Category: breweries

Winterfest 2019 Preview

By on January 21, 2019in beer events, breweries, brewpubs

It’s that time of year again. Dust off your best outfit and prepare for some of the biggest and most unique beers being made in town. The Union Depot will once again play host to Winterfest, which is the premier beer event and a fantastic showcase of food and beverage featuring only local breweries and restaurants. It’s fitting that the state capital (St. Paul)  is home to the premier Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild event.

The event was held at the Minnesota History Center for years, but the number of breweries has grown exponentially so it moved to the Union Depot a number of years ago. Food has been disappearing from beer festivals over the years to try and keep ticket prices down, but the food at Winterfest is usually very good and worth the bump in ticket prices.
Here are five beers that I’m looking forward to trying at this year’s event:
Ice Cream Social from Barrel Theory Beer Company – This Imperial Stout with strawberry, vanilla, cacao, and marshmallow was aged in Willet bourbon barrels. I don’t suppose this will last very long so you might want to put this near the top of your list.
Brave Woman Scottish Ale from Little Thistle Brewing – Steve Finnie knows his Scottish Ales, and I expect this to be one of my favorite beers at the festival. Named after his great, great grandmother who saved the lives of 15 fishermen in a storm, this beer promises notes of caramel, toffee, and chocolate. It boasts a modest 5% ABV which is always welcome at a festival that features so many heavy beers.
Twelve Parsecs from Junkyard Brewing – Lemonade meets IPA. Flavors of summer are here to save us from this bitter cold weather, and I’m excited to taste and smell those Ekuanot Cryo-Hops that they used at the end of the brewing process.
Munich-Style Dunkel from Steel Toe Brewing – Michael Wagner has been tinkering in the brewery over in St. Louis Park for a couple years now, and the results have been great so far. I’m excited to try out his version of this classic style which is very hard to anywhere these days.
#1225 Cherry Ale from Hoops Brewing – If there’s one thing that Dave and his crew are great at, it’s fruit beers. An unapologetic beer that is supposed to taste like cherry pie, just like your grandmother used to make. Door County cherries are the star of the show and will come through in both the flavor and the aroma.
Cheers!

Review – Surly Frost Pack Newcomers

By on December 9, 2018in general beer, new beer, Surly Brewing Co.

Mention Brut around this time of year and visions of iconic (and I use that term loosely) commercials and thoughts of endcaps full of personal care products bubble up in the brain. Apparently, the holidays are the one time a year people need to be reminded they might smell bad and should probably do something about that.

However, Brut – the green, long-necked bottle of seventh grade – is not what’s on topic here. Nor is Stetson, Preferred Stock or White Diamonds. I’m talking about Brut the style descriptor – usually of champagne/sparkling wine, but more recently used to describe a style of very dry, effervescent IPA. Surly has brewed their own version of this style, as well as (for the very first time) a genuine porter and put them in their winter variety twelve-pack. Please enjoy these tasting notes of warmth and celebration for your holiday season.

 

Surly Mortal Sun

American Porter

ABV – 5.5%

Aroma: Crisp and chocolatey with bitter coffee notes. You can tell it’s going to be dry right from the first whiff.

Appearance: Dark brown to black.   

Flavor: Dark chocolate and coffee. Very toasty body with sustained bitterness from start to finish.

Mouthfeel: Light on the palate and drinkable. This is not Darkness (i.e., heavy and sippable).

Overall Impression: If you don’t know what you’re getting from Surly by now, you haven’t been paying attention; a great representation of the style that is turned up to 11. 

 

Surly Liquid Stardust

Sparkling/Brut IPA

ABV – 7.0%

Aroma: Bitter and citrusy. Complex. 

Appearance: Between yellow and dark yellow. 

Flavor: There’s a lot to unpack here. Lemon peel slaps you in the face right away and the other fruity hop notes play underneath that banner – melon, mango and pineapple all popped out, but that lemon bitterness carried throughout. 

Mouthfeel: Not an understatement when they say incredibly crisp and dry. Very refreshing, but the bitterness makes you pace yourself. 

Overall Impression: I had to do a couple rounds of tasting to get a good impression of this one. This included stopping in the taproom and comparing it to the Brut IPA on tap there. There was a distinct difference between the two and I see why they chose to can this version. The multiple fruit undertones along with the bitterness make it a more interesting and tasty. 

Rum King!

By on December 4, 2018in Indeed Brewing Co.

Just in time to cut a chill from the air, Indeed’s Rum King is back, now available in 12 oz. cans and on draft. For those of you not familiar, Rum King is an Imperial stout aged in Jamaican rum barrels and I think it’s as good as it sounds. (And if you think the descriptions sucks, then perhaps you should take a pass…)

For those of you lucky souls living in the Twin Cities, Indeed will also have five-year flights of Rum King in the taproom. Please try the ’14, ’15, ’16, ’17 and 18 and report back.

 

Pryes Cans… and Imperial Pumpkin Ale

By on October 26, 2018in Pryes Brewing Co.

It’s always fun to see a huge smile on a brewer’s face. And rightfully so… Jeremy is holding cans of Miraculum and Royal Raspberry Sour. Look for these starting on  Monday, November 5th.


And if gourds and spices are your thing, they’ll also be tapping their Imperial Pumpkin Ale.  
This one has been cellaring since last fall. If you’d like to check it out, drop into their taproom this Saturday starting at 2pm.

’I’ve often loved brewing beers that remind me of the seasons. One thing that always reminds me of the fall time is my grandma’s pumpkin pie. Instead of high-lighting the clove pumpkin spice flavors, I wanted to highlight the beautiful flavors from the combination of the whip cream and pumpkin and finally to the crust. We brewed this with natural pumpkin puree, belgium candi sugar and other spices to make this happen. We ended up with a 10% medium bodied beer that has tasting notes that remind us of Pie Crust, Nutmeg, Molasses and cinnamon. – Jeremy Pryes

Best of the Wurst Sunday!

By on September 20, 2018in August Schell Brewing Co., Sociable Cider Werks

We’d be remiss (or just lazy as per usual) if we didn’t mention that Sunday The Best of the Wurst takes place at Sociable Cider Werks. We’ll hold off on sharing our wurst jokes and get right down to the details. If you’re into sausage parties, then this is the shindig for you! Tickets range from $25 to $75 and feature a plethora of sausage samples as well as craft beer and cider from Sociable and August Schell Brewing Company. Schell’s will be serving their seasonal favorite, Oktoberfest as well as their 1905 VT and Witbier. They may also be sharing some of the collaboration beer they created with Sociable this past summer.

Church of Cash and Alex Rossi round out the event with some fine pluckin’ and a’strumin’ and the event wraps up with the crowning of the Sausage King/Queen of Minnesota (I just made that up, feel free to use it) – the “Best of the Wurst” determined through ranked choice voting.

Sunday, Sept. 23rd, 2-6pm.

Get tickets right here.