Rock Island’s Blue Cat Wins Big At National Awards, Re-Opening Today And This Week

Blue Cat Brewing Company, a staple in downtown Rock Island for almost three decades, closed on New Years Eve 2022. It’s safe to say this decision was not made due to poor beer quality. The classic brew pub was awarded six awards in this year’s World Beer Championship, an award for each beer they entered.

In a statement made by their Brewmaster, Charlie Cole, in a Facebook post in December; the brewery cited lack of restaurant management and damage from burst water pipe as their reason for closing. The statement also included that they are unaware if this closure is temporary or permanent.

The brewery originally opened as Crooked River Brew Pub in 1994 by brother and sister Dan and Martha Cleveland. After a name change early in their tenure, Blue Cat Brew Pub thrived as a popular destination for unique food, popular entertainment, and award winning beer until an ownership change in 2017. The awards from their brews came from many sources but most notably a dozen World Beer Championship awards between 1994 and 2001.

The World Beer Championship is conducted by the Beverage Testing Institute, a Chicago based organization of industry experts. Their website cites them as being “America’s longest-running international alcohol beverage evaluation platform.”

The original Blue Cat won several silver and bronze medals over the years but managed to miss out on a gold win year after year. This changed with the 2023 results. One bronze, four silver, and the once unobtainable gold were awarded to a mix of new and classic Blue Cat recipes.

The gold medal was awarded to “Papa Bear” a peat-smoked scotch ale named after Brewmaster Charlie Cole’s grandfather. “Papa Bear” was awarded two bronze medals in other competitions in 2022 including the New York International Beer Competition. Cole had this to comment about the gold medal winner:

“It’s great to see that beer do so well in competitions because it’s such a niche style. Not everyone enjoys a smoked malty beer. The recipe was inspired by two different Blue Cat beers, the “Wee Bit” (which received a bronze medal in 1995) and “Scotch Terrier” (which received a silver medal in 1999). I couldn’t pick which Scottish style I wanted to bring back so I made a new recipe with parts from both and it’s been great to see the feedback.”

Other medalists include the “Arkham Stout” which earned its third silver medal in this competition (1996 and 1997 previously), “Mallard Amber Ale” (silver in 2023 and bronze in 1996), “Big Bad Dog” (silver in 2023 and 1996), “Back On Track Pale Ale” earned a silver medal, and “Festbier” earned a bronze.

“I thought it was really cool that Blue Cat had all these international awards when I started here. I knew that there were big shoes to fill and high expectations with taking over this brand. It definitely makes me really proud knowing that I was able to bring home awards for some of those classic recipes. It’s just bittersweet that we’re not currently open to serve them.”

Cole has been operating as the GM and Brewmaster since joining the ownership group in the Fall of 2021. His education and experience in brewing craft beer and has proved very useful on the production side of the business but had noted that operating a restaurant is something he was unprepared to do.

“We tried hiring different managers to run the restaurant but no one worked out and I ended up having to do that work on top of running the brewery. We kind of just ran out of options to continue operating.”

Blue Cat’s chef and kitchen manager also left after a one year tenure to start his own restaurant and catering business.

“I don’t have any ill will against him at all. I’m proud of him for doing his own thing. I just have zero interest in being in the kitchen as well as my other roles that have piled on. No one wants me in any kitchen. I can barely make my kids macaroni and cheese.”

All jokes aside, the brewmaster is hopeful that an interested party looking to take over the restaurant operations will come along soon and hopefully give “The Cat” another life.

Cole says the brew pub will open back up temporarily January 16th through January 20th from 3 pm to 8 pm for bar service only with $5 pints and $10 growler fills of all of their beer.

“We have all these kegs of award winning beer in our cooler. I just really want people to be able to enjoy them if this closure ends up being a permanent one.”