Tastings: May 2013

Despite being left a fried, frazzled husk of a being from my day job the past couple of months, I have actually had the opportunity to try some interesting beers. There’s a bit of something for everyone here.

Last month, my sister, who shall be known only as “Face,” travelled to Boston with her husband. While he had day-long meetings for work, she entertained herself by visiting the sights. One of the highlights for her was taking a beer tour with Boston Brew Tours. This company was started by a home-brewer who was frustrated by how tours of Boston breweries seemed limited to Boston Brewing (Samuel Adams) and Harpoon. While both of those are still considered “craft breweries” due to their limited production compared to the MacroCrap brewers, they are not representative of all, or even the best, brewing that the Boston area has to offer. So for approximately $85, my sister went on a tour of the Sam Adams facility, as well as some micro- and nano-breweries. I was not there, alas, so I will spare you too much second-hand reporting. Suffice it to say that, with regards to Sam Adams, apparently most Bostonians snigger when they hear of the iconic “Boston Lager” because most of the nationally popular beers produced by the Boston Brewing Co. are now actually made in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Outside of Boston, however, is where the brewmasters get to play. That’s where some of the fun and funky stuff is made. Face got to sample “Grumpy Monk,” which was her favorite of that visit. As part of the tour, my sister also got to visit Mead Hall (possibly for lunch) and see the kegs and barrels beneath the bar floor — over 100 craft taps!–and see the instructions on each one from the brewer about how much pressure and what temperature would best serve their beer. Face’s favorite part of

Possibly my favorite brewery logo of all time

the entire tour, however, was going to a remote warehouse district wherein lay Night Shift Brewing. The name stems from the fact that the three founders (all former home-brewers, I believe) started the brewery while still possessing full-time day jobs. At least one of them is now full-time at the brewery, which produces some unique beers. Face loved them all, though she brought back a bottle for me of one she couldn’t drink, the year-round Viva Habanera. (Face seems to possess more of that “Scandahuvian” DNA that prevents one from being able to tolerate even the mildest of spice heat.) I noticed that the batch number, ABV level (6.5%), and bottling date were hand-written on the label. Not printed in hand-writing script, but actually written by a person with a pen. Cool. The beer itself was one of the better pepper beers I’ve had. Habaneros are a truly hot-hot pepper, but they have one of the best flavors, if you can neutralize or reduce the tongue-burning heat. Though this beer, which is a rye ale with agave nectar, does have a kick, it is well-balanced with the rye and subtle sweetness of the agave nectar, allowing the delicious habanero flavor to peek through. I would love to try more of Night Shift’s beers, such as the Trifecta (a Belgian-style pale ale aged on vanilla beans) or the Honeydew (a saison brewed with honeydew melons–yum!), but they do not sell outside of Massachusetts. ::sigh:: Gotta get me to Boston soon.

If you can’t make it to Boston, but you’re interested in a similar brew tour, try GetKnit Events’ North Shore Craft Brewery Tour on June 1. As of writing, there were still 13 seats available. This tour leaves from Roseville, MN, and takes you to Duluth and some points north. For $109, you get round-trip transportation (it’s about 2.5 hours one-way to Duluth from here),

At Tycoon’s Alehouse, one of the stops on the tour

breakfast snacks (coffee and pastries), lunch, dinner, tours of various North Shore breweries with samplings. If I didn’t have a family reunion that same day, I’d be on that bus!

I am always willing to give local microbreweries a second and even a third chance. If you’ ve been following my blog, you’ll know that I have not had kind words for Pour Decisions Brewing in Roseville, Minnesota. Though I appreciate the attempt to expand the offerings of session beers (beers that are below 5% ABV), the beers need to have flavor and not have a watery finish for me to consider them worth drinking. Lately, Ward 6 restaurant in St. Paul’s Eastside has been the site of Pour Decision’s partial redemption. Previously, I tried PD’s Maroon & Bold, an IPA made with Minnesota hops and barley, and a decidedly non-session beer at 7.5% ABV. Though I found it too aggressively hopped for my liking (95 IBUs), I applauded PD’s step into Beers with Flavor. Last weekend, I chanced upon another new PD release at Ward 6: Infidelity, a Burton ale. A Burton ale is described as being something between a strong English mild and a British bitter. Oh, and it is pretty bitter (90 IBUs), but tolerably so — and it’s 7.2% ABV. I probably would not buy it again (I got a free glass with purchase!), but I think the hopheads around here would appreciate it. It was too hoppy for Face, so she ordered Pubstitute, the session Scotch ale which I

Infidelity in a snazzy glass

panned. I took sips of her beverage and found that it has gone up in my estimation. The caramelly flavor which I expect in a Scotch ale now follows through instead of dropping off right after the beer hits your tongue. It’s still light on the palate and lighter on flavor than I like, but Face liked it. I would not hesitate to suggest it for someone who is looking for a lower-alcohol beer. I see that Pour Decisions has a line of interesting ales that are out now or soon to be released, including some sour beers like Ambiguity, a sour smoked wheat. Huzzah! I hope it’s as good as it sounds.

For months now, we have had two bottles of Clown Shoes beer (from Massachusetts) in our cellar and then our fridge. We had been saving them for an occasion when a dark beer-loving friend would come over and share in a tasting with us. Many times Mr. NN reached for one of those bottles, only to have his hand slapped away. “We must do a side by side comparison!” I would cry. Why? Because the bottles were Blaecorn Unidragon, a Russian imperial stout, and Vampire Slayer, an imperial American stout. I wanted to see if there was a discernible difference between the two. With tasting glasses lined up (ones garnered from various beer tasting events and festivals), we cracked them open. My friend Jen, a fellow home-brewer, was the first to put the word on an upfront flavor in the Vampire Slayer: coffee. Mind you, coffee was not added to this beer, but the roastiness of the malt, which is smoked with various types of wood, gave it that appealing coffee-esque bitterness. Bold but reasonably smooth flavor, 11% ABV. By comparison, the Blaecorn Unidragon had slightly less aroma but a punch-you-in-the-face wallop of flavor. Whereas the imperial American stout got its bite from the roasted and smoked malts, this Russian imperial stout got it from “aggressive American hops.” Mr. NN detected something herbally and noted the pronounced

With a little help from my friends…

“heat” (detectable alcohol) and Jen suggested the flavor of licorice. Again, just as with wine tasting when people say they detect or taste tobacco or grass clippings, these ingredients are not actually in the beer (not these beers, at any rate). Though both beers are worthy, the Vampire Slayer got our votes for the better of the two. This experience of a side-by-side comparison was easy and fun to do. I recommend taking two beers of the same or a similar style and running an informal tasting panel of your own.

