News & Updates

Fare Well My Firkin Friends

By ryan on June 26, 2015in beer stores

The Four Firkins, May 2008

Seven years ago, a small boutique beer-centered shop opened its doors in a nondescript strip mall in St. Louis Park. The strip is one that you’d probably ignore, filled with a couple of quiet storefronts, an auto shop and martial arts studio, among other things. The Four Firkins made that fairly forgettable location into a tiny craft beer mecca loaded wall-to-wall with great beers, enthusiastic customers and an engaged staff. Their classes and tastings were phenomenal, bring together brewers, reps and cicerones with new and seasoned beer fans. Very quickly, The Four Firkins built up a community around its store and a loyal following. I routinely stopped in while biking home from work, leaving with beer in my messenger bag and a smile from good conversation.

Seven years ago, the craft beer landscape was quite different. Our scene was smaller and a bit more intimate. We put on extra miles to hit some of the better liquor stores in search of great beer. Cellars in Minnetonka was my g0-to for quite some time. I also made the occasional run south of the river to Blue Max or East to hit some of St. Paul’s finest. These places were all great and I met some amazing beer folks through my travels. The Four Firkins, on the other hand, landed squarely in my backyard. They were different, putting focus almost entirely on beer and community. I remember them being so so damn tiny that they cycled through beer like mad. Tastings and classes were a madhouse, and, needless to say – cozy. One one particular evening, I recall dodging corks as Sean popped open saisons for a tasting. We were all friends, and at that point the ‘Firkins had become more than simply a beer store.

The Four Firkins, October 2011

Though I wasn’t in the store nearly enough over the course of the past couple of years thanks to juggling a challenging day job and two kids, I’ll miss The Four Firkins dearly. In the years that have passed since the Four Firkins opened, it’s become much easier to find great craft beer at liquor stores around the metro. The sense of community and connection that the Four Firkins exuded isn’t quite as easy to find.

Rockabilly Street Dance Saturday at Bent Brewstillery

By ryan on June 25, 2015in Bent Brewstillery, charity

The fine folks from Bent Brewstillery and Beerploma are throwing a fun party for charity Saturday at the brewery. Visit Bent Brewstillery for a Rockabilly Street Dance benefitting Folds of Honor Minnesota. They’ll have a DJ playing rockabilly tunes all night long, the Katfish Kittens will be present collecting donations and you’ll find no shortage of Bent Brewstillery beers, food and giveaways.

This event is free, but free-will donations will be collected for Folds of Honor. Folds of Honor is a non-profit organization that provides scholarships to the children and spouses of fallen or disabled soldiers.

Schell’s Starkeller Peach

By ryan on June 17, 2015in August Schell Brewing Co.

Trip Fontaine, ‘The Virgin Suicides” – “Peach schnapps. Babes love it.”

Peach is one of those flavors we sometimes associate with sticky sweet things like wine coolers and the aforementioned schnapps. This, my friends, is not cut from that mold. As described, Starkeller peach is hazy, golden and full of peach aroma. You’ll find no candy-sticky-sweetness here. Instead you’ll probably catch the traditional Berliner Weisse tartness with just a bit of sweetness and… get this… peach. Seek this one out!

“It’s a beauty Clark.” Nice work @schellsbeer.

A photo posted by MNBeer.com (Ryan) (@mnbeer) on Jun 15, 2015 at 4:37pm PDT

Tin Whiskers to Expand

By ryan on June 4, 2015in Tin Whiskers

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.

By David on May 20, 2015in bars/restaurants, breweries, general beer, Surly Brewing Co.

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 & 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.