Lake Superior Oktoberfest

A few weeks ago, I made a post about making a mix pack of 6 different "Octoberfest" beers and sampling all of them in one evening. It was a lot of fun for my friend and myself to compare these fall seasonals side-by-side. Well, I decided it was time for an actual session with a local version that I hadn't tasted before. That brew is Lake Superior Oktoberfest.

When I last visited Lake Superior's brewing facility in April, I had asked head brewer Dale Kleinschmidt if we would eventually see more of their seasonals in the Twin Cities metro area. He said the only seasonal they had regularly distributed here was the Old Man Winter Warmer, and that customer demand and suggestions from distributors will dictate what we see in the future. I left there with the hope that, someday, we would have access to those brews down here.

This month, I was walking through Boozemart in West Saint Paul and walked past an end-cap beer display. I quickly did a double take because I thought my eyes were deceiving me, but it turns out they weren't. Sitting before me was a large stack of Lake Superior Oktoberfest, their fall seasonal! Consumer demand must have done it's job, as this was the first time I had seen this beer in a liquor store near home. I immediately grabbed a six-pack and knew I would have to post a session with this subject.

I pour the 12 ounce bottle into my mug with gusto and generate a 2 finger off-white head. It settles into a thin, creamy layer of foam calmly resting on top of the liquid. The body is hazy and dark copper in color.

When I take a sniff, the lightest caramel aroma combines with an almost doughy bread scent. The hops seem to be contributing some earthiness to the smell as well.

The flavors coincide with the aromas I detected. Sweet at first, it then leads to biscuity malt. The switch is then made to an earthy, herbal character which transitions nicely into a decent level of bitterness. It all finishes with a sharp tang that urges me to take the next sip.

A medium weight mouthfeel is more clingy than I expected, as a thin coating stuck in my mouth after swallowing. There is a moderate to low level of carbonation which doesn't strip the stickiness from my mouth. No lