This past Sunday, myself and some of the Smokes and Booze crew descended upon Native Stone Winery and Bull Rock Brewery as part of our Missouri Brew Tour.
You can view more pictures at the Smokes and Booze Flicker account (HERE)
From the website-
The restaurant and microbrewery are operated by Michele & Chris Barrows. The Winery is owned by Cara and Larry Stauffer and was started in 2000. They still tend to the vineyards and make all of the wine. (Cara and Chris are brother and sister!)
In 1804, Lewis and Clark explored the riverside of Native Stone, where they found a large rock formation worth noting in their journals. That rock formation is “Bull Rock”.We named our microbrewery Bull Rock Brewery in honor of Lewis & Clark’s discovery. Native Stone will be offering tours of Bull Rock to the public, for the Lewis & Clark bicentennial.
Getting there-
<Ed>Located just north of Jefferson City off of Highway 50 West to Highway 179, I thought this would be an interesting site in my own back yard.
The drive from Ashland was really nice on this first day of spring. The Sun was shining and the wind kept the temps mild.
Debi’s GPS worked well (I had a map as a fallback), but it did have the location as being .5 Mile off of the actual site. So be warned.
Also, the sign is rather weathered (you can tell that the Bull Rock Brewery was added much later) and very unassuming. Blink and you miss it.
Driving up the gravel lane lead us to find an old quaint farmhouse, which is not what we were expecting. If there wasn’t a car we recognized parked there, we would have continued to the warehouse you can barely make out in the distance that advertises “Native Stone Winery”.
From the parking lot, the trellis does advertise that business, although better signage would help alleviate confusion.
I found it funny that TommyG noticed the same thing I did in the parking lot, empty Natural Light cans, and even included a picture with his submissions. We were showing up well after opening…so a little attention to detail and cleanup would have been appreciated>
Inside, you walk through a small gift shop and past the “Tasting Area” to get to the dining room. It did appear that there are several patios outside (we chose inside due to the wind).
From the dining area, there is a nice view overlooking part of the vineyard, but it is not as breathtaking as Les Bourgeois or Summit Lake Wineries.
<TommyG>
Located 9 miles outside of Jefferson City, I had no trouble at all finding the winery based on the directions from the website. It was a gorgeous day, the first really warm and sunny of the year. It was a perfect day for a road trip, and Native Stone Winery was only 45 minutes from Columbia and about 15 minutes from downtown Jefferson City. It w...as the perfect distance for a Sunday afternoon getaway, and the drive was perfectly scenic with a great view of central Missouri’s rolling hills and farmland.
Pulling up to the winery we were a little thrown off as it looked more someone’s house than a place of business.
The parking lot was tiny (and more of a gravel “suggestion” of a lot) and there was a couple of Natural Light cans scattered about. Now that is a bad sign for a supposed micro-brewery that it serves canned “Natties.” So we all manned up and walked up the front walkway to the farmhouse and found that inside was a really charming and intimate restaurant/bar/wine tasting gallery and gift shop and that the back side of the farmhouse was expanded seating and several spacious patios.
Ambiance-
<Ed> The inside reminded me of a Bed & Breakfast or perhaps some of the German Gasthauses I have visited. The décor is nice, and I particularly enjoyed eating off of china than standard restaurant fare. The view was ok, and probably would have been better if it were later in the year and more green….perhaps we will go back and go walking next time. I can see the allure, so I give it a score of 3.5
<TommyG> This is where the place wins, I thought that the restaurant was very pleasant with plenty of natural lighting. You had views of rolling Missouri farmland and vineyard while you eat, and the wait staff (err, one waitress for the entire place) was polite and attentive despite having to cover all the tables herself. Apparently this place gets rather crowded in the late spring and summer, but on this delightfully sunny mid-March Sunday afternoon it was rather dead. I give the ambiance a hearty 4/5.
The Food-
<Ed> I believe the group as a whole found the food adequate. I got the impression that it was hit and miss. Rex had the breakfast buffet and when asked how it was…he shrugged and said “It’s Breakfast”. Debi had one of the Pizzas and I personally had the Portabella Quesada which I found quite delicious. Solid 3 for me.
<TommyG> The menu was a pretty basic winery/Americana mix. The appetizer menu had such offerings as a cheese and antipasto basket, nachos, artichoke dip, and other such light fare. We went for the artichoke dip and it was pleasantly light for a cheese based dip. The rest of the menu offered a small selection of pizzas, burgers, and a small steak menu. We went with the pizzas. Their chicken and artichoke pizza was pretty good, it had a sprinkling of feta cheese and even some surprise almond slivers. I would give the food a solid 3/5
The Beer -
Our first disappointment of the day was finding out that they only had one beer on tap- The Extra Pale Ale (not listed on their website). We later learned that the establishment had gone through a transition from the original owners to their sister-in-law. It appears that there was an attempt to stay open through the winter, and (while this was never stated) they were trying to keep their overhead down while still maintaining cashflow. Therefore, the brewery was running on light staffing (more on that in a minute).
