Casper. The second largest city in Wyoming, with a population of around 60,000. This state embodies the "Old Western" vibe, and I love it. In Casper, you'll find the residence and store of Jeffree Star, which is called "Make Up and Meat", and if that doesn't explain what Casper is all about, then I don't know what will. Casper has an abundance of hiking trails, ski slopes, and downtown shenanigans, so there's fun for everyone, including my fellow beer lovers. It's home to 8 breweries at the current writing of this blog (Aug 2023). Seven of these breweries are native to Casper (Black Tooth started in Sheridan, WY), and I was able to visit 7 of the breweries while I was in town, as Bull Horn Brewing was not serving their own brews when I visited due to remodeling, so I skipped it. *Tldr at bottom*
So, what do I think of Casper's beer scene? Lets find out!
Gruner Brothers Brewing: This was my introduction to Wyoming's beer scene, and it didn't disappoint. This microbrewery is set up in the Old Casper Petroleum Club, and the vibes are a great mix of the old and the new. They offer brewery tours, beer flights, and a full food menu, which you can enjoy on their new porch overlooking Casper Mountain. This brewing definitely wins best view and best food for me. As for their beer, it's solid in taste and true to style. I grabbed a flight of four, including their Petro Club Pils, Salt Creek Citra IPA, Crimson Dawn Raspberry Ale, and Sundance Blonde. My favorite of the 4 was definitely their Petro Club Pils, but they were all delicious. For food, I had their Bang Bang Shrimp, and these were honestly top notch. They also offer other apps, handhelds, and flatbreads. They sport a variety of merch, including t-shirts, beer glasses, and hats. When I was here, they were hosting goldfish races, with real, live goldfish. No, that's not a typo, it's a thing apparently, and it looked like a blast. This brewing seems to have a pretty wide array of activities scheduled, so you will not be bored, and it's family friendly, so bring the kids.
Mountain Hops Brewhouse: This down-to-earth brewery touts that they are Casper's #1 rated craft brewery and #2 in all of Wyoming, so do with that info what you will. First, their beer. Another brewery with absolutely solid beer and great variety. I can't remember if they do flights, but I didn't get one, I got half pours, so I feel like they don't do flights, or else I would've gotten one? Makes sense. I do remember getting pours of their Blondeshell Blonde Ale, Yardsale Pale Ale, Rojo Caliente Blonde (Raspberry habanero blonde), and North Platte Blue Ribbon Lager. All great beers, with my favorite being their Yardsale Pale Ale and a close second being their Rojo Caliente Blonde- it had such a good kick to it. I also got small tastes of their Show Me Your Peaches (Peach Blonde Ale) and their Alpine Glow (Hefe with blood orange). These were a little too strong in flavor for me personally, with the peaches and oranges. Besides their beer, they offer free popcorn and small snacks (bags of pretzels type things), and it appears they occasionally have food trucks parked across the street. They have a small indoor seating area, and a large outdoor seating area complete with trees, fake grass, and kid toys. This is probably the best kid and dog friendly brewery in Casper.
Stahoo's Brewing and Taproom: Stahoo's is not only the newest brewery in Casper, but it's also a Polish Brewery! Family owned and operated, this place only opened up in June of 2022, but you'd never know. Stahoo's hosts a variety of events and holiday parties, including trivia nights, Jeep jams, and Paczki Days. They have a good amount of indoor seating, and I'm unsure if they had outdoor seating. While they don't have a set food menu, it does seem like they do occasionally have food, including chili dog Saturdays. Now on to their beer. They unfortunately don't do flights, but do offer 5oz tasters. I tried their Babushka Blonde (Blonde Ale), Piwo Grodziskie (Grodziskie), Carbon Footprint (Black IPA), and Spradley's Pecan Brown Sour (Brown Ale). It might be too early in this blog, but I'm telling you now- Stahoo's has the best beer in Casper. Between the unique variety, the taste, and the fact that the brewer's wife was our bartender and could tell me exactly which hops and malts were in each beer, where they bought each ingredient, and the names of the farmers who cultivated each ingredient?! I was impressed. And if you've never had a Grodziskie style beer before, what are you doing with your life? It's an old school Polish style beer, very light and low ABV, with smoky undertones, and it's delightful. The Spradley's Pecan Brown Sour was also a treat, and although I've had Pecan beers before, this one was especially unique in it's sour complexity.
Skull Tree Brewing: Skull Tree Brewing has two locations in Casper, and I only had the opportunity to visit their smaller, downtown location, so I cannot comment on their other location. Their downtown location was right in the center of Casper, and although small and a tad dingy, it had character. I visited this location during Caspers 5150 festival, so it was quite crowded, but Skull Tree was doing a great job to make sure everyone got the beer they wanted. They mostly had indoor seating, but people were sitting outside on the sidewalk as well, but that could've just been because of the festival. From their website, it does appear that their other location is quite bigger and nicer, and has indoor and outdoor seating. No food menu at their downtown location, but they do host food trucks frequently. As for their beer, I got to try their Va-Jay-Jay IPA, Yolanda's French Kiss (fruited sour), and Mattress Dancing (cold IPA). All of these beers were wonderful, and Yolanda's French Kiss was especially delicious, as it was made with hibiscus, blueberry, pomegranate, and elderberry. This was hands-down the best sour/fruited ale I tried in Casper. When I come back to visit Wyoming, I'm going back to this brewery first, to check out their other location and try more of their beer!
