If You Need a Beer at the New Twins Stadium…
Business Journal has the lowdown on what’s available. 34 beers… 6 locals (I don’t count Leinenkugel’s)… Summit EPA and a seasonal, a Schell seasonal (make me happy this summer, make it the Hefeweizen), Finnegans and Grain Belt Premium and Light. No word yet on how easy the local beers will be to come by, but hopefully I won’t be wandering aimlessly looking for antler tap handles and the new version of the “beers of the world” cart. If you’ve been to Target Field, I’d love to hear your beer-finding feedback.
Go Twins!
April 2, 2010, 09:05am :: Posted by ryan in breweries
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I found plenty of great craft beer a couple blocks away at MacKenzie’s.
Can’t wait to get some of that MGD 64!
I was lucky enough to get in on a tour of Target Field. The “Twins Brews” area is located behind section 116. There will be some other locations, but that one is the guaranteed location. Some of the internal establishments also carry Summit EPA.
When I was there a few weeks ago for the open house I was on the lookout for good beer. From what I saw, the regular concession stands was almost exclusively Michelob Golder Light and Bud Light. The various bars had a wider selection, which included Summit EPA and other non-Budweiser products.
On the first concourse, kind of behind home plate they have a “Beers of Twins Territory” concession stand. Here they had Grain Belt on draft and bottles of Summit EPA, Summit Maibock, Schell’s Dark (I think), Finnegans, and Leinenkugel’s which they pour into a plastic cup.
Yeah, Mackenzie and Rock Bottom sound like solid contenders, Ben.
From Kyle & Todd’s descriptions, it sounds as if finding a decent beer may still be a bit of legwork. Oh well.
I was at the open house two weeks ago, it was $7.50 to have a 12 ounce bottle of Summit dumped in a 22oz plastic cup.
Kris – I can tell you this much about local beer at Target Field – there are 34 Summit EPA handles in Target Field, so you won’t be wandering looking for EPA. I haven’t actually been to the park yet, so I defer to others on the locations of other stuff, but I’d guess it’s limited to the concourse “bars.”
If you’re complaining about the cost of a beer – get over it. It’s a ball game. It was $7 to get your Summit poured into a cup at the Dome, and it’s $6.50 or $6.75 at Xcel. You’re going to pay double or more for a beer at a sporting event, that’s just a fact of life.
I wish Surly ould have gotten in there…I would have paid 10 bucks for a beer I really enjoy drink
Folks, if I win the lotto, and I mean win BIG, I’m gonna build a stadium of my own for beer drinking. We’ll sit around swilling tasty, reasonably priced beer. Then I’ll charge companies to come in and provide us marketing-driven entertainment. They still get to spend their advertising dollars on thousands of attentive eyes and we get good, affordable beer and half-assed entertainment. We’ll take the middle man (i.e. prima donna sports stars and spoiled owners) out of this gig. We’ll flip this damn thing on its head and focus on the fans. Who’s with me?!
“Domestic beers are priced at $6 for 12 oz. glasses, $7 for 20 oz. taps and 16 oz. bottles and $8 for aluminum bottles. Premium drinkers will pay an extra 50 cents. Domestic 24 oz. cans are priced at $9.”
Makes it sound like a 20oz tap pour of Summit or Schell would be 7.50, which would actually be reasonable. I Will have to wait till opening day to find out if this is actually the case.
Y’know…I’ve never had a Premium Light. Any good?
Trav, yes, 20oz Summits are $7.50, which you can find at most of the bars, including the concourse bar in the outfield.
Actually, it might be just a pint, but still not totally awful.
Yeah Premium Light is good. But if I was going to choose between it and Premium heavy, Im going heavy everytime! I wonder if the Nordeast is going to make an apperiance at Target Field.
I have no idea which beers are available, but if it’s true that they are carrying the Summit and Schell seasonals…oy! Maibock and Maifest? Could make for an interesting seventh inning stretch…
I can assure you that there are plenty of EPA taps around the stadium. Everything that anyone has already listed is there too. There will also be vendors walking around with just “Minnesota BREWS” throughout the park. (Summit(s), Grainbelt, & Schells.) As of now, there are only 2, but that might change depending on how much beer we buy while sitting.
I also know that they’re inquiring on Nordeast and other options for Surly. I’ll try to pry some more information.
Ryan – You should start an online rally for more selection. They’re listening to what suggestions people might have. (But we would also need to be realistic.)
Delaware North (concession management for Target Field) had been in touch with Omar a couple months ago, and said there were no more tap handles available at the stadium, but they could sell Surly cans, but at $10.00/can. Omar’s post on BeerAdvocate says that, after their discussions, Delaware North never expressed any further interest in selling Surly, so thus, no Surly at Target Field.
We live in a state where Mich Golden is king. Every idiot I know thinks it’s the be-all and end-all of beers and I don’t know why. It’s a beer they can buy cheap at wholesale and turn around and sell you a cup for $7, making a tidy profit. And there will be lots of morons buying Mich Golden like it’s going out of style.
There’s no great incentive for them to spend the extra time and effort trying to secure craft beers for sale at sports venues. Part of the issue is their ignorance about craft beer. There’s probably a decent margin to be made on Surly but it might be slightly less than what they’d make on other Macros or even Summit or Schell’s. Their motivation is profit, not appeasing craft beer drinkers.
I don’t think a small percentage of attendees being pissed that they can’t get something more exotic than Summit EPA is of any concern to them, when they’re selling shit tons of Mich Golden to everyone else and laughing all the way to the bank.
Online rallies….petitions…..I’ve heard it before, and I don’t see what good it has done so far. They’re willing to listen, but they’ve gotta make those margins.
I hit up the exhibition game last night. It’s much, much easier to grab a relatively interesting beer at Target Field than it was at the dome, but it might still be a bit of a jaunt depending on your seats.
Regardless of where you’re sitting, a “Beers of Twins Territory” or “Twins Brews” stand should be within a quarter-park trek. And they’ve all got EPA + seasonal, Schell’s Dark + seasonal, and Finnegans, and Grain Belt. I also saw Lift Bridge last night. I didn’t get close enough to see whether it was Farm Girl or Crosscut. Seems like it might have been Crosscut.
Aside from the availability of the locals, the overall selection is more spread out and easy-access than it used to be.
I’ve got partial season tickets along the third base line, terrace level, left field. Within 50 feet of my seats I’ve got a Leinie’s kiosk (Honey Wiess and Summer Shandy, last night) and a Budweiser “craft” kiosk (Bud Lime and wheat) — not great, but definitely easier access than the dome. Then most of the nearby concession windows are typical Bud products. But there are food and beer kiosks everywhere. And it seems like an effort was made to mix it up a little. It’s not all “Bud, Bud, Bud Light, Mich Golden, Bud, Shock Top, Bud, Mich, Bud” like it was in the sardine can.