Tag: northeast minneapolis

Fair State Brewing Expanding

Nearing 1,000 members strong and a healthy demand for their beers, Fair State Brewing Coop has just signed a lease on a 40,000 square foot brewing space just a couple miles (2077 Ellis Avenue in St. Paul) from the taproom. In less than 24 months the beer being made at their brewery/taproom has been recognized locally, nationally and internationally. This is something president and CEO Evan Salle is clearly proud of. “When we signed that first lease we had 125 members. Today we have over 900” he said to a roaring crowd at their members only party.

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They were named as one the top ten new breweries in the world by RateBeer and were also named the best new brewery in Minnesota for 2015. The new space means they will increase their production five-fold and with a new distribution agreement, Bernick’s will help them move into Duluth, St. Cloud, Rochester, and across northern Minnesota. “The plan is to make quantity over here [at the new facility] and keep the small batches over at the current space” says Sallee. This expansion has been in the works for well over a year and the brewery has been operating at capacity for at least that long. The new space will also allow for barrel storage meaning that their barrel-aging program will also be getting a boost. Anyone who’s had their barrel-aged beers should be very, very excited about this.

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Head brewer Niko Tonks seems equally excited as he lamented about being able to do even more experimental stuff at the current space. It’ll be similar to Fulton where the highest volume beers are produced at the new facility, leaving the smaller batches to be brewed at the taproom space. “It’ll be good be able to do real experiments at the current space” Niko said chuckling. He also mentioned that they’ll initially be canning Roselle, Pils, Saison DuPonde, and Hop Lager out of the gate.

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Expect to see more of their beers available in cans and on draft at accounts around town. Oh and Roselle (the first sour beer canned in Minnesota) will be readily available in stores once the new space is up and running in early 2017 according to Sallee. They’ve had trouble keeping up with the demand for that beer.

Cheers!

Art-A-Whirl 2016

The Electric Fetus and Dangerous Man Brewing have teamed up again for a full day of music and beer on Saturday, May 21st from noon – 10 pm in the parking lot behind the brewery. This year the beer garden will only be serving Dangerous Man beer (last year they teamed up with a few breweries to serve their beers as well) which will include the highly anticipated collaboration beer they made with Surly called Blutpakt.

The food truck lineup is fantastic with the highlight being the BBQ truck Bark and the Bite. Rumor has it that they may just be selling chicken quarters right out of the smoker on Saturday. Oh, also….Chocolate Milk Stout makes for an excellent accompaniment to your breakfast.

Music lineup at Dangerous Man:
12:15 pm Tony Peachka
1:15 pm Still Pacific/Shellycoats
2:15 pm Driftwood Pyre
3:15 pm Rabbit Holes
4:15 pm Tiny Deaths
5:15 pm New Years Steve
6:15 pm Frankie Teardrop
7:15 pm Mike Mictlan
8:15 pm Forever Young Dance Party
Food Trucks:
Hot Indian Foods
Bark and the Bite
O’Cheeze

 

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Bauhaus will be hosting The Liquid Zoo which kicks off Friday, May 20th with the “Haus” band Viva Knievel. On Saturday Andrea Swensson from The Current will be there to get things going before a lineup of Jeremy Messersmith, The 4onthefloor, and Sonny Knight and The Lakers take the stage. That’s one hell of a party…

 

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Indeed will be hosting Whirlygig again and the big highlight will be Charlie Parr who is performing on Sunday, May 22nd at 5 pm. Nate Dogs will be on site slinging wieners along with Blue Door Pub throughout the weekend. The event goes Friday, May 20th through Sunday, May 22nd.

Grumpy’s will have the best music lineup on Saturday, May 21st with Babes in Toyland headlining a set that features Romantica and Mississippi Hot Club. Brian Oake from 89.3 The Current will be the emcee for the day. NE Tattoo will be on site in case you want some ink.

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Fair State will be hosting another Art-A-Whirl event but this time it will run both Friday and Saturday. The highlight will be Frankie Lee who takes the stage on Saturday, May 21st at 9 pm.

612Brew will have also have music both Friday and Saturday with a lineup that features Hapduzn and Sara Streitz on Friday. Saturday Nooky Jones and The Satellites will perform while Outlaw Grill and Market BBQ will be cooking up a storm.

Also, be sure to visit the many studios and support local art. After all, that’s what Art-A-Whirl is all about.

Cheers!

Fair State Debuting First Batch in a New Series of Sours

Bricoleur #1

Bricoleur: One who engages in bricolage.

The folks over at Fair State Brewing are getting themselves into a great number of experiments over at their space on Central Avenue in Northeast. The latest, a series of sours that include Saccharomyces, Lactobacillus, and Brettanomyces in the same stainless steel kettle. The naming convention will be the same with a separate batch number attached to each release. Each batch will have a similar pH level with the goal being to see just how American hops interact with the yeast and bacteria.
Batch number one was kettle soured initially with Brett being introduced during secondary fermentation. Niko Tonks who heads up the brewing operations seems excited to be releasing batch number one. “This was sitting for about 7 weeks before bottling. These beers will never see oak [never spend time in wooden barrels]. We want to let the Brett chew on all of those sugars.”
The beer smacks you in the mouth with bursts of pineapple and other tropical fruits and finishes very dry. Caleb Levar is the assistant brewer and he explains that a lot of the tropical flavors come from the Brett and how it works with the hops in the brew, especially the Nelson Sauvin variety. “I’m quite enamored with this beer” he says.
Where can you find this? Well, it will be on draft at the taproom and limited at other locations, but will also be available in bottles at the taproom ($15 each and no limit) beginning at 4:00 pm this Thursday, January 28th. They filled 1,550 bottles in total and whatever doesn’t sell at the taproom will be distributed to liquor stores. “We’re really happy to be pushing this stuff out to liquor stores” says Tonks. Niko also mentioned that they will be pouring this one at Winterfest which is coming up on February 26th and 27th.
You’ll probably want to grab one to enjoy now and one to save for later. “I’m always a proponent of drinking these beers right away, but this one will change over time” says Levar.
Bricoleur #1
18 IBUs
5.3 % ABV
3.65 pH
Hops used: Citra, Equinox, and Nelson Sauvin

Cheers!

First Look: Dangerous Man Brewing Co.

If you fear variety, beware of the danger lurking at 1300 2nd Street NE on January 25th when Dangerous Man Brewing Co. opens its doors to the thirsty residents of NE Minneapolis. The plethora of recent brewery openings promises variety in the beer scene, but Dangerous Man will be a place where patrons can always experience the new and exciting without ever leaving their barstool.