Category: brewpubs

Castro’s Reserve to Debut at Northbound Smokehouse Brewpub on Friday

By on May 10, 2017in brewpubs, cooking & food, general beer, misc. mn beer, new beer, Northbound Smokehouse

A cigar smoked beer? Yes, it works. The crew at Northbound Smokehouse Brewpub has a way with smoke, and their latest creation is an Imperial Brown Ale smoked with cigars. Ten of them to be exact. They smoked 20% (100 lbs) of the malt base for five hours and aged the beer in rum barrels. The result is a complex beer with flavors of vanilla, dark cherries, chocolate, and some subtle leather notes. The ABV on this is 8.4% and the IBUs clock in at 32.

Joel Scott is the head brewer at Northbound and the idea came about while he was getting his brewing education at Siebel Institute in Chicago. He had a couple of questions before giving this a go. The first was that he was wondering if he could get the tobacco flavor to come through in the beer. The second was if the beer would taste like an ashtray. The answer to the first question was yes, and no to the second.

The beer will be released on Friday, May 12th at the brewpub. They will use the wood from the barrel to create a Cuban pork special for the release. You’ll wanna get there early though because this beer probably won’t last long. On a side note, they will be making this again at a later date and will be submitting this beer at the Great American Beer Festival this year.

Cheers!

Duluth is Calling – Get your All Pints North Tickets NOW!

By on March 14, 2017in beer travels, breweries, brewpubs
all pints north

 

all pints north

Tickets for one of our favorite summer beer festivals are on sale right now. I mean RIGHT NOW! Right here: bit.ly/allpintsnorth2017

All Pints North takes place on July 29th at Duluth’s Bayfront Festival Park and is organized by the always-awesome Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild. Readers of MNBeer know that we love Duluth and its beer scene and we always recommend making a weekend out of this event.

At the festival, you can expect the usual great mix of more than 120 breweries, food vendors, games, education and music. I’ve always found this festival to be very intimate, comfortable and totally enjoyable. Just go.

 

Note that Duluth hotels aren’t necessarily cheap in July. There are deals to be found. If you’re traveling on the cheap, look into Voyageur Lakewalk Inn on Superior or even camping. Totally worth it.

Get tickets now: bit.ly/allpintsnorth2017

All Pints North
Saturday, July 29, 2017, 3-7 p.m.
Bayfront Festival Park, Duluth, MN
Tickets $45 in advance and $55 day-of if available (plus taxes and fees)

Northern Lights Rare Beer Fest Saturday

By on March 7, 2017in August Schell Brewing Co., Bemidji Brewing Co., Bent Paddle Brewing Co., breweries, Fargo Brewing Co., Fitger's Brewhouse, Fulton Brewing Co., Indeed Brewing Co., Lift Bridge, Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery, Steel Toe Brewing, Surly Brewing Co.

As I write this, tickets are still available for Saturday’s Northern Lights Rare Beer Festival at the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul. In its short history, the event has quickly become Minnesota’s premiere Winter (…er Spring?) festival with a finely-curated list of rare, one-off and specialty beers from 30 select breweries from Minnesota and across the country. Suffice to say that this event includes plenty of excellent food, entertainment and more.

I am, of course, a dumbass and won’t be there so here are Five beers I’ll really f&#@ing miss from this year’s Northern Lights Rare Beer Festival:

  • Indeed Wooden Soul: Ephemeral
  • August Schell Electric Empress
  • Fitger’s Brewhouse Tequila Barrel 1100 Wheatwine
  • Bemidji Brewing Flanders Sour Red
  • Steel Toe Brewing Before the Dawn with Tart Cherries

That being said, there are a lot of interesting beers. Learn more by checking out the program or visiting their website.

Download the program here.

Buy your tickets here.

Northern Lights Rare Beer Fest, Saturday, March 11th, 7-10pm.
Minnesota History Center, 345 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul

Winterfest 2017 Preview

By on February 21, 2017in breweries, brewpubs

The premier event hosted by the Minnesota Craft Brewer’s Guild has a new home this year, The Legends Club at Target Field. The Brewer’s Guild outgrew the Union Depot even with the two-night format. The 16th edition of Winterfest will feature beer from nearly 100 Minnesota breweries. Once again the Snowshoe Award (Best of Fest) will be up for grabs and last year’s winner Bent Paddle Brewing will be defending their title.

Attendees will be able to try out some of the best beers made in Minnesota as this often serves as a showcase for rare beers that aren’t available year-round. Here are some beers we’re looking forward to:

Lichtenhainer from Fair State Brewing – This Smoked Sour Wheat beer aged in barrels sounds very interesting. This isn’t something I’d typically seek out, but Fair State has a great reputation with sours and this should be no different. You don’t often see beers like this around the Twin Cities.

Tawny Port Barrel-Aged Peanut Butter Porter from Dangerous Man Brewing– This beer sold out within an hour and a half of being released back in December. The last time I sampled this one there were some big bittersweet chocolate notes and the peanut butter had really mellowed. You’ll want to seek this one out early because it probably won’t last long.

Westside Brewery Collective Barleywine from ENKI – This beer is the perfect beer for Winterfest in that it’s big on caramel and molasses yet weighs in at a relatively low 7.1% ABV., uch lower than most Barleywines. They brewed this in collaboration with some of the other west metro breweries using the same ingredients including Minnesota grown Cascade hops.

Eye Wine Red from Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery – This is a delightful beer with strong hints of grapes in the nose and a wonderful dose of honey on the back end. This was brewed for Barrel-Aged Week at the brewery and should certainly be a contender for Best Beer.

Vintage Lunker from Steel Toe Brewing – Marshmallow, dark chocolate, and plums can be found in the aroma of this beer that is certain to warm you up with its high alcohol content of 13%. The brewery out of St. Louis Park has been releasing plenty of Barrel-Aged offerings over the years and Lunker is always one of the highlights.

