News & Updates

Fair State Mixed Culture

By on May 16, 2019in Fair State Brewing

We’re about a month out from a very cool event organized by out friends at Fair State, Mixed Culture. if you’ve never experienced Mixed Culture, strap on your beer drinking cap (?) and head to Fair State on Saturday, June 15th for a variety of rare beers from some of Fair State’s favorite breweries, with offerings ranging from sour beers to pale ales, lagers and ciders. We’re told that most of the offerings are not normally available in Minnesota, so you may not want to miss out!

Mixed Culture is broken up into sampling sessions – 1-4pm and 6-9pm. Tickets run $55 and can be purchased here. There are also early access passes available for those of you who want an extra hour to sample. Early access for the first session is sold out, but as I write this, early access to the evening session are still available here for $65.

Tickets include admission, unlimited samples during your session and a sweet Mixed Culture glass.

Minnesota BBQ Co. will be on site all day and selling smoked meats, classic sides, and all the fixings.

Guest Breweries:

Bottle Logic Brewing | Anaheim, CA
⁣⁣Burial Beer Co.⁣ | Raleigh, NC
⁣⁣Earth Rider Brewery⁣ | Superior, MN
Firestone Walker Barrelworks⁣ | Paso Robles, CA
⁣⁣Forest and Main Brewing Company⁣ | Ambler, PA
Fonta Flora Brewery⁣ | Morganton, NC
⁣⁣Forager Brewery ⁣| Rochester, MN
Funk Factory Geuzeria ⁣| Madison, WI
Grimm Artisanal Ales ⁣| NYC
Half Acre Beer Company⁣ | Chicago, IL
Interboro Spirits and Ales⁣ | NYC
Industrial Arts Brewing Company⁣ | Garnerville, NY
Kings County Brewers Collective⁣ | NYC
Live Oak Brewing Company⁣ | Austin, TX
Other Half Brewing Company⁣ | NYC
Surly Brewing Co.⁣ | Minneapolis, MN
Sociable Ciderwerks ⁣| Minneapolis, MN
Threes Brewing ⁣| NYC
Urban Artifact ⁣| Cincinnati, OH

 

Blessing of the Maibock

By on April 29, 2019in Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery

Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery is bring back their oldest tradition this Saturday at 5pm – the Blessing of the Maibock. Reverend Aron Kramer returns yet again to bless the Maibock at Town Hall and usher in spring. This is an awesome event and we think you should go! Bonus: free maibock!

Details

Saturday, May 4, 5 p.m. blessing, following by free maibock until 6 p.m.

Bent Brewstillery’s Cocktail Room Push

By on March 21, 2019in Bent Brewstillery

Our friends at Bent Brewstillery are making a final push to change a law that prohibits them from having a Cocktail Room. Current law prohibits businesses from owning both a Brewer’s Taproom License and a Micro-Distiller’s Cocktail Room License.

According to a recent email, they’ve reached the end of their run at changing the law this year and need as much personal support as they can get before March 24th. If you’re interested in learning more, please take a look at some information on their website: www.bentbrewstillery.com/advocacy/

If you’d like to lend a hand, please contact your state representatives now! Follow this link if you need help contacting your state representatives: www.gis.leg.mn/iMaps/districts/

Be sure to let them know that you support SF158 (Senate) or HF347 (House). Be sure to include your address so that they are aware that you are a constituent!

Winterfest 2019 Preview

By on January 21, 2019in beer events, breweries, brewpubs

It’s that time of year again. Dust off your best outfit and prepare for some of the biggest and most unique beers being made in town. The Union Depot will once again play host to Winterfest, which is the premier beer event and a fantastic showcase of food and beverage featuring only local breweries and restaurants. It’s fitting that the state capital (St. Paul)  is home to the premier Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild event.

The event was held at the Minnesota History Center for years, but the number of breweries has grown exponentially so it moved to the Union Depot a number of years ago. Food has been disappearing from beer festivals over the years to try and keep ticket prices down, but the food at Winterfest is usually very good and worth the bump in ticket prices.
Here are five beers that I’m looking forward to trying at this year’s event:
Ice Cream Social from Barrel Theory Beer Company – This Imperial Stout with strawberry, vanilla, cacao, and marshmallow was aged in Willet bourbon barrels. I don’t suppose this will last very long so you might want to put this near the top of your list.
Brave Woman Scottish Ale from Little Thistle Brewing – Steve Finnie knows his Scottish Ales, and I expect this to be one of my favorite beers at the festival. Named after his great, great grandmother who saved the lives of 15 fishermen in a storm, this beer promises notes of caramel, toffee, and chocolate. It boasts a modest 5% ABV which is always welcome at a festival that features so many heavy beers.
Twelve Parsecs from Junkyard Brewing – Lemonade meets IPA. Flavors of summer are here to save us from this bitter cold weather, and I’m excited to taste and smell those Ekuanot Cryo-Hops that they used at the end of the brewing process.
Munich-Style Dunkel from Steel Toe Brewing – Michael Wagner has been tinkering in the brewery over in St. Louis Park for a couple years now, and the results have been great so far. I’m excited to try out his version of this classic style which is very hard to anywhere these days.
#1225 Cherry Ale from Hoops Brewing – If there’s one thing that Dave and his crew are great at, it’s fruit beers. An unapologetic beer that is supposed to taste like cherry pie, just like your grandmother used to make. Door County cherries are the star of the show and will come through in both the flavor and the aroma.
Cheers!

Updates!

By on January 8, 2019in general beer

Well hello there dear reader… you’re still out there, right? It’s 2019 and if you’ve found your way to this site, there’s a good chance that you’re amped about Minnesota craft beer. We’re right there with you! 11 years ago it was a “challenge” to drink only Minnesota-made beer for the year. Today it’s practically a reality.

In 2019, we plan to keep up our “feverish” schedule of posts. 😉 Right now I’m working on a database to organize the breweries, combining breweries and brewpubs into one listing. For those who care to understand the difference between the two, we promise to add the business model to the database. We’re also planning to bring our brewery map back. …and hopefully keep on top of every brewery opening (and sadly, closing) in Minnesota.

Finally, our hearts go out to Portage Brewing Company in Walker. If you haven’t heard, a fire caused massive damage to their building. Given the time that it takes to build a brewery, one can only guess that they have a long road ahead of them. No doubt there will be options to help support them in the future – if you’d like to get a jump on things, there’s a silent auction and benefit Sunday at Chase on the Lake in Walker.

Be good to each other beer nerds,

Ryan