Category: bars/restaurants

NorthGate Celebrates 3 Years

By on January 25, 2016in breweries, cask beer, general beer, Grumpy's NE, history, mnbeer.com, NorthGate Brewing, tap rooms

NorthGate

NorthGate opened quietly in Northeast Minneapolis back in 2013 with a capacity of only 500 barrels. With their recent expansion in their new building [they moved in 2014], the brewery is now able to produce 4,500 barrels of beer thanks to some new equipment. “They [two new tanks] make our current ones look tiny” says owner Adam Sjogren. “I can’t even reach the sample valve.”
The brewery also made the move to cans for their flagship brews this past year despite the apparent can shortage affecting the industry. “I can’t get Crown cans at all unless we get bigger. “That being said, I’m never not going to have cans.” The shortage is real, and manufacturers are being forced to give priority to larger breweries. Sjogren says that this could be related to the “bubble bursting” that so many are talking about. “The bubble will burst when there are no more raw supplies.”
According to Adam they are at least a year and half ahead of where they projected they’d be at this time. “I thought we learned our lesson the first time [in their original space], the space is shrinking fast.”
They are planning to celebrate the same as they always have, at Grumpy’s in Northeast on their anniversary which is January 28th beginning at 5 pm. Special casks will be on site and they anticipate a full house in celebration of 3 years. That wasn’t always the case though. At their one year they didn’t know what to expect. “That first anniversary party started at 5 pm and I didn’t think anyone would show up” he says. Instead the place was packed, much to his surprise. Looking back Sjogren can’t believe how fast the time has gone by. “It’s been way better, way faster, and way more challenging.”
The brewery will also host a party on Saturday, January 30th beginning at 10 am. They will be releasing 750 ml bottles of their 2016 Fiddle Smasher which is a Wee Heavy, and also a new Imperial Red Ale (also will debut on tap at Grumpy’s on the 28th) which will both only be available for sale at the tap room. What’s really neat about the deal is that if you buy a pair of this year’s bottles, you can buy a pair of last year’s for $30 as well.
After 3 years and what seems like a lifetime of comradery among industry folks, he seems content doing what loves in the Northeast portion of the city. “It seems to be ingrained [comradery] in the industry, we are closer than the outsiders know.”
If you go:
Thursday, January 28th at 5 pm
Grumpy’s Northeast
2200 4th Street Northeast
Minneapolis, MN 55418

Saturday, January, 30th at 10 am
NorthGate Brewing
783 Harding St NE
Minneapolis, MN 55413

Cheers!

Looking Ahead: Predicting 2016

By on December 18, 2015in beer events, Fair State Brewing, general beer, Indeed Brewing Co., Lake Monster, Lakes and Legends, Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery, Republic, Steel Toe Brewing, Surly Brewing Co., tap rooms

Predictions

This was another great year for our local beer scene where we saw breweries such as Able Seedhouse, Lake Monster, Lakes and Legends and many more open their doors for business. We saw Dangerous Man introduce their barrel aging program, Fair State and Indeed brought forth their sour programs, and Bad Weather got themselves a new home in St. Paul. With 2016 right around the corner, I decided to look ahead and forecast what we might see happen in the next 12 months.

1. Local collaborations: We haven’t seen a ton of this in previous years, but I think we’ve come to a point where we will see some breweries putting their best foot forward in unison to bring us some lively brews. Our friends over at the Growler have been hard at work putting together “In Cahoots” which is an event that they host every summer encouraging which encourages local breweries to collaborate on brews that people can enjoy at the event itself. Can you imagine the Hoops brothers collaborating on one? Now that would be one tasty beverage.

2. Special beer verticals in taprooms: Now that some of these breweries have been in operation for a couple years, I think we will begin to see “mini-events” that feature verticals of vintage specialty beers. Take Steel Toe for instance. They held an event back in November called “A Barrel-Aged Trifecta” which featured 2015 Barrel-Aged Dissent, 2012 Barrel-Aged Lunker, and 2014 Barrel-Aged Lunker available as a flight or on their own. I could see breweries like Surly or Indeed doing something similar with Rum King or Darkness, and the turnout would be huge.

3. Locally made cocktails on tap lines at notable bars around town: Technically this is already happening at Republic Seven Corners right now where Tattersall has a couple different “pre-mixed” cocktails available on tap. This is certainly a way for local distilleries to get their products into popular bars around town and showcase some of the flavors, all while maintaining the consistency by eliminating poorly made drinks. I could see this gaining momentum as the popularity of locally made spirits seems to be on the rise.

