News & Updates

Barley John’s to Build Brewery in Wisconsin

By on February 4, 2014in breweries

barley_johns_frontNick Halter’s Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal article (Barley John’s Brew Pub plans Wisconsin brewery) rolled across my screen and brought up some truly mixed emotions. Barley John’s hosted one of MNBeer’s early get-togethers and I’ve been drinking their beer and enjoying their excellent food for years. I love those guys and that place. So while it’s awesome to hear that they’re planning to forge ahead with a production brewery, it’s really a bummer that it won’t be in Minnesota.

Barley John’s John Moore has made no bones about the fact that he wants to expand and that he’d go to Wisconsin if we didn’t change our laws in Minnesota. Under current state law, he can’t package and sell his beer to a distributor, retailer or bar. True to his word a Barley John’s production brewery will open in the spring in New Richmond, Wisconsin. The 13000 sq/ft location will include a taproom and an overall capacity of 10000 bbl. According to the article, Moore plans to produce around 7000 bbl in the first year.

“I would rather have done it here, two minutes away, but that’s not the way it is,” Moore said. “The law is not in favor of brewpubs. It’s in favor of breweries.”

…

Barley John’s still won’t be able to distribute beer in Minnesota, but will sell in Wisconsin. Moore said Minnesota residents will be able to buy his beer in border towns.

Brewpubs have been fighting this fight in Minnesota for years. Long before anyone ever thought the Taproom Bill would ever be a reality, legislation to allow brewpubs to distribute was moving along nicely, and may have even been railroaded by the desire to sell pints at the brewery. (To read a little more about unique brewpub legal issues, check out this article by Elliot Ginsburg and Erin Conway.)

In 2006, a fairly politically active Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild was very close to making this happen. Shouldn’t we change things before we lose another brewery and it’s associated employees, taxes & revenue to another state? What happens when Minnesota’s two largest brewpubs reach the cap of 3500 bbl/year?

Folks, let’s not lose another brewery to Wisconsin.

Big Wood Brewery Taproom Opens Friday

By on February 3, 2014in breweries

big wood breweryBig news! (Pun not intended, though timely.) White Bear Lake’s Big Wood Brewery will open their taproom to the public this Friday, February 7th. For their taproom, they tapped into the history of the area and their turn-of-the-century building. According to Big Wood’s Steve Merila, “We wanted to build something unique, something that fit into the existing décor of this historic town and it took a while to accomplish that. I think that we set the record for the longest, most awaited Taproom.” The taproom features a nice array of materials reclaimed from old White Bear Lake buildings, barns and fallen trees. Go check it out Friday!

The Taproom will be open to the public on Thursdays and Fridays from 3 pm to 10 pm and Saturdays from 1 pm to 10 pm. They will sell growlers, beer by the glass and offer tours of the brewery.

 

Chop & Brew #19: NYC Homebrew Tour

By on February 1, 2014in beer education, beer travels, Features, general beer, homebrew, tours, video

In this episode of Chop & Brew, we hit the road from the Twin Cities to New York City for the NYC Homebrew Tour. The C&B crew join beer journalist Joshua M. Bernstein and dozens of beer tourists as they visit three homebrewers and their homebreweries in Brooklyn. Maybe some day soon, we’ll see soemthing like this in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul area? Check out the Official Episode page at Chop & Brew’s website for information on the tour, three homebrew recipes, and C&B merch like t-shirts, stickers and ringtones.

Fitger’s Brewhouse Sochi Series

By on January 30, 2014in brewpubs

SochiSeries_Poster_GenericThe gang at The Brewhouse in Duluth is celebrating the Olympics in their very own way, with a series of beers, art and swag revolving around the theme. And with around twenty Minnesotans headed to Sochi to compete, it seems appropriate! Cheer on your favorite Minnesota curler, xc skier, hockey player, speed skater or biathlete and grab a Brewhouse brew.

For this series, each of their brewers developed their own recipe –  a collaboration of brewer creativity. And to make mirror the Olympic games, they set up a little competition, pitting IPA vs. IPA. One IPA was brewed with 25 different hops from around the world and another was brewed with 25 different kinds of hops from the US. You can just hear the chants now, “U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

These beers will be available starting Monday, February 3rd. Like the Olympics, beers will be poured at different venues. Look for World IPA, Back End Wee Heavy, Slippery Slope Stout, and eventually USA IPA will be at theBrewhouse. You’ll find USA IPA and eventually World IPA at Burrito Union. USA Curling Capital can be found at Redstar. If you want all 7, the Rathskellar in the basement of Tycoons is the place to go—but pace yourself, these are big beers!

