Twin Cities Beer: New and Old

Since we moved out of the Twin Cities nearly three years ago the craft beer scene has really been picking up. New breweries are opening at a pace that would be astonishing if not for the fact that the pace is as rapid if not faster in Portland. In addition, "The Surly Bill" was passed which will allow Surly Brewing to build their destination brewery as well as making the laws more favorable in general for breweries.

Thanks to some great friends I've been able to try some beers from the new places that have opened but that's nothing compared to actually visiting the breweries. While I didn't have enough time to make it around to all the new places my lovely "tour guides" Kat and Scott took me to two of their favorites (after putting down a good jiffy burger base at The Blue Door Pub St. Paul).

The interior of Dangerous Man has an industrial bent.

The first stop was Dangerous Man Brewing located in the heart of Northeast Minneapolis. Dangerous Man doesn't bottle any of their beer and due to recent demand they're limiting growler sales to a mere 10 per day, one per person. The place was packed when we arrived post-lunch although we were able to get our beer fairly quickly. Of the five beers on tap I was only uninterested in one - German Kolsch - simply because I'm not a great fan of the style. The three of us shared "short pours" (10 oz) of the other four - Double IPA, Matchbox Coffee Porter, Chocolate Milk Stout and El Dorado Rye.

L to R: Double IPA, Coffee Porter, Milk Stout & Rye

I'd heard great things about the Chocolate Milk Stout, most notably that it was adult chocolate milk, and it lived up to the billing 100%. The porter surprised me with the depth of flavor and just the right amount of coffee and the rye, while being one of the most rye-forward beers I've had, was very enjoyable. The Double IPA was a bit much on the booze profile for me but still an enjoyable and well-made beer.



Indeed's taproom uses more classic touches.

Next we headed over to Indeed Brewing which Kat had described it as the most Portland-esque taproom in the Twin Cities. She was right. Just the feel of Indeed was more to my liking with the classic wood bar, exposed brick wall and shuffleboard table. Indeed does bottle some of their beers and I had been lucky enough to try a bottle of their flagship Day Tripper American Pale Ale earlier this year.

Pretzels and Hot Box

They had that on tap along with three others that we shared - Midnight Ryder American Black Ale, Hot Box Imperial Smoked Pepper Porter and Burr Grinder Beer Coffee Ale. The Coffee Ale didn't do much for me and the Hot Box was heavy on the smoke but the Midnight Ryder was very good. I had commented earlier in the day that I prefer smoked beers with food instead of on their own so Kat grabbed a bag of Sully's Sweet & Heat Pretzels from the food truck parked outside. They increased my enjoyment of Hot Box considerably and even improved the Coffee Ale.

After that it was time to head to a couple of old favorites, places that a trip back wouldn't be complete without - Town Hall Brewery and Great Waters. Town Hall's weekly Pint Club from 4 - 5 pm Saturdays brought in many familiar faces and I got my French fry fix (theirs are the best on the planet hands down). The stop at Great Waters was a bit unplanned, I'd been hoping to take in Sunday Mug Club there, but due to the "holiday" they would be closed. Still I got to see a favorite bartender, Chuck, and enjoy a pint of St. Peter Pale Ale.

It was a great day of drinking new and old in Minnesota; one I would have liked to make two-day adventure. However due to lovely Minnesota laws, taprooms are not allowed to be open on Sundays (oh, and neither are liquor stores...the only place one can buy beer) so whatever beer I'll enjoy for the remainder of my time will be at a bar (which are allowed to be open) or from a friend's cellar.

A Return to The Tundra

I finally understand what all my non-Upper Midwest residing friends and family have been trying to convey for 30+ years. After moving to Portland a mere six months ago, my return to the tundra convinced me that the people who live there are crazy. Certifiably crazy.

