Category: tap rooms

Badger Hill Brewing and Valley Fair Team Up for High Roller Extra Park Ale

By on May 5, 2016in Badger Hill Brewing, breweries, cooking & food, general beer, misc. mn beer, MN, mnbeer.com, new beer, tap rooms

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Valley Fair is turning 40 this year and they wanted to celebrate with a special beer offering at the park. The folks at Badger Hill met up with Valley Fair last month to come up with a beer (Extra Pale Ale) that will be available at 3 locations within the park. Those locations are Atomic Beer, Chickie’s and Pete’s, and Depot Refreshments.

The beer will be called High Roller Extra Park Ale and will also be available in the Badger Hill Taproom when the beer is officially released on Friday, May 13th. Oh, and the tap handles are made out of reclaimed wood from the famous High Roller ride that was built back in 1976. The beer checks in at 5.2% ABV and hits 43 on the IBU scale.

Who says that kids get to have all the fun?

Also, The Curious Goat’s little brother The Smoking Cow will be debuting at the Badger Hill Taproom tomorrow (Friday, May 5th) from 4:30 until 8 pm. Ian Gray and Kiri Anderson are the ones behind both of these trucks, and they are known for serving up some of the best locally sourced food around. Heads up: If there’s brisket on the menu, order that. You’ll thank me later.

Cheers!

Dangerous Man and Electric Fetus Collaborate for Record Store Day

By on April 14, 2016in beer events, breweries, misc. mn beer, MN, mnbeer.com, new beer, tap rooms

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A typical brew day at Dangerous Man starts very early, and if you were to walk in you’d hear music blasting from the speakers. Operations Manager Hilari Bandow loves music so much that she worked with the Electric Fetus to set up a collaboration beer with the Minneapolis institution. “We always have music playing here, so it’s cool to have something [a special beer] to enjoy while you’re listening to music. Music for our brewery is woven in, and we’re all big vinyl collectors.”

The beer this year will be called Record Store Day Organic IPA and it’s brewed with Amarillo and Bravo hops. This beautiful looking beer is super citrusy and very refreshing so it will pair well with this awesome weather. Co-owner and head brewer Rob Miller had this to say about the beer this year. “It is a light refreshing, tropical IPA. A beer you would want to drink sitting outside on a spring day listening to your favorite Peter Tosh vinyl.”

Sarah Bonvallet who also owns the brewery and is the Creative Director loves music, and can often be seen at shows around town—usually with other staff members. “We have a deep love for music at Dangerous Man, whether it is jamming hard at the brewery to P.O.S. or our staff going to see shows together. So it feels like an honor to work with Electric Fetus, such a Minneapolis staple in the music community and be able to support each other.

The artwork for the event can be seen on the new merch which will be available for purchase at Electric Fetus. “We used a local designer and screen printer to create the art. The whole thing has Minneapolis dripping off of it, which we love” says Sarah. “The beer itself pushes that fruity IPA boundary to the max, which I think is indicative of the Electric Fetus and their support of experimental art on all levels” she says.

So when is Record Store Day? Well technically it starts at 9:00 am this Saturday, but according to Electric Fetus owner Aaron Meyerring and Store Manager Bob Fuchs people will start lining up outside the door at 6 pm on Friday night. “It’s like crazy. It has become this national holiday. Last year was the most fun I’ve ever had” according to Aaron.

By lining up, many of the people who show up to Record Store Day are looking for the exclusive releases, but for most people they are just looking to pick up something new and they use the day as an excuse to support their local record shop. At the Electric Fetus they go big for this event with in-store performances from local musicians, food trucks lined up outside, and even a crafting area for kids.

On the collaboration, Meyerring says that the fit just makes sense. “Two years ago on Christmas, I wanted to carry some craft beer merch and they [Dangerous Man] wanted to sell their stuff here. We crossover pretty well.”

“There’s no shortage of love for beer around here.”

Here’s how it works. You show up and shop around, maybe hit a food truck or two and hang out for a while. Make a purchase and bring your receipt to Dangerous Man for $1 off your Record Store Day Organic IPA purchase. Please note the beer is NOT available for purchase at the Electric Fetus.

Here are the details:

Saturday, April 16th 2016 at 9:00 am

Electric Fetus

2000 4th Ave. S

Minneapolis, MN 55404

Food trucks will show up at 10:00 am and they will be Natedogs, Chef Shack, and Bubble Boy.

The music lineup will be:

10:30 am – DJ Jake Rudh of Transmission
Noon – The Honeydogs
1:30 pm – Prairie Fire Lady Choir
3:00 pm – I Self Devine/Muja Messiah
4:30 pm – Magic Castles

Cheers!

LTD and MN Beer Activists Team up with Adam Turman on Sunday Sales Beer

By on April 6, 2016in beer events, beer laws, general beer, misc. mn beer, MN, mnbeer.com, new beer, tap rooms

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The fine folks at MN Beer Activists spent a rainy Tuesday over at LTD Brewing where they helped brew a beer they are calling Sunday Sales Pale Ale. Part of the proceeds will go to SundaySalesMN.org which is run by consumer activists.

