ExBEERiment Brewing | Gardner, KS
Beer Trip: ExBEERiment Brewing in Gardner, Kansas
We have talked about visiting ExBEERiment Brewing for almost a year now and finally made it happen. Offering a fun and unique science theme with a nice selection of craft brews, this is a stop we will certainly be making again!
View of ExBEERiment!
Warren was a big fan of the soft red chair
Cheers to another stop!
The Brewery
ExBEERiment from the parking lot
ExBEERiment is located in a strip mall just a couple of minutes off of I-35 and offers plenty of parking out front. Once inside, you will be greeted with corrugated metal and forest green walls that nicely contrast the brightly colored bar stools spread throughout the place. The bar occupies the back of the space where you’ll place your order, and just beyond it, you can see the fermentation tanks and a sneak peek of the brewing process.
One entire wall of the seating area is covered with hilarious beer and drinking signs that kept us entertained for quite some time (you’ll even see these signs continue into the restrooms)! Speaking of entertainment - ExBEERiment has plenty of this for all ages. They have the largest board game collection of any brewery we’ve been to, a sharing bookshelf where you can take a book home with you (or leave one for someone else!), and even some toddler toys that Warren took advantage of during our visit - he’s hoping to get the gig as ExBEERiment’s newest janitor.
Hilarious “Lab Notes” wall with tons of fun signage
More board games than you can shake a stick at!
Warren checking out some of the books from the sharing library
The Beer
During our visit, ExBEERiment had 9 different beers to choose from. We were told that they are in a transition on what is typically on tap, but this trip featured 5 IPAs, a sour, a red lager, a Helles, and a cream ale. Their beers are all displayed on the back wall menu as if they were an element in the periodic table (AKA, the “Beeriodic Table”). Each beer was assigned a letter(s) that corresponds with an element! Different beers on the board were featured in different colored squares and, after asking what that meant, we were told it correlates with their batch: green is a large batch brew, white is a small batch, and red is the brewer’s specialty personal batch. Sticking with the science theme, they actually name most of their beers along those lines - like the Photon (IPA) and Reaction (sour). If you wish to order a flight, those would be served in 5-oz test beakers!
Their brewer does a fantastic job of creating some styles and flavor profiles that you won’t find just anywhere. Our favorite of the trip was the 13 Alpha Project - 13, which is a red lager offering a rich bread-like taste along with a nice maltiness - it was almost like a meal in a glass! The other unique beer was the Hoppy Anniversary #1. This English IPA provided great malty notes but combined it with the perfect amount of hops to balance it out. The last one worth noting is the Validation Cream Ale. While it wasn’t the lactose-packed style of cream that we usually enjoy, it still provided a subtle creaminess to go with a clean, grainy finish.
“Beeriodic Table” - genius!
Food, Merch, & More
While you won’t find a full kitchen here, the brewery does allow outside food - and that’s convenient because Domino’s Pizza, Planet Sub, and a Mexican restaurant all share the same strip mall! For something lighter, ExBEERiment does offer chips, candy bars, and snack boards of meat and cheese (where you get to keep the board!) available for purchase. If beer isn’t your thing, they have you covered here too with some specialty cocktail slushes and whiskey concoctions. In fact, they seem to be into whiskey almost as much as beer by hosting a monthly small-batch whiskey-tasting night. Their merchandise selection is fairly limited, but they have a few hats, t-shirts, glassware, and of course, a special brewery sticker.
