This past weekend, Blair and I decided to take a little road trip and visit a new brewery! Something we are working on that we hope might become regular in the future. We made our way over to Topeka, KS where we visited Happy Basset Brewing Company.
Other than having to pay the toll between KC and Topeka, we had a great time. Not only did we fill up on beer but we had our fill of Mexican food as well. Hopefully Blair will have a post on all that later. Here are a couple of things that I thought were worth noting about our visit to this hound themed brewery.
Atmosphere
The atmosphere as a whole seemed like they had just opened as a brewery a few weeks ago. A couple of the walls were pretty bare and it seemed like they still didn’t know where to put some stuff, like tables and extra glasses. After talking to the bartender a little, I discovered that Happy Basset has been in operation since April 2016. Does this get the brewery negative points in my book? I don’t think so. The beer is the most important part of the experience, I just can’t believe the owners aren’t doing something more exciting with such a fun and easy to utilize theme. I would love to walk into this building and have an overload of dogs too cute to ignore covering the walls.
Staff
During our visit, we met a few brewery staff members but only really interacted with the one bartender. Didn’t get his name, but he was a fantastic addition to our overall experience. He was funny as well as very knowledgeable about the beers he was serving us. Not only were recommendations given, but we also received mini history lessons on the brewery and how some of the beers and the brewery itself came into existence.
Staff like this can really turn a typical visit into a memorable adventure. When I go into a brewery or other establishment like this one, I enjoy the company of everyone at the bar and behind the bar as well. There are a lot of people that come to these places for the social element and everyone employed by Happy Basset there that day were adding to this aspect in a positive way.
Beer
Now for what you’ve been waiting for, the beer. Blair and I each ordered a couple tasters. I was caught a little off-guard at first because Happy Basset doesn’t offer flights, they have 4 ounce taster glasses that are bought individually for $1-$2. Create your own flight with however many tasters you want! Only want to try two or three? Perfect that’s all you pay for. Want to try every beer on the menu? You can do that too without having to order any pints.
You can find the full list of everything I tasted down below but I wanted to mention two in particular. First is the Hoppy Basset IPA. The bartender informed us that this was the beer that really solidified their position in the local beer scene. As Blair mentioned, it is their “Top Dog” beer. Thanks Blair. Now I’ll try any IPA at least once, but it’s not my favorite style. I was pleasantly surprised though with how light the beer felt. It also had lots of citrus and fruity flavors to make it really fun. I definitely enjoyed their number one beer. And so did everyone else coming in to fill their growlers while we were there.
My favorite of the trip was definitely the Purebred Porter. If you read too many more of my posts you’ll quickly discover that I’m a fan of dark beers, especially dark, malty porters like this one. This porter had just the right amount of roasted flavor that I had to order a pint of it. My only regret is that I was about two days late missing their special release Thin Mint Porter. I can’t imagine how amazing this beer would have been with some girl scout goodness permeating through that malt flavor.
Here’s my full list of beers I tried:
If you find yourself in Topeka and needing a drink, definitely check out Happy Basset Brewing Company. They gave us a great experience and their tap handles are adorable. Wish I could have met Gracie and Freckles, the two basset hounds the brewery was named after. I know that if I’m ever around the area again, I’ll definitely be going back.
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