Comments on: A Warm Welcome for Minnesota’s Newest Brewery: Fulton

By: Kristen England

Kristen England — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:55:22 +0000

I think beerfan smells like new cheese or old meat. I do also agree nearly completely with what he says…nearly.

He is skeptical about the line up and rightly so. One doesn’t need to make crazy styles to stand out. However when one doesn’t have a brewery then something needs to stand out. I always find this list very jaded in that they know actually about beer and whats going on. The regular guy on the street has no idea about such things and whats going to make him buy another pale ale when they have Summit or Sierra Nevada to choose from.

I agree that the beers with the least things in them really show the brewers ability. I will always try local things first. A brewery always gets a shot with me no matter where its brewed. NOW to that point. If a contract brewery makes their own lineup poorly I wont have high hopes for the beers they are contract producing. I’ll still give them a shot though. The point should be made that even the really big contract brewers (Matt etc) don’t do the job that the brewery does. Case in point Brooklyn Brewery…

I love the fact that Minnesotans love locally produced beer and always thirst after new ones. However, I put to you, how ‘local’ is a beer if it is brewed in the middle of Wisconsin? Does local just mean a company owned in a certain location? I’m not talking down about anyone but this seems to be a trend here, and in other parts of the us, that people farm out products and still call them local. More of a philosophical question I guess.

When companies contract beers out I always wonder how much have they contracted out. The brewing, the marketing, the recipe development, etc. I’m really not trying to dis Fulton. I really hope they do well, truly.

One thing that is kinda douchy that I will say is that their beer ‘Sweet child of vine’…the whole ad behind it…its wrong. Hops aren’t vines, they are bines with a ‘B’. Sorry guys.

Jeff – who produces the Scottish light ales you list. I don’t think I’ve ever had a traditional Scottish light ale in Minnesota.

Cheers

Kristen England, Ph.D.
BJCP Continuing Education Director
education_director@bjcp.org

By: Flat Earth

Flat Earth — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 04:25:06 +0000

I think what some people are missing here is MN breweries as a group cover almost every style out there. Here is a quick list of MNCBG breweries (15 of the members) and by number, beers from beer fans list of things he would like to see. I enjoy a good blond ale on draft when ever I can. Someone once said judge a brewer on his blond ale not his IPA because there’s no where to hide a mistake in a blond ale.

Am Amber (10)
Am Stout (7)
Belgian Strong Dark (5)
Belgian Strong Golden (2)
Brown Porter (2)
Dry Stout (2)
Lagers (11)
Mild (7)
Rauch (6)
Scottish 60, 70 or 80 (6)
Sour (7)
Steam (4)
Wit (7)

Jeff
Secretary MNCBG

By: Duke

Duke — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:22:09 +0000

OK, I get it now…tactless, inflamitory commets for the greater good. Man my wool coat is gettin itchy, ooh that looks like some tasty grass to eat. Obviously this discourse is way above my pay grade. Duke out…and oh yeah, Big All says dogs cant look up!

By: David Anderson

David Anderson — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:32:27 +0000

bf – oh, no problem. No offense taken or implied. Infected beer is what it is (or was…) – the unraveling put blinders on as to what was happening out in the marketplace (and originating in the brewery. I can squarely place the blame on a used plate and frame filter. Soon as that arrived, the beers would start to “grow” out in the field. Not good.) Hopefully you kept you wallet closed…
Perhaps someday we will meet – beer’s a good excuse for that.

By: beerfan

beerfan — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:45:50 +0000

David-

Uh….no I don’t think we’ve met and I didn’t know you had anything to do with Ambleside. I was told about this by someone who was invited to invest. I’m sorry if I offended, which was not my intention as I didn’t know of your former status there.

Can’t beat a good hoppy pils! Hope it does well. I’ll look for it.

And yeah about interweb comment. People often read more into what’s said than what is there, including me.

By: DanK

DanK — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:37:25 +0000

I guess everyone is aware now that Fulton is a new brewery. If I were starting out and had 70+ comments under my new brewery, I’d be quite happy!

By: David Anderson

David Anderson — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:13:31 +0000

Beerfan – I’d wager we’ve met, ’specially if you were a potential Amble investor.
As to the infected: I would have never let it out of the building (or in anybody’s mouth for that matter…) – and I’m sure I had some responsibility in the matter, as I was the assistant brewer at Ambleside. I did the heavy lifting, not the decision making… The infection(s) near the “end” were very frustrating. Among many, many other missteps.
BrewFarm Select spec’s: six-row and Briess Caramel 20 malts, Cluster and Perle hops (’bout 25-30 ibu’s), 5.5% abv. Comes across as a “hoppy pils” – medium- to full-bodied, lingering bitterness, hint of malt sweetness but finishes dry. Easily sessionable.
And no, no assumptions. The interweb’s a funny place to try communicate – better over a pint or three of BrewFarm Select!

By: beerfan

beerfan — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:00:47 +0000

“Woot! Nice post Jason. Congratulations. I’m excited.”

Best post ever.

By: beerfan

beerfan — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:55:38 +0000

“I like beerfan’s post from 10/22 11:12, because I think I understand where he’s coming from now. There are styles that are not being made by the current brewers, and adding another brewery whose lineup does not address this market’s style shortcommings amplifies their omission. That the total number of local offerings has increased while not expanding on the local variety of styles could fairly be seen as dissapointing, and I get that. That’s not “Debbie Downer” stuff – that’s beer advocacy.”

Someone finally got it.

By: beerfan

beerfan — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:52:07 +0000

David-

People assume a lot about me, 90% of it wrong, from reading my posts here. Why would I dismiss beer in a can? Inhabiting my fridge last week, but not sadly gone: Surly Hell, Bender, Furious, and Coffee Bender. (Hey, Surlybrewer, can the wet!)

What are the specs on BrewFarm Select?

Oh. About Ambleside. Infected beer is not a good thing to serve to potential investors. Just saying.