4. The rise of the Lager: Lagers have a bad reputation over the years thanks to large breweries that are more interested in volume than flavor. This is a big misconception in that you can make some damn tasty Lagers without sacrificing quality or flavor. Expect to see a rise in Lagers (such as Pilsners, California Common, Amber Lagers, etc) being brewed around town and maybe with a little twist—especially at smaller breweries (think Town Hall) where they have more freedom to change up their beer menus frequently.

5. The “death” of struggling breweries: No one wants to think this will happen, but it is inevitable that at some point some of these breweries will not make it. I honestly don’t think there will be a lot of this going on at this point, I just feel that this might be the year we see one or two turn off the lights. This should also serve as a reminder to support your local brewery and give them honest feedback so that they can fix any issues with their beer, service etc. Trust me, they’d rather hear that than close up shop.

Cheers!

Indeed’s Sour Program on Display at Republic’s Sour Social this Saturday

By on December 8, 2015in beer dinners, beer education, cooking & food, education, general beer, Indeed Brewing Co., Republic

Indeed Sour

Sour beers are huge right now and Indeed Brewing has one of the better programs around. The Wooden Soul Series is run by Adam Theis and is coming up on one year now. Adam was first introduced to sours at Town Hall Brewery where he brewed under Mike Hoops. “We got La Folie there [a sour beer from New Belgium] and I was like oh my god” says Theis. “It was really intriguing to me.”

He left Town Hall and went up to Third Street for a little while until he was contacted by Tom Whisenand and Josh Bischoff from Indeed. The Northeast brewery really wanted to start up a sour program and since they had worked with him previously at Town Hall, the move made sense. “I was a fan of sour beer, and I couldn’t pass that up” he says.

The Wooden Soul beers start out just like the others in that they are brewed and fermented at the regular brewery prior to making their way over to Adam’s house of funk which is just down Broadway. So far there have been five entries in the series, a set that rivals any being brewed here in the state.

Wooden Soul #1 Saison
Wooden Soul #2 Sour Blonde Ale
Wooden Soul #3 Sour Blonde Ale aged on cherries
Wooden Soul #4 Sour Blonde Ale aged on grapefruit
Wooden Soul #5 Saison fermented with apple juice

The most popular one around town seems to be #3 which was a Sour Blonde Ale aged on cherries. This is not Adam’s favorite though so far. “A lot of people liked #3, but it wasn’t my favorite. I really like citrus fruit so I’d probably go with the grapefruit [Wooden Soul #4] one as my favorite” he says.

There is one that hasn’t been released yet that he’s very excited about. It’s a Red and Brown Ale mix which is aged on cherries in a very unique barrel. One that Adam states is working really well right now. This brew will make an appearance at Sour Social which is a beer dinner being hosted by Republic on Saturday. The event itself will pair six dishes with sour beers from both breweries (New Belgium and Indeed) in a casual environment.

Overall the sour program has been a successful operation and should only grow from here. “We’ve experimented with everything and we are always trying out new techniques. These beers are just a slow evolution that plays out right in front of us” says Adam.

If you are looking for tickets to the event Saturday, you can purchase them here for $50 plus fees.

Cheers!

Round Table Hops Kickstarter

By on November 24, 2015in hops, Republic

Round Table Hops has an interesting take on hop production. They’ve built up a model of a greenhouse-based hydroponic hopyard capable of year round harvests. Watch the video and see what you think. A few points that stuck out to me:

  • 60% decreased water usage compared to traditional methods
  • 98% reduction in land requirements compared to traditional methods
  • ZERO pesticide usage, compared to traditional methods

This could be very cool. They have four days to go in their Kickstarter campaign and are a little over half way there. Check it out.

Also, they’ll be holding a wrap party tonight at Republic in Minneapolis from 5-8pm. Beer. Food. Free stuff. Needless to say, you can chat up the folks behind Round Table Hops as well. Cheers!

rth

Acadia Beer & Beast & Darkness Cask Tonight

By on November 10, 2015in Acadia, bars/restaurants, beer dinners, cask beer, Surly Brewing Co.

Today (Nov. 10th), Acadia Cafe makes their monthly Beer and Beast event a bit more Surly than usual with a cask of Surly Darkness, one of only four made this year. Show up in a timely manner as this won’t last. The cask gets tapped at 5, followed by Beer & Beast at 6pm. This round they’re serving up smoked goat and sides to be paired with Surly Nein, an Imperial Smoked German-style Dunkel Weizen brewed to celebrate the brewery’s 9th anniversary. Celebrate!

acadiabb