When we left in June Minnesota was nearly as green and lush as Portland. When I returned there was snow on the ground and temps were in the 20’s. For the first time I was seeing the stark contrast that visitors had been seeing instead of the gradual change in landscape and climate I was familiar with. That was only the start as Mother Nature let loose, dropping 1 ½ feet of snow on the metro and holding Sunday and Monday’s high temps in the negative single digits. Reminding myself not to let the weather get in the way, I mostly kept to my preset plans to visit my favorite watering holes.

Before things got nasty I budged my way in on the Friday night Surly tour. Starting with a warm welcome by Omar, followed by my fill of Coffee Bender, and an evening with fellow volunteers, it made for a great night. The cherry on top was through the generosity of Keith and Omar, I’d be able to take some of that Surly goodness back to Portland.

Saturday Kat and Scott got into the spirit of things with me and agreed to get the Suburu out to make our way to pint club at Town Hall. Yes, there were multiple warnings that if one didn’t have to go anywhere it would be better to stay put. We cast those warnings aside, planned a non-highway, most-likely-to-be-plowed route, and hit the road. The longer than usual drive was amusing to say the least and the reward of being back at Town Hall was worth the hassle the snow provided. Sitting at “our” table, drinking tasty pints brought by one of my favorite servers, and watching the entertainment provided by drivers, skiers, and cyclists, made me pine for this now lost part of my weekly routine.

Sunday the snow had stopped, the cold had descended, and sun shown brightly on the snow. We bundled up and made an easier drive to Great Waters for pint club. Although many friends were digging out once again after the winds had erased their efforts, I was thrilled with the ones that were able to come out and share some beer with me.

You might now be wondering where more details about the beer I drank are at. They aren’t here. The beer was great and I thoroughly enjoyed every pint, but it’s my “beer friends”, my wonderful friends that I miss most. Thank you to everyone! You made braving the snow and cold more than worth it.

Great Weather = Patio Drinking

It occurred to me this morning that every day of this past weekend I was enjoying great beer out on one patio or another.

Friday night it was Great Waters, where I got to try out their new Opening Day IPA which rivals another recent addition, Glacier Pale Ale. Both have great hop flavor and at about 5% each make for pretty good session beers.

Saturday afternoon, no surprise, it was Town Hall. But what was a surprise was seeing Festivus back on tap! That’s right, someone must have stashed a keg of Festivus for the rest of us in a corner somewhere and forgotten about it. Not that I’m complaining, I’ll happily drink this more wintery brew while those around me are delighting in a hefe or some other warm weather beer.

Sunday was even nicer than Saturday and this time the patio of choice was Stub & Herb’s. Very quiet when we arrived in the early afternoon, we took advantage of the sun, warmth, great tap list, and happy hour pricing. The beer went down easy, including one I ordered but didn’t think I’d like very much, Great Divide Hoss Rye Lager.

Hopefully you found the time to do some patio drinking yourself. Gotta take advantage of it when you can. You know, before it decides to rain for days on end, sky rocket into the 90’s or remind us exactly where we live with one last taste of white flakes.

A (Long) Weekend in Beers

As you can see from my last post, my Labor Day weekend started off with a half day of work Friday and lunch over at the Blue Door. I've been even more of a fan of Founders since we visited them in Grand Rapids and their Red Rye was exactly what I was craving that afternoon so didn’t venture into some of the other great stuff they had on tap.

That night we headed over to the Blue Nile for Al’s Battle of the Belg, Part I. I freely admit that Belgians are not my beers of choice and had anyone, really anyone else been having this event I probably wouldn’t have gone. But Al always does such a great job with his special events for us beer geeks that I couldn’t not go.

Between Mag and I going the (3) 4-oz for $8 route we made it through nearly everything. This is where I am happy to report that I had a lot of great beers! This would be no news to anyone who enjoys Belgians but it was a revelation for me. I went into the evening with the same mindset that I do at beer festivals and that is, “well, I might as well try it now and if I don’t like it, no big deal but there are few chances to taste things I would avoid if I had to order a full pint of it.” My descriptions aren’t very good but my clear favorite of the night was Ommegang Rouge. Ommegang, you need to bottle this ambrosia!