As this is still Craft Beer Week, not just in Minnesota but around the country, there are many opportunities to sample some excellent local beers. The link will take you to a page with many of the goings-on, but there are actually more events than what is listed there. Check with your favorite beer-related establishment to see if they are running any special events. For example, last night Northbound Smokehouse in Minneapolis was giving away free pint glasses to anyone wearing gear from a Minnesota brewery. Mr. NN and I donned t-shirts from Surly and Town Hall and received pint glasses from Northbound and Bad Weather Brewing, one of the new breweries that opened this spring. (Btw, Bad Weather’s Windvane is a very pleasing red ale.) While at Northbound, we two quality beers: Northbound’s own Rabble-Rouser, a dry-hopped Scotch ale, and Fulton‘s Expat, a rye saison. I’m coming to appreciate both saisons as a summer beer and Fulton Brewing. While I still think the ever-popular Sweet Child o’ Vine IPA is not very good — I couldn’t tell it was supposed to be an IPA the first couple of times I tried it– and I do not like blonde ales, Fulton has come out with some tasty stuff lately. Their Russian imperial stout, Worthy Adversary, is indeed worthy. Expat is light on the palate but has the spice of rye to keep it interesting and full of flavor. We only had room for one beer a piece, so we had to pass on Northbound’s Ground Rule double IPA (8.8% ABV). Oh, was Mr. NN tempted! Tonight (Friday), they are offering $3 for a 10 oz. glass of their Big Jim IPA infused with cara cara orange zest. Tomorrow, Indeed Brewing is having a release of LSD, a beer once made at Town Hall, consisting of lavender, sunflower honey, and dates. Jen and I wax lyrical about this beer, so we’re looking forward to revisiting it. On Sunday, the Happy Gnome is offering $4 all day for any Minnesota beer, including Bad Weather, Lift Bridge, Third Street Brewhouse, and many others.

See? Beer, beer everywhere and too many drops to drink!

Earth Day Birthday Beerthday

Mr. NN made me an upside down banana rum cake for my b-day. Ahh…

On a cold and snowy day approximately forty-one years ago, I came screaming into the world. Why was I screaming? I can’t rightly remember, but I’m sure it had something to do with it snowing in late April and with my being too young to drink beer. On a cold and snowy day a couple weeks ago, I celebrated the anniversary of my birth without the screaming because I had beer. Good beer. Yes, the stars were aligned properly for Boom Island’s beer dinner at Nightingale to occur on my birthday.

Mr. NN and I ventured through the heavy snow to arrive at the restaurant, which is next door to the Bulldog Uptown, one of the acknowledged places with an ample beer menu. Whereas the Bulldog is a bit grungy, Nightingale is anything but: a sleek bar, chairs with stylish white leather upholstery, and wooden light fixtures that would not look out of place in an art gallery. The restaurant was only serving the beer dinner that evening, so the 7:00pm start was pushed back to accommodate late arrivals. Sadly, several people had to cancel. While waiting, Mr. NN and I shared a thoughtfully crafted cocktail called “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing,” a heady mixture of cognac, chamomile grappa, and apricot liqueur. Aptly named–the chamomile, the most innocent of herbs, dominated the flavor, making it deceptively dangerous.

Kevin and Qiuxia Welch, the owners and brewers of Boom Island, were in attendance to talk about their beers. If you read my post from last month, perhaps you remember that a group of us visited Boom Island for a friend’s birthday and met Kevin and Qiuxia. I proclaimed them to be the friendliest people you could hope to meet on the local beer scene. Being of a Midwestern make-up, Mr. NN and I didn’t want to intrude on their dinner, so we kept to ourselves and dug into the chow.

Oops. I started demolishing the crudo before I thought to snap a pic.

The first course was scallops crudo (that’s raw, y’all) with a burnt orange sauce, watercress, and marcona almonds. It was paired with Silvius pale ale (5.5% ABV). For those of you who might be newbies to beer styles, a pale ale is only somewhat light in color. The flavor should have a noticeable hop edge, so some “pale” does not describe the taste at all. What was so fascinating about this pairing was that the bitterness of the watercress and burnt orange actually brought out a sweetness in the beer. I was amazed at the transformation and impressed by Nightingale’s thoughtful pairing. It was an excellent example of the importance of paying attention to what else has crossed your palate when you are tasting beer. (Btw, it tasted a helluva lot better than my picture makes it look.)

Before the next course came out, Qiuxia came up to me and said, “I know you, right? I can’t remember your name, but you’re the one with the blog.” That right there made my night–I am often surprised when people remember me. She thanked me for my blog post about our visit to their brewery and we talked about Nightingale for a bit. (Also a husband and wife team, another couple with passion for a craft and artistry.) Then the second course came out and she returned to her booth.

The second course was Spring in food form: chilled pea soup poured from a silver teapot onto smoked salmon and beer bread croutons. It was at once salty, sweet-ish with mint, and… green. You know, that refreshing, bright “green” flavor that conjures up actively growing entities with chlorophyll. You don’t know? Hmm. Perhaps that’s just me, but “green” is a flavor on my palate, a vibrant, vivid, vivacious flavor that–like those “viv-” words–suggest Life. This soup was served along with Boom Island’s Brimstone Tripel (9.5% ABV), which is a floral bouquet

A springy soup for a wintery day

onto itself. (That is, there’s a spice note to Brimstone’s flavor profile which reminds me of flowers. Sometimes I describe beers with pronounced aroma/flavoring hops as “floral,” but this is a different type of flower, a spicier one. I first had it one warm June afternoon on my porch, trying to calm my nerves before flying off to Baton Rouge for work. It made me think of flowers, though I wouldn’t necessarily have called it “floral.”  I should probably crack open another Brimstone to remember exactly what I meant when I put that in my notes….)