The estimated release date is on Sunday, May 1st from 1 pm until 5 pm at LTD which is located in Hopkins. Adam Turman is the man behind the label and has long been an advocate for changing this law.

If you’d like to join the cause, sign the petition over at their website.

LTD Brewing
8 8th Ave. N.
Hopkins, MN 55343

Cheers!

Wild Mind Ales Brewing Up Something Different

By on March 22, 2016in breweries, general beer, hops, misc. mn beer, MN, mnbeer.com, new beer, tap rooms

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It all started back in college when Mat Waddell tried a Saison for the first time. “That got me into fermenting with fruit” he says. Next were a series of internships at breweries like Summit and Badger Hill where he says he learned the importance of quality when it comes to making beer. Now Mat finds himself taking the ultimate risk in opening his own sour brewery in south Minneapolis.

This isn’t just any brewery though. His beers are going to fall under the category of “coolship” which by definition are fermented in open vessels—meaning that they utilize wild yeast to munch on the sugars instead of those cultivated and sold to the masses. There are a number of breweries out there currently practicing this including Allagash Brewing and Jester King. This of course involves a lot of risk in that one beer won’t taste the same as the last. “I love the wild, uncontrolled risk” says Waddell. “You get a nice reward.”

There are two ways of making coolship beers. The traditional way with open fermenters sitting out doors which would ideally happen in late winter and spring, and what is called wood cellaring (Jester King does it this way) which is where the wort is inoculated with wild yeast after it has been transferred into wooden barrels.

The space currently is not much to look at with all of the construction going on. Eventually though, there will be windows throughout the brewery where you can peek inside the production area, and picnic tables to sit at while you sip your brew. There will also be an indoor projector and screen where you will be able to watch the Olympics all summer long.

The outdoor beer garden will need plenty of work (currently a barren slab of busted concrete) but in the end will be home to some fire pits and a nice plot of grass complete with trees and hopefully hops. Mat also plans to screen some outdoor movies on the wall out in the beer garden where he hopes people will gather and enjoy the beer and weather. In fact, the goal is to keep the glass garage doors open all summer so the entire space will feel open. “We’re going for light and bright open space” according to Mat.

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Upon opening he plans to have his House beer (and a Spanish cedar version), a Pale Ale using Conan yeast, and a House Stout that showcases bourbon sugar. After a couple of months you can expect to see some of the Barrel Fermented Saisons come out followed by their sours in about 6 months. Mat is hoping for an early summer opening.

Wherever there is risk, there are often rewards.

Wild Mind Ales

6031 Pillsbury Avenue

Minneapolis, MN 55419

Cheers!

A First Look at Star Keller

By on February 8, 2016in August Schell Brewing Co., beer travels, cooking & food, general beer, grand opening, history, misc. mn beer, MN, mnbeer.com, new beer, tap rooms

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New Ulm is a charming city, one that seems almost lost in simpler times. The city is home to one of the most respected breweries in the country, one that has survived the Dakota War of 1862, the Civil War, Prohibition, and The Great Depression. In fact, Schell’s is the second oldest family owned brewery (D. G. Yuengling & Son is the oldest) in the country.

But if you think that Schell’s is stuck in that time period, think again. Jace Marti (who is next in line to run the brewery) has his eyes set on opening an all sour brewery and taproom on the north side of town that he will call Star Keller. This will be the first all sour brewery and taproom in the state of Minnesota and let me tell you, it’s beautiful. It’s every bit steampunk and like nothing you’ve seen even up here in the cities. “Everything in this brewery is from the original brewery” says Jace.

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This includes a boiler from 1885, the original copper kettle for the base of the bar, ten cypress tanks, picnic boxes that make up the bar top, some old wooden ladders, a wall of weathered tin, some old taxidermy, and much, much more. Those cypress tanks along with all the fittings cost the brewery $3,437 eighty years ago this coming May. Which by the way is the target opening date. “We’re aiming for a May 1st opening which marks the 80th anniversary of those tanks” he says. Oh and that tin that adds a ton of character to the space, that was given to the Marti’s as a gift from the family of one of their barrel coopers from back in the day. Literally everything in this new space has a story.

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This brewery and taproom will serve sours exclusively made at the brewery. This lineup will be diverse and there will be 8 beers on at any given time. “We want to have a core lineup eventually” says Marti. “We’ll put tanks on a two year cycle for blending.”

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Yes, you read that right. Expect to see some Lambic and Flanders styles to go along with all of those excellent Berliner Weiss brews they’ve been putting out in the Noble Star Series. The taproom itself will have a capacity of 40-50 people. There is also a kitchen in the taproom where Jace hopes that local chefs will be able to play with the flavors in his funky brews and help to create a “local” experience. One thing is certain, this place is going to be a hit and will be well worth the trip for those of us up here in the city.

May can’t get here soon enough….

Cheers!