Ironwood Brewing Co

Awesome place! Delicious beers, very friendly, professional staff. Their barrel aged beers are fantastic, and every so often there is a mead on tap also, do not miss this one! Black Friday is the best beer, but it’s seasonal, it comes out on Black Friday, and it’s gone after New Years, but they also sell bottles of it! Love this place!

Ironwood is the best of the Valpo brewery choices. The flight was huge — like 8 to 10 pours. The bartender was knowledgeable and helpful.
The pub is tiny but was doing a steady business with growlers. There is a nice deck to enjoy in good weather.
I don’t know if there were food options but I will return for the beer.

Almost a year now, and I’ve been to Ironwood almost weekly since my first few visits. Of the three brewpubs in Valparaiso, Ironwood has the best product by far in my view. They usually have 6 – 10 beer styles on tap, with about 4 always available and others rotated in seasonally (or whatever the owner chooses to brew). There are some styles, like Black Friday, Derailment, that you’re not likely to find elsewhere. If you want a sports bar, Ironwood is not your place. If you want a cozy, relatively quiet place to enjoy the best craft beer in Valparaiso, Ironwood IS your place. There are tons of regulars, that speaks volumes…

This is really the definition of a small brewery. It’s situated in a little house off the main drag and the brewing outfit is in the garage. This is also one of a handful of breweries owned and operated by a woman, so that was a neat bit of trivia for us when we visited.
My husband and I got the flight to share while we set up a Jenga tower in the back room. A few standouts were the Indiana Pale Ale (an IPA made with all Indiana hops and grains) and the barrel aged. The porter was also a nice crisp dark beer to sip on cooler nights.
Overall, friendly service, good beer. Would have killed for a food truck.

Amazing Beer! If you are a true craft brew lover this place is a must visit in the area. The service was great. The IPA, sour, BA ale, and barley wine were all fantastic. Yeah it’s a tiny place but just go in and try a flight of everything they have. The Beer Advocate ratings are way underrated!

I recently visited Valparaiso for my university’s Homecoming weekend. Thank goodness I was able to experience Ironwood as a real adult, and not as a broke college student. Because who wants to pay $ 4 for a beer when you could get access to an entire keg in someone’s College Ave apartments? Duh! But seriously, my friend and I stumbled on Ironwood while we were driving around town, and decided to check it out before hitting old haunts from our college days. I’m glad we did, because this place is absolutely charming. The woman we talked to at the bar was knowledgeable about their brews and told us a bit about the owner and the bar’s brief history-​to-​date. It was converted from a residence, and is fairly small. It’s cozy, though, and they have a back room and games. They don’t sell food, but it can be brought in. Oh, and the beer? Fantastic! I had Derailment, which is aged in a bourbon barrel, so it packs a lot of flavor. I’ll make it a point to stop in the next time I’m back in the area.

Nice sour, very aromatic IPA, very good barrel aged. We had a great conversation at the bar and brought our food from Barada just down the street. This is the best beer in the area– sorry they were out of mead.

Visited for the first time this afternoon. Great customer service. The bartender (forgot his name) was very friendly and knowledgable about the product. I only had time to try the Saison (ok), but he gave me a sample of the Sour Henry, which was surprisingly good for a «Sour». I’d love to come back on a day when they’ve got Rudy’s BBQ. Nice job, Ironwood!

This is an excellent place to grab a pint after work or with a buddy. The tasting room is rather small but they also have a deck. We each had two drinks while we were there and bought a growler for home. The bartender was informative and talkative about their beers and brewing which was nice. They definitely have regulars but the experience was overall a good time.

The beer is honestly awesome, and may be the best in town. That said, the service will be keeping my wife and I away. We went in for the second time and were made to feel completely unwelcome. It appears if you’re not the old guy that is apparently always there (from his bragging to us the first time we visited) then your business is not wanted. Instead of getting a couple of beers each and growlers for the weekend we decided a beer each is all of our business that they wanted. A tip to the owner: the reason Figure 8 and most other breweries in the area are always packed is because of their friendly staff as much as their beer. Make people feel welcome and they will spend more money and keep coming back for more.

Very poor service for what the beers were. Owner was stuck up and made us feel like we were a burden to serve — she made us feel very uncomfortable. Atmosphere was terrible. I felt like I was sitting in my grandma’s living room. Save yourself the time and trouble and keep heading further into town for a drink.

Personally, I’m very pleased about the craft beer craze that has swept this country over the past decade. And, it’s breweries like Ironwood that have begun reclaiming the beer landscape from big, bad corporate Goliaths of the macro-​brew industry.
It speaks to the vibrancy of this movement that a small community like Valpo is home to three solid breweries. While one certainly would not expect Porter County to be a hotbed of craft brewing, Ironwood does a lot to legitimize this area in the microbrew world. Let’s start with the beer. On the few occasions I’ve been here already, the beers have been solid. There’s certainly more remarkable brews out there from more well-​known breweries, but for the locale and context it’s definitely worth your visit.
Their regularly offered Porter is quality, and I was especially pleased with the Saison. They also routinely roll out special and seasonal offerings that are also good. My only critique would have to be their lack of much nuance and subtlety of flavor that typify many of the styles they produce. But, despite that I have never really been disappointed.
Ironwood also delivers with unique environment and ambiance. The entire brewery is housed in a small ranch-​style house just east of downtown. So, the bar area barely has seating for a dozen imbibers. The setting is modest and cozy and the staff is exceptionally knowledgeable, engaging, and friendly. Ironwood is definitely a must for anyone interest in craft beer or the microbrew scene in the area.

Nice little brewery, She usually has tasty sour on tap which is a big perk for me!

Tiny brewery with decent beer & affordable prices. I don’t recall their being food which is something I wish all breweries offered. All in all, not bad. It’s worth checking out at least once.

Porter was one of the best I’ve ever had, and was only four dollars for 16 ounces. Don’t let the outside fool you, it may be small but it’s well kept and halfway decent inside. If you like beer you owe it to yourself to check this place out.

We first heard of them and tried their Commodore Porter at Pikk’s Tavern. We recently stopped in for a drink or two in their newly opened location. Service was great. We tried several beers and all were awesome! Seating is limited but I am hoping they will be able to expand as the business grows!

Tried the Porter on Saturday — FANTASTIC

A charming neighborhood brewery that deserves recognition well beyond just its neighborhood! Beers are thoughtfully and beautifully crafted, with creative flourishes that don’t turn their back on tradition. Welcoming, friendly, and just about perfect.

KNOCKED OUR SOCKS OFF!
Had the great pleasure of tasting their beer at Bartlett’s Gourmet Grill at the start of the Great Distillery/​Brewery Bus Tour on 11÷10÷13.
This gal owner has the secret recipe for the next great crafted beer in Indiana.