Black Tooth Brewing: Now technically, Black Tooth Brewing is not a Casper exclusive brewery, nor did they originate in Casper. They have two other locations, with their original location being in Sheridan, and their second location in Cheyenne. I'm going to include it in the list though because they do have a location in Casper where they brew with a 5 BBL system, and they are a Wyoming native brewery. Their brewery is conveniently located in downtown Casper, and features tons of both indoor and outdoor seating. Indoors, you'll find a small stage frequently showcasing live music, and outdoors, you'll be pleased to see a large courtyard featuring another stage, pergola, and fire pits. Black Tooth always seems to have live music, as well as other activities such as bingo nights and even tattoo competitions. The bartenders are super nice and the people here seem super chill, winning Black Tooth best vibes in my book. They also win best merch, as they have lots of great stickers, hats, t-shirts, etc, including a shirt with their very catchy logo of "Drink the West". They appear to occasionally host food pairings, as well as having a food truck schedule, but do not have a food menu themselves. Now, how's their beer you may be asking? I hate to keep using this word, but it was solid, in both taste and variety. They offer flights, as well as some cans to go. I tried their Golden Ale, Trick Pony Program (fruited sour), Copper Mule (ginger lime cream ale), Hot Streak (American IPA), and Ray Banz & Sun Tanz (fruited gose). My favorite was their Copper Mule, it was served with a lime and was a great easy-drinker. As you can see, they have a great variety, but I wouldn't say they had the best beer.
Frontier Brewing Company: Frontier Brewing Company is also located in the heart of Casper, but it appears in October of 2023 they'll be moving to a new location, so keep your eye out for that. Frontier is a nano-brewery, and they serve their beer up by a self-pour, pay the oz card system. When I visited, they had 4 of their own beers on tap, as well as 6 other beers available to drink. I was a little disappointed by the lack of beers, but as they are a true nano-brewery, I really can't complain. They brew up their beers fresh every week, so if you keep coming back here you'll get to try a variety of beers. Since they only had 4 of their own beers on tap, I of course tried them all, which included Larknote (golden ale), Dupont Wannabe (saison), Happily Ever Amber (red ale), and Muddy Mountain (mild). They were all pretty good, with Larknote being my favorite, which I found surprising since saisons are usually my favorite beers. No food menu, but they have food trucks every Saturday and you're welcome to being your own. They host trivia nights and other activities, as well as showing live sports games and movies on a large projector in a cozy little backroom. I expect these events and showings to get even bigger when they move locations soon. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say this brewery has the best potential.
Oil City Beer Company: Casper's nickname is "Oil City", so the name of this brewery should make some sense to you. Oil City Beer Company has a large building, with tons of indoor seating for parties of any size. They also have a large stage in the back, so you know what that means- lots of events and live music, including metal bands and a corn horn tournament every Monday. I came here on a quiet Sunday morning though, and had nearly the whole place to myself, so I couldn't tell you what is vibe is like during any of their events. But, I can tell you what their beer is like, or at least the 6 beers that I tried. They probably had over a dozen beers/seltzers on their menu, so 6 is barely scratching the surface, so this place definitely wins best variety. They also make their own soda, which I didn't try, but seems neat. Besides beers, seltzers, and soda, they have an "in house" food truck with a variety of fried foods and other things to munch on. They offer flights of anywhere from 4-8 beers, and also have cans to-go. The 6 beers I got to try are as follows - Bad Hair Day IPA, Mexicali en Fuego, Berliner Weisse, Oil City Red Ale, Severance Pale Ale, and the Belgian Wit. My favorite by far was the Mexicali en Fuego, which was a Mexican style lager brewed with chilies to give it a little kick. The other beers I tried were okay too, but nothing too special in my opinion.
Bull Horn Brewing: Like I said in the intro, I was unable to try Bull Horn's beers, due to them being under construction during the time of my visit. I have reviewed their website though, so I will say that the brewery itself looks really nice from the photos, and according to their Instagram, they should have their own beers back on tap sometime this month (Sept 2023). It appears they have indoor and outdoor seating, live music, food, games and activities. Their Instagram says they are dog and family friendly as well. Obviously, I'm going to have to visit Casper again just to check this place out and update my blog.
So TLDR - Best Beer- Stahoo's, Best Variety- Oil City, Best Potential- Frontier, Best Vibes- Black Tooth, Best Merch- Black Tooth, Best View- Gruner Brothers, Best Food- Gruner Brothers , Best Kid/dog Friendly- Mountain Hops, Best Sour/Fruited Ale- Skull Tree, Best TBD- Bull Horn!
Ranked in order of Best Beer -
Stahoo's Brewing Company
Mountain Hops Brewhouse
Skull Tree Brewing
Black Tooth Brewing
Gruner Brothers Brewing
Oil City Beer Company
Frontier Brewing Company
That's it, that's the ranking, and I'm honestly not sure of it. I already changed it around drastically since I've published this for no good reason. I'm sure about #1, #2, and #7, but 3-6 I can't decide on. They all had really great beer.
I can't wait to visit Bull Horn Brewing, and when I do I'll be sure to update this! In the meantime, feel free to follow my beer Instagram @suckerforsaisons. Cheers!