Category: general beer

Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery Re-Opens Tonight

By on April 11, 2014in general beer

townhall.jpgWhile Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery wasn’t my first brewpub experience in the Twin Cities (I think Hops was my first visit), my first visit was probably my most memorable. From the first drop of cask-conditioned Masala Mama I was hooked. I’ve always loved the location, the brewers, Pete, (almost all of) the wait staff and the regulars. And even before MNBeer launched in 2005, it seemed as if I always knew someone at Town Hall whenever i visited. Cheers? Perhaps.

In any case, Town Hall re-opens their doors to the public tonight at 6pm. They’re a Minneapolis institution, and I’m sure more than a few of you will be darkening their door tonight. Congrats to Pete and the whole crew. Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery – welcome back. We’ve missed you.

Fitger’s Brewhouse Signs 20-Year Lease

By on April 2, 2014in general beer

Fitger's BrewhouseToday, Fitger’s Brewhouse has announced that they’ve signed a 20-year lease with Fitger’s On the Lake. After nearly 20 years in the Fitger’s Brewery complex, it’s nice to hear that they’ll bee there for another 20 years! What could this mean for beer fans? An longer lease opens the door for the Brewhouse to invest in their location – just what we’d expect with an expected brewery expansion.

“With this lease in our back pockets, Fitger’s Brewhouse is ready to reinvest in our own equipment and facilities within the complex,” said Brewhouse Principle, Tim Nelson. “We can’t think of a better place to showcase the talent of our brewers and support staff than at Fitger’s, the historic brewery on Lake Superior. This is good news for Duluth’s craft brewing scene.”

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Chop & Brew #22: John Kimmich from The Alchemist

By on March 30, 2014in beer education, breweries, brewpubs, Features, general beer, history, homebrew, video

It’s not MN Beer officially, but likely something that will interest beer lovers and homebrewers here in the Upper Midwest. In this episode of the locally-produced Chop & Brew webshow, a discussion and Q&A with John Kimmich, head brewer at The Alchemist in Vermont, famous (infamous?) for the traders’ cult favorite Heady Topper. In this hour-plus video, John discusses not only his personal journey into and through craft brewing, he also offers homebrew-friendly advice and insight on all elements of brewing specifically as it relates to brewing hoppy beers. Footage shot in October 2013 while visiting Nashville, TN for the Music City Brew Off — which will be the focus of an entirely separate future episode of Chop & Brew. For Heady Topper recipe and other related links to the episode so this link to official episode page.

We also slacked a bit on posting the prior two episode of Chop & Brew in separate posts. So here they are in handy-dandy hyperlink form:

C&B 20: Homebrew Video Nerds Unite Two homebrewing videographers chat about their obsession with documenting brew days and what role video plays in the current landscape of homebrewing.

C&B 21: Meet the Brewer: Mino Choi Mino Choi is an award-winning homebrewer, winemaker and meadmaker. Join us for a gold-medal flight of his amazing fermentations and get some tips and tricks from one helluva competition fermentationist.

Hey Art Nerds, How ‘Bout a Beer Gig?

By on February 14, 2014in breweries, general beer

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Our friends at Surly Brewing Company are looking for their next featured artist. Said artist will create art for Surly’s next anniversary beer (∞ight?), SurlyFest & Darkness. You’ll no doubt see the artwork on bottles posters, shirts and other fun things.  Surly has worked with a variety of artists over the past number of years (tattoo artists, graphic designers, illustrators, painting elephants) , so the medium & style is wide open with the caveat that the work needs to be unique and “Surly.”

And while recognition and free beer is nice, this is a paid gig as well. “The chosen one” will be working from concept to design to finished piece with the merry men and women of Surly on a timeline.

Care to join the likes of artists such as  Josh “Jawsh” Lemke, Brent Schoonover, Michael Berglund, Aesthetic Apparatus, DWITT, Nic Skrade, and Adam Turman?  Send some info about yourself, your connection with Surly and examples of your previous work (links to your portfolio, etc.) to michael@surlybrewing.com by Friday, March 7.

Good luck!