Fulton, a new Minneapolis beer company, will release their first beer on 10/28 at 7:00 at The Happy Gnome. For more, check out www.fultonbeer.com and twitter.com/fultonbeer, and search for “Fulton Beer” on Facebook.
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This is something different that Fulton is doing as well….”That’s why we established the Ful10 program, which invests 10% of Fulton’s profits in ordinary entrepreneurs”
Ben- thanks, I missed those other brews.
“OK, Beerfan, but I think you’re wrong about the general tenor of “mindless cheer” existing here.”
Really?
I don’t recall seeing much at all in the way of any real informed discussion on anything of real substance here.
Opinions are not unassailable, not in the least. Granted I’ve expressed some of mine rather poorly perhaps and attempts at humor and kidding have fallen flat, but I’ve also been attacked rather heavily for not chiming in with all the me-too-ers with their boring and empty back slaps and sycphantic butt kissing.
Is there room for real opinions or are people really that invested in brand loyalty to such an extent that all they can do is blather inane niceties?
Who gives a crap that I’m not excited by the Fulton line up? What does it matter that I say I’m not excited? Will it affect Fulton sales? Do the Fulton brewers give a crap that one opinionated and slightly jaded beer geek is not excited by another blonde ale, another pale ale, another IPA, another RIS?
I guess it’s a crime against Duke and all of humanity and I should just be a happy camper and drink the Kool Ade like the drones. All MN beer = good! Eff yeah!
Or I could be an informed beer geek.
And to answer the question on what I think would be an exciting line up.
Off the top of my head, under represented beer locally:
-dry stout
-mild (yeah, Surly but only seasonally)
-Scottish 60, 70 or 80
-Belgian strong dark
-Belgian strong golden
-sour beers
-brown porter
-American stout
-American amber
-steam
-lagers in general
-wit
-rauch
“Even the most rabid “beerfan” can enjoy a perfectly brewed American blonde and not be an elitist about it.”
And how often are you going out of your way to get a blonde? I’d bet almost never. It’s not about elitism. It’s about flavor. Blondes are just brewers pandering to non craft beer drinkers. Oh try this. It’s kinda like a lite. Why bother? Does Surly make a pussy beer? Does Stone? Rogue? New Belgium?
No, you’re right with the Debbie Downer comment, but how interesting is it to read one more boring “Woot!” after another dull “Welcome” blah blah blah blah…snooze…BFD.
“Pussy beer?” Wow, nice one.
Anyway….
This is great news. Like any true fan of good beer, I’m excited to see more local folks taking the plunge into commercial brewing. Establishing a consistently clean and tasty lineup of beers is the first step to building customer loyalty and base. That is a common way for breweries to start. Some take a risk by jumping out of the gate with more experimental beers but that approach is not for everyone.
I read the descriptions of their beer and all of them look appealing to me. But then again, I’m merely a fan of well made beer, no matter what the style, as long as it’s done right.
Here’s hoping that is exactly how Fulton will do it.
cheers,
Don O
Be honest.
When have you ever ordered a bland American blonde ale when you could get an IPA or anything that wasn’t a pansy assed attempt to appease non craft beer drinkers?
Me? Many times. I often enjoy Pilsner, Helles, Maibock, wheat beers, or many other lighter beers. I like all styles of beer if they are well made. Often I like stronger styles, but many times Victory Prima Pils or New Belgium Sunshine Wheat or many of the New Glarus Beers or Summit Pilsner or Surly Hell is what I’m wanting.
If Fulton can make good beer, I’m excited.
cheers
don
Beerfan-
Looking over your beer list, I can only come to one conclusion…you want Water Tower to re-open!:^)
A positive suggestion for Beerfan — learn to homebrew. You’ll get just what you want. Everytime.
This thread is insane, by the way.
If beerfan is who I think he is, he’s done his fair share of homebrewing…
Okay, so I think there is a bit of work to do on this yet, but I believe I’ve come up with a list of words and phrases that should be prohibited from MNBeer and any other site discussing craft beer. I’m sure I’ve missed some, but this covers a wide swath.
The Forbidden Lingua:
woot
excited/-ing
tasty
sweet
welcome
congratulations
enjoy
blonde (beers, not gals/guys)
happy
Berg (just for you Dave)
can’t wait
looking forward to
anticipated/-tion
any big word Jason B uses
anything remotely interesting like gratuitous sexual references
cheers
appealing
anal leakage
What have I missed?
Mag-
Can we use sexual references if they are not gratuitous?
This thread has gotten sidetracked a bit, with help from me. But back to the original post. Welcome Fulton. We need more Minnesota breweries.
