Category: breweries

Tin Whiskers to Expand

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Very cool. Our friends at Tin Whiskers are celebrating their One Year Anniversary on Saturday, June 6th from 1-6pm.

1-2pm — Brewery Tour w/ Co-Founder Jeff Moriarty
2pm — Watts Wheat Wine Release! Receive a special edition glass w/ purchase while supplies last!
2-3:30pm — Hands-on Lego Robot Mural Build-off
3:30-4:30pm — Brewery Tour w/ Co-founder Jeff Moriarty
3:30-5:30pm — Meet & Greet w/ The Family Place *Donations accepted and $1 of all pints sold will be donated to them, all day!
4-6pm — Complimentary food from Rival House and beer truffles from Legacy Chocolates

Tin Whiskers has also announced that they’ll expand their capacity by over 50% in July. They’ve seen steady growth in their first year. President Jeff Moriarty notes, “We’ve exceeded all of our expectations for our first year.  We plan to replace three 15bbl fermenters with 30bbl tanks in July, increasing our overall production capacity by 60%.” They also plan to replace a set of bay window with glass garage doors and add a larger pilot brewing system to allow for more experimentation.

It’s always fun to watch breweries grow from the ground up. Jeff, Jake and George invited me out to their basement brewery a couple of years ago. I really enjoyed that night and the samples and wished them well. It’s nice to see that in less than two years, they’re up and running and surpassing their expectations. Nice job guys!

 

Opens Friday 5/22 – The Brewer’s Table at Surly Brewing Co.

Tea Egg

Tea Egg at The Brewer’s Table (Photo: DD)

Located in the upper level of the brewery, The Brewer’s Table, Surly’s fine-dining sibling to the Beer Hall & Restaurant, opens this Friday and offers patrons a more ambitious menu and more intimate setting than what is found downstairs.

Creating the fine dining experience at a brewery has been a welcome challenge for both Executive Chef Jorge Guzman and Head Brewer Todd Haug; each of them masters of their craft, now tasked with innovating while also keeping the pairing of food and beer in the back of their minds.

The results of that collaboration are outstanding and belie the modest price point.  Entrees on the menu will be changed regularly and range in price from $10 to $25.  The most intriguing option, in my opinion is the $15 Beer and  Bump, where the diner has no clue what they’re getting other than is is a food paired with a beer.  I’m a sucker for a surprise.

A five-course food and beer pairing can be had for $75. You could combine your own, but you’ll be well-served to leave it to the experts. The pairing of Pentagram with beets & foie gras was an exercise in perfectly contrasting flavors. The tea egg paired with Cynic was a piece of art – a soft-boiled egg, steeped in black tea and a charcoal mixture to give a marbled appearance – and showed just how versatile that stalwart of Surly’s lineup is.

Octopus

Octopus & Chorizo @ The Brewer’s Table (Photo: DD)

While the butter-soft pork jowl is a must-have, I will go out of my way to have the octopus and chorizo again.  Spicy and smoky with a perfect texture one would not expect from a cephalopod, it was perfectly complemented by an Overrated West Coast IPA.

A different experience in different parts of the building – to paraphrase Surly Hospitality Director Linda Haug – is what Surly is offering patrons with their tours, Event Center, Beer Hall & Restaurant, and The Brewer’s Table. With the opening of the latter, the Surly vision is complete and ready to be had.

 

 

 

The Brewer's Table at Surly Brewing

(Photo: DD)

 

The Brewer’s Table

520 Malcolm Ave. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414

Reservations via OpenTable can be made here.

Hours:

Wednesday & Thursday: 5-10 p.m.
Friday & Saturday: 5-11 p.m.

Phone: 763-999-6526
Email: brewers.table@surlybrewing.com

 

 

First Sunday Growler Sales… Sunday… at Montgomery Brewing

montgomerybrewingGreat news from Montgomery, MN. Last night the City of Montgomery passed a provision to allow for Sunday growler sales. The city worked quickly and Montgomery Brewing Co. will be open for the state’s first Sunday growler sales this Sunday, May 24th. Don’t hesitate, though… they have a 3 bbl brewing system and the beer just won’t last.

Congrats to Montgomery Brewing!

Sunday Beer Baby Steps: Sunday Growler Sales

DangerousMan---GrowlerExciting news for craft beer in Minnesota – on Friday, Governor Mark Dayton signed a bill that allows Sunday growler sales at breweries and brewpubs. While it’s not a full-on repeal of bans on Sunday sales, it’s a positive step toward changes to old laws that have been on the books for years – laws that we would never pass today if they didn’t already exist.

Sunday sales of growlers at breweries, brewpubs and taprooms evens out an oddity in Minnesota’s liquor regulations. For quite some time, farm wineries have been able to sell bottles to go on Sundays in Minnesota. I’ve had the pleasure of buying wine at small wineries on Sundays for several years – I think it’s great, but I’ve always thought beer should have been part of that. Now it is! Breweries will still have to obtain municipal licensing, but this is definitely a move in the right direction.

Big Brew Day at Lucid Saturday

bfdFriends, Romans, homebrewers! Lend me your ears… er eyes. On Saturday, our friends at Lucid Brewing Co. will host a Big Brew Day celebration from 8am-5pm. Big Brew Day takes place around the country on the first Saturday in May as a celebration of National Homebrew Day.

Saturday is your chance to celebrate the holiday at Lucid. Whether you’re a seasoned brewer or new to the hobby, you’re invited to the brewery to learn more about brewing, connect with local homebrew clubs, drink Lucid beers and more.

That’s not enough for you? How about a chance to catch Dave Okar and his film, “Crafted to Last?” Gear and prizes from Midwest Supplies? A food truck? Lots of beer nerds?

Lucid’s BFD (Brewer for a Day) will also be announced Saturday. The BFD will join the Lucid brewing team for a day and have their beer on tap at Lucid. The beer will also be entered into the Pro-Am contest at the Great American Beer Festival.

Good times! Don’t miss it!