ryan – Page 36 – MNBeer – Craft beer information from the Twin Cities, Minnesota, Minneapolis, St. Paul and beyond

Summit Unchained 17 – Harvest Fresh IPA

By ryan on August 12, 2014in breweries, new beer

Considering that Unchained 16 hasn’t yet hit your pint glass, we’re probably jumping the gun here (better to jump the gun than a shark, though)… regardless, here are some details about Summit Unchained #17, “Harvest Fresh IPA” courtesy of brewer Tom Mondor. Right now the tentative release is planned for the week of October 20th. Summit describes it as “an exploration of fresh hops picked at the peak of the fall harvest and shipped directly to Summit.” Included in the mix will be fresh hop pellets from Roy Farms, pelletized fresh from the kiln floor. These pellets include Centennial, Cascade and Chinook with additions of fresh, wet Chinook hops from Michigan.

They’re shooting for a beer that weighs in around 7% ABV and 70-80 IBUs, Given all of those “C” hops, you can expect some citrus from the beer. Summit says it will have notes of pine, resin, grapefruit and citrus along with a strong malt backbone. Look for it in 12 oz. bottles, kegs and perhaps some firkins.

Surly/Lervig Collaborative Black Ale – 1349

By ryan on August 8, 2014in breweries

Full label here.

Look what the cat dragged in… Here’s some artwork for a collaborative beer from our friends at Surly Brewing Company, Norwegian brewery Lervig and Norwegian black metal band 1349. The label describes a black ale brewed with coffee. A Norwegian website, Olportalen, offers some insight into how the project came together [keep in mind that this is a Google translation… we left it choppy because it felt right]:

Sunday 17 October 2010 played the Norwegian black metal band in 1349 with the Swiss Triptykon in St. Paul, Minnesota. In the audience was none other than Todd Haug and enjoyed the leaden tones while Headbangers. Todd is the guitarist of the American thrash metal band Powermad and Head Brewery in Surly Brewing. A brewery that because of lack of capacity does not sell beer outside their home state, but that is still highly sought after and stands high on the charts with ølnettstedet Ratebeer. After the concert was over let Todd noticed that the Norwegians were very laborious in the bar when they were choosing beer, it was only in the strong American hops håndtverksøl, he decided to go and greet. This marked the beginning of the project that not many weeks ago was realized on Lervig Aktiebryggeri in Stavanger.

The article goes on to describe a two beers that will be showcased at a beer festival in Stavanger, Norway October 31st & November 1st. The first is a black ale, “of not less than 13.49%. A kind of hybrid beer, with flavors you often get from both Imperial Stout and IPA.” The second is described as a 6.66% pale ale.

There’s no official word on the US version just yet, though from the description, it’s probably safe to say that the US version will indeed be different, if nothing for the addition of coffee. We’ll know soon enough.

From the label:

“The 1349 Ales are the results of a collaboration between three highly potent forces – Norwegian metal masters 1349, American feinschmecker brewery Surly and Norwegian rising brewery star Lervig. With these ales we wanted to explore the powers of combined forces from different worlds of craftsmanship and to manifest what our ideas of proper beers are. We have all brought our mind, heart and soul to this project. Revel in the Dionysian pleasures.

As the bubonic plague silenced 2/3rds of Norway’s population back in the day, this dark beverage will scatter ashes along its way – leaving you breathless, but wanting more. The 1394 Black Ale is our Strange Old Brew; an absolutely massive beer loaded with all the power malts, hops and freshly ground espresso coffee has to offer, and rounded off with a distinguishable note of apocalyptic delicacy. This calls for a toast; now have a sip from our massive cauldron of chaos.’

Summit Unchained #16 Herkulean Woods

By ryan on August 7, 2014in breweries

Look for Summit’s 16th Unchained Beer, Herkulean Woods sometime near the end of the month. This is brewer Christian Dixon’s first effort in the series and damn, it sounds interesting. There’s a video with details below, but essentially he started with a California Common, tweaked the hops a bit, added maple syrup and spruce tips to make what I can only guess will be a beer you’ll want to try. On the video, Dixon says that they plan to package around August 19th, so it’s fair to assume that you’ll see more details about availability and release events after that point.

Check it out. Incidentally, I met Christian a few years ago outside of the beer world and thought he was good people, so I’m glad to see he and his awesome sideburns are at the helm of this beer.

Specs:

Profile: Big malt backbone with a resinous, spicy hop aroma
Color: Amber
Malt: Harrington, Lacey, Caramel
Hops: Herkules, Northern Brewer, Exp. 05256 [Description form Yakima Valley Hops: Black currant, dark fruit, strong herbal notes, pine tree, mint, pungent, light grapefruit rind, “Simcoe-like,” “Summit-like,” citrus, tangerine.]
Kettle additions: Maple syrup and spruce tips
OG: 18º Plato
IBU: 65
ABV: 8.2%
Yeast: California Common Lager

Castle Danger Taproom Grand Opening August 15

By ryan on July 30, 2014in breweries

In a time when it seems like breweries are opening left and right, let us not forget that existing breweries are expanding at a great clip. A year ago, we told you about Castle Danger’s plans to step away from their tiny brewery located on the family resort property to build a new brewery and taproom in Two Harbors. We’re happy to announce that said location is opening in a couple of weeks!

On Friday, August 15th from 3-11pm, you’ll be able to check out the new taproom. Expect lots of beer, food, games, live music, tours and more. Can’t make it Friday? They’ll be open from noon – 11pm on Saturday, August 16th.

The new brewery is located at 17 – 7th Street in Two Harbors, MN.

Darkness 2014 Artwork from Erica Williams

By ryan on July 29, 2014in breweries

Here’s this year’s artwork for the beer that makes collector nerds sweat and eBay fiend salivate… we’re talking about this year’s artwork for Surly Darkness. This year Erica Williams takes the reigns with a harpy keeping watch over Surly Brewing Co.’s coveted Russian Imperial Stout, Darkness. (non-cropped version here)

What do you think? Like it? Dislike it? Love it?

Surly Darkness Day 2014 is slated for October 25th at the brewery in Brooklyn Center.