WCCO reports that Lakes & Legends Brewery is coming to Loring Park this summer.
MPR reports that the Minnesota Dept of Public Safety predicts that the number of breweries in Minnesota will top 110 in 2015. In 2005, they reported just 5 breweries. Can you name them all?
The Journal reports that Dangerous Man is expanding. No surprise there!
Michael Agnew talks about beer glass shapes in the Star Tribune.
Firkin Fest recap at APerfectPint.net
The Good:
New St. Cloud brewery, Beaver Island Brewing Co. is opening their taproom to the public this Saturday at 2pm. Beaver Island Brewing Co. was founded by a couple of St. Cloud homebrewers, Nick Barth and Matt Studer. Though the two certainly were not strangers to the industry, the made a wise choice in hiring Chris Laumb as brewmaster. Chris has been a longtime friend of MNBeer and we’ve watched him transition from O’Hara’s to McCann’s to Third Street Brewhouse. He makes a mean dubbel, too.
I spent a short stint of my life in St. Cloud. After leaving the Fargo/Moorhead area, I followed a girl to St. Cloud State University in 1997. During my time in the Granite City I sampled far too many single bottles of beer from Westside, dabbled in wine nerdery and discovered the house-made beers at O’Hara’s. It was something special… not necessarily a craft beer epiphany (that had already happened), but still something special. I could go on, but I won’t. Suffice to say that I’m excited for Chris and the folks from Beaver Island Brewing.
Bonus, they occupy the former Bo Diddley’s sandwich shop location in downtown St. Cloud. Cant wait to check them out.
Road trip to St. Cloud anyone?
The Bad:
Bring Me the News reports that Granite City is up for sale or merger. Granite City is a place that is often panned by craft beer newbies. Short of former brewery operations wizard Bob MacKenzie’s Batch 1000, you won’t fine a ton of hops in any of their beers or offbeat seasonal offerings. Regardless, it’s sad to see an early craft beer operation falter. I still remember rolling out to their first location in St. Cloud in 1999 and being wowed by great food, huge portions and a rotating variety of beers. St. Cloud had (has?) its own small scale brewery and at the time, it felt pretty special. We wish them the best. We also wish they’d bring back their Belgian strong golden ale recipe from a few years ago.
Today at noon is your first chance to get your hands on 2015 Winterfest, All Pints North and Autumn Brew Review tickets. All of these festivals sell out, but as you know Winterfest and Autumn Brew Review tickets disappear at a blinding pace. $200 gets you a ticket to both nights of Winterfest (Feb. 27 and 28), All Pints North (July 25) and Autumn Brew Review (September 19th). Point your browser here and have at it: www.tempotickets.com/mcbg
Your next chance for Winterfest tickets will be next Monday, January 12th at noon. On the 12th, you’ll have a chance to buy tickets for both nights of Winterfest for $135. Single tickets will go on Sale on Friday, January 16th at noon. Mark your calendars. Tickets are $75.
In case you haven’t heard, the Guild is changing up Winterfest a bit this year. To accommodate all of the breweries and beer fans, the festival will be spread out over the course of two nights – February 27th and 28th. The festival will remain at Union Depot and will run from 7-10pm each night. As per usual, this event will feature beers brewed in Minnesota by current Minnesota Draft Brewers Guild members. They’ll also offer up food, beer education, entertainment and music. Each night will feature a different set of breweries, with a few “best of the fest” winners that will appear both nights. Details about which breweries will be appearing each night are forthcoming.
The cold is settling in. Winterblot is at the Triple Rock on Saturday and Surly’s new facility opens today, so it would feel out of place today to feature anything but heavy metal from northern climates. Conveniently, Scandinavia is full of metal bands past and present, as illustrated by this map that made the internet rounds a couple years ago. With so many bands spread across many nuanced styles of metal, choosing just five was a tall task. I realize I’m only scratching the surface. Here are some of my faves:
Candlemass (Sweden) – Bewitched
My favorite unintentionally hilarious video. Ridiculous by today’s standards, but about what you’d expect from a limited budget in 1987.
Highlight: guitar “solo” while wearing a cast
Bathory (Sweden) – Home of Once Brave
From the album “Hammerheart” which, if you weren’t already aware, is the namesake of Lino Lakes’ own HammerHeart Brewing. Pretty much epitomizes epic, poetic viking metal.
At The Gates (Sweden) – Slaughter of the Soul
Man, this sound was 90’s metal. Listening to stuff like this I’m instantly whisked away to age twelve in my friend’s basement, playing Sega Genesis and acting like I knew what all three buttons did.
Amon Amarth (Sweden) – Twilight of the God of Thunder
Crisp, calculated shredding with a savvy frontman who seamlessly jumps between self-aware banter and a menacing death growl; it’s easy to understand why these guys are so popular.
Finintroll (Finland) – Under Bergets Rot
Self-described “trollish hoedown metal”? Sold.
Photo: Gun Flint Tavern