Big Man Eats: Old Herald Brewery and Distillery, Collinsville, Illinois
Named after a longtime running Collinsville newspaper, the Old Herald Brewery and Distillery bought the old building in 2017 and opened nearly two years later. With a convenient location in downtown Collinsville, a cool, retro building, my expectations are high. Their menu includes several options ranging from soups, salads, sandwiches, and entrees, with in-house brewed beers and cocktails.
Rankings: out of 10. (1= low, 10=high)
Sports Page: 7.2
Late Edition: 7.5
Miners Coalsh: 6.4
Proofreader: 6.9
Jalapeno Jam Wings: 7.1
Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich: 7.9
Fish and Chips: 4.8
Overall Score of Old Herald Brewery and Distillery: 7.1
Continue for full, in-depth review.
As soon as I walked in the place, I knew the mood I was in and was ready to sample beers from their own tap. Like other breweries, they offer a beer flight. My opinion of the beverages may have changed had I tasted the full pints rather than the beer flight, but these were my initial thoughts.
The Sports Page was a light lager with very easy drinking. A standard drinking beer with nothing to complain about but middle of the pack.
The Late Edition was a beautiful hazy looking American IPA with Bavaria hops and citrus notes. My favorite out of the four.
Miners Coalsh is a Kolsch style beer with floral and fruit notes-an even balance of sweetness and bitterness. After having authentic Kolsch from Cologne and having tried other Kolsch style beers in the STL area, it did not meet my standards of a Kolsch.
Proofreader is a hoppy style ale, very fruit forward with a crisp hop finish. I enjoyed it, but it was not memorable enough for me to return specifically for it. However, I would make a trip back for the Late Edition.
For the starter, my friend and I decided on wings, but we were undecided on the flavor. Our server recommended the Jalapeno Jam sauce, so we took the suggestion. The wings were high quality, juicy, and crisp. The Jalapeno Jam was a fun choice compared to the typical wing sauce options. It was sweet and spicy, but not an exceedingly robust flavor. All in all, we enjoyed them.
Now onto the Nashville Hot Chicken. The first thing I noticed with this sandwich was the high level of visual appeal. The chicken was good portion size, with plenty of greens and pickle on top. As far as taste goes, the Nashville spice blend was what I was expecting, but the nice, sweet pop of the honey over the chicken created a sweet and spicy combination that melded the flavors together into a satisfying meal.
Although the Miners Coalsh was disappointing, the Fish and Chips was the biggest disappointment of the meal. The fish came out hot, good looking, and crispy. Maybe too crispy. When I took the first bite of the fish, I noticed the haddock was cooked well and had great flavor, but the breading was like chewing cardboard. The light coating of the dense batter was a non-complement to the texture of the fish. The breading did not have much flavor to add, so it was tasteless like cardboard. As it is fried fish, I had to try the tartar sauce. The tartar sauce was mediocre with not much unique flavor to add to the fish. The jalapeno slaw was good, but the jalapeno flavor was not as bold as one might think from the name. Overall, the experience was not great, and I would suggest ordering something besides the Fish and Chips.
To wrap up the whole experience, it was a clean, well designed atmosphere, with the roots of the Old Herald newspaper still influencing the decor and themes. The service was good, but the food and drinks were just “okay”. Not a place I am rushing back to visit.