HEXIT from Badger Hill Brewing – This beer certainly lives up to the hype surrounding it. Big hops dominate this beer but if you let it warm a bit you’ll be rewarded with wonderful complex flavors from the local honey used to make it. This beer was made in collaboration with Todd Haug who recently left Surly to join 3 Floyds Brewery.

Emily’s Dream #15 from LTD Brewing – This should be a nice sour offering from the brewery located in Hopkins. This Emily’s Dream series has been a bit underrated and the combo of cherry and pomegranate together has me intrigued.

Flock Together from Indeed Brewing – This Belgian Dubbel is a collaboration project with the much anticipated Hoops Brewing out of Duluth. It can be difficult to find a well-made Belgian-style beer around town but this should be something special. Indeed’s head brewer Josh Bischoff has been heavily influence by the Hoops brothers (he worked under Mike at Town Hall Brewery) and this sort of a project seemed like a no-brainer. “The Hoops brothers have always had a strong influence in my brewing career, and with the announcement of Hoops Brewing opening this year, a collaboration seemed like a fun way to work with an early mentor” according to Bischoff. Hoops brewing is set to open this spring/summer.

Dreamyard from Modist Brewing Company – If you tried Deviation #2, this is the finished version of that beer. Plenty of hops are used to make this beer but it’s not super bitter. This actually tastes sort of like a IPA/mimosa hybrid. Lots of orange juice flavor in this beer.

Kolsch from Waconia Brewing Company – This beer is made with continental pilsner malt and will be a great in between beer at Winterfest. It’s lower on the ABV chart than most (5%) so you can go back for this one multiple times.

Town Hall Brewery Barrel-Aged Week Preview

By on February 16, 2017in Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery

Barrel-aged beers are trending in Minnesota and across the country. Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery has always been ahead of the trends here in Minnesota winning a gold medal in 2001 at The Great American Beer Festival for their Russian Imperial Stout, Czar Jack.

Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery is celebrating Barrel-Aged Week beginning on Sunday, February 19th at 10 am with the pre-sale of 750 ml growlers. This means that you will wait in line to get tickets which will allow you to return to the brewery the day that beer is released and pick up your growler. There will be new beers released every day of the week beginning with the Foolish Angel Series.

Barrel Selection:
The art of barrel-aging beers begins with the barrel selection process. Head brewer Mike Hoops heads down to Kentucky every year to select the whiskey barrels that he will use to concoct many of these beers. There are a multitude of factors that go into choosing the correct barrels. Most bourbon barrels are made out of white oak from the southern portion of the United States. The barrels are then “charred” which mellows the tannins found in the wood and acts as sort of a carbon filter. This will contribute to the flavor of the whiskey, and afterwards the beer stored in the barrel.

According to Town Hall head brewer Mike Hoops the barrels are an ingredient just like hops and grain. The base beer can be the same every year, but the beer will come out a little different each time. “Barrels are harder and harder to get now” says Hoops. Back in the year 2000 (the first year that he made Czar Jack) he was able to purchase that barrel from the Jack Daniels General Store. “We paid $45 for that first barrel, and $75 to ship it” he said chuckling.

One of the biggest factors is the level of humidity in the space where the barrel is stored. This often means that barrels that are stored higher up in the warehouse could be considered more desirable. Barometric pressure causes the bourbon (during first use) to penetrate deeper into the staves which creates the ideal vessel for imparting flavor into the beer during the barrel-aging process. Hoops wouldn’t elaborate on the extent of his standards but it was clear in speaking with him that the level of char, and the depth that the whiskey penetrates the staves are important in this process.

Manhattan Reserve is one of the best barrel-aged beers made at Town Hall. The story behind it is just as interesting. Hoops’ father-in-law loves a good Manhattan cocktail. Mike wanted to create those flavors in a beer and gave it a whirl. The result is nothing short of spectacular. This beer starts out as a Grand Cru on red tart cherries, and is then stored in Woodford Reserve bourbon whiskey barrels for a number of months.

This is the best event put on the brewery all year so you don’t want to miss out. For the full schedule of releases, see below:

Barrel Aged Week Release Schedule 2017:

Sunday, February 19th | 10am

750ml Growler Pre-Sale | If you’re looking to take home this year’s barrel-aged releases, this is your chance! Tickets go on sale at 10am; beers can be picked up once they are released on tap.

Monday, February 20th | 5pm

  • Foolish Red | Belgian-style Quadrupel aged in French oak red wine barrels.
  • Foolish Angel | Belgian-style Quadrupel aged in bourbon barrels.
  • Single Barrel Reserve Foolish Angel | A very special single-barrel offering.

Tuesday, February 21st | 5pm

  • Manhattan Reserve | Belgian-style Grand Cru with red tart cherries, aged in bourbon barrels.

Wednesday, February 22nd | 5pm

  • Twisted Trace | American Barleywine aged in bourbon barrels.
  • E.T. Wee | Scottish-style Wee Heavy aged in bourbon barrels.

Thursday, February 23rd | 5pm

  • Eye Wine Red | Minnesota Honey Ale aged in French oak red wine barrels.
  • Eye Wine White | Minnesota Honey Ale aged in American chardonnay barrels.
  • Le Baltique | Baltic Porter aged in French oak red wine barrels.

Friday, February 24th | 5pm

  • Project 3106 | Belgian-style Strong Brown Ale with kumquat and chocolate, aged in bourbon barrels.
  • Buffalo Bock | German-style Weizenbock aged in bourbon barrels.

Saturday, February 25th | 11am

  • Czar Jack | The grandaddy of them all. Russian Imperial Stout aged in Tennessee whiskey barrels.