Category: general beer

Autumn Brew Review Saturday

By on September 15, 2017in general beer

A classic.

…and there are still tickets. You should go. The Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild consistently puts on some of the best festivals in the state. Not so long ago, this festival would sell out immediately, so if you’re riding the fence, the time to get tickets is right fucking now. As per usual, Autumn Brew Review is an awesome showcase of local beers as well as out-of-state breweries. A ridiculous amount of work goes into making this event happen each year. I think it shows.

Some festival hints:

  • Get the app. Guild events are using an app for their programs these days. This cuts down on paper waste, and with the sheer number of breweries in the state, paper booklets start to get heavy. Plus, it’s just one more thing to carry around, drop or leave in the port-a-potty. That being said, put your stupid phone away. Make some mental notes about what you want to taste and then go for it. While you’re at it, strike up conversations with your fellow beer lovers. Meet new people! Who knows, Charlie Brown, you may even meet the little red-headed girl (woman?).
  • Step away from the booth. 1. Get in line. If there’s no line, proceed directly to the fine folks who are pouring beer. 2. Pick a beer. This won’t be a life-changing decision, so don’t waste a lot of time. You can always come back. 3. Step away. Not two feet, not 10 feet. Move away from the tent and enjoy your beer. It’s frustrating for other festival-goers to get in what looks like a line only to find that it’s a group of jackasses who didn’t have the common sense to move away from the tent.
  • Don’t drink it all. You’ll thank me later. You don’t have to try every beer, and there is certainly no shame in dumping a beer. There will be a beer that you won’t like. Find a dump bucket and get rid of it – no sense in “taking one for the team.”
  • Eat. Some suggest a “base” of food. Personally, I suggest eating a healthy and filling breakfast and lunch. Follow it up with something excellent at the festival (I’m partial to NateDogs) or in NE Minneapolis following the festival.

Some beers we think you may want to try:

  • August Schell Lunar Interference. Cask (fass?) preview of their forthcoming 7% ABV Berliner Weisse, described has having notes of chocolate, coffee and cocoa. Okay, I’ll bite… Also drink the Oktoberfest. Just because.
  • Bad Weather Pucker Face. Kettle-soured American wheat beer with waaay too many raspberries? Sounds tasty to me!
  • Beaver Island Sweet Miss w/ mole. Cask conditioned milk stout with smoked Chipotle peppers, cinnamon and vanilla beans.
  • Bent Brewstillery Vintage Funked Up Sour. etc. “Some of your favorite sours from the head brewer’s own archive.” Go drink Kris’ magic.
  • Dangerous Man Barrel Aged Blutpakt. German porter collaboration with Surly Brewing aged in a tawny port barrel after spending time on white ash.
  • Fitger’s Brewhouse Cherry Batch. So many cherries. Go get this. In fact, steal the keg and bring it to me!! (Don’t really do this…)
  • Indeed Whiskey Queen. Barrel-aged imperial stouts are hit and miss for me. I like this one. I bet you will too.
  • Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery Coconut Pitstop. Light lager brewed with Michigan Balaton cherries and coconut.
  • Pryes Brewing Wisconsin Brandy Ol’Fashion Cask. Hmmm. Cherries and oranges in a cask of Miraculum?
  • Steel Toe Brewing Saison. Yes.
  • Surly Brewing Co. Twelve. Kidding. I’d go with the Dampfbier, though if Darkness is your thing, why not try the cherry-infused version?
  • Wild Mind Pash Bash. Blend of three beers with 700 lbs. of dragon fruit and passoin fruit.

Important details:

The Land of 10,000 Beers (and more)

By on August 24, 2017in Bad Weather Brewing Co., breweries, food pairing, general beer, Hoops Brewing, Indeed Brewing Co., Insight Brewing, Insight Brewing Co., Lift Bridge, Modist Brewing, Steel Toe Brewing, Summit Brewing Co., Surly Brewing Co.

“Four and three and two and one, when I’m on the mic, the suckers run…” Hoops Brewing’s Dave Hoops raps with the audience in the Land of 10,000 Beers.

