Author: David

Friday 5ive: Winter’s Coming

By on December 19, 2014in Friday 5ive, general beer, misc. mn beer

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.

Friday 5ive: Karaoke Gone Bad

By on December 12, 2014in Friday 5ive, misc. mn beer

I associate karaoke with this time of year. It’s the holidays – you’re gathering with family and friends but it’s dark, cold and you can only spend so much time with them before you need a break. This is where karaoke at your hometown bar seems like an tinsel-wrapped oasis in the holiday wasteland. So let down your guard and sing like no one’s listening. Beware, though, I’ve made poor choices in the past and here here are five of them.  Avoid these potential pitfalls to when picking your song.

 

The Too Quiet Song: Waylon Jennings – Are You Sure Hank Done it This Way?

Simple, stately and so minimal that as soon as the DJ hits play, a black hole appears and voids the room of all sound and spirit. Congratulations, you’ve killed the vibe.
 
This may be the greatest backdrop in the history of backdrops

 

Too Fast to Keep Up: Busta Rhymes – Gimmie Some More
 
There’s a reason you and I aren’t doing what Busta does.

 

Should’ve Checked the Lyrics First: Led Zeppelin – Hey, Hey, What Can I Do?
 
I got a woman, wanna ball all day

I got a woman, she won’t be true, no no

I got a woman, stay drunk all the time

I said I got a little woman and she won’t be true
 
A song about falling for a prostitute and I sang it with my wife. Insult to injury, in the last few measures (album version) Robert Plant drops the phrase “keep ballin” no less than fifteen times.
 

Packers! (0:54)

 

There is a Mic, You Don’t Need to Yell: Iron Maiden – Run to the Hills
 
I can’t fly a plane or hold a tune…much less scream one. So here I sit in some stage of grief, admitting to myself that I’m not Bruce Dickinson.

 

Impossible Vocals: Queen – Somebody To Love

Unpredictable pacing, a range covering octaves and a significant need for backup singers; songs like this are best left to the icons who made them famous.
 
How good was Freddie Mercury? This good – playing a piano scattered with Heinekens AND singing flawlessly.

 

Tin Whiskers Grand Opening – June 5th

By on June 3, 2014in breweries, general beer, tap rooms

George, Jake, Jeff (courtesy Tin Whiskers Brewing Co.)

After a soft opening in May, Jeff, George and Jake at Tin Whiskers are ready to host a Grand Opening celebration this Thursday June 5th.  Join Saint Paul Mayor Chris Coleman for the ribbon-cutting at 4:00, then take in the sounds of the Brian Boru Irish Pipe Band while you sample some new brews with a chance to win some merchandise.

As Minnesota’s open-source brewery (their recipes and how-to’s are available on their website, twbrewing.com) they’re encouraging interaction and interpretations on their processes, so be a participant and help them kick off of their contribution to downtown Saint Paul.

Tin Whiskers Brewing Co.

125 E 9th St.

St Paul, MN 55101

TW Robot     Taproom Bar

 

 

Now Brewing: Tin Whiskers Brewing Co., Saint Paul

By on April 24, 2014in breweries, general beer, tap rooms

I mean that quite literally, they just started brewing last Friday.

Before then the trio of Jake Johnson, Jeff Moriarty and George Kellerman have been brewing in a state of flux, longing for the day when they wouldn’t have to call Jeff’s basement “home”.

(Note: Jake and George never actually said they lived in Jeff’s basement, but they never said they didn’t, so…)

Electrical engineers by trade and homebrewers by choice, they decided to quit fooling themselves and make a living doing what they truly enjoyed – making and sharing beer.  Their search for a home led them to the Rossmoor Commons in Saint Paul where they could A) take advantage of the same water chemistry they had used to develop their recipes and B) join an already-popular cast of commercial tenants in their building Robert Street, between 9th and 10th, including Sawatdee, Keys Cafe and Black Sheep Coal-Fired Pizza.

It was January, when they secured their spot and after a few months’ hard work they’re almost ready to open. The first beer out of the gate will be a Kölsch to be joined by others, including a sweet stout, an IPA and the most intriguing one to me – a honey-chamomile wheat.  I say that style is begging for a sleepytime-themed name, but that would probably angrily awaken the Celestial Seasonings bear, and we should all know better than to mess with a well-heeled bear that is fiercely protective of its copyrights.

The transformation into brewers has occurred, but it’s easy to see they haven’t lost their engineering roots entirely. Their brand images are laden with circuitry and even their name ‘Tin Whiskers’ refers to an anomaly on a circuit board resulting from a soldering failure that will in turn cause a short circuit…or two.

