Hastings' Best Craft Beer Bar Re-evaluation?

Hmmm...

Back in January, I made a post about RJ's Tavern in downtown Hastings, calling them the best craft beer bar in town. Now, it appears that things have been changing at some of the other local bars, and I may have to re-evaluate the whole situation.

For example, last night I visited The Bar (yep, that's the name of the place). About a week ago, they finished putting together a whole new tap system that includes 30 beers. And these beers aren't just a collection of products from AB-Inbev and Miller-Coors; craft beers dominate the tap list.

While I was there, it was happy hour. Wednesday's happy hour deal was two-for-ones. The special was pretty nice because, if you bought a craft beer, your second drink could be any of the other craft beers. So, I had 4 tasty brews last night: Lucette The Farmer's Daughter, Deschutes Inversion IPA, Brau Brothers Moo Joos, and Bell's Oberon.

Minnesota craft beers were well represented in the selection, with choices from Summit, Schell's, Fulton, Surly, and Brau Brothers. There are also handy laminated beer lists sitting on the bar to aid people in making their difficult decisions.

I definitely need to reconsider my choice for Best Craft Beer Bar in Hastings, but I may have to do a little more research, first...

Beer Brief #19 - Rye Wyne Ale

 

Brewery - Brau Brothers Brewing Co., Lucan, Minnesota

Beer - Rye Wyne Ale

Style - Rye Wine aged in Templeton Rye Whiskey barrels

ABV - 11%

Color - Dark, deep red-brown with an off-white head

Aroma - Molasses, vanilla, whiskey, oak, rye spice

Flavor - Spicy, sweet, and delicious rye malt, caramel, oaky goodness, slight alcohol, and a bit of friendly whiskey that pops in to say hello

Verdict - Extremely tasty combination of beer and whiskey. I'm lovin' every sip. The alcohol is definitely present, especially noticed by the warming in my throat, but doesn't overwhelm or undermine all the tasty flavors. I'm glad I bought 2 bottles...

2012 St Paul Summer Beer Fest

This past Saturday, I visited the Minnesota State Fairgrounds for the 4th annual Saint Paul Summer Beer Fest. Over the past 4 years, I've only missed one occurrence of this large beer tasting event. This year, there were 103 breweries in attendance from all across the country. Of course, Minnesota was well represented with 26 breweries.

There was much beer to be tasted while listening to the live music playing throughout the course of the event. I tried some brews I loved, some I liked, some that were OK, and some that were just plain bad. I am happy to say that the bad were a huge minority.

My past experiences at beer events like this (not to mention my own personal efforts to taste as many beers as possible) meant that I was already familiar with a majority of the brews available. This caused me to seek out the smaller number of beers/breweries I hadn't tried before, which is what I love to do.

I'd like to mention 2 breweries (amongst the newbies) that stood out in my mind. You should keep your eye on them, as I think they should do pretty well in the future:

1) - Third Street Brewhouse is a new brewery in Cold Spring, MN, and is a division of Cold Spring Brewing Co. I had been hearing good things about their brews and I was not disappointed with any of the three I tasted. And with fun beer names like Lost Trout, Rise to the Top, and Bitter Neighbor, along with a well built website, it looks like they've got their marketing well in hand, too.

2) - Hinterland may not be a new brewery per se (founded in 1995), but they are new to the Twin Cities area. This Green Bay based company entered our market within the last 3 months, and I'm sure they're working hard to make headway in this extremely busy beer climate. I had purchased a 4 pack of their saison a few weeks ago and loved it, so I was excited to see if their other beers were well made. Once again, I was not disappointed. All the brews were tasty and enjoyable.

Beer Brief #18 - Brynhildr's Gift

 
Brewery - Olvalde Farm and Brewing Company, Rollingstone, Minnesota

Beer - Brynhildr's Gift

Style - Farmhouse Ale made with juniper berries

ABV - ???

Color - Copper with a thick, off-white head

Aroma - Citrus, clove, black pepper, hint of earthiness

Flavor - Honey, cotton candy, caramel, ripe pear, herbal hops, low bitterness on the finish, odd funk lingers on the back of the tongue

Verdict - Very enjoyable and unique farmhouse ale with surprisingly low carbonation. It is very lightly hopped, letting the sweet malt profile and yeast flavors run the show. Even though I couldn't find the ABV listed anywhere, I would guess it must be fairly strong. I'm starting to feel it after half a pint!

3 Breweries in San Diego

Last week I was away on a business trip for my day job. I don't travel for work very often, but this was my 3rd trip to San Diego as required by my job duties over the years. In my past 2 journeys, I did the recommended sight-seeing and visited most of the popular attractions in the area. For this trip, I used what little free time I had to seek out a few breweries.

As part of a software user group conference, my work and sleep time were at a hotel on Coronado Island. I did not have a rental car, so choosing a brewery was restricted by the distance (taxi cost) from my lodgings. I checked out the San Diego Brewers Guild website and looked over the long list of members. (I never realized there were so many breweries in the San Diego area.) I picked 3 of the closest that interested me and paid each of them a visit. I did manage to snap some pictures and take some videos with my phone, but was disappointed to find them missing from my device when I returned home. Oh well, I'll make do with some pictures from their websites.

• Coronado Brewing - Located in Coronado, this brewery was nearest to my hotel. Of the three facilities I visited, it felt the most like a modern brewpub (because it is one, although they do bottle their beer for liquor stores as well). I had already eaten, so I did not partake in their tasty looking food menu. However, I did order myself a sampler of their beers: Coronado Golden (pilsner), Orange Ave Wit, Islander Pale Ale (IPA), Mermaid's Red, and Idiot IPA (Double IPA). I also purchased a pint of their Blue Bridge Coffee Stout. The beers were all good and well-made, but nothing that wowed me. I would drink them again, but wouldn't necessarily seek them out.

• Mission Brewery - Just across the bay from Coronado, Mission is near downtown San Diego. I would have never guessed by the exterior of the building that there was such a cool brewery space inside. The brewing and fermenting equipment are located in the same large open space as the taproom. I bought $1 samples of the 7 beers they currently have available: Pilsner, Blonde (Kolsch), Hefeweizen, Amber, IPA, Shipwrecked (Double IPA), and Dark Seas (Russian Imperial Stout). Every single one was extremely tasty. I wanted to stick around longer, but unfortunately didn't have time. I enjoyed the brews so much that I asked if they had any plans to make it up into Minnesota. The guy behind the bar was unsure, but I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope they eventually distribute here. You'll want to try these beers if that happens.

• Monkey Paw Pub & Brewery - Not too far away from Mission Brewery, Monkey Paw is a craft beer bar and brewery. They have an excellent tap list, which includes a number of beers they brew themselves. I tried 5 during my visit: Oatmeal Pale (pale ale), Sweet Georgia Brown (English-style brown), Mandrill IPA, Monkey Stones (unclassifiable), and Rich Man's IIPA. While I really enjoyed all the brews, the most intriguing was Monkey Stones. It was a collaboration recipe created with Stone Brewing and it really doesn't easily fit into any beer classification. (In my mind, it's pretty cool when that happens.) A strong (7.7% ABV) black lager with plenty of citrusy, piney hop aromas and flavors and a bitter finish, it was a memorable beer. While at Monkey Paw, I was lucky enough to chat with Head Brewer and Certified Cicerone Derek Freese. A very friendly man with a lot of beer knowledge, he was more than happy to sit and talk beer with me for a while. After tasting the beers and meeting the brewer, I wish Monkey Paw continued success.