The main course was a braised leg of lamb (in a sausage-like form), asparagus tortellini, ramps, and morels (the King of Mushrooms). Though the lamb was my least favorite part of the meal, not quite exhibiting that “lamb-y” flavor I love, it was Mr. NN’s favorite of the courses. Again, the spring theme abounded with such seasonal veg. This was paired with HooDoo Dubbel (8.5% ABV), a big malty beer to match up to the big, savory flavors of the food. Again, I was much impressed by the thought that went into the pairings. Though dubbels are somewhat sweet, their robustness stands up quite well to the strong umami flavors in asparagus, mushrooms, and cooked meat.

Dessert was a brown butter cake with orange blossom-poached rhubarb and maple cream paired with Witness (5% ABV), which is Boom Island’s newest beer, an unfiltered Belgian-style witbier. I loved the simplicity of the cake being played up by the tangy bite of rhubarb. The beer perfectly complemented it with its light florally character and spice. This is a great palate-cleansing beer, one to allow the subtle interplay of the dessert’s flavors to stand out. Very refreshing. Get a growler of it if you plan on having company over to hang out on your porch/deck to watch the green things sprout up. (I’m not the only one to do that, am I?)

Again, I couldn’t stop myself from digging into the photo subject.

At this point, Qiuxia and Kevin came over to our table. Once again, we discussed Art and Life and John Mack. These two craft brewing, French horn-playing people have once again earned the distinction of being two of the nicest people you could chance to meet — in the brewing world or any other. Just to cap that off, before I left, they led the room in singing “Happy Birthday” to me in Chinese! (They went around and taught all the non-Chinese people there — all but 3 people, I think– how to sing it in Chinese.) I was deeply touched by the warmth and friendliness of these people who barely know me. It was enough to melt the snow away, I tell you.

Oh, by the way, did I mention that each of the pours was 10 ounces? In case you were absent on that day in math class, that makes for 40 ounces of beer. That, combined with four wonderful food pairings, was well worth the $60. So get ye to a Boom Island dinner at the next opportunity! And dine at Nightingale! Both are quality places that will treat you right.

FYI: You may have noticed that my posts have been sporadic of late. My day job has been brutal lately, and probably will be for the rest of the month. Once I’m free of this madness, I will have more mental capacity to use for writing about beer instead of just consuming it. In case I do not surface for air before next week, keep yourself busy with these events for Minnesota Craft Beer Week, starting next week.

Of Odes, Easter Bunnies, and Dragons

Plagued with phone problems for a bit, I was not able to tweet about some very nice and time-appropriate beers that I had recently. So much the better–a blog post gives me more characters.

The Friday before Easter, Mr. NN and I were about to head off to Wisconsin to visit my parents when we saw the Ale Jail’s Facebook post: Olvalde Farm, the lederhosen-wearing one-man brewing operation out of Rolling Stone, Minnesota, had just released two new versions of its seasonal Ode to a Russian Shipwright, an imperial ”stout porter” brewed with spruce tips. One version was aged in bourbon barrels, the other had added spices. We bought both and brought them along on our holiday family trip.

The Ode is a couplet.

My dad, Papa NN, is a beer lover. At least once every visit, he tells me that his three favorite beer styles are stouts, porters, and IPAs because he “loves beer with flavor, strong flavor.” (He’s also pushing 80 years old, so he repeats himself frequently.) On weekends, he declares “beer o’clock” (our term, not his) starts around noon on Saturdays, anytime after church on Sundays, and on Christmas Day it’s pretty much as soon as you finish your morning coffee. The bourbon barrel Ode was cracked open for lunch. Oddly, the predominant flavor we detected was sour, not the bourbon-y richness we expect when those two words appear on a label. The beer, though, was still rich and had complexity, but it left us stretching our heads, wondering whether the brewer actually meant “wine barrels” instead, or brewed a Flemish red and forgot to change the print order on the labels. Verdict: A good beer, but it doesn’t taste like what you’d expect, given the style and aging. Of course, the bottle does not actually say it’s an imperial stout porter, so perhaps he just re-used the name for a different style of beer. That strikes me as a bit of an odd thing to do, though.

Later that evening, Mr. NN and I tried the Spiced Ode–that was one tasty beer! The spices were well-balanced with the malt and were not readily identifiable. Not being identifiable is actually a good thing in this case because flavors do not jump out and smack you in the face to declare themselves “Belgian-y” (coriander, orange peel) or wintery (clove, cinnamon), and so forth. This beer I could imagine being consumed by a high lord in his manner on a chilly evening. (And though it is supposedly spring, it is still too darned chilly here. It snowed a couple days ago. Why we live in the upper Midwest…. ::sigh:: )

The next day we celebrated Easter with Mr. NN’s family. For the dinner, we brought a bottle of Gouden Carolus Easter Ale, which we had cellared for a year. There are bunnies and Easter eggs on the label, in case you miss that it’s an Easter ale. Oh, heavens, was this delicious and worth the wait! This Belgian beauty (a Belgian strong dark ale) was a tawny color with a rich, caramelly flavor. On some beer rating websites, people commented that it had a bit of a bitter hop finish, but that softens dramatically with cellaring. The spice in the beer paired wonderfully with the ham seasoned with cloves and squash baked with brown sugar. At 10% ABV, it was a heady beer, but still lower in alcohol than the wine that was also served. I appreciated that the bottle indicated that it could be enjoyed immediately or cellared for a couple of years, in addition to showing the proper glassware to use (goblet or wine glass, not a pint glass) and the appropriate temperature at which to serve it (6-9 degrees Celsius, about 43-48 degrees Fahrenheit). This helps ensure that the people buying the bottles are getting the maximum flavor potential out of the product. Yes, folks, glassware matters and affects the flavor.

