Category: new beer

Early Summer Beer Preview

By on March 31, 2017in Fair State Brewing, general beer, mnbeer.com, new beer, Steel Toe Brewing, Summit Brewing Co., Surly Brewing Co.

Warm weather is just around the corner and there are plenty of new local beer options hitting store shelves soon. Summit is releasing a Boundary Waters twelve pack while Surly is going year-round with their Xtra Citra release. Steel Toe will be releasing Sommer Vice and Fair State just released their Du Pounde and Pilsner. We tried these out with our thoughts below.

Summit Wit – This is going to be a hit on those 90 degree days. It’s got all the things you look for in the style. Spices, citrus, and those nice bubblegum notes from the Belgian yeast drive this beer. A perfect replacement for that Blue Moon sitting in the back of your fridge. This is part of the Boundary Waters twelve pack.

Summit Hefeweizen – It’s back! This is a well-balanced Hefe with some nice banana and clove notes that aren’t as overpowering as some of the other options out there. Not my favorite example of a Hefeweizen but it’s certainly tasty. This can also be found in the Boundary Waters pack.

Steel Toe Sommer Vice – This is one of my favorite local examples of a Hefeweizen. Big clove and bubblegum flavors in this hazy beer set it apart from some of the others. This will hit the taproom and store shelves in May. My only issue is that I want this in cans. One 22 oz. bomber won’t do the trick. (Notes for this were taken from last year. The recipe will be the same I’m told)

Fair State Du Pounde – Centennial hops give this a nice floral character in the nose and contributes a nice dose of citrus in every sip. This wheat based beer also utilizes a French Saison yeast which provides a slight funk to this one. Fill your cooler with this at your picnic or graduation party and you’ll be the most popular person there.

Surly Xtra Citra – Session beers are still growing in popularity, here and around the country. Xtra Citra is Surly’s version of the style and it doesn’t dissapoint. In fact, this is my favorite local session beer along with Size 4 from Steel Toe. Huge citrus flavor with a light body, and for the low price of $6.99 a four pack this should be in your fridge all summer long. I’m told this will also be available in twelve packs of 12 oz. cans around Memorial Day.

Summit Keller Pils – They say the best way to judge the quality of a brewery is by trying their Pilsner. This is because it’s near impossible to mask any off flavors in this style of beer. Well Summit hit a home run with this offering and I dare you to find a better local option outside of Schell’s. This is easily the best new recipe (debuted last year) from the 30-year-old brewery in St. Paul. Be sure to soak your brats in that cheap domestic stuff and save this for sipping out by the grill. This is available in twelve packs and can also be found in the Boundary Waters pack.

Fair State Pils – A nice, dry Pilsner with earthy aromas and a heavy addition of Hallertau Mittelfruh hops. Not quite on the same level as the Schell’s Pils, but certainly worth a spot in your cooler on a fishing trip. Drink this one as cold as possible.

 

Cheers!

Starkeller Now Open in New Ulm

By on March 5, 2017in August Schell Brewing Co., general beer, grand opening, new beer, tap rooms

It’s finally here. The all sour taproom headed up by Jace Marti (of Schell’s) was given the go ahead from the TTB recently and they’ve opened the doors and are ready to serve (check their social media for hours) their popular Berliner Weiss beers. “This story began in 1919. Prohibition happened, so for 13 years we were making soda” according to Jace. He is of course referring to those beautiful cypress tanks they purchased (and repurposed for the Starkeller) back in 1936 which were much cheaper than their steel counterparts. “We couldn’t afford new equipment after prohibition so we installed wooden tanks instead of steel ones.” The vessels were used at Schell’s from 1936 until 1991, mostly for Deer Brand Lager.

One might ask why they decided to use these cypress tanks from 1936 at the new space. Well there are a couple of reasons. For one, they’re gorgeous, rare, and they add a ton of character to the space. “These are the last 10 tanks like this in the world” says Marti.  Another reason is that the bacteria and brettanomyces being used at the brewery like a tiny bit of oxygen which steel tanks can’t provide on their own. The cypress tanks breathe a little which allows a very small amount of oxygen in without ruining the beer.

Why Berliner Weiss? Schell’s has always made traditional German style lagers but Jace wanted to do something a little bit different. So he went to Berlin to learn about a style of beer they were brewing over there that had roots in other parts of Europe. “The French brought the sour technique that they learned in Belgium over to Berlin” he says.

The second oldest family run brewery in the country is once again changing the way we think about beer. From Belgium to Berlin, and now to New Ulm. Welcome to Sour Country.

 

Cheers!

