Author: ryan

Ryan Anderson (that's me!) is the editor & founder of MNBeer. Much has changed since the fall of 2005 and I'm proud to have been a part of it all. Sometime I'll tell you about my grand theory that links craft brewing to punk rock. Just ask.

Winterfest Countdown… Surly Photos

By on January 12, 2006in general beer

I don’t know about you, but my friends and I are gearing up for Saturday’s Winterfest in St. Paul. We were lucky to get tickets and we plan on enjoying it thoroughly. I’m crossing my fingers in hopes that perhaps Surly might possibly be there with beer.

Speaking of which, Surly has some photos up on their site. Head on over and theck ’em out.

Surly Brewed Their First Beer!

By on January 3, 2006in general beer

From their website:

We brewed our first batch of beer yesterday, Friday December 30th! Congrats to Shannon McWhite, she wins the $100 of Surly Brewing merchandise, her guess was closest 12/29. We should have beer in bars and restaurants in late January.

I don’t know about all of you, but I’m ready to taste some Surly brew…

New(-ish) Beer at Barley John’s, Grand Reserve

By on January 3, 2006in general beer

This isn’t exactly new, as I’ve had it listed since before Christmas, but it seems worthwhile to mention that Barley John’s has Grand Reserve on tap. Here’s their description:

Grand Reserve (6.4% abv): A velvety smooth winter beer. The Grand Reserve hints at notes of raisin and apricot with a residual sweetness from the Belgian Candi sugar addition. Little to no hop aroma with a beautiful garnet brown color in the glass.

FYI, they also have their Stockyard IPA and Old 8 Porter back on tap. Beer fans can finally sleep at night again!

Town Hall Beer Release, Wednesday 1-4-06

By on January 3, 2006in general beer

Happy New Year! Sorry about disappearing for a bit over the holidays. I got tied up with holiday shopping, painting a toybox for my nephew, bottling beer for family members, etc., etc.

Anyway, I missed the chance to mention that Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery released Black Snow, a coffee porter flavored with local free-trade coffee from Peace Coffee.

And tomorrow, Wednesday, they release a Centennial Pale Ale, made with none other than one of my personal favorite hops, Centennial (duh). If you’ve been to a beer release at Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery, you know the drill: $1 pints from 5-6.

Great Waters Beer Release

By on December 21, 2005in general beer

Mmm. Today is a good day for beer… Great Waters Brewing Company is releasing their Winter Carnival Ale today, served cask-conditioned. On this first day of Winter, they’ll be releasing “a ridiculously hopped Winter celebration ale.” The beer has been dry-hopped in the casks, too, so you can bet that the hops will give you a nice punch in the kisser.

According to their website, their Black Watch Oat Stout and Slapshot IPA are running low, so drink up. Also, it looks as if they have some dastardly creation called King Boreas Imperial Wit. It sounds like trouble, though I’m willing to bet that trouble tastes very good.