In case you live under a rock, the Minnesota State Fair starts today in St. Paul. Years ago, I had an office on Energy Park Drive and always cringed as the Fair approached. We usually had a flood of last minute creative and print work for a few big clients and the traffic always sucked. I’ve never understood why people choose to travel to or from the fair during rush hour. You’re smarter than that people!
Looking for some food and beverage updates? HeavyTable (Twitter) has you covered.
Thirsty? Here are a few suggestions.
Land of 10,000 Beers
The Land of 10,000 Beer exhibit, courtesy of the Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild returns to the Ag/Horticulture Building for a 6th year with 300 beers from nearly 70 Minnesota breweries and brewpubs. Try all 300! Or maybe not. This year they’ve revamped the flight categories to align more-closely with Brewers Association beer categories: Crisp and Clean, Malty and Sweet, Dark and Roasty, Hoppy and Bitter and Fruity, and Spicy Tart and Funky. Our friends at Better Beer Society are also curating a “Blue Ribbon Flight” with hand-selected flights from our favorite nerds, BBS’ certified cicerones.

New this year is a refreshed rotation of beer flight categories that align with the Brewers Association of beer categories: visitors to the exhibit can select among different flights of beers — Crisp and Clean, Malty and Sweet, Dark and Roasty, Hoppy and Bitter and Fruity, Spicy Tart and Funky. Also new, the Guild’s partner, the Better Beer Society (BBS), is curating the “Better Beer Society Blue Ribbon Flight” comprised of beers selected by BBS’ certified cicerones.

In addition to the beer, the Guild offers daily education programs at 3 and 6pm on weekdays and noon, 3pm and 6pm on weekends.  And if you want to step up your edumacation, BBS’ cicerones will also be conducting Fair food and beer pairing ideas.

Ballpark Cafe
This is a required stop in my book. The Ballpark Cafe has been slinging good beer longer than some of you have even cared. Along with some State Fair classics like Summit Oktoberfest, Lift Bridge Mini Donut and Steel Toe Size 7, the Ballpark Cafe also offers up a variety of beers from Bauhaus, Bent Brewstillery, Bent Paddle, Castle Danger, EastLake, Excelsior, Hoops Brewing, Indeed, Modist and Surly. You can also check out some ciders from Sweetland Orchard and an IPA from War Pigs (3 Floyds, Mikkeller).

Other Beers to Seek Out

Insight Duke of Cuke – Insight’s light lager infused with cucumber. (Lulu’s Public House)

Barley John’s Pickle Beer – Dry-hopped with fresh dill, horseradish and spices. Garnished with a dill pickle and havarti dill cheese. (Giggles)

Mini Donut Beer from Lift Bridge – this State Fair classic is a real treat. We’ve often joked that State Fair beers occasionally “jump the shark,” and this was the first. We really only need one of these per year, but still can’t help but enjoying it. (Ballpark Cafe)

Freehouse Caramel Apple π  -It’s like a little shot of apple pie. Much like Fair food, once a year is enough… but you may as well enjoy it while it’s there. (Blue Barn)

 Bad Weather Lemon Sunshine – a Limoncello-inspired ale brewed with lemons and lemon zest. (Mancini’s)

Summit Lazy Slipper – a Kolsch style beer brewed with ingredients sourced in Minnesota.  (Shanghaied Henri’s)

Follow this link for a list of all of the State Fair specialty beverages. Enjoy!

A (Short) Tale of Two Taprooms – Pryes and Unmapped

By on June 15, 2017in Bad Weather Brewing Co., Badger Hill Brewing, general beer, Pryes Brewing Co., Unmapped Brewing Co.

Two new taprooms Saturday?

Pryes Brewing Co. made their debut in the Twin Cities nearly three years ago. Brewer/owner Jeremy Pryes started with just one beer, Miraculum, which he first brewed professionally at the old Lucid (North Loop BrewCo) facility in Minnetonka under an alternating proprietorship model. You nerds playing along at home may recall that both Badger Hill and Bad Weather Brewing got their start there as well. This Saturday, you’ll be able to enjoy Pryes Brewing beers at their Near-North neighborhood brewery at 1401 West. River Road in Minneapolis. As others have espoused, they have “plenty of parking,” but if you ask this bike dork, it just seems right to bike to the brewery. Bonus (big bonus, really), there should be some excellent food coming out of the kitchen at Pryes Brewing as well… according to our friend Dara, they’ve built a full-on commercial kitchen with Red Wagon at the helm for the first three months. Things are looking good. Congrats Pryes!