Details on the beers, you ask? Here they are:

Back End Wee Heavy (ABV 9%, SRM 22, IBU 28)
Drawing on inspiration from the birthplace of curling, this Scotch Ale will keep you warm on or off the ice. Pours a rich brown color with garnet highlights and offers aromas of roast malt & toffee. Flavors of chocolate paired with a malty sweetness belie a substantial alcohol content. Named after the strategizing & shot-calling mem- bers of a curling team (the third and skip), this Back End may just put you on yours.
Iron Curtain Imperial Red (ABV 8.2%, SRM 27, IBU 80)
“From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent.” Winston Churchill coined this phrase in times of war. As we approach the Winter Olympics in a time of peace, we reflect on a time when The Iron Curtain ruled that landscape. Iron Curtain is a high gravity red ale with caramel-like malt flavors. A Simcoe and Centennial hop regiment balances the alcohol and malt pro- files with notes of citrus and pine. Enjoy!
Performance Enhancing Pils* (ABV 7.5%, SRM 6, IBU 81)
A light and smooth but rich malt character mixes with intense aromas from the noblest of hops. Perfect for warming up by the fire or a long-winded toast to the snow gods; this robust “Überpils” will make any day feel like a powder day.
* Will not actually increase performance.

Slippery Slope (ABV 8.3%, SRM 55, IBU 48)
Dessert on the ski slopes, ya say? This milk stout was brewed with over 120 lbs of coconut and 15 lbs of cacao nibs. Lactose lends a super smooth and full mouthfeel, found in very few styles. Be careful though, having too much of this dessert will leave you slippery on any surface.
USA Curling Capital (ABV 8.7%, SRM 38, IBU 100)
USA Curling Capital is dark in color, packed full of hop flavor and malt character. American and New Zealand hops meet Belgian yeast for a beer with an international flair. Our fair city of Duluth can be considered the curling capital of the US as we are again the home of the US Men’s Curling Team. Enjoy with pride as you cheer on our athletes to victory in the Winter Olympics in Sochi!
The World 25/25 IPA (ABV 7.5%, SRM 10, IBU 110)
The World is part of two batches of beer we made for the Sochi Series honoring the athletes in the upcoming Olympic games. This beer features 25 different hops grown all over the world. Hops from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, U.K., Germany, Austria, and Czech Republic were added to the kettle over 25 hop additions. Every 5 minutess we added 1 pound. We then open fermented this beer with Burton Ale yeast and very aggressively dry hopped. This is simply a hop bomb. Meant to be sipped and to be compared to its counterpart USA 25/25 IPA.
USA 25/25 IPA (ABV 8.5%, SRM 10, IBU 110)
USA is part of two batches of beer we made for the Sochi Series honoring the athletes in the upcoming Olympic games. This beer features 25 different American grown hops added to the kettle over 25 hop additions. Every 5 minutes we added 1 pound. We then fermented with American yeast and very aggressively dry hopped twice during fermentation. This is simply a hop bomb. Meant to be sipped and to be compared to its counterpart The World 25/25 IPA.

Fulton War & Peace Release Saturday

By on January 30, 2014in bars/restaurants, breweries

WarandPeaceI caught a little flack for dissing W. Axl Rose & the song “Patience” with Fulton’s last bottle release. I’ve yet to apologize (I’m more of a “Nighttrain” kind of guy.), but I’ll be much nicer with their latest release, War and Peace. A little secret? I’ve never read Russian author Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace.” I realize it doesn’t redeem me, but I do really like Peace Coffee. Not enough? An unlabeled bottle of Fulton’s Russian Imperial Stout was the first of their offerings to pass my lips before the brewery began producing beer for the public. Good enough?

In any case, the latest Garage Series beer from Fulton, War & Peace will be released this Saturday at their taproom. They’ll be offering 10 oz. pours for $6 and  750ml bottles for $15 each with a limit of two per person. And if you don’t get enough coffee in you from the beer, the fine folks from  Peace Coffee will be there sampling their brews as well.

Look for War & Peace around the Twin Cities on draft and in bottles in the following weeks. You’ll also want to mark February 6th on your calendar as Butcher & the Boar will be tapping one of the first War & Peace kegs, the aforementioned Patience (don’t whistle), and one of a few keds of Libertine aged in special Butcher & the Boar Knob Creek bourbon barrels.