News & Updates

Town Hall Barrel Aged Week

By on February 16, 2015in Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery
Mike Hoops

Mike Hoops, Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery

Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery’s Barrel-Aged Week begins today with the release of one of my personal favorites, Manhattan Reserve. Last year brewer Mike Hoops described this beer as an homage to a homemade dirty Manhattan. The beer is a Belgian Grand Cru aged on cherries in a Woodford reserve barrel… a little bourbon, a little extra cherry… you get the picture. That being said, I’ll take a Town Hall Grand Cru over sweet vermouth any day.

This year’s offerings include perennial favorites like Czar Jack and Twisted Trace as well as new offerings ranging from an Imperial Wie aged in French oak red wine barrels, to a Belgian Bruin with maple syrup aged in Woodford Reserve barrels. Town Hall will be releasing a beers each day at 5pm – be sure to be prompt as these will go fast! See below for a full schedule.

Mon, Feb 16 at 5pm: Manhattan Reserve
Belgian Grand Cru aged on tart cherries in a Woodford Reserve barrel.Tue, Feb 17 at 5pm: Foolish Angel (New this year!)
Belgian Quad in an Angel’s Envy barrel.

Wed, Feb 18 at 5pm: Buffalo Bock (GABF Bronze 2014)
Weizenbock in a Buffalo Trace barrel.

Thu, Feb 19 at 5pm: Twisted Trace
Twisted Reality Barleywine in a Buffalo Trace barrel.

Fri, Feb 20 at 5pm: Project 3106
Double American Brown Ale with kumquats and chocolate in a Buffalo Trace barrel.

Sat, Feb 21 at 11am: Czar Jack (GABF Gold 2001)
Ol’ Jack Frost Imperial Stout in a Jack Daniels barrel.Sat, Feb 21 at 3pm: THREE NEW BEERS!
Brown Label — A Belgian Bruin with maple syrup in a Woodford Reserve barrel.
The Duke of Wallonia — An Imperial Belgian Wit in a French oak red wine barrel.
Le Baltique — A Baltic Porter in a French oak red wine barrel.

Eat Craft Beer: Brooks High Beer Battered Kickstarter

By on February 6, 2015in Bauhaus Brewlabs, LynLake Brewery

Watch. Laugh. Contribute.

Brooks High Beer Battered has my attention. Their Kickstarter video is nothing short of awesome. Stop what you’re doing and watch it. Now. What do you think?

What’s not to like about beer-battered goodness that begins with a base of Minnesota craft beer? They’ve already secured partnerships with two Minnesota breweries (Bauhaus and LynLake) and their beer-battered walleye looks… excellent. Check them out.

Visit their Kickstarter page here!

Northern Brewer Pumpkin Peach Ale

By on February 4, 2015in homebrew

nbpeachHere’s a thumb to the nose for Budweiser’s silly ad that picks on craft beer.

Northern Brewer has introduced “The  Peach of Resistance Pumpkin Peach Ale” as a homebrew kit. “No suds. No rice. No pretense.”

The recipe is designed to feature faint pumpkin spice character, a malty body and lots of peach in the nose. Do you need to brew this beer? Click here.

Beer Personality:

  • Stands for innovation and experimentation and the ingenuity of the craft brewer
  • An unlikely combination of flavors that works together because its brewed the right way
  • Opposes sameness and conformity in brewing
  • Proudly an Ale, rather than mere “golden suds”

 

#MNCleanPint 2015

By on January 30, 2015in breweries, education

Ladies and gentlemen, fire up your beer glasses and your smartphones and get your hashtags ready! February 1st us upon us and that means you’ll see #MNCleanPint tagged across the social media spectrum.

And what, you ask, is all the fuss about? #MNCleanPint celebrates “beer clean” glassware. Beer clean glassware is free from contaminants, residue and film. You’ll find nice rings of lacing inside your class with “beer clean” glassware.

Petroleum-based cleaner, incorrect chemical dilution and improper washing are the three biggest culprits that lead to that “not so fresh” beer glass. Obviously these contaminants can also lead to off flavors in and aromas in your beer. Mmmm… sanitizer.

It’s hard to believe that I sat down with Joe from JJ Taylor to talk about making #MNCleanPint happen over five years ago, but it’s true. Over the course of those five years, the folks from JJ Taylor have worked with the Cicerone Program, Micromatic, the Better Beer Society, MNBeer.com, Minnesota Beer Activists and A Perfect Pint to help raise awareness and educate beer drinkers about clean glassware.

So empty your glass (You can do that, right?), and show us the lacing on the inside of your glass on your social media platform of choice. Tag your photo with #MNCleanPint, and let us know where you’re throwing down beers. At the end of the month, the establishment with the most mentions will win the title of “Cleanest Pint in Minnesota.”

Prizes? Yessirree! How does this sound… Cicerone training and tests, a $100 bar tab, and a home kegerater kit. Does that work for you? You’ll also have a chance to win glassware and all kinds of other prizes throughout the month.

Get your post on.

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612 Brew Has Nice Cans (And I Have Dumb Puns)

By on January 30, 2015in 612 Brew

612unrated-rye

So have you heard the one about the brewery who named their beer “Rated R” (for rye), only to find that the MPAA wasn’t crazy about it and filed a cease and desist? Indeed (no, not them) it’s true for 612 Brew.

That, however, isn’t what this piece is about. No siree. Instead, let’s talk about some cans. Our friends at 612 Brew are on the verge of releasing some beers in 12 oz. cans with some beautiful artwork from none other than Adam Turman.

We cornered 612 Brew‘s Robert Kasak at the donut shop and begged him for the inside track on canned beer at the brewery. Here’s what he had to say.

Cans?
Yes – we received the canning line 2 weeks ago from Wild Goose in Colorado and the cans last week.

…and when can we get said cans?
You can find 612Brew in cans on shelves stating February 16.

Why cans?
Since we began writing the business plan, cans have always been in the works. We only had a finite amount of money to spend when we started the brewery so we could either focus on building a world class taproom or build a canning line. We opted for the former. We chose cans because we think the packaging is best suited for the lifestyles of us and our beer drinkers. We love drinking cans of beer at the beach, on the golf course or simply at the back yard get together. The light weight packaging and recyclability are great for taking the beers with you up to the cabin, and of course bringing them back home to recycle them. Lastly, in our opinion, cans provide a better package for our beer and the shelf life of the beer. All 612Brew is unfiltered and unpasteurized therefore we need to have our beer in a light free package. Cans are truly the best option for that.

Nice work. We can’t wait to pop one or four of these open!