Category: breweries

Beer Can Appreciation Tonight at Grumpy’s NE

By on January 24, 2011in bars/restaurants, breweries

On January 24th, 1935, the first can of beer was sold. Hence, a bit of a celebration is taking place at Grumpy’s NE tonight.

This event is intended to bring all of us together who brew, and the rest of the beer community to all raise a pint to our beloved canned beers, help spread comradery in the craft world, as well as raise awareness to the awesomeness that is, craft beer in a can. Special appearances by 21st Amendment, Surly, Dave’s Brew Farm, and more!

This event is sponsored by The Beer Dabbler, The Onion, Tallgrass, and every brewer that rocks the can of beer…cheers!

…and a little Tallgrass trivia…Rob from Tallgrass mentioned that they recently purchased six of Summit’s old 60bbl tanks and started using them about a week ago. Add in the fact that the folks from Surly helped them acquire their canning line and I’d say we have a regular Minnesota connection!

Hear Ye, Hear Ye! Brau’s New Oatmeal Milk Stout Coming Soon!

By on January 20, 2011in breweries

From the inestimable brewing talent in Lucan, MN (Brau Bros.), comes the following news:

Hey Everyone,

New year, new beer!

In the next few weeks we’ll be releasing MooJoos Oatmeal Milk Stout. MooJoos blends the silky smooth characteristics of an Oatmeal Stout with the sweet, round body of a Milk Stout.

Many pilot batches were brewed before we settled on a final recipe. The malt bill is extremely deep, which helps to build complexity in the beer. Milk chocolate and coffee are evident, however you will also find cedar, toffee, anise, smoke, and a fruitiness derived from a classic British yeast.

A large percentage of oats is utilized, both toasted and flaked. In the boil kettle, pure milk lactose (from local, Minnesota dairy farms!) is added which will leave the beer sweet, creamy, and big-bodied.

Of course, as with all of our beers, we try whenever possible to use locally grown, raised, processed, and sold, ingredients. We still have some estate barley that is blended in, as well as a few hops from last year’s crop. We’ve used most, and we’re looking forward to expanding our estate production.

MooJoos will be available in bottles and on draft, make sure to ask for it at your favorite pub, restaurant, or retailer. The release will be soft, and we’re hoping for early February. I’ll make sure to check back with a ship date.

Dustin

St Cloud Craft Beer Expo Saturday

By on January 19, 2011in breweries, brewpubs

Helllllllllllooooooo St. Cloud! Are you ready to raaaawwwwwkkkkk?!?!?!??!

…um. Yeah.

So the St. Cloud Craft Beer Expo is Saturday… I think you should go. If the St. Paul Summer Beer Fest is any indicator, this event should compliment the flurry of local beer fests. St. Cloud is certainly ready for it… Personally, I look back to some great times in college, enjoying many craft brews for the first time & exploring the beers at Westside Liquor, drinking O’Hara’s samplers and trying new brews at the original (and at the time, only) Granite City.

See you there?

Granite City… in Bottles…

By on January 12, 2011in breweries

I almost missed this little tidbit from their most recent newsletter, but apparently Granite City will be bottling & distributing their beer, “Get ready to enjoy Granite City Food & Brewery’s smooth Northern Light Lager, medium bodied Brother Benedict’s Bock and Duke of Wellington IPA all in 12 ounce bottles! . . .local liquor or grocery stores and buy the great taste of GCFB’s handcrafted brews in six packs.”

New Brewery in Stillwater

By on January 12, 2011in breweries

…no, not Lift Bridge… According to an article in the Stillwater Gazette, Stillwater Brewery is set to open sometime this month. Interesting. Though its unlikely that the article was written by a beer expert, a few lines left me wanting to learn more…

Stillwater Brewery will be using KeyKegs, which are dubbed by producers as the “sell and forget” keg.

“We have no waste from transferring the beer from tank to tank; instead the tank itself changes on the inside to meet the needs of our brewing process…”

Producing 10 barrels of beer at a time, with a six-day turnover cycle…