So the whole business is ready to come to life, even their robot logo, in a sense. The mural as you enter their taproom is complete and robot has now been given a face. It has no name but is not short on personality; everyone seems to find elements of robots they love within its features.

If you’d like to see the building, come by during the Saint Paul Art Crawl this Saturday the 26th from 2:00 to 5:00, The beers aren’t ready yet, but the guys will welcome you with a beer-themed art exhibit and give you a peek at their new space.

Stay tuned for an announcement of their official opening.

Tin Whiskers Brewing Co., 125 E. 9th Street, Ste. 127., St. Paul, MN 55101

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Beer Dabbler Winter Carnival – Recap

By on January 28, 2014in beer events, general beer

Ryan couldn’t go to the Beer Dabbler last Saturday, so I made it my duty to check in on the things he thought he’d miss out on.

Backpack full of cookies

The day turned into a blur.  A cold, mumbling blur.  I will not fault anyone with the event for the cold weather.  It is winter in Minnesota, so prepare for it if you’re going to stand around outside.  Everyone seemed to be dressed and prepared for the conditions – including the dude I sat next to on the bus ride there who wore a backpack full of home-baked cookies.  I didn’t pack snacks, but I was ready.

Turns out I could have done more.  It was damn cold.

Brewers who poured from bottles/cans clearly were feeling fortunate because they seemed to be the only ones able to reliably satisfy the masses.  Excelsior Brewing – pouring from an insulated trailer – was also a hit.  Not everyone’s lines froze, but more often than not we were met with an apologetic shrug and shake of the head from brewers’ booths.  Space heaters, foam insulators and human ingenuity limped many of them along but weren’t enough to save them all from freezing over.

Being resourceful

Being resourceful

I couldn’t sample everyone (who could?) so I tried to stick to new Dabblers and folks I hadn’t met yet.  Hammerheart, with their immense barrel-aging capacity didn’t disappoint with no less than three barrel-aged beers.  Blacklist Brewing out of Duluth was showcasing their collection of Belgians and the guys at Junkyard Brewing in Moorhead had some good beer and seemed to be the ones most genuinely happy to be there.

Any downtime I had was spent trying to clean out my frosty tasting glass or simply huddled next to someone’s fire, trying to warm up.  It was difficult to enjoy, but I managed to do just that.  The day after, though, presented a different challenge entirely.

That’s what Ryan did miss.  And now, the 10 things he thought he’d miss:

1. Beer from newcomers Burning Brothers & Day Block Brewing

Couldn’t find Burning Brothers, which irked me because I pledged to myself I’d check them out for the sake of my GF friends.  I did try Day Block.  I think.  Probably. Did I mention things turned into a blur?

2. The James Page folks & Oskar Blues folks duking it out over who really was the first craft brewery in cans

Oskar Blues clearly flexed their marketing muscle.  I didn’t bother waiting in line.  Given that I already think they’re ubiquitous and they’ve only just entered the market I don’t think they’re going to make it difficult for me to find their beer.

3. Sims

Probably performed.  The stage was so far from the rest of the action (itself very spread out) I had little clue what was going on.  The only thing I recall hearing from the stage was “This is definitely the most Minnesotan thing we’re ever going to do.”

Junkyard Booth

Junkyard Booth

4. Random dudes wearing horse head mask(s)

Surprisingly none!  Wise.  Those things aren’t insulated and are a pain to drink from.  A friend told me.

5. Beer from our friends in the plans of Fargo & Moorhead, Fargo Brewing Co. & Junkyard Brewing

I think Fargo had froze by the time I found them but Junkyard did not.  They, along with Blacklist were my two most memorable, friendly stops.  The cold didn’t seem to phase the folks from Moorhead & Duluth.

Yes, he biked there

Yes, he biked there

6. Freezing dude in kilt.

I fully expected to see this, but did not. Clearly this dude, wherever he was, is not without logic.

7. Winchfest

This actually looked like a blast.  It reminded my co-Dabbler of growing up near Green Bay where their idea of fun was throwing on skis and getting towed behind a Sixties-era Airens snowmobile.

8. NateDogs

ND: “You want the beer mustard?”

Me: “Yeah, in fact, just skip the dog and give me the mustard?”

9. Pelting intoxicated people with snowballs during the World’s Largest Snowball Fight

Did this even happen?  Seriously, I had no clue where it was supposed to go down.  Apparently there was a fee to participate as well?   [Update: It happened. It was free. Sadly they didn’t break the record. Given the cold temperatures, a lack of participation isn’t a surprise. -RA]

10. Having a beer with you. Seriously.

Aww, shucks.  I missed you too.