Saturday I was mostly on my own as Mag was out at the Ren Fest doing judging for the homebrewers. I had intended to make it up to Town Hall for pint club but the day got away from me. In the end I did make it up there, but first made a return visit to the Blue Nile with Kat and Scott for, yep, you guessed it, more Rouge. While there wasn’t anything that really caught my eye at Town Hall I knew I couldn’t go wrong with more of their Traditional.

Sunday was the day we had picked to hit the Ren Fest this year and while you can’t expect super beers out there we were hoping for some Flat Earth. Turns out as they were pouring the first one we ordered the keg blew. After making the full rounds and determining none of the other stands had any either, I made do with Schell’s (Oktoberfest, Pale and Stout) as well as a couple glasses of mead. My long weekend was very much enjoyed, beerwise and otherwise…hope yours was, too!

Not one new beer

As the weekend winds down it occurs to me that although I enjoyed plenty of good beer this weekend, not one beer that graced my lips was something I hadn’t had before. Now I’m sure that this has happened previously, but for as much as we enjoy trying out new beers this seems like it must be a rare occurrence.

Friday night was a good time serving up Surly beers during their tour (of course taking it upon myself to verify the quality from time to time), followed by a couple of beers at Great Waters with Kat & Scott. Saturday at Town Hall I stuck with their tasty Apricot Wheat, even passing on the opportunity to taste their Belgian Saison and Ol’ Jackfrost. During the game night we hosted that evening all the beers I had were from the beer fridge. And today, returning to Great Waters, I continued my re-exploration of their standards – Stout, House and Brown (many thanks to Lori for reminding me about the stout last Sunday and Kat for knowing that’s what I wanted to drink on Friday).

While it’s fun to try new beers it’s been a mighty enjoyable weekend filling my glass with tried and true thumbs up beers. Besides, with the exception of a Guiness Extra Stout Saturday night, all of ‘em were local. Local and good.

Chili and beer

They go together like milk and cookies. They go together even better when the beer is on the house.

Sunday I had the opportunity to be one of the 12 judges for Town Hall’s Chili Cook Off and it was a blast. Scott was the only one I really knew but there were a few others I’ve seen before and the whole panel of judges seemed to have a great time. None of us were doing it just for the free beer but it was a nice perk.

There were 21 chilies entered but thankfully we didn’t have to try all of them; that would have been a lot of chili! As it was, each team of 3 judges sampled 5 entries in the first round and advanced their agreed upon top 2 to the semi-finals. There we each tried the additional 6 chilies the other judging groups had chosen.

The cream of the crop was evident so it really just came down to which chili would take the top spot. That honor ended up going to Pete, but since he wasn’t in contention for a prize, second place got the $200 gift certificate. I’m not sure who took home the people’s choice award as I had to leave before the chilies were even opened up to the public for a vote to get ready for a Superbowl party. I'll have to check that out the next time I'm up there.

Autumn Brew Review

The best beer festival within a three hour drive has come and gone but not without a great afternoon spent with a ton of friends drinking some really great beers. I don’t think I’ve ever been somewhere, except for during Town Hall pint club, where I’ve run into so many people I know which was really fun. Usually at these things once we’re inside the gate Mag and I part ways, knowing we’ll run into one another sooner or later. On Saturday, I think hardly 5 minutes went by between my departure from some group or another to get my glass refilled before I’d run into someone else.

For the first time I also went with a fairly well laid out plan. I had down the first place I wanted to go (the Surly tent to see if the VIPs had left any of the Oak Aged Cranberry Cynic), as well as the next four, and an additional 12 more I didn’t want to leave without trying. All in all, I did pretty well even though I had to wait to try Avery’s Brett Gueze (way too much gueze for me) and I missed three others.

Besides just drinking Mag and I also helped Ryan out with the MNBeer mystery tasting game. While it did mean I might have missed out on some drinking it was a great time and once things got going people seemed to really enjoy it. Lots of people gave the wrong answers but all were good sports and honestly, I’m not sure I would have done much better than the average person. The biggest challenge was trying to remember which beer I’d given to which player and that’s while I was pretty much sober and limiting myself to two players at a time. I knew there was a reason I’ve never been a waitress!

