Month: February 2008

Beer in the local news

By on February 28, 2008in misc. mn beer

…and in the center of things, Flat Earth Brewing Co. – there are some great photos of Jeff and the brewery in the latest issue of Metro magazine along with a nice piece on the hop shortage. One piece on brewing wasn’t enough, so they asked me to give them a small brewpub roundup and there’s also a piece on the “Best Pint in Town” that puts Surly Bender and Furious up against Rogue’s Dead Guy and Shakespeare Stout and Bell’s Two-Hearted and Oberon.

Not to be outdone, MinnPost has an article about Flat Earth Brewing Co. in today’s issue.

And finally, the March issue of Mpls. St. Paul is sitting on my desk and the reader poll is in for Best Beer Selection.  I tend to disagree, but then again, one can’t expect Mpls. St. Paul readers to all be as well-versed on good beer as you folks are. In case you’re curious, the readers picked Old Chicago, Happy Gnome, William’s, Brit’s and Rock Bottom as having the best selection.

Stub & Herb’s beer tasting recap

By on February 28, 2008in bars/restaurants

Don Osborn

Stub & Herb’s had their first in a series of beer tastings last night. I headed down to check it out – after all, it’s beer, right? A rep from Sierra Nevada spoke first and passed around  some beers – their pale ale, ESB and this year’s Bigfoot. Don Osborn spoke next, taking the homebrewer’s perspective and talking about some beer styles while sharing some of his homebrew (a steam beer), Flat Earth’s Winter Warlock and a flight of pale ales from Brau Brothers, Summit and Furthermore as well as Left Hand Sawtooth ESB. As always, it’s interesting to see a range of flavors within one general style of beer.

It was a relaxed, low-key event with lots of audience participation, some tasty appetizers and plenty of good beer. For $5, the event was a steal. Thanks to Jon for putting this together!

Great Waters Beer Update

By on February 26, 2008in brewpubs

Here are the beers currently pouring at Great Waters… some great seasonals.

PUSHED SEASONALS [Served at 38F on draft]

“The Lion in Winter” An American wheat ale brewed with dandelion honey. Light bodied and crisp. Low hop profile to enhance the aroma of dandelion honey. ABV. 5.8% IBU 20 O.G. 13.5 plato

“King Boreas Imperial Wit” A strong wit ale. Lots of Curacao bitter orange peel, coriander, and a hint of star anise. Brewed with German pale wheat malt and Golden Promise barley. This is our Winter version of a Belgian white beer. Medium bodied, amber colored, and unfiltered. ABV. 6.8% IBU 30 O.G. 19.0 plato

“Vulcanus Rex” A toasty red colored ale. Medium bodied ale with just enough hops to balance the malt character. More malt flavor and hops aroma than say a Killian’s, this is an easy drinking carnival beer. ABV. 5.2% IBU 25 O.G. 12.5 plato

CASK SEASONALS [Served at 52F and hand pulled]

Queen of the Snow’s Special Bitter: Medium bodied ESB brewed with Maris Otter, caramel and bisquet malt. We used only East Kent Golding hops to give this ale a regal, vindictive character. ABV. 5.8% IBU 55 O.G. !3.6 plato

Control-Alt-Delete: Medium bodied German style ale that has been cask conditioned in the English style. Weyerman Pilsner malt, a little bit of black barley, and some crystal hops to brew this easy drinkin’ cask ale. If you think about it, German beers like this were most likely casked back in the day. Little bit of toast, little bit of spiciness from the hops and a little bit of malt flavor inside. ABV. 5.2% IBU 30 O.G. 12.5 plato

Ides of March IPA: A dark amber colored, full bodied ale with lots of caramel malt and five varieties of hops. Dry hopped at fermentations’ end with whole flower Chinooks. We used an East coast pale ale yeast to leave a little fruitiness in the backbone. A very aggressive hop flavor. ABV. 6.8% IBU 99 O.G. 16.2 plato