This Iowa brewery is considered one of the world's best

DECORAH, Ia. — Sitting halfway up a hill on the northwest side of town, next to a Pizza Ranch and across the street from a gas station, is the taproom for Toppling Goliath Brewing Co. Served behind the bar is beer that’s considered among the best in the world.

And the latest round of accolades are rolling in. Toppling Goliath is bringing home victories in multiple categories in the 2016 RateBeer “Best” award winners, announced Jan. 30, including "world best" in double IPA, strong stout and American amber or pale.

Toppling Goliath's 2016 honors show another example of Iowa beer being recognized on national and international stages, amid growth in the state's craft beer scene. In 2015, three Iowa breweries — Exile Brewing Co., Lion Bridge Brewing Co. and West O Beer — brought home gold medals at the Great American Beer Festival in Colorado. Iowa is home to  over 60 craft breweries, up from about 25 in 2009.

RateBeer — a connoisseur-focused beer review site — began revealing its annual craft beer awards list in 2002. “Best in the world” is awarded to 15 beers in each style category. Around 40 brewers from 12 countries are invited to the award ceremony in Santa Rosa, California.

Toppling Goliath is the only Iowa brewery — and one of a handful from the Midwest region — represented at this year's gathering. The brewery will be represented at the ceremony alongside beer from staple names in the craft industry, such as Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Founders and Lagunitas, in Petaluma, California.

The awards are calculated through over 7 million user-generated reviews of around 380,000 beers, said RateBeer executive director Joe Tucker. Toppling Goliath also won awards for a top new beer release and top Iowa beer. In 2015, it took home the award for second-best brewery in the world.

“They’ve made a big splash everywhere,” Tucker said.

RateBeer isn't the only beer connoisseur website to have its users recognize the craft behind Toppling Goliath’s beer. On beeradvocate.com, a beer culture and rating site, seven Toppling Goliath beers rank among the top 250 in the world, with four beers in the top 35. Mornin’ Delight, an imperial stout, and Kentucky Brunch, a barrel-aged imperial stout, are ranked second and third in the world, respectively.

Jason Alstrom, founder of Beeradvocate and a 17-year veteran of the beer industry, said he thinks Toppling Goliath beer will be “a favorite for a long time.”

“I've had a few of their beers in my travels … you can tell there is a lot of attention to detail,” Alstrom said.

Modest beginnings

Toppling Goliath co-founder Clark Lewey, 50, said the brewery works on “continual process improvement.” He said staffers are their own worst critics.

Brewmaster Mike Saboe, 30, said he's been brewing for about a decade. He grew a passion for craft beer while attending the University of Iowa, where he and his friends would travel to neighboring states and bring different beers back to Iowa City to taste. Now a tenured brewmaster, he works to make each beer he creates perfect.

“We’re trying to challenge flavor profiles constantly and see how that resonates with ourselves and the people who enjoy our beer,” Saboe said. “We’re on this quest to make perfect beer. That’s something that you don’t ever know if you can actually achieve. But what else can you do, (except) try to push the limits and improve?”

Saboe said he and Lewey are constantly trying new beers and seeking new flavors.

“There’s very few things that we’re not on the same page about,” Saboe said.

Lewey founded Toppling Goliath in 2009 because he said it was hard to find a good craft beer, like an IPA, in northeast Iowa. He didn’t pack up and take his idea for a brewery to a city in the region, like Madison, Wisconsin, or Rochester, Minnesota. He built the brewery in Decorah.

“We both knew it would’ve been more beneficial to our company to start in a metropolitan area,” Lewey said. “But we also both love this area. There’s things we like to do outside here. We like the pace of life (and) the people here.”

“10 years ago a local beer meant traveling 200 or 300 miles," he said. "Today, a local beer means a couple of blocks.”

With greater recognition comes greater demand. In 2015, Toppling Goliath inked a publicized partnership with Brew Hub — a company based out of Lakeland, Florida  — to increase the production of four of the company’s flagship beers. Partnering with Brew Hub allows another facility for Toppling Goliath’s beer to be brewed and packaged, helping with demand. Through the partnership, Saboe is able to go to Florida and brew, watch Brew Hub’s guideline for making beer and direct the beer.

Lewey said Toppling Goliath beers that are served in 16-ounce cans come from the Florida facility.

Afternoon in taproom

People travel from all corners of America and overseas to try Toppling Goliath beer. The guestbook showed signatures ranging from neighboring states like Wisconsin, Minnesota and Pennsylvania, plus Germany … and that’s just for the first week of January.

During a snowy Friday afternoon in early January the taproom is nearly full with a boisterous crowd of beer lovers who’ve traveled to get a taste of what they’ve heard about. This includes Jodi Lester, 44, and Lori Perry, 52, who drove from Rochester.

“We came for the top brewery in the world award that they’ve (won),” Lester said.

David Castek, 75, and Kathy Finholt, 76, visit the tap room together on weekday afternoons. The two are both widowed and date to keep each other company. Castek said Toppling Goliath’s been a regular afternoon stop for a few months.

“We usually don’t indulge in more than two … that’s enough,” Castek said. “At my age, I’ve drank nothin’ but beer, and I’ve always enjoyed my beer. We just get amazed with watchin’ the people (who) come in and get growlers.”

Clark said the beer’s been requested in all 50 states and 13 countries — it's distributed in six states and Denmark — and individuals fly to Decorah just to pick up beer.

“It’s incredible,” Lewey said. “During the last King Sue (beer) release that we did, people came from everywhere. I talked to someone from New York, Texas and San Francisco.”

Saboe said fans of the brewery have followed delivery trucks to distribution sites just to ensure they get a taste of the beer. Tucker said he’d also heard of people following the trucks from Decorah to delivery sites.

“That’s desire,” Tucker said.

Future expansion

Lewey said the company aims to continue growth, and plans have been unveiled for a new production facility to be built in Decorah.

At its current location, Toppling Goliath is set to produce 4,500 barrels in 2016, and Brew Hub in Florida is set to produce 7,700 barrels. The new location, set to open around May 2017, will be built to handle 100,000 barrels of production. Lewey said the company looks to increase production to about 15,000 barrels from the new brewery after its first year of production.

“We’ll have all the room we need to grow and really move into a regional-status brewery,” Lewey said.

A report looking at Iowa's craft beer economic impact — prepared by the Iowa wine and beer promotion board at Travel Iowa — said in 2014 the beer industry in Iowa exceeded a $100 million impact and supports 1,500 jobs. The study projects Iowa breweries will increase production from about 40,000 barrels of beer in 2014 to an estimated 146,000 barrels in 2019.

Mark Nauman, owner of Urbandale-based craft beer and brewing supply store Beer Crazy, said having Toppling Goliath noticed for its beer is a positive. His shop stocks over 600 beers, including Toppling Goliath.

"There's more than one (brewery in Iowa) that has the quality (of beer) to have that much notoriety," Nauman said. "It's great that there's one that has been noticed for it."

Lewey said when the new brewery opens he plans for the Decorah location to take over the Midwest distribution of the beer.

“It’s both fun and scary,” Lewey said.

Brewery basics

WHAT IT IS: Toppling Goliath Brewing Co. is a world-renowned craft brewery in Decorah, Iowa. The brewery sells beers such as the award-winning pseudoSue, an American ale, Dorothy's New World Lager and Golden Nugget, an IPA. 

WHERE: 310 College Drive, Decorah

HOURS: 12-8 p.m., Sunday-Thursday, 12-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

FIND IT NEAR YOU: visit tgbrews.com to see where Toppling Goliath beer is sold near you.