There were way too many beers to evaluate them all but my top three probably were Barley John’s Wedding Ale, Town Hall’s Fresh Hop and Flat Earth’s Rode Haring. There were some disappointments, too, but there’s no reason to dwell on those. Everyone will make something now and then that won’t be up my alley but overall I had nothing but a great experience. Oh, and Barley John's and Lift Bridge had some REALLY cute long sleeved girl shirts, both of which I intend to pick up very soon.

Are we winners or losers?

And does it really matter if we look that happy? I suppose in the world we live in the answer is yes, it does matter if we are winners or losers. Keep reading to find out…

Yesterday the four of us, also know as “Happy For Coming” played in Town Hall’s bocce ball tournament. For all of our enthusiasm, unfortunately the bocce gods once again did not shine their favor on us. We had a great time playing and did a pretty good job holding our own but in the end we didn’t make it to the playoffs. I suppose that’s not all bad considering our (my) ability to pull off two days of full on drinking in a row.

It looked like everyone else involved in the tournament was having a pretty good time as well so I hope this is something Town Hall continues to do. I’ll be interested to hear who wins the tournament and I’m really, really hoping it isn’t the Paisanos and I’d be doubly happy if it wasn’t Corner Bar. Not to be a sore loser but as far as I’m concerned both teams didn’t exactly play a fair game. Enough said (unless you really want the details and then I’m happy to rant a little).

Town Hall Thursday

Last night Mag and I went to Town Hall for dinner and of course, a few beers. I had been eager to go and have their Milk Porter before the rest of the locals drank it all. Since Mag ordered first, the porter and I didn’t want to look like a copy cat, I chose the 1800 English IPA. The cascade on the porter was amazing, almost mesmerizing! The flavor lived up to my hopes with the wonderful smooth mouth feel the “milks” typically have. However tonight I guess I just wasn’t in the mood for the smoothness of the porter and instead preferred the 1800 by far. I vaguely recall drinking it last year but there have been a lot of beers consumed between now and then so I had forgotten just how nice it was.

Reluctantly my next pint (goblet actually) was the Mango Mama. I say reluctantly because I was so enjoying the 1800 but knowing how quickly the seasonals rotate at Town Hall I suspected that even if I went back over the weekend there was a good chance this brew may be gone by then. I was sure as I had been with the 1800 that I’d had some the last time they brewed it. And sure enough, that first taste confirmed it was still a winner in my book and although the 1800 won out at that sitting I wasn’t disappointed ordering the mango.

With the Milk Porter having whetted my thirst for milk, I can’t wait for the Dark Chocolate Milk Porter and the Lingonberry Milk Porter!

Too Much Beer vs. Too Little Beer

I've had a chance now to try out both Barley John's double IPA and Town Hall's double IPA. And, aside from a double dose of heartburn, found both really enjoyable. I think I enjoyed Town Hall's more, but it's a close one. Town Hall's aroma was slighthly more...hm, enjoyable I guess and, to me, that's a huge part of my beer experiences. Also, I think I could enjoy a couple of their double IPA's without palate burn-out. In any event, I highly recommend both.

So, now we go from a beer-filled last couple of days in the Twin Cities to possibly a beer-sparse couple of days in Dallas. It's not exactly a good-beer wasteland, but good beer is a little harder for us to find at Grammama's house. That's okay, I guess, since I'm sure we'll be make up our carb shortfall from a lack of beer by eating a few pounds of potatoes and bread a day. Gotta keep my playing weight up, you know.

2 in 1 night...we're party animals!

