Author: Kris

The Dark Knight Returns to Barley John’s

By on October 29, 2012in beer events, brewpubs, cask beer, contest

For all you big kids out there Barley John’s has treats for you on Halloween starting with the return of the Dark Knight which has been aging for a year and a half.

In case you are unfamiliar, the Dark Knight is our Super imperial, oak aged, Old Eight Porter, aged in Heaven Hill Bourbon Barrels. Rich, syrupy, oaky, and everything you could ask for in the chill of autumn. If you’ve never experienced it before, it is a must try! Aged for an unbelievable 18 months! High abv, yet to be determined.

To sweeten the pot and since Halloween is on a Wednesday, they’ll be tapping a cask of Stockyard IPA infused with Sriracha at 4pm.

Show up in costume and you’ll receive happy hour pricing on all house brewed beers all night (excluding the Dark Knight and cask beers). There will also be a costume contest running from 10pm – midnight. The bartender will pick his favorite costume and award the winner with a $20 gift certificate.

StoutFest 2012 at the Blue Nile

By on October 29, 2012in bars/restaurants, beer events

For the fifth year the Blue Nile is celebrating the darkness of stouts and porters. Here’s a peek at the festivities.

This year, once again, we spend a Saturday with our dark side, as all of our taps turn to the deepest, the richest, and the thickest of beers, be they porters or stouts. Look for beers from Surly, Central Waters, Founders, Stone, Left Hand, New Holland, Widmer, Flying Dog, Alaskan, Bell’s and more. Goes from opening at 4 pm until 9 pm (when Wachilia, the monthly Kenyan dance party begins).

Fresh Hop Release at Town Hall

By on October 4, 2012in beer events, brewpubs

Besides being the time of year for pumpkin and Oktoberfest beers, it’s also that special time of year when fresh/wet hop beers are available. Check out what Town Hall has to say about theirs and then make plans to take in a pint.

Well, the hop harvest has happened and that means time for our Fresh Hop 100. Monday 10/8 Fresh Hop week will begin at Town Hall Brewery

We will release our Fresh Hop 100 at 5pm. This year we were able to have freshly picked Simcoe hops overnighted to the brewery, and I think it turned out well. As we have done for the 7th year, Fresh Hop 100 is brewed with 100% whole wet hops- no hop pellets or hop extracts. This is pure from the farm to the glass. We will have growlers available monday beginning at 5pm. We will feature a pint intro price from 5-6pm, but do not expect the normal $2.50 as this beer is very expensive for us to produce. We again used 180lbs of fresh, wet hops for our batch-that is 18lbs per barrel.

As usual we will feature other Fresh/Wet Hop beers all next week and this year they have all been brewed in MN! Get your sample platter of Fresh/Wet Hop beer while they last.

Starting Moday we will serve-

Town Hall fresh Hop 100, Lift Bridge Harvestor, Brau Brothers 100 Yard Dash, Surly Wet, Indeed Fresh Hop, and Lucid Wammo

We will serve ours and 4 other ones at a time for a total of 5 choices, the remainder will back up the first one to empty, I hope to have 5 choices for you all week.

So we sent some samples over to our friends at Summit Brewery the other day and they were kind enough to run the beer through their lab, so we have IBU numbers for this year. Town Hall Fresh Hop 100 2012 came in at 77.9 BU and the alcohol was measured at 6.66% abv. Hope that other brewery across town is not upset we got the “Mark of the Beast” this year………

See you next week! While you are in I may suggest you try the drink of the month. It is a Pumpkin Pie Martini….and it is good. We had folks hand grinding spices for days to make you this treat. Usually you don’t see me pimping drinks (I kinda like beer)….this is worth a try.

Mike

Cask Tapping at Barley John’s

By on September 26, 2012in beer events, brewpubs

Every week brings a different cask tapping at Barley John’s and this week for your drinking pleasure it’s Wet Hop Pale Ale that has been ‘dry hopped’ with a half a pound of their estate cascade hops, fresh off the vine. They’ll also have the pre-‘dry hopped’ version, one of their current seasonal beers.

Wet Hop Pale Ale [5.5%]
Wet hop ales are some of the freshest beers of the year. Most hops are generally dried, shredded and pelletized before they are used in beer. Once a year, during harvest, fresh hops are harvested, over-nighted to breweries all over the US, and thrown fresh (and wet) into the brew kettle or brite tank. A couple of weeks back we received 10lbs of fresh Amarillo and 10lbs of fresh Centennial hops. They were brewed into a gentle, slightly sweet pale ale designed to act as a bright canvass to highlight the hops’ character. The wet hops lend the beer a special resiny taste with a refreshing bitterness, floral notes, and plenty of spice with just a hint of bubblegum, and a long hoppy finish. It is truly fall!