Here’s a small piece on St. Cloud’s newest brewpub, McCann’s Food and Brew. They open on Friday, though the beer brewed on site won’t be pouring until the brewery is good and legal. I’ll be sure to pay them a visit when it’s ready!
Category: brewpubs
Winterfest Tickets
Tickets for Winterfest go on sale on Monday, December 3rd at 12 Noon. Tickets are $45 and only 550 tickets will be sold. As always, this event will sell out. Tickets willonly be available through Ticketworks.com.
This year, Winterfest will return to Landmark Center (75 West 5th Street – St. Paul) and will take place on Friday, February 8th from 7 – 10pm.
Big beers, here we come!
MPR “A shortage of hops has beer makers and beer drinkers worried”
Read and listen here (or catch it the old-fashioned way at 91.9 FM in the Twin Cities)
Tim Post spoke with Chris Laumb from McCann’s in St. Cloud, Dustin from Brau Brothers and me about the current state of beer, hops and barley prices.
Ryan Anderson, who runs the blog MN Beer, says the increase isn’t likely to keep beer lovers from buying a six-pack of their favorite.
“That’s just something that, as fans and advocates of craft beer, we’re just going to have to absorb and continue to enjoy our beer,” Anderson says.
What beer connoisseurs like Anderson fear is that the shortage of hops and barley could force some small breweries out of business.
In hindsight, I’m not sure I love the sentence that I formulated there and probably would have asked for a do-over, but overall, I think that this is the best piece I’ve seen on the ordeal.
Town Hall vs. Barley John’s…A Newer, Tastier Cold War?
This evening Town Hall released their Piledriver double IPA…we were there. Last Thursday we were at Barley John’s to try out their double IPA. Is there some kind of weird arms race going on between brewpubs or are we just lucky? Next thing you know, we’re going to be forced to sample someone’s triple IPA. What kind of cruel world do we live in where beer lovers are forced to visit their favorite brewpubs frequently to share in the delicious one-upmanship? In any event, I think you’ll find both double IPA’s wonderful, so make an effort to stop in before these two great offerings run out.
More on the hop shortage and barley prices
…from KEYC TV in Mankato (thanks Twincitiesbeerprices.com)
…from KARE-11 (thanks Trav)
…and you can expect a piece from Tim Post on MPR, most likely on Friday. Tim was nice enough to call me and will likely be wading through my thoughts on the whole ordeal, with red pen in hand (or at least I would…) he spoke with brewers as well, and I’m guessing that it’ll be a great piece, with or without my help. 🙂