Therefore, our initial decision was made for us…..we all tried the only beer they had.
<Ed>
- Appearance – A weak head and a low amount of carbonation. Very little bubble movement within the glass as well. The color was a little darker than I would have expected, coming in at a SRM 16. Given the “Extra” Pale Ale moniker, I thought it should have been lighter. If anything, I would call it an American Pale Ale instead. I did notice a weak head and a low amount of carbonation. Very little bubble movement within the glass as well.
- Nose - Hoppy, yet not overly so, as would be expected again with APA.
- Taste- Overall taste wasn’t as full of hops as the nose. Rather mild, but refreshing with some robust malts creating an excellent mouth feel and ending with citrus aftertaste.
- Score 2.5
<TommyG>
OK, for full disclosure I am sick with the flu; so everything I eat or drink tastes a little like a disgusting combination of phlegm and Ricola. So my palate may be a bit contaminated. That being said: The Extra Pale Ale beer that the brewery had on tap was a little bland for my taste. It has a very light hop character and its malt component was pretty much nonexistent. There was nothing unpleasant about the beer, and if I were in a more charitable mood I would call it “well balanced” or touts its inherent “drinkability.” As it was though, I am unimpressed. My score: 2.5/5
The Wine-
Hoping to cut our loses in only having one beer to try, we decided to give the wines a sample.
Native Stone has a unique sampling plan. They currently offer 6 different wines that are locally produced and three that imported from other wineries. You may sample three for free and for an additional $3, you can sample the other three as well. For $6, you can sample all wines.
<Ed> I think we all agree, the wine tasting was OK, but definitely not worth the money. IMO, this is a huge missed marketing opportunity. $3 for a sip (barely the bottom of the glass) didn’t inspire me to purchase any of the wines. The only wine we purchased was the one Debi had with Lunch. I would suggest dropping the price and letting customers really experience the range and return to ones they like to confirm their purchases.
<TommyG> So we were willing to overlook the lack of beer on tap since the place did sell itself more as a winery than a micro brewery. But their wine tasting was not well executed. They offered 3 samples for free, then an additional 3 samples for $3 (which covers all the wines they produce on site) and then for $5 you can sample everything they carry (they had about 1 or 2 other wines as well). This pricing plan sounds excellent, but unfortunately the samples were very very sparing. We were poured only a sip of each variety. I am more used to wine tastings in which you are given a quarter to a third of a glass to sip on, so that you can really make up your mind about the wine and so that your good senses are deadened and you are put into a more charitable mood with your wallet. But as it was I just left feeling a little ripped off for my $3. If I poured all six tastings in to one wineglass, I probably would have only had about half a glass total.
<Note> There were a few scorecards for the wines and have included them at the end of this post.
Finally, we got an opportunity to see the “Brewery”. The brew master was not present, so one of the staff members let us in and attempted to answer questions.
<Ed> WOW- Much smaller operation than I would have expected. We did learn from our guide that during the summer, he had been told that they run 4-5 Beers at a time. This again highlights the disappointment in only having one available at this time. The brew master appears to make rounds and was due in shortly (thus the empty kegs). The guide said he hadn’t been there a full season yet, and he had only seen the brew master a few times.
In addition, an interesting tidbit was that the brewery setup was repurposed dairy equipment. I don’t know if that is good or bad…it appears to work, but I personally feel that having the proper equipment is essential to an optimized and serious operation. I would also love to know why they had Rice Hulls in stock. I THINK it is to keep glue-y grains like oats and wheat from becoming an impenetrable clump. But I have never seen another brewer use it. If that is the case, this would have been a great discussion to have.
<TommyG> In one of the pictures above, that is all the supplies they had for their next beer run. They definitely are a small time maker. That is all the grain and malt they had in storage.
Overall –
<Ed> I liked the ambiance and feel of the Restaurant. Food was good. But, at this time, I cannot see myself returning just for the wine or beer. Nothing overly wowed me….but I would probably give it a second chance later in the year.
Improved signage would help in taking the establishment seriously and I think management should look into their tasting practices. This should not be a revenue stream in any other way than empowering tasters to make the right choice.
The Website is desperately in need of a makeover. I went through several attempts to contact the Winery/Brewery prior to visiting and at no point did I get a reply. After arriving, this makes sense as it appears there has been a change in management, even though that is counter to what is on the site. I doubt anyone is even checking the associated email.
Finally, if they want to be a great brewery…hire a fulltime Brew Master.
<TommyG> If you live in Mid Missouri (anywhere around Jefferson City or Columbia) it is certainly more than worth the trip out to visit Native Stone Winery. Bring a host of friends and savor the short drive, sit outside and split a bottle of wine and some appetizers and just enjoy the afternoon. As the food and beer and wine itself was merely okay I don’t think that I will be back soon as there are plenty of other local wineries to try. But if you are looking for something do on a lazy afternoon it certainly gets my endorsement.
Score Card (on a 5 Scale).
Click Picture to Embiggen
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