March 31 was not just Easter, it was also the season premier of HBO’s Game of Thrones series. Mr. NN and I are big fans of the television series, as well as the books by George R. R. Martin. So when we heard that Ommegang was releasing a beer inspired by the story, we patrolled our beer suppliers until the bottles were available. This beer, called Iron Throne, is a blonde ale, coming in at 6.5% ABV. A little part of me wilted inside when I read that — a blonde ale, really? Not a style I like, as it is often the basis of “lawn mower” beers, summer ales that are light in flavor, light in mouthfeel, light in alcohol. Blah, essentially. But, of course, if you’re going to slap “Game of Thrones” on it, we’re going to buy it. We opened it up as we started watching the sly machinations of the Lannisters… and hello! This is the best blonde ale I’ve had. Pale in color (of course), much

The Imp approves. (Photo courtesy of Elevated)

like the Targaryens who forged the Iron Throne or Joffrey, the whelp who currently sits it. However, much like the Targaryens or icky Joffrey, its prettiness belies spice and hoppiness, giving the beer an edge. A knife in the back, if you will, or a juvenile dragon that nonetheless melts your face. We now have another bottle to share with friends for the second episode. I hope that other Game of Thrones-inspired beers Ommegang produces will be as good. (Yes! It’s a line, not just a one-off!)

Get Beer Here!

Okay, it’s only free once you’ve paid for it.

We are blessed here in the Twin Cities with a variety of places to purchase exceptional beer. My previous post made mention of several microbreweries and I have sung the praises of restaurants like the Happy Gnome and Buster’s on 28th many a time. This post is for the new, the updated, or the unexpected.

First is the updated: The Chatterbox Pub on Cleveland Avenue in St. Paul. Mr. NN and I have been going there for years, frequently with our decks of Magic: the Gathering cards in hand. (Full admission: We are nerds. We fully embrace that title. If you’re familiar with Magic, perhaps you can get a glimpse into our personalities: Mr. NN’s go-to deck is primarily

How Chatterbox lures me in.

white, while my decks are primarily black.) Chatterbox has many games on hand if you have left yours at home (they do not have MtG, though). They also have Nintendo and Sega games you can play. The food is decent and casual and the menu is fairly large, so there is usually something for everyone. Previously, the Chatterbox had a respectable, though limited beer list. They had house beers (note: It’s not a brewpub, however) that were decent and maybe a half-dozen other interesting beers. A month or so ago, we returned to Chatterbox and found a huge beer fridge blocking our view of the dining area. (Note: It has since moved to the back of the restaurant.)  The beer menu now fills an entire page and has such notable breweries as Dark Horse, Stone, Epic, La Trappe, and Founder’s. In addition, I appreciate that the beer menu makes an effort to categorize the different styles of beer. Touches like that help educate the beer-consuming public by showing a range of what is possible, from lagers to stouts and even wee heavies and rauchbiers. However, the categorization is not perfect, as I recall that there is a category simply entitled “Ales” (many ambers and browns) and a category called “Belgians,” which is separate from “Dubbels & Tripels.” (I’m stretching my memory a bit here, but I recall something along those lines.) My guess is that the beers actually from Belgium are listed under “Belgians,” while American beers fitting the style are under the latter category head. Calling them “Belgian & Belgian-Style” might show the roots of dubbels, tripels, and quads. Overall, little issues like that could cause some some confusion to neophytes open to learning about beer, but they are a step in the right direction, which I applaud.

Second is the new: Elevated is a new liquor store that recently opened in Minneapolis on Hiawatha. The name reflects its location by the old grain elevators nearby, as well as its excellent selection of beers (and wines). There is an extensive area of single 12-oz. bottles for mix-n-match packs. I like that more beer vendors are doing this, as it gives consumers a chance to try a single bottle of a beer before taking the leap of investing in a six-pack. Of course, Elevated also has many large format beers and cases, refrigerated and room temperature. They host at least one beer or wine tasting a week, often more. When Mr. NN and I stopped in on Saturday, we were able to partake of a tasting of Clown Shoes and Brash. (Btw, this week, on the 28th, they’ll be having an event for Ommegang’s  Iron Throne Blonde Ale, released for HBO’s Game of Thrones series based on the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin. We already have a bottle in our cellar, awaiting the start of season 3. And, yes, we have both read all five books in the series. As I’ve previously mentioned, we are nerds.) At the check-outs, you may also make an impulse purchase of hop candy or beer soap. I bought a bar of the IPA soap and will report on its sudsiness when I get a chance.

Third is the unexpected: Trader Joe’s–who knew? Okay, I knew that they sold beer and some of it was under their own label. I tried some a few years back and was not impressed. However, a month ago, I was bored and wandered into their booze section out of curiosity (beer sections can sometimes provide good reading). Not only did they offer some respectable national and local brands, such as Summit and Fulton. I grabbed a couple of TJ’s own label, an imperial brown ale (Mission Street 2012 Anniversary Ale) brewed by Steinhaus Brewing in California and a Belgian strong dark ale (Trader Joe’s 2012 Vintage Ale). That last one looked familiar to me, especially with its line about “Dark Ale on Lees.” It looked very much like a bottle already in my cellar, similar font and everything. Sure enough, TJ’s Vintage Ale is brewed by excellent Canadian brewer Unibroue, the producer of fine beers like Maudite, Don de Dieu, and Trois Pistoles. I figured that for around $8 for two bombers, if the beer was bland or bad, it was not much of a monetary risk. To our delight, both beers were quite good! The Vintage Ale, especially, was rich on the palate. We will return to try more of TJ’s beer line. They may not all be winners, but at least we know we can stock up on some high-quality, cheap beer. I never realized that, outside of homebrew, such a thing was possible.

