LOREN SHAUM: Albion Nano Brewery enjoys ongoing success | CPT PPP Coverage

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According to the albion-in.org website, Noble County was created in 1836 and needed a county seat. Initially a site was selected along the Goshen-Fort Wayne trail (now US 33), but for whatever reason it was moved east to a couple obscure locations.

Augusta was the first location. At that time, it had a court house, school, stores, churches, and other necessities, but after the court house burned in 1843, the town declined. Today Augusta is only noted by a sign at the corner of C.R. 300 North and Long Lake Road; however, just south of the intersection remains the Augusta cemetery that supports the history.

After the court house burned, residents turned to another obscure location, Port Mitchell. That didn’t last long as greed lead to residents wanting to move to the center of the county. In 1847, the county seat was moved to Albion, and a court house was constructed.

In 1874, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad came through, and the town thrived.

The current Romanesque style court house was built in 1889. Soon, the court house square had an opera house, retail stores, offices, a hotel, and livery stables. South of town, a buggy foundry opened its doors.

Today, Albion is known as The Gateway to the Chain O Lakes State Park. It’s a nine-lake property where you can canoe or kayak between all the lakes and camp and/or fish.

The town also has several restaurants that we’ve reported on in the past. In 2019, we declared El Mariachi to be the best Mexican restaurant we visited that year. There’s also One10 West Main that was temporarily closed but has now reopened. South of the square is the Half Acre Café.

But now, there’s another joint of high interest that is open for lunch.

Albion Alehouse

Just south of the court house square is the home of Guesswork Brewing Company. The so-called nano brewery opened in 2016 to minimal fanfare, but since then, it’s has made substantial noise on everyone’s microbrew trail. That brought us here.

We strolled in to perch at the bar as usual, and Leigha presented the menu and current beer list. There were 25 on the list (24 of them were on tap) including the popular Alehouse lemonade and twisted tea. With too many to chose from, I decided on a flight of four (They also offer a flight of six.). I selected the cream ale, Albion lager, blonde beaner and Randy shandy. The beaner had interesting notes of vanilla and coffee, but the shandy was over the top, and the best of my selections. The cream ale was a close second. It’s a lighter beer and very refreshing.

While sampling the flight, we perused the menu. It focuses on sharables, burgers (12 choices) and pizza (7 choices) — all popular with folks while quaffing a growler. There’s also an abundance of salads, wraps, sandwiches, and baskets. After more sampling of my flight, I noticed the “monster” breaded tenderloin. After asking Leigha about the ”monster” size, it would be enough for four, so I settled on the grilled tenderloin deluxe and a side salad with an excellent poppy seed dressing. This tenderloin could have been thinner, but it was still tasty. Onion and pickle coupled with the other condiments made it more than adequate.

Meanwhile, Gayle, my wife, chose the shrimp basket with a side of onion rings. The shrimp were lightly breaded and very tender. And, the onion rings were better than average.

In addition to all the craft beers, the alehouse also has a full bar. Owner Chris has created a quality brewery while guessing on what will be the best tasting brew. His beers can be found at several area bars.

Albion is a delightful destination with much to offer. It’s only a half-hour from Lake Country, and on the next trip, we’ll check-out the Old (Circa 1880’s) Jail House Museum.

Loren Shaum is an automation engineering consultant, retired pilot, author, home gardener and sometimes chef. He and Gayle reside in Syracuse. He can be contacted at comtec@kcaccess.com.