Koto Brewing, Twin Falls ID

Koto has a great space in a building in what I assume is an older-but-reinventing-itself downtown area in Twin Falls.

The windows out onto the street open fully, so there was an interesting combination of air-conditioned climate closer to the bar and heat closer to the sidewalk. That must have made things interesting for the servers!

They have a number of their own brews on the tap list as well as some guests, but of course, I stuck with the house brews in order to give them a good try-out.

As usual, I started with a flight and picked the five beers I thought I’d like the most.

From left to right:

Swollen Ego Blonde Ale – this was by far my favorite of the group, and the one I chose to follow up with a full pint. It reminded me of many Kölsch brews I’ve had and was actually closer to those than a blonde, I think, but I didn’t care – it was just great tasting.

Table Base NEIPA – This one disappointed me. I really liked it at first, but the more I sipped of it, the hoppier and less balanced it became. When I’d first tasted it, I thought it would be the one for a pint, but no. It just didn’t satisfy over time.

80 Grit English Porter – I really liked this one. If this had been cool weather, that would have been the pint … but at 95º? Nope. Still, it was a really tasty example of that style.

American Agenda Pale Ale – Such a puzzle. I really expected to like this one as I like most Pale Ales, but it struck me as even hoppier than the Table Base, and I wasn’t expecting that. Of the two, the Table Base was my favorite.

Grifter – This lager was also really good and was a close second to the Swollen Ego for my tastes this evening. In the end, I just wasn’t in the mood for malt-forward flavors and went for the blonde.

The food was generous, far more than I could eat (although I did finish the side salad). This was a grilled chicken with pesto, roasted garlic aioli, and fried tomatoes on parmesan-crusted sourdough bread. It really was good, but perhaps a bit over-the-top flavor-wise. Regardless, it was just too much food for me today 🙂