Robin Shepard
Tumbled Rock Brewer Erica DeAnda
Erica DeAnda came to Wisconsin because she wanted to be a brewer in a small town. A place where she could be hands-on in all aspects of the brewery. Two years later, she’s doing just that. Last week, she unveiled her first in-house beers at the new Tumbled Rock Brewery and Kitchen, just outside Baraboo, where she is the brewmaster.
Owners Michelle Koehler and Randy Scott have seized on a golden marketing opportunity, opening the first craft beer bar to take advantage of visitors to Devil’s Lake State Park — the state’s most visited, with attendance in the neighborhood of 2.7 to 3 million people in a given year. The new restaurant and brewery tasting room, S5718 Highway 136 (at the intersection with County Highway DL), is near the park entrance.
The restaurant opened in mid-September. Now the brewery has released its first house brews, a golden ale and a brown ale. “I’m not looking to reinvent the wheel,” says DeAnda. “I just want to make beer that the community wants.”
DeAnda, 29, worked her way up in the brewing industry, starting as a cocktail server. In 2013 at the Linden Street Brewery in Oakland, California, she took an interest in the brew house and soon found herself washing kegs. That led to a brewery internship there.
Then it was on to San Francisco to Triple VooDoo Brewery, Speakeasy Ales and Lagers, and Armstrong Brewing Company, where she gained more experience at a range of jobs. At Armstrong, she met Alisha Blue of Freewheel Brewing in Redwood City, California. DeAnda soon started working there, and Blue introduced her to English ales and cask-conditioned beers.
DeAnda came to Wisconsin in 2017, landing a job at Minocqua Brewing, then heading to Waunakee’s Octopi Brewing, where she gained experience in production and packaging.
Then along came her dream job, founding brewer at the new Tumbled Rock.
Since June, DeAnda has been involved in every stage of the build-out of the 15-barrel brewing system: “It’s been exciting to build it from scratch and determine where this tank or that tank needs to go.”
DeAnda’s initial beer is First Blood Blonde Ale. It’s a hoppy golden beer with a little more bite than DeAnda planned. The first beer from a new system is often about learning how the equipment works, or doesn’t. DeAnda determined her scale was weighing things incorrectly and she had added a lot more Cascade hops than she’d thought. The result is still a fine beer, just a little more of a hoppy pale ale than a blonde.
Her second beer, Chuck Brown Dog (named after the owner’s brown cocker spaniel), is a traditional English brown ale made with Maris Otter malts and East Kent Golding hops. It’s a medium-bodied, dark amber-bronze beer with a solid herbal hoppiness and hints of chocolate, coffee and tobacco. It finishes clean and dry and was very popular during the taproom’s recent release party. DeAnda expects to offer it on cask and at cellar temperature.
She’s also just released the first in a series she’s calling Barabrews, all pale ales each made with a different but single variety of hops and ABVs around 5 to 6 percent. “As I get cool new hops, I’ll showcase them in the series,” she says. The first one features an experimental hop so new it goes by a number instead of a name: 06277. Look for big citrus flavors of pineapple, peach and spice.
DeAnda is interested in making kettle sours, as well as collaboration beers with other local brewers, wine makers and distillers. Until DeAnda can make more of her own, Ale Asylum beers have filled in the rest of the taps.
DeAnda is among a growing number of women brewers in Wisconsin. She’s also president of the Wisconsin Pink Boots Society, a local arm of the international nonprofit that supports women in the beer industry. There are currently about 45 members in Wisconsin. “People kind of home in on that, being a woman brewer, but that isn’t what it should be about,” says DeAnda. “Sure, it feels good and you know you are paving the way for other young women to make beer, but I really want to be known for making good, solid, everyday drinking beer.”
Tumbled Rock is named for the bluffs and rock outcroppings around Devil’s Lake (one of the most popular hikes in the park is the Tumbled Rocks trail) and is at the site of the former Farm Kitchen restaurant, razed to make way for Tumbled Rock’s two buildings and large connecting outdoor patio.
The restaurant features a wood-fired oven to make pizzas and a variety of other items on the menu. The main bar is large and square, with 24 taps and room for about 20 stools. Windows look out to a brick patio, fire pits, and a game area covered in artificial grass.
The second building is the brewery and taproom, featuring a small bar with 10 taps and seating for about 10, plus a few high tables and a private party room for 30. Patrons can order food from the main restaurant menu. The brewing system is behind the bar and visible from the taproom.
Tumbled Rock’s restaurant is open daily from 11 a.m. to midnight. The brewery building’s taproom is expected to only be open on weekends during the winter.
