It takes a little bit of effort to find, as it's in an industrial park and you're almost certain you're in the wrong place when you first get there. But once you're inside, you'll always be greeted by one of the various friendly employees at the company. You enter into a small tasting room, and usually there are a few people hanging about in there having a taster and chit chatting.
After trying a few beers, the guys are happy to take you around their facility, which is an interesting DIY type of deal...nothing looks out of place, mind you, but it's definitely not the million dollar shiny facilities you'll see at the bigger craft brewers (like Stone, for example). It's a glimpse into the future for any homebrewer who aspires to bigger pastures one day.
But let's talk about the beer. Currently they're making 7 styles....a blonde, pale, brown, IPA, porter, double IPA and a scotch ale. After going through the range (a few times over, now...), I'm impressed at how balanced and easy drinking all of the beers are. Being right near the king of huge hopped West Coast ales, we've got a lot of brewers that are trying to fit as much as they can into any beer...and so it's nice to have a brewer that shows restraint and balances their beers out. Even the styles I don't tend to be a fan of (brown, porter) are very balanced and great. The hardest part is deciding which beer to get a growler fill of.
I've gotta make an extra point of stating my love for the Victoria double IPA. A big alcohol beer that you'd never guess is 9% ABV, with a great bitterness to it. A standout amongst a bunch of good beers, the only bummer is that it's a lot more pricey than the rest for growler fills.
IE Brewing has become part of my regular routine, and I've stopped in at least half a dozen times for growler refills. Judging by the increasingly large groups I'm seeing in the tiny tasting room, it's starting to catch on.
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