Drake Profile - Brewver

Drake

Appleton, WI, United States 🇺🇸 Admin

My Stats (Click one to view detailed breakdowns)

Unique

User of Ratebeer since 2007. Longtime admin there and member of the Richmond, DC, Charlottesville, and Wisconsin crews. 22801 ratings there. Continuing here.

Activity

Drake (1333) reviewed

Blue Heron BrewPub

7 months ago

Stopped here back in April 2021 and I either forgot to review it or Brewver didn't pull it through with my other place ratings. Decent sized place with a large bar. Did not eat as all they had was pizzas and calzones and I didn't have much of an appetite. Had a flight of five (tripel, IPA, oatmeal stout, schwarzbier, marzen) and all were good to excellent. Service was atrocious (NOT THE SERVER'S FAULT) due to their apparently being willing to throw a completely raw new employee as the sole bartender with basically no training (did not know they sold beer to go, did not know what a flight was much less that they serve flighs, did not know how to properly fill a growler). That's a training issue. Bartender was otherwise friendly, so I'm putting the service at 5. Overall, pretty solid stop worth travelling a bit for, especially if they learn how to train their people. Also pretty cool a Holiday Inn is literally next door (and I'm in it now!)

Visited on 01 Nov 2025 at 20:55

Drake added a new venue Blue Heron BrewPub located in Marshfield, United States
7 months ago

Drake (1333) reviewed

Lake 11 Brewing

7 months ago

6/10 — Setting 6 Selection 7 Service 6 Food Value 5 Overall 6

Didn't even know this place existed until a few days ago. Huge place. Decent sized bar, some tables, lots of open space, and the brewery visible in the back. Service was friendly and otherwise kinda average. Beers were average and one was pretty terrible. Server could not tell me what some of the beers were because she "wasn't working that day." Kinda lame. Flight of four was $10. Free street parking was easy. North worth going too far out of your way but if you are trying to visit every Wisconsin brewery like I am, well....

Visited on 01 Nov 2025 at 20:38

Drake added a new venue Lake 11 Brewing located in Medford, United States
7 months ago

Drake (1333) reviewed

Some Nerve Brewing Company

7 months ago

7/10 — Setting 9 Selection 5 Service 9 Food Value 5 Overall 7

Cool place. Smallish but could fit a crowd. The requisite UW and Packers gear. Right off the main highway. I don't think parking will ever get too bad but you might have to get creative if its busy (just line up on the side road). Service great. It's the owners, no one else. Coolest feature of the place is the bar back is an exterior window where they've hung several bird feeders. I saw a beautiful pileated woodpecker and a bunch of other birds while there. Really comfortable place. Didnt' eat but I think they have frozen pizzas (very Wisconsin). Prices maybe just a tad bit high for the quality. Sadly, too much diacetyl and the beers need some work. Stout was good, but IPA, hazy IPA, and Irish Red were all flawed. Not worth stopping by at this point unless you're in the area for another reason but still a really cool place.

Visited on 01 Nov 2025 at 01:11

Drake added a new venue Some Nerve Brewing Company located in Manitowish Waters, United States
7 months ago

Drake (1333) reviewed

Aqualand Ale House

7 months ago

7.6/10 — Setting 8 Selection 6 Service 9 Food Value 8 Overall 7

Stopped by right around opening on a Saturday. In a bit of a resort / touristy town but its offseason so it was pretty calm. Only one other party during my visit. They had one "house" beer on tap, and it was the same beer advertised on their shirts so it might be they've doubled down on this beer even though they've brewed others in the past. That beer-- a bourbon barrel aged imperial brown ale--was pretty tasty. Looked like a dozen and a half or so guest taps with a couple pretty rare options. Full menu looks decent but I did not eat. Prices solid. Parking looks easy. They also have a bakery / coffee shop attached that IIRC opens 7AM. Bartender was excellent, helpful and friendly. One of the most beautiful bar tops I've ever seen featuring a lake scene... deer on the short, lilly pads, fish, etc. Another brewery coming to town and I saw a craft beer place so might be a future stop for me.

Visited on 01 Nov 2025 at 19:52

Drake added a new venue Aqualand Ale House located in Boulder Junction, United States
7 months ago

Drake updated a venue: Rockhound Brewing Company located in Madison, United States
7 months ago

Drake (1333) reviewed

Vault 202 Brewery & Taproom

7 months ago

8.2/10 — Setting 8 Selection 8 Service 8 Food 9 Value 8 Overall 9

Visited a few times now. A local Appletonian hooked into the local beer scene so I knew this place was coming months ahead of time. Only a few months open, opened this year. It's in an old bank space in an old downtown building. Very near some good downtown bars and 5 or 6 blocks from two more downtown Appleton breweries. Quite the nice scene growing slowly and organically around here. We will say hello to Ope! Brewing next summer. I'd comment on the service, but I know too much. Some of the servers are meh, some are great, and the bar manager is a friend of mine. The place is cool. And old bank. They found some old wall decorations behind some walls. They have the bank vault in the basement and it's cool just to see the vault door. They started out by guest brewing all over the state before the brewery opened, and opened with 100% guest taps. All those guest taps were good and the beers they've brewed since then have also been good. Food is good. Tried the parm garlic wings, pear burrata pizza, pepperonia and hot honey pizza, and all have been excellent. Brand new place, but firing on all cylinders. I'll be there tomorrow night to (hopefully) see the Dodgers lose the 2025 World Series.

Visited on 01 Nov 2025 at 03:21