Got the Winter Blues? Modist Has You Covered

By on February 8, 2017in cooking & food, food pairing, general beer, misc. mn beer, MN, Modist Brewing, new beer, tap rooms

Summer festival season is still months away and the Modist crew wants to fill the void on February 18 from 5 pm until 10 pm with music, food, and beer. They’re partnering with ZZQ Smokehouse and Genius of Fun Promotions for the event which will feature music from Hurricane Harold & Doug Otto, Brothers Band, Black River Review, and Jorgensen Tagg Band.

Tickets will cost $39 and include:

3 pints of beer (see list below)
2 BBQ (pulled pork or chicken) sliders and a side (potato salad or coleslaw)
Live music
Specialty beers
Discounted room rate ($149) at Hewing Hotel

Modist will be serving their flagships TOATS, Smoove, Wasteland, pHresh, and First Call—as well as something from their Deviation Series and several specialty beers. Additional food and beer will be available for purchase at the event.

Cheers!

Fair State Big Bottle Drop Saturday

By on January 27, 2017in Fair State Brewing, new beer

Photo courtesy of Fair State Brewing Cooperative

If you are a fan of sour beer, you may want to sit up and pay attention. It’s Friday. Perhaps you’ve just returned from a long lunch and plan to sit your ass down and argue the finer points of presidential politics in the comment section of your favorite news source. Stop it.

Put down the keyboard TRVMPLVR52 and NOTMYPRZ69. I have something you can agree upon.

On Saturday, January 28th (i.e. “this” Saturday), our friends at Fair State Brewing Cooperative are making three great sour beer available in bottles, including a personal favorite from last year’s Winterfest, Raspberry Roselle. Fair State has been making some amazing sour beer since their inception and these three will no doubt continue in this fine tradition.

The beers:

 

U-Pick – available on draft now

We went berry pickin’ with co-op owners, workers, and friends in August, and 280 pounds of raspberries later, this beer is the result. We added the fresh berries to mature barrel-fermented sour beer and allowed it to re-ferment.

IBU: 23, ABV: 5.5

Bricoleur #4 – available on draft 1.19

The fourth in the popular series, Bric 4 is an 80% stainless fermented mixed culture Saison, 20% barrel-fermented mixed culture sour blend, dry-hopped with Hallertau Blanc. We’ve been working on blending young Brett. beer with mature barrel sour beer. The result is a tart, funky original with a hoppy nose.

IBU: 18. ABV: 4.9

Raspberry Roselle – available on draft 1.26 (Taproom), first off-site tap 1.27 (Republic)

The return of the Minnesota Craft Brewer’s Guild 2016 Winterfest (Friday session) Best Beer-winner. We re-fermented Roselle, our canned hibiscus sour saison, with a whole bunch of raspberries. The result is a fruit-forward, rose-hued beer that’s distinctly juicy and dry.

IBU: 10, ABV: 5.8

New Breweries to Look Forward to in 2017

By on January 22, 2017in breweries, general beer, misc. mn beer, MN, new beer, tap rooms

This is going to be very good year for new breweries here in Minnesota with many set to open this spring. The latest wave of brewery openings have been fairly disappointing but there is reason for optimism this year. Here are a few of the highlights to consider.

Barrel Theory – This highly anticipated brewery is set to open in Lowertown right next to Dark Horse. Brett Splinter and Timmy Johnson both formerly of Surly are looking to introduce some interesting barrel-aged offerings east of the river. Quality beer is going to be the theme here and given their experience, we should be very excited. Expect some very big beers and plenty of barrel-aged sours to come out of this space.

Oakhold Farmhouse Brewery – You know those fantastic sours that have been coming out of Fair State? Yeah, the owners of Oakhold are behind many of those and they are planning to open a farmhouse brewery out of Midway Township near Duluth, Minnesota. Expect some fantastic mixed culture sours along with some traditional farmhouse beers similar to those found over in Belgium or France.

Hoops Brewing – Canal Park has long been a popular tourist spot in one of the most picturesque cities in Minnesota. Soon it will be home to Hoops Brewing, headed up by the man (Dave Hoops) who put Duluth on the beer map while he was with Fitger’s Brewhouse. Now his team will be led by former Fitger’s Brewhouse brewer Melissa Rainville—who I’m told will be tasked with developing many of the recipes for their lineup. Expect a taproom that will welcome anyone including hockey fans, a group that Dave feels very much a part of. They will create a solid lineup of flagship offerings and will proudly feature a barrel-aged program that is certain to please even the most discerning palate.

Star Keller – We’ve been waiting for far too long for this place to open. Jace Marti (from Schell’s Brewing) has been concocting recipes and plans to make more of those fantastic Berliner Weiss beers in the Noble Star collection, as well as a variety of blended mixed culture sours, and even a Flanders Red Style. My biggest concern about the Star Keller is the location. Here’s to hoping that New Ulm embraces having an all sour taproom in town.

Most of these breweries are expecting to open this spring, but I’d expect Oakhold to take a little while longer with a late 2017 opening date.

Cheers!