Pryes Brewing Taproom Grand Opening
Saturday, June 17th, 11am – midnight
Regular taproom hours: Thursdays 4-11pm,  Fridays 3-midnight, Saturdays 11-midnight
1401 West River Road N, Minneapolis, MN 55411

 

 

Unmapped Brewing Company will also have a soft opening on Saturday. Unmapped has quietly been building out a brewery in place of the century-old Kraemer’s TrueValue Hardware in Minnetonka. Minnetonka’s first taproom is located near the intersection of Excelsior Blvd. and Eden Prairie Road, not far from Gold Nugget. Husband and wife team JD and Megan Park are Minnetonka natives and aim to offer a “year-round lineup of flagship ‘Belgian & Stateside Ales'” as well as a variety of other special and limited-release beers.

At the helm of the brewery is our old friend Derek Allmendinger (@lutherhaus) who was an old-school Minnesota beer blogger and homebrewer.  Derek went to brewing school and then jumped into professional brewing, cutting his teeth at Summit Brewing, Schell’s, Surly and Excelsior Brewing. Derek brings a wealth of experience to this new brewery and we’re excited to see what he cranks out at Unmapped!

Unmapped Brewing Company
Opens Saturday, June 17th, noon-11pm, Sunday noon-8pm.
Regular taproom hours starting June 20th: 3-10pm Monday-Thursday, noon-11pm Friday and Saturday, noon-8pm Sunday
14625 Excelsior Blvd., Minnetonka 55345

St. Paul Summer Beer Festival

By on May 23, 2017in general beer
Dave Hoops, St. Paul Summer Beer Fest... I think....

Meet fine folks… like these guys!

Friends. I can call you that, right? One of my favorite festivals of the summer is coming up very quickly, the 9th Annual St. Paul Summer Beer Fest. This is your friendly reminder to buy tickets today as I would assume that this event will sell out.

I’m not quite sure how this festival got to be 9, but Juno and Mark’s baby is growing up to be quite the little kiddo’. You probably already know the drill, but in case you don’t, this festival plays host to more than 100 local, regional and national breweries on June 10th at the Int’l Bazaar at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. Music, education, beer, food trucks, beer, beer. You should go.

Hours: 2-5 (or 1-5 w/ early admission tickets)
Tickets: $45-60 ($55-70 if available at the gates)
Buy tickets: Here
More info: stpaulsummerbeerfest.com

Video: Damon Bay

Castro’s Reserve to Debut at Northbound Smokehouse Brewpub on Friday

By on May 10, 2017in brewpubs, cooking & food, general beer, misc. mn beer, new beer, Northbound Smokehouse

A cigar smoked beer? Yes, it works. The crew at Northbound Smokehouse Brewpub has a way with smoke, and their latest creation is an Imperial Brown Ale smoked with cigars. Ten of them to be exact. They smoked 20% (100 lbs) of the malt base for five hours and aged the beer in rum barrels. The result is a complex beer with flavors of vanilla, dark cherries, chocolate, and some subtle leather notes. The ABV on this is 8.4% and the IBUs clock in at 32.

Joel Scott is the head brewer at Northbound and the idea came about while he was getting his brewing education at Siebel Institute in Chicago. He had a couple of questions before giving this a go. The first was that he was wondering if he could get the tobacco flavor to come through in the beer. The second was if the beer would taste like an ashtray. The answer to the first question was yes, and no to the second.

The beer will be released on Friday, May 12th at the brewpub. They will use the wood from the barrel to create a Cuban pork special for the release. You’ll wanna get there early though because this beer probably won’t last long. On a side note, they will be making this again at a later date and will be submitting this beer at the Great American Beer Festival this year.

Cheers!