A lot of the readers of this site have been around craft beer in Minnesota for a long time, while others are new. Here’s a gentle reminder to both: Ambleside, Sherlock’s Home, Water Tower, The Clubhouse, Shannon Kelley’s, The District, Hops, Trader and Trapper, Green Mill, Minnesota Brewing, Bandana, 1st City Brewery, O’Hara’s, O’ Gara’s, The Brew Station, Vine Park (the original brew pub), Glacial Lakes, James Page, Taps. These are the breweries that have closed in our fair state since I showed up in 1997. That’s a lot of breweries, folks. It’s kind of depressing, actually.
I’m not saying to blindly support Minnesota breweries. But I get the feeling that sometimes we blindly dismiss what we have in our own backyard. It seems we don’t care what we have, we care more about what we don’t. That’s a bad position to be in.
So good luck Fulton. I look forward to meeting you guys over a beer.
db
ps. Mag, just so I can beat you to the punch, I closed more of those breweries than anyone else!
Dave-
I thought you did a good job at Water Tower.
Don-
I’m talking American blonde ale in specific. Not light-colored beers in general. I’ve never ever been anywhere when I’ve seen a serious beer geek order an American blonde when presented with a good selection of beers. I mean…why? Maybe to rinse your glass. Or simmer brats. Those are the only two reason I can think of.
Ryan-
I’m a 13-year-old Asian girl in Hong Kong who just likes to cause trouble.
Chip-
Hahahahahahahahahahaha! Nice try. Maybe you haver perfect quality control. They can’t even reproduce Spotted Cow the same on their new system in New Glarus. It sucks cow schlong now.
Dave, thanks for the reminder. Perspective bruthas! I still remember how disappointed I was when I went to Water Tower the first time, only to find I could no longer get a beer. I felt like Clark Griswold at Wally World.
Gratuitous: 1. given, done, bestowed, or obtained without charge or payment; free; voluntary. 2. being without apparent reason, cause, or justification: a gratuitous insult. So, if we’re charging you to use the site or justifying our potty-mouths, we should be okay. Let me run this by the MNBeer legal department.
“I’m not saying to blindly support Minnesota breweries. But I get the feeling that sometimes we blindly dismiss what we have in our own backyard. It seems we don’t care what we have, we care more about what we don’t. That’s a bad position to be in.”
Dave-
Every time I go out for a beer I make to point to order at least one local pint. And I don’t take any of the great beer we have for granted. I can recall when there wasn’t much to pick from.
Despite what some self -important, beer-thought-police d-bags might think, I DO NOT hate Surly. I do think there are some pretentious a-holes who think they know more than they do and place a lot more credence in dumb sites like Beer Advocate than those sites deserve.
And, yeah, I know some of you think I’m a prick. I don’t care.
It’s great to have another brewery. And I hope they’re great, but I’ll always tell you exactly what I think of a beer, which is worth exactly nothing.
Finallly, this is a great site. Mostly. I check it daily for beer news, however, I’m not interested in the tired veneeer of dull “Woot” Minnesota Nice.
Gee, Skip, I love beer! Me too, Bif!!! Let’s be beer BFFs 4ever!!!!
Ahhh Ambleside… –
DB, you’s always good at bring back the Amble’ – me thinks it was a bit ahead of the curve (among a few other, uh, “problems”).
This is an interesting thread in that it brings up the Q? for me – what’s a brewery? If you don’t have the hardware, aren’t you just a beer company? What if you have both hardware AND contract brew? And what if you’re a MN Boy but located said brewery in WI – hmmm. (That’s my situation btw – and I just canned my first beer yesterday at Point: “BrewFarm Select” will soon be available. Start bugging Brad…) And get this: it’s a full-flavored all-malt golden lager. In a can. Craft lager in a can. I brewed it JUST for Beerfan… (jk – I brewed it for myself and to share with y’all).
I can almost “hear” the dismissal – but ya gotta try it first. I have a feeling BFS will inhabit fridges around the region as a go-to easy-drinkin’ lager that will appeal to the spectrum of craft geeks and non-geeks alike. It ain’t generic but has broad appeal. I’ll let the beer speak…
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.
Some caveats: I don’t think that it is incumbent upon Fulton to initially address the lack of local market presence for these styles, though I can certainly see where it would be advantageous for them or another brewery, existing currently or not, to be innovative in this way. This seems to be more of a general criticism of the local brew scene as a whole in general, though with the advent of Summit’s Unchained series, the Schell’s Snowstorm & Draft series and other local breweries’ enhancing and epanding upon their already-established lineups, that list will hopefully be pared away, one by one.
And, finally, and this is my take only, but I thought the inane “w00t’s” were not so much “Hooray – ALL MN Beer = good” but rather “Hooray – MORE MN Beer = good”.
TO MAG’S STANDARDS:
Beerfan make point – I get now his angle. But Fulton not only beer place to miss beer kinds – all beer making guys should also do. All MN Beer not good, but more MN beer make people more
happynot sad.Woot! Nice post Jason. Congratulations. I’m excited.
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.
“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.
“Woot! Nice post Jason. Congratulations. I’m excited.”
Best post ever.
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!
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!
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.
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.
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!
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
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