Eagle, Idaho. An interesting little hamlet six miles or so away from Boise, but an almost entirely different world. Eagle is what people in Twin are talking about when they think they are talking about Boise. Tons of new friends from out of state have settled in and around Eagle for the same reasons that people from Boise went to Meridian or Nampa: cheaper land and tons of opportunity to raise a family and own a business. Let’s go through some of the new businesses in and around Eagle-In and Out Burger from California, Spitfire from California, Blaze Pizza from California, and Mountain Mike’s Pizza from California. There is a trend.
Gem State Brewing breaks the trend. Chris McGinnis, along with his wife Kristl, set out to open this brewery wayyyy back in 2018. Think about yourself in 2018—no anxiety, very little thoughts of anything other than work, family, life, etc. Chris was making beers at the now-defunct County Line Brewing when he and his wife put some money down on land in downtown Eagle. Eagle! Who was in Eagle back then? There was an Albertsons, Rice Asian fusion restaurant, and zero breweries.
Anyway, he put down money on land and then … waited. Took a job at Amazon and then came the Pandemic. So, he waited some more. Then the Pandemic ended and he started the build and waited. Finally, just about one month ago, January 6th to be exact, Gem State Brewing opened to fanfare. “It’s been crazy,” says co-owner/head brewer Chris McGinnis. People in Eagle finally have a brewery.
So, how is it?d In short, good. The beers, I am happy to say, are solid if not pretty damn good for a first offering. IPAs, American wheats, sours, and stouts … we’re running the whole gamut here at Gem State. Let’s take you through a few of them, why don’t we? Without further ado, Friday Night Pints … Eagle style!
Heritage Pils
The first beer I tried was the Heritage Pilsner. This beer came out looking very pretty with a golden straw color, clean throughout, and a nice, white head. Lemon and grain on the nose with those flavors coming through to the palate with a touch of grassy hops. A nice start and a clean pilsner. 4% 25 IBU.
Show Me Your Bloobs - Blueberry Vanilla Cream Ale
Big bloob energy in this beer. Pours hazy with a bronze hue and a thin white head. Opaque. Blueberry on the nose with a touch of vanilla. Huge bloob flavor comes through clean with the vanilla sweetness helping it along the way. A nice fruit beer. Just my type. Winky emoji. 4.7% 8 IBU.
Ponderosa Pale Ale
Lovely looking pale, straw-colored, and clean with a thin white head. Nice and hoppy on the nose with citrusy and grassy hops. Nice old-school pale with just enough bitterness for flavor. Wouldn’t be surprised if this brought them a medal at some point. 5.2% 38 IBU.
Haze for Daze Hazy IPA
Funny story. Way back when hazies were starting to ascend, I tasked Bryan Garcia-Brown, head brewer at Edge, and David Torres (now) head brewer at Payette, to create a hazy IPA for our summer seasonal beer and we were going to call it “Boston Juice Party.” It was 2015! Long story short, they did their research and brewed the hazy up and it was the cleanest, clearest most see-through IPA they had ever made. These are good brewers and they totally biffed it on their first hazy. That brings us to Gem State’s hazy, which, as you can see, is very clean and very clear. Fortunately, like Boston Juice Party, it tastes great. This puts Chris in great company.
Not as hazy as they probably would have liked. Pretty clear yellow with a thin white head. Lots of good juicy hops on the nose, so, in a can this would be a perfect hazy! Melon, strawberry, and citrus peel on the nose. An easy drinker with little bitterness. Lots of nice hoppy flavors. Sure doesn’t taste like a seven percenter. 7% 40 IBU.
Cherry Little Pucker Kettle Sour
Another great name. Pours reddish with little to no head, clear’ish. Lots of funk on the nose, with very little cherry, but there is some … I would call it cherry must. Good flavor, cherries, raspberries, and blueberries with wheat and kettle funk. Nice refresher. 6.2% 1 IBU.
Wheat me in the Middle
Straw colored with a golden hue and a white head. Banana and American yeast funk on the nose. This is a classic American wheat. Refreshing, banana’y, and slightly esthery with earthy and grassy hops. Great beer to have on tap, reminds me of Intermountain Wheat from Epic. 4.4% 19 IBU.
Early Riser Oatmeal Stout
Dark but not deep space motor oil dark. This has reddish brown hues and a pillowy white head. Sweet oats, coffee, and cocoa on the nose. Like an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. Roasty, sweet, and tasty, this stout is a nice example of a classic low-ABV oatmeal stout. It’s slightly more bitter than I want, but tasty nonetheless. 5% 38 IBU.
Black Hole Sun American Stout
Boiling heat
Summer stench
Neath the black, the sky looks dead
Call my name
Through the cream
And I'll hear you scream again
A beer name after my own heart! Pours a lot like the oatmeal stout; dark with a red and brown tint. Thin white head. Roasty on the nose, burnt toast, coffee, and a tiny bit of cocoa. A LOT different from the oatmeal. This is roasted, bitter, and deep with flavors of coffee, bitter chocolate, and spice. Nice bitter finish as well. I would really enjoy this as a 10% barrel-aged stout a la that RIP from County Line back in the day. 6% 67 IBU.
Legend Has It Coffee Cream Ale
Pours golden and opaque with a thin white head. Big coffee notes on the nose, like a latte with milk. Sweet. Very little hops on the nose. Wow. Very coffee forward. The lactose does a nice job of giving you the full latte experience here. I prefer mochas in beers, but this is a nice light version of a coffee stout. Really clean finish. 4.7% 8 IBU.