One extra tasting note: Epic is fast becoming my second favorite non-Minnesotan brewery, overtaking Southern Tier for that distinction. Dogfish Head, of course, is firmly enshrined

Just before buying Hopulent, Mr. NN peruses the shelves at Elevated.

at the top of that list, but Epic produces some consistently high-quality and interesting beers. Since Surly Abrasive is expensive and has disappeared until next winter, Epic’s Hopulent is a good alternative: aggressively hopped yet immensely drinkable. The hops, while obviously giving it bitterness, also lend a greenish, floral aroma/flavor that make it more enjoyable than some hoppy beers with a lower IBU rating (International Bittering Units). Beers with a higher ABV and a high IBU are often less tongue-pickling than lower IBU beers, as is the case here. Essentially, the high malt content balances out the hops. Both Hopulent and Abrasive are at 9% ABV (or slightly higher), while Surly Furious, at 99 IBUs compared to Abrasive’s 120 IBUs, is 6.2% ABV and tastes harsher than the other two. (Epic does not list Hopulent’s IBUs, but it tastes similar to Abrasive.)

Cheers, everybody!

Happy Beerthday!

I love celebrating birthdays, especially birthdays of my beer-loving friends. Last week, my craft beer-loving, homebrewing friend Jen decided to celebrate the anniversary of her birth by arranging a wee “pub crawl” in Nordeast (that’s NE Minneapolis for you out-of-towners). The use of the quotation marks suggests that we were not actually going to pubs, per se, but partaking in that hot new weekend activity in Northeast: brewery/tap-room crawling.

Our first stop was Boom Island Brewing, the most established of the breweries we hit that night at a ripe old age of just over one year. Boom Island distinguishes itself from the other microbreweries that have been proliferating in the Twin Cities area* recently by being the only one dedicated solely to Belgian-style and Belgian-inspired beers. In addition, unlike the weeks-old newcomers we were to visit, it does not feature a tap room where you can hang out, buy a pint, grab some food truck grub, and listen to some (often live) music. But that, in no way, means you should overlook it. Oh, no, my friends. Fridays from 5:00 to 7:30pm and Saturdays from 1:00-3:00, you can go there and sample all they’ve got for FREE. You can also buy bottles there (all in 750ml bottles) and merchandise and–the best part–you can meet the brewer and his wife. Trust me, you’ll want to do this. Kevin and Qiuxia Welch are probably two of the friendliest and most interesting people you could hope to meet. Both are French horn players (Kevin would often sub for the Minnesota Orchestra and the St. Paul

Yours truly and Qiuxia Welch, sporting beer t-shirts and lofting some Belgian-style tastiness.

Chamber Orchestra) and both are passionate about beer and Belgium and music. Mr. NN, in fact, discovered that Kevin had participated in a workshop with the late John Mack, principal oboist for the Cleveland Orchestra until 2001. Connection? In his former life (pre-programmer days), Mr. NN was an oboist and auditioned for John Mack. If you’re not in the music world, you might not care about that, but the anecdote reveals an important point: The Welches are interested in their visitors. They will engage you in conversation while pouring you a taste of their lovely beers. (Their Brimstone Tripel is my favorite with its subtle spiciness and yeasty fruit notes and bubbly dryness. That is followed by LoMoMoPalooza–from which $1 of every sale goes toward supporting the locked out musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, especially for the educational concerts that the musicians are self-producing until they get their jobs back. Read about the musician lockout and how you can help here.) Qiuxia informed me that they would be coming out with a new release, a Belgian-style witbier called Witness, on March 20th. They will be having the release event at Pinstripes in Edina starting at 6:00pm. First pint is free, subsequent pints for $3. Can’t beat that. (Alas, I will not be able to go, as I have already made other plans for my husband’s birthday. Drop me a line if you go.)

*(according to Minnesota Monthly, ten breweries opened in Minnesota just last year, bringing the state total to 43. And in Minneapolis alone, four breweries have opened or are scheduled to open this month. I’ve read that St. Paul will be getting a new one later this year.)

On a tip from Kevin, we made a slight detour from our crawl plans to check out Donny Dirk’s Zombie Den.  Jen, my birthday friend, is a huge fan of zombies, see. (I got her a pair of zombie socks for her birthday, along with a bottle of Collage beer.) She prefers her zombies to be campy à la Shaun of the Dead rather than serious like in The Walking Dead, so a zombie-themed bar was right up her alley. And up the street just one block, as it turned out. We walked in, saw the severed zombie head on the wall and the encased, bloody chainsaw, and decided to have ourselves a funky cocktail. Donny Dirk’s, as far as I can tell, does not serve food. Would you really want to eat food that came out of a place called the Zombie Den, anyway? One thing I was happy to see was a

Classy zombie den. (Photo from twincities.metromix.com)

respectable local beer list, Boom Island included. (In fact, Kevin would deliver the beer by rolling the keg down the street.) On Saturdays from 3:45 to 5:00pm, you can get happy hour craft beers for $3. Yes, the placard on the table actually stated “craft beer.” I approve.

After we finished our shared cocktails, we attempted to get into Dangerous Man Brewing, which opened in January. However, there was a line out the door to get in and no food truck in sight (some of us were quite hungry by this point), so we jumped ahead to 612 Brew, which just opened around Valentine’s Day. (For out-of-staters: 612 is the Minneapolis area code.) We were fortunate enough to get some seats at the bar (not for our entire party, though) and gourmet brats were being sold from a cart. Goat cheese on bratwurst? Oh, yes. It is a divine thing. Of course, anything with goat cheese on it is divine, in my opinion. The taproom is large and has some fun art, including a large mural that appears to have been done by

The art of Adam Turman, I believe.

