Wooden Cask Brewing Company
629 York St, Newport
1 Levee Way, Newport (Newport on the Levee – Gallery Building)
Wooden Cask Brewing Company was started by brewing veteran Randy Schiltz and his wife, and opened in Newport in late 2016. The taproom itself is a decent size, with three unique areas: a large bar as the feature, an open party room, and high top and picnic tables. Its location near Newport on the Levee makes it a popular stop for shoppers and locals alike. The brewery also features a second-floor event space.
Wooden Cask has lots of great beers, but they really excel with their barrel-aging program (as their name would suggest). They have done a wine barrel-aged cider a couple of times that literally almost make me go gluten-free.
The brewery is also known for their expansive bourbon and liquor selection, and they feature $5 pours of high-end whiskeys every Wednesday.
Wooden Cask also has an internal kitchen, operated by Beards and Bellies BBQ.
Newport on the Levee
In 2020, Wooden Cask operated a pop-up location at the Bridgeview Box Park at Newport on the Levee, and in 2021 they moved to a more permanent location inside the Gallery Building on the Levee for their second location. Lexington’s West Sixth Brewing also opened in the Box Park for the 2021 season.
Must-try beer: Redrum Rum Barrel Aged Ruby – With a name like Wooden Cask you definitely expect a brewery to have a hefty barrel-aging program, and after a little over a year in business they have just that. What I like most about their program is they’re going out of the box a little with beers that aren’t regularly barrel aged, like their Ruby red ale, and they aged it in rum barrels for an even more unique flavor.
Other great beers: Citrannati, 7th Street Runoff