The Firehouse Brewery -- Rapid City, South Dakota Bradley Dilger

Why the hell was I in Rapid City, South Dakota? I was giving two presentations and a workshop at the Fifteenth Computers and Writing Conference, that's why. Academic stuff. Business stuff. That withstanding, it was a lot of fun, not to mention worth my time as far as academic work and all that was concerned. (More on that trip later.)

I went to the Firehouse four times during this trip--once to eat dinner with my Conference buddies, once to have dinner with Erin, on the way back home, later that night, for a nightcap; and finally, on the day we left, to grab a pint while Erin was shopping.

As the name intimates, the Firehouse is in the fire house, downtown in the middle of Rapid City's "Historic district." The old Rapid City Fire Company building, built in 1905, is a wonderful brick and sandstone building. From the front, it still looks like a fire house, except for the "Red Hook" and "Coors" sign in the windows. The double doors for horse-drawn steam engines remain intact, and the front of the building still proclaims RAPID CITY FIRE DEPT., though it also has a few other signs tipping off the real occupants.

Once you're inside, you can see that for the most part, the structure was unchanged. Years ago, firemen lived upstairs, in bunkrooms which ringed the open area where their engines and equipment were stored. Today, tables ring the central bar on three sides both upstairs and downstairs. On the fourth side one can see fermenters (in a refrigerated case, behind double-walled glass) and small holding tanks (also behind glass). The bar dominates the center, right where the engines used to be. The twin garage doors which once opened to the street remain, but are decorated a bit to make them look more like part of a bar and less like remnants of the past. Look up, and you'll see old horse-drawn pressure tanks and hose coils attached to the tin ceiling. Overall, the entire place is a unique mix of old (fire house) and new (Firehouse Brewing).

Though the Firehouse has a few televisions inside, it's a nice place to sit and have a beer. An enclosed, covered outside courtyard filled with tables and offers a respite from ESPN and the shouting, beer swilling trivia players--but you'll have to drink your beer from a plastic cup.

Like many brewpubs, the focus of the Firehouse's beer is their own ales and lagers. You can get some bottled beer from local micros and some of the big names (Liberty Ale, Sam Adams, etc) but it's mostly what's-on-tap. I'm pleased to note that the beer was fresh, clean, not over chilled, and for the most part quite good. In between the first time I visited and when Erin and I returned two different beers were on tap and a third was almost ready.

An extra-pale ale delivered just that: not too hoppy, and not too malty, but not like drinking Budweiser or Coors Light either (the only two beers they offer from the "majors," by the way). I much preferred the "Firehouse Red," an amber ale with a nice dose of crystal malt to add a touch of sweetness and malty flavor. It wouldn't have passed the Dr. Bob test, but it did have a good hop flavor and bitterness.

A porter and stout were well-malted with a nice roast and clean, almost simplistic hop character. They weren't very different, though. I preferred the stout to the porter, which I found a bit thin and sweet. Erin liked the stout best of the ones which came in her sampler.

A wheat beer and amber wheat both had too much barley for my tastes; the spicy subtle flavors wheat can add weren't present in very great quantities, and the beers were overall kind of vapid, though certainly drinkable.

My favorite was the India Pale Ale, which was true to style though made with American hops. It was robust, malty, and bitter, carbonated lightly and served a bit less chilled than the other beers (I thought). The bitterness one expects from an IPA was certainly there, with just a bit of hop flavor. According to the menu Cluster and Chinook hops are used as bittering agents in most of Firehouse's brews.

The Firehouse Brewery's food was diverse, representing the standard brewpub fries/nachos/whatever yuppies are eating now/sandwiches kind of fare we all know well. Some local sorts of specialties, like buffalo and other "game" meats, were also on the menu. We had nachos to munch on while sampling brews. For dinner, Erin had a burrito and I had a calzone. Both were good, solid pub grub, not spectacular, but certainly worth it.

One highlight of my first meal was the beer bread, which was served with some entrees (one person got it, some of the table snitched, and we ended up ordering four baskets). It was very solid and a bit sweet, but certainly

The first time I came to the Firehouse our service was terrible. Our waitress botched some of the orders, forgot to bring out beers repeatedly, and was just generally not with it. At one point I gave up on trying to get her to serve us and just went inside to order more beer (sound familiar?). The second time things were much better. But the last time I was there, sitting at the bar, the bartender astounded me with her thickness; when a grubby-looking redneck plopped down next to me and grumbled, "Beer and a shot," she started telling him about all the homebrews while he stared blankly at her, and then poured him a shot -- of Chevas! You can imagine what he had to say about his tab.

But if you're ever in Rapid City--why is your own damn business--the Firehouse Brewery is certainly worth a go. Just don't sit inside at night without earplugs, and keep a watchful eye on your server.