Category: breweries

Winterfest 2013

By on February 5, 2013in breweries, brewpubs
The very dapper Lift Bridge Brewing Co.

The very dapper Lift Bridge Brewing Co.

In a flurry of snow and icy temps Winterfest 2013 has come and gone. The Minnesota History Center played host to the annual festival put on by the MN Craft Brewer’s Guild on Friday February 1st in St. Paul. This event, while potentially prohibitive in cost for some, offered an intimate setting to sample craft brews from 38 of Minnesota’s great breweries.  This year showcased the staples of the MN breweries, and also welcomed a slew of new breweries.

Borealis Fermentery

Borealis Fermentery

As there were only 750 tickets sold, attendants were given the opportunity to talk with the brewers about their craft while sampling some tasty offerings without having to wait in lengthy lines.

Harriet Brewing

Harriet Brewing Co.

It would be impractical to list all the great beers that were sampled, but some definitely stood out.  A smashing availability of winter seasonals were on display but that wasn’t the only thing on tap.  A few personal favorites were Bemidji Brewing Co’s Sour Red, Fitger’s barrel aged Edmund Bourbon Imperial Stout, Fulton’s Double IPA, Lift Bridge’s Silhouette, Borealis’ Homdinger and of course all the new breweries representing Nordeast Minneapolis.

The Snowshoe for Best of the Fest was again awarded for to Barley John’s Brew Pub for best beer as well as best brewery as voted by the crowd. Congratulations for consecutive years with the Snowshoe!

Thank you to the MN Craft Brewer’s Guild for putting on an impressive festival once again!  I’m sure many of the attendants woke up today thankful this only happens once a season.

Surly Brewing Co.

Surly Brewing Co.

Pour Decisions Stonky Wonky

By on February 1, 2013in breweries
Pour Decisions Brewing Company Stonky Wonky Stout

Pour Decisions Brewing Company Stonky Wonky StoutPour Decisions latest is Stonky Wonky, a “Southwarkian Imperial Brown Export Stout.” Rather then tryt o describe it, we’ll let them do so:

Back from the dead, the beast of all beasties. The ORIGINAL Russian stout. Announcing, for the first time in the US, THE Imperial Brown Export Stout. IBSt Export. The granddaddy of all Russian stouts. Thrale brewed this baby for Catherine the Great. Thrale’s was bought by Barclay Perkins and they made their Russian Stout world famous. Our take, Stonky Wonky, has a smidge over 10% abv with 10 pounds of hops per barrel making this a powerful delicious thing. Espresso, cocoa, dark dried fruits and deeply toasted bread. Dark chocolate truffles and rum raisins. A smooth, rich, elegant velvety depth-charge of a drink.

Look for it tonight at Winterfest or starting tomorrow in their taproom. Enjoy!

Boom Island LoMoMOpalooza

By on February 1, 2013in bars/restaurants, beer events, breweries
Boom Island Brewing Company logo

Boom Island Brewing Company logoWithout further ado, LoMoMOpalooza is the name of Boom Island’s new beer (here’s our previous post) brewed in support of the Minnesota Orchestra Musicians. LoMoMO stands for Locked out Musicians of Minnesota Orchestra. The beer’s style lies somewhere between that of a Belgian Farmhouse and Biere de Garde with a touch of hop spice, 6%ABV. 10% of each keg sold and $1 from each bottle sold will be going to producing music for our community.

Boom Island will be tapping the new beer tonight at the WinterFest, then later at Zelo in downtown Minneapolis after Minnesota Orchestra’s concert. It will be available in the 750ml bottles later this month.

Surly Overrated

By on February 1, 2013in breweries
Surly Overrated West Coast Style IPA
Surly Overrated West Coast Style IPA

Click for a larger view.

Beerpulse uncovered can artwork for a new Surly “West-Coast IPA” dubbed Overrated on Thursday. The artwork, and name for that matter, remind us a bit of Bandwagon, Surly’s draft-only beer served (mostly) exclusively at Target Field for Twins games. Officially, the brewery isn’t ready to comment on the beer, though when asked if the beer was Bandwagon Surly brewmaster Todd Haug said (via Twitter) “they are both ‘Am. IPA’s’ so I can only assume that people might think they are similar. New hop variety for us so we’re stoked!” More details, release info, etc., etc. to come. For now, some art and verbiage. After seeing Surly detractors on this site for years using the term “Surly fanboys,” it’s nice to see them spit it right back at them. Cheers!

It’s been said, “It’s easier to brew an extremely hoppy beer than an extremely balanced beer.” And you know us, we are always looking for the easy way out, so we jumped on the West Coast IPA Bandwagon and brewed this dry and hoppy ale. “Surly’s a little bit of a one-trick pony, they just brew gimmick beers,” and maybe we are OVERRATED, but at the end of the day, it’s just a beer. If you like it, great, so do we. If you only liked us when we were small, then leave this one on the shelf. Let one of the fanboys grab it.

Great Twin Ports Taste Together with Dropkick Murphys

By on January 30, 2013in beer events, breweries, brewpubs

We sort of missed the boat this year on this festival. By “sort of” I mean that it looks as if the regular tickets are all sold out, but there are still some hotel package options available as I write this, so without further ado…

Killer beer and an awesome band? Check! The Great Twin Ports Taste Together features four hours of great local and national breweries and wineries from the Duluth Superior area and beyond. Brewfest tickets also include free access to a concert by The Dropkick Murphys. Win-win. Music starts at 8:30pm.

More details here.