Last night Mag and I decided to head to Buster’s, under the guise of taking advantage of their beer special of the week- Bell’s Brown for $3 per pint. It is a mighty fine, easy drinking brown that went very well with the onion rings and Spanish Italian pizza. Mag tried to get a final glass of Surlyfest but they had just run the keg dry so it was Fat Tire for him. Surprisingly it was served in a 22 oz bomber. While Surlyfest fans may be sad to see it go, I was thrilled because to replace it Buster’s put a keg of Furious on. Go hops!! With our hunger sated and our thirst momentarily quenched we continued north to Town Hall. This was our first, but probably not last, visit for their Anniversary Week. I’ll be honest that I don’t remember what Mag had- maybe an Anniversary Ale, but I was impressed with both the Petunia’s Pumpkin Ale and the Belgian Raspberry Brown. I’ve been enjoying Buffalo Bill’s Pumpkin Ale for the last couple of weeks at home but Petunia’s is even better. The pumpkin flavor is deeper and the spices a bit more pronounced but still very smooth. While Steve tried to steer me away from the Raspberry Brown I took a chance and found it very much to my liking. We’ll probably be back on Saturday to pick up our newly purchased Pint Club cards and of course pick up our free growlers.

Town Hall brews...mmmmmmm

Town Hall makes great beer. Really. And no, I didn’t just realize this, I’m just restating what we’ve come to take for granted. Last night for pre-dinner club drinks we braved the tornado sirens and hail, ducking into Town Hall just as it really started coming down. Surprisingly for me my first beer was their Smoked Hefe. Normally I steer pretty clear of hefes although I’m always willing to try a sip of whoever has some. This time between the intrigue of a smoked beer and Scott’s glowing recommendation I startled myself and ordered it. I couldn’t have been more pleased with this beer. The smokiness was subtle enough to avoid being overwhelming while at the same time provided enough of a cover to the wheatiness to produce a very drinkable beer. Another interesting looking beer on their menu was MN Harvest. This was described as a lighter beer made with maple syrup and wild rice. Gene graciously offered to let me try some of his and although I don’t think I would have enjoyed a full pint of it, it was certainly worth trying. It was lighter than I was in the mood for but had a very pleasant, nutty finish. Next up was their cask IPA. I’m a sucker for cask beers in general and can say I’ve never had one I didn’t enjoy. This was no exception and I thoroughly enjoyed all the hops it had to offer. Before heading off to dinner at Kafe 421 I decided that with the great impression the Smoked Hefe had made on me that Mag would probably enjoy it as well and exchanged my empty growler for one of the hefe.

Our Balls Were Slippery and Cold Yesterday

I must have bitched too much about the heat the the Great Taste of the Midwest. The beer gods saw fit to make Saturday's bocce tourney at Town Hall a chilly and wet one. But man was it fun. I can't wait to do it again. Makes me want to rethink putting a bocce court in our back-yard. Cleo'll just have to find somewhere else to poop. Kris and I teamed up with Lori and Paul and, despite our team's inexperience w/ bocce, we fared quite well. We didn't out-right beat any teams in getting our 2-1 record because of the time limits imposed, although we did lose our last game to a 15-pt scoring team that pulled out a nice little come-back. Despite our 2-1 record, which we thought was sure to get us to the next level in the tourney, we were passed over due to a relatively low point total in our three games. But hey, at least I got myself a bit lubricated. Of course, I knew that was happening when I found myself doing the whole ride-the-horse-slap-that-ass motion to our opponents after a good toss on my part. Misplaced hubris...gotta love it. Anyway, thanks to Lori and Paul for a fun Saturday. We'll get 'em next year!

Town Hall was serving a raspberry-infused scotch that was damn good. They also had a pale ale special (J Pale) using American Summit hops that was quite good and very, very hoppy as well as a Belgian ale w/ apricot, Ambrosia by name. I also tried Kris' English summer ale on cask. Yeah, one could probably sit around drinking that one all day. Nice session beer. It also had an amazing cascade when poured that you don't really see outside of some stouts. We stuck around long enough for the Double Hefe release. It was certainly big on flavor, although I didn't particularly enjoy it. I also broke down at the end of the day and had a Rodenbach sour. Pucker up, baby!

Man, did I feel like crap at 6 o'clock though...