the artist who does much of the artwork for Surly. Four beers were on tap: Main Stage (amber), Six (pale ale), Rated R (rye IPA), and Zero Hour (American black ale). I ordered the Rated R, Jen ordered the Main Stage. Her first comment was, “Wow, this is one hoppy amber.” I had just had my tongue pickled by the aggressive hoppiness of Rated R, so I couldn’t really taste the hops in hers, but later, after downing my brat and slurping down a big glass of water, I tasted the amber again and agreed with her. (This is just another example, kiddos,  of why you should always try the hoppy beers last in a beer tasting. Do not think that color can be your guide, like you might do for a wine-tasting–though even with wine, you might be led astray. Hoppy, bitter beers will spoil your palate for more subtle flavors.) Six, the pale ale, was the favorite of our group, though several of us felt we probably will not go back there until we see they release something that is not just a hop-fest in a glass. One of our party lived in San Diego for more than a decade and classified 612 as “West Coast-style” — aggressively hoppy, that is. Think Stone or Sierra Nevada. They certainly like their hops there, and at 612 Brew. FYI: It appears that the next beer to come out there will be “Mary Ann,” a German-style lager brewed with “generous amounts of freshly grated ginger.” Though I’m not generally a lager fan, I do like ginger and Jen is a ginger freak, so we will have to try it.

By that time, Dangerous Man had some vacant chairs. We were greatly anticipating this one–a chocolate milk stout was there to be had! Additionally, they had a Baltic porter on tap, and Mr. NN and I love us some Baltic porter of late. (Style note: Baltic porters are generally higher in alcohol than regular porters and have a mild acidity to them that balances out the roasty and bitter aspects.) One thing shocked us: the prices–$3 for a 10-oz. pour and $5 for 16-oz. (sizes based on eyeball estimates of the glassware). That’s about as inexpensive as you can get without being free. And it’s good! Very flavorful, well-balanced beers. The tap room also has a cabinet with board games and books in it (mostly beer-related), so you can hang out and have some fun. Got kids? No problem: Dangerous Man also makes their own sodas. (See below for more on the house-made soda trend in the Twin Cities.) Want food? Okay,

Bar at Dangerous Man (photo from yelp)

you have to plan for that because they do not make or sell any there. They do, however, allow you to bring food in and eat it there, which could make for a cheap date night if you pick up something from a deli or nearby Anchor Fish & Chips or bring leftovers from home. (Don’t bring leftovers if you’re trying to impress a date, however.) We will definitely be back to Dangerous Man, though while it’s so hopping popular, I think we’ll try to hit it at odd hours.

One note of criticism for the tap rooms: The music was too damn loud. We had to shout at one another or miss out on conversations, which is not a good way to socialize. Just turn down the volume a notch, so people don’t hurt their vocal chords. And you kids get off my lawn!

Ahh, it’s a good time to celebrate a beer-lover’s birthday in Minnesota.

Post-script for those with a sweet tooth, kids, or who just prefer their beer to be of the root variety: House-made sodas and old-timey soda fountains are becoming a thing. St. Paul Corner Drug (corner of Snelling and St. Clair) has been doing that forever. Dangerous Man offers their own sodas, as does Lynden’s Soda Fountain (Hamline Ave. in St. Paul) and Eat Street Social in Minneapolis (26th & Nicollet). Though I am not much of a soda drinker (only a few times a year), I like the idea of locally made products and the fact that these sodas, along with Minneapolis-made Joia Soda, often offer more unusual flavors (Ginger, Apricot & Allspice, anyone? Yum.) and are usually not as teeth-achingly sweet and chemically as mass-produced sodas. (By the way, Joia is sold in bottles at various stores, restaurants, and coffee shops in the Twin Cities area.) I stopped into Lynden’s to try a chocolate phosphate, which was delish–chocolaty but not too sweet, a bit acidic without pickling my tongue. Lynden’s is a cute little soda fountain that also sells sandwiches and ice cream (a company from Madison, Wisconsin, makes it) and a rainbow of candy that I recall from my childhood. I’m all for people who want to take control of the ingredients that go into their bodies and their customers’ bodies. These soda fountains are the micro-breweries of the teetotalling world. Check them out.

A place your kids will love and your grandparents will remember.

A Watering… Wall?

Serve yourself a foamy one.

A couple of weeks ago, I returned to my hometown of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, to lend support to my family while Mom was in the hospital. Though Eau Claire is only an hour and half from the Twin Cities, I don’t spend much time there, as most of the people I knew from when I lived there have moved away. My parents are not very outgoing, either, so I am rarely up on new spots in town. However, through a Facebook connection, I learned that an Italian restaurant between my parents’ house and the hospital had undergone a renovation and now was a hipper American bar & grill. Yawn… until I read that one feature of the Empire American Bar & Grill was a thing known as the “beer wall,” a technological serve-yourself. Color me curious.

My dad likes beer. My brother likes beer. One of my sisters has a narrow appreciation of fermented barley beverages, too. We would need one after a long day at the hospital.  (FYI, Mom is fine now.) We opted to enter the Empire. Right away, I appreciated the change to the decor. It went from bland conference room with food to cozy cabin, with rough-hewn wood accents, old brewery advertisements, and more intimate lighting. My eyes, however, were fixed on the beer list. I admit, I was worried when I saw that there were neon signs for Miller Lite and Coors in the window. The beer list, though not huge, did offer some decent beers, such as brews from New Belgium and New Glarus (beyond the icky Spotted Cow). The beer wall featured six beers, and above each tap was a shiny iPad with a magnetic circle next to it. The waitress gave us two “keys” in return for our driver’s licenses (or a credit card), and with that, we could pour whatever we wanted from the wall. My father, if he goes back there (and he might), will order a tap beer instead of getting anything from the beer wall. I, however, am a bit torn about the experience. Here’s why:

1. CON: All of the beer came out supremely foamy, even following the proper glass-tilting procedures. At first, Dad dumped out some of the foam, but then he realized that we were being charged for it, for everything that came out of the tap. Fortunately, if you wait a couple of minutes, the foam reverts to beer and you can drink it, but it is annoying.
2. PRO: You are charged by the ounce, so if you just want to try a beer to see if you like it, you can get a small sample. I tried three beers: New Glarus Cabin Fever, New Glarus Two Women, and Alaskan IPA. I never would have bought a six-pack of those beers, particularly the New Glarus ones as the styles (a honey bock and pilsener, respectively) are not ones I usually enjoy. However, by being able to give myself 3-4 ounce pours, I discovered that I actually liked the Cabin Fever.
3. CON:  I’m sure they change out which beers are on the wall, but the six they had when I was there were all in the mid-range (e.g., amber) and lighter beers (wheat and the above mentioned styles). Nothing dark. They’re going for mass-market appeal, I’m guessing, but they are missing out on an opportunity to show the citizens of Eau Claire that there’s nothing scary about dark beers. (Seriously, I’m a little tired of hearing people cringe in fear at the thought of a dark beer. Have these people not tried an IPA? Hoppy bitterness seems to be more outside of a person’s normal palate of flavors than a porter, black lager, or even a lot of stouts. And if you drink proper coffee — not “church coffee”–then stouts should not be a problem. Anyway, off my soapbox.)
4. PRO: Cheap! I had approximately 20 ounces of beer, spread across three different varieties, and it came to $6.32! Some of that reflects Eau Claire prices (versus a larger metro area like the Twins), but still…. It would difficult to get comparable beers here for that price. (Not to mention that New Glarus only sells in Wisconsin.)

So if you happen to find yourself in Eau Claire, check out the Empire at the corner of Clairemont Ave. & Menomonie St. The food is respectable pub fare — nothing fancy — but it is good for what it is. (The burgers are the best options, I’ve heard.) If you decide to try the beer wall, be aware of this: You have to check in with a server once you pour 32 ounces. It’s a check to make sure you haven’t consumed too much. For that reason, it is best NOT to share a beer token with others at your table because after three full beers, your account will freeze until you check in with a server. Just get your own token.

Back in the Twin Cities, Mr. NN and I ventured over to the Eastside, St. Paul. There hasn’t been too much of a reason for us to hit this neighborhood, other than the terrific Strip Club, but now we have another: Ward 6 restaurant. Beer-wise, it serves primarily Minnesotan beers, the exception being Hamm’s, which used to be brewed in St. Paul once upon a time. Indeed, Pour Decisions, Surly, Flat Earth… they are here. The food is eclectic and locally-sourced from sustainable outfits when possible. Poutine, that French-Canadian comfort food,

Dutch Baby at Ward 6.

is served along with a Korean sandwich (at times) and other slightly tweaked versions of other foods. The cocktail list is interesting, too, and with none of the selection pricing more than $8, I’ll be heading back to try a Classy Broad or a Don Draper Says What?. Considering all the local breweries, I think it’s great that new restaurants like this are taking advantage of them.

I’m just hoping to see more breweries in St. Paul coming soon….

American Brewing: A Response to Michael Agnew

Super-hopped, crazy adjuncts, and barrel-aging: A passing fad or lasting contribution?

Sometimes a statement or question enters through your ears and bounces around your brain for a while. At first you think it will fade away, but as time passes, the words bounce higher and higher until you have to address them. For Twin Cities area beer writer Michael Agnew, the words were a question posed by a Brit at a meeting of the North American Guild of Beer Writers at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver: “What, of lasting value, has the American craft beer scene really contributed to the world of beer?” In issue #4 (Dec/Jan) of the Growler (a free beer-related mag put out by the Beer Dabbler), Agnew attempted to answer the question for himself, as it niggled in his brain.

It is his answer that has been bouncing around my brain for a while, until I finally realized I could not let it rest. It’s not that I disagree with him; he makes some good points and interesting observations. However…. Okay, yeah. I do disagree with him. I’m going out a bit of a limb here. After all, Agnew — in that very same issue — won the readers’ vote for Best Beer Writer. (Alas, yours truly is not yet well-known enough to have even been nominated. Insert pouting emoticon here.) His regular column in the Growler, wherein he profiles a specific beer style, is quite informative. I suppose that is why I am surprised by his crinkled-nose perspective on the American craft beer scene–he should know better.

Essentially, the Brit who initially posed the question pointed out that England has its long tradition of stouts, porters, IPAs and pale ales. Germany and the Czech Republic pump out lagers and pilseners and hefeweizens. Belgium is the wild woman of the group, leaving the lid off the fermenter to see what falls in. In addition, it is well known for its sour ales, spiced beers,  and certain fruit beers (cherry, in particular). Even Finland got a mention with its 500 year-old sahti. Agnew posits that the American craft beer scene, which is in its infancy (he says about 30 years, and I’d say that’s generous), is marked by hops and barrels. We over-hop beers or try out different varieties…and then dry-hop, quadruple hop, and hop-hop-hop it. He states, “Our love affair with hops has produced some horrifyingly unbalanced beers – tongue-scraping, ham-fisted, palate-wreckers that appeal only to the narrowest slice of beer nerddom.” While the over-hopped character is bad enough, the biggest sin is the lack of balance, which contrasts with the European brews: “Even the sourest Belgian lambic or strongest English barleywine is exquisitely balanced and drinkable.”

Oh, really? I have had some Belgian sours that were just short of being vinegar. I actually would have preferred to crack open a bottle of balsamic. That’s not balanced. While I tend to prefer English barleywines over young American barleywines, some English versions are too cloying and syrupy. (The American versions have more of a hop edge, but if they are aged a bit, the hops tone down, leaving a very balanced beer because they have some bite to counter the malty sweetness.) Again, not balanced.

Ah, aging. That brings me to the barrels. Agnew cites a GABF judge who states, “Honestly, [...] the overall quality was mediocre. [...] you can’t just throw anything in a barrel and automatically create liquid gold.” I do agree that some brewers try to lure drinkers to their bottles with the words “barrel-aged,” usually with the word “bourbon” before it. It does need to be done thoughtfully. But I don’t think barrel-aging is the lasting contribution, especially considering that you can put all manners of beverage in a barrel. It’s something more, something bigger that makes up the American contribution to the world of beer: experimentation.

Agnew, however, does not think that is good enough: “Can something lacking a center leave an enduring mark? Is innovation of lasting benefit in and of itself if the product of that innovation isn’t always good? Let’s face it; many of these experiments don’t really work.”

No, I will not face it. I think many of the experiments do work. Right now, there is a plethora of small brewers. In Minnesota alone, it has been hard to keep track of all the new breweries that have opened just in the past year. Not all make great beer. Some make a good beer or two, among a menu of ho-hum beers. Isn’t that true of most brewers, however? Especially when they’re just starting out. I don’t think all of these little breweries will survive. Quality will rise and those with holes in their boats will sink. My favorite brewery in the whole world, Dogfish Head, makes some beers that I don’t care for (the Chicory Stout, for instance). That happens. But let’s look at the rest, what is done well – and I believe there is a lot — and I find that it’s the experimentation that marks American craft beer.

What do American craft brewers contribute? In my opinion, it is this: the willingness to ask, “What if…?” First, there is the mixing of styles. What if we take an American IPA and use Belgian yeast and maybe even some candi sugar? Voila! You have a Belgian-style IPA–a style not originating in Belgium. (Try Harriet Brewing’s West Side.) Or what if we brew an IPA with black malt? Then you have what is variously known as a Cascadian IPA or dark ale, an American black ale, or a black IPA (duh). (Try Indeed’s Midnight Ryder.) What if we take an ancient recipe from Turkey or Finland and update for modern palates and brewing standards or tweak it with other flavors that suggest themselves? Dogfish Head is the best at doing that–too many options to list. What if we take that porter or pumpkin beer and add a little smoked malt? Heck, there’s a whole line of beers with chili peppers added–a decidedly American twist (of the Southwest, natch). Bored with regular saisons? What if we add some star anise. New Holland did that with its Four Witches.

You say “spices,” I say “adjuncts.”

Secondly, this exuberant experimentation is a very American trait. Our nation is often referred to as the “American experiment.” It just makes sense that American craft brewers are trying out their freedom, a little of this, a little of that, not feeling bound by rules about how things have to be. Unbound, some of them let the craziness go to their (foamy) heads, but others–many others–are succeeding. Tradition can be a heavy chain that drags quality down into staleness. Understand, though, that I respect those who preserve time-tested brewing traditions. The styles that have proliferated throughout the centuries have done so because they are good. It is not always easy to brew a high-quality stout or pale ale or pilsener. Hats off to those European brewers from centuries ago who did it well.

But now is the time for American brewers, the new kids on the block, to contribute to the world scene.  Michael Agnew asks a thought-provoking question about “something without a center” being able to leave an enduring mark. I believe that it is the attitude in the novel approaches to brewing that leaves its mark. I have already seen the signs in my friends and myself. When we buy beer, we find ourselves looking for the interesting, the unusual, the thing we haven’t had before. Rarely do we buy a six-pack of an ordinary porter or pale ale, no matter how well brewed it is. One of my beer-loving friends asked if we were getting spoiled, not able to enjoy a properly crafted beer if it didn’t have anything special to recommend it. I’d like to say that that isn’t true, but my money speaks for me: I give my dollars to the risk-takers. It used to be, back in the 1990s, that when I wanted to buy a special beer, I would peruse the import aisle for a Paulaner Hefeweizen or a Young’s Old Nick Barley Wine (now too syrupy for me). Heck, even Guinness was considered a good beer back then. But now, the American craft beer scene is exploding with excellent options, and I rarely find myself buying a foreign beer. The two exceptions: Kasteel (for their Donker, which is the beer I would marry) and Mikkeller, which garners my respect for brewing some unusual and bold beers (a stout aged in a tequila barrel, for instance).

So what, of lasting value, have American craft brewers contributed to the world of beer? A paradigm shift, a new perspective, a sense that things will never be the same again — and that’s a good thing. Oddly, I find the best words for this concept from excerpt from the Danish brewer Mikkeller’s “Our Vision” page:

We aim to brew beer that challenges the concept of good beer and moves people.

We fail to calm down. We are always thinking in new ways and ideas, always working on the next project. In our world beer challenges people’s taste buds – whether it’s in a bitter, spicy, sour or fruity manner.

We love to explore the existing beer genres by using the best raw material available. We love to barrel age quality beers on exclusive wine barrels. We love to cooperate with other breweries around the world, who inspires us and teach us new ways of doing things …

Carry on, you crazy brewers! You’re making your mark on the world of beer.

Interested in checking out some interesting beverages? Give these a whirl:

1. Epic Brewing’s  (UT) Blue Law Porter: A porter brewed with blackberry puree and spruce tips. The two adjuncts are well-balanced and well-matched. Tasty.
2. It’s mead, not beer, but it’s innovative and even draws inspiration from beer — B. Nektar Meadery’s (MI) Evil Genius, an IPA-style mead. The sweetness of the honey is tempered by the green edginess of the hops, though it’s not nearly as bitter as an actual IPA. Check out their website for other crazy concoctions and great label art.
   

   Evil? Not so much, but it just might be genius.

3. Town Hall in Minneapolis is celebrating Barrel-Aged Week with a new release every night. Since their website has some issues, I’ve copied the remaining releases from their newsletter:Wednesday 2/20-  Manhattan Barrel-  Production on this beer will be increased next year! We stopped at a distillery we had not yet used (that I believe has natural cherry character) for a prospect barrel. We aged our Grand Cru with tart cherries for many moons then added it to this fine bourbon barrel. Well my father in law introduced me to Manhattans (he does not use bitters) I think he would be proud of this Bourbon “Manhattan”

   Thursday 2/21-  Buffalo Bock – The return of the bourbon aged Weizenbock from last year. This beer surprised the brewers and the customers the first time it was made. It really is nice

   Friday 2/22- Tumaltuous Rare- Our wheat wine aged in bourbon barrels. Nice and delicate, this one offers great toffee character

   Sat 2/23-  Czar Jack- Russian style Imperial stout. Nice beer and for those of you that missed the coconut character that we usually get from the wood last year….it is back this year!