Elk Horn's Initial Beer Release

Friday afternoon, Elk Horn released their first 3 house-brewed beers. I was on hand to sample them. Here's how it went:

Ducks Blue Ribbon: Clearly a nod to Pabst, this is a blonde ale made to taste like a pilsner. It's crisp, sweet, and bready, and way tastier than the beer it's named after. The name grates a bit, though - isn't one of the major aims of craft brewing to get away from macro associations?

Sweet Potato Pie & Coffee: A bold, strong winter beer with heavy-handed use of pumpkin spice, to an almost perfume-like degree. There's some nice coffee flavor on the finish, but the spices are overwhelming.

Northwest Bitter: Styled as an ESB - with earthy hop presence and around 30 IBUs - this ale nevertheless has the body and alcohol content of a much stronger beer. At 7.3%, it's alternately malty and boozy, with the mild hopping not being enough to balance out.

Since launching in August, I've been looking forward to seeing what Elk Horn came up with - as its name is Elk Horn Brewery, the beer should be front and center. Bearing this in mind, I can't help but feel a bit disappointed in these launch beers. The clear winner is the Ducks Blue Ribbon - as a light blonde ale it ticks all the right boxes - but it doesn't have an identity of its own, and multiple better blondes already exist in town. The other two are misfires, but at least they're interesting ones. I'm hopeful that the creativity on display here will be refined into more consistent beer over the coming months.

I also had the chance to try some of the food. Elk Horn is now doing full table service, and the menu's been greatly expanded since opening, but there're still kinks to be worked out of the process. On a Friday afternoon, the kitchen was already out of multiple dishes. The Buffalo chicken I had was flavorful and spicy without being too hot. Prices are still on the high side for the quality, and the beer especially is expensive. Pints start at $4.50 for house beers, and move up to $5-6 for guest pours and the house ciders.