and dark chocolate along with the tasty roasted malt won me over. I get quite a bit of the vanilla in the finish.

Good mouthfeel as there's a sufficient amount of carbonation.

Really tasty and a fine sipper at 8.3% abv.
Tried from Bottle on 19 Apr 2019 at 20:11

5/10 Appearance 4 Aroma 5 Flavor 3 Texture 2 Overall 9
22 ounce bottle, bottled April 10th 2019.

It pours a slightly hazy gold with not much foam despite a vigorous pour and serving it on the warmer side. Come to think of it, popping the cap didn't get much of any sound.

The smell does have some English qualities to it. The brewer uses Maris Otter malt, Challenger hops and English yeast.

The malt imparts some sweet notes and earthy notes. The hops smell of fruity citrus with a bit of spice.

The taste is good. Semi sweet malty flavour with a bit of spicy and fruity citrus. The spiciness reminds me of what I get from rye. I have to say that the bitterness isn't all that pleasant.

Mouthfeel suffers a lot from the lack of carbonation; it's almost completely flat.

This has a lot of rough edges but I can see the potential. Dialed in right, this would be much more enjoyable.
Tried from Bottle on 19 Apr 2019 at 01:49

7/10
Tried on 05 Sep 2018 at 02:42

7.6/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 7.5
On tap. Off white head and slightly hazy gold color. A-apricot and floral. T-fruity/floral/spice hops bite
Tried from Draft on 05 Sep 2018 at 02:41


6/10
Tried on 05 Sep 2018 at 02:37

7.1/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 6.5
On tap. Retaining foamy tan head and hazy dark amber color. A-toasted malt/caramel. T-follows.
Tried from Draft on 05 Sep 2018 at 02:35

7.4/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 7.5
At Poor Boys.

Pours a hazy orange yellow, small head of foam, a bit of lacing.

Smells yeasty, notes of lemon and orange, spicy.

Lemon citrus, light clove, coriander, candi sugar. This is a thoroughly thirst quenching beer and I dig it!

Medium body with lively carbonation.

Excellent beer!
Tried from Can on 23 Feb 2016 at 13:45

7/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 8
On tap at the brewery
Cloudy dark amber with a small beige head, some lacing. Aroma of toasted malts, sweet caramel and herbal. Flavors of toasted malts, caramel and pine
Good, more of a hoppy barleywine.
Tried from Draft on 05 Nov 2015 at 00:43