Betty P.
Yelp
Being the stop #55 on the quest of visiting every brewery in Minnesota, Big Wood Brewery welcomed us as a cozy cabin in the woods (except the woods were White Bear Lake downtown). However, the space inside would really have you believe you're far from civilization, lost, and ready to cozy up by the fire with a fluffy blanket.
The old fashioned rustic decor goes perfectly hand in hand with the cabin theme; the entire tap room carved out of light wooden logs, small windows letting in just enough natural light, and colorful fairy lights enhancing the atmosphere of a comfortable, local pub.
Now, as cozy and adorable as this place is, we were not locals and not familiar with "how things work around here" and so we didn't quite get any of the pleasant treatment from the bartender but instead received a couple of weird looks from the patrons. The treatment was not exactly unfriendly but just not quite as welcoming as I would like it to be. It definitely felt like we didn't belong and that's just unfortunate for anyone traveling around wanting to pop by for a quick cold beer.
Not to mention that as we were quietly sipping on our beers in the corner, we witnessed a drunk patron trying to leave and about 5 or 6 of his friends trying to stop him, including the bartender....loudly yelling and fighting and making a scene.... who knew the beer came with a show.
They have two pre-set flights of five - The Forager's and The Founder's. All of the offerings are available individually in standard pints or tulips. We tried both flights just to get a taste for the variety of their taps but truly, there isn't very much variety at all. Most beers are very classic and kind of boring. They have a beer called Amigo Grande which is their Mexican style lager - it tastes like a cheap, not quite as good Corona - comes with a lime, too.
All in all, it was just another brewery to check off the list and I'm glad we visited. It really did feel comfy and warm as the snow started to cover up the streets outside but the attitudes inside were slightly too cold. I'm sure for a local this place is great and for people who don't want to experience anything better than basic...The beers were meh; lots of very normal options with really no special creations that you couldn't get elsewhere and so I wouldn't drive back out of my way to taste these again, especially with so many other fantastic breweries in the cities...this place just doesn't quite deserve more than 2 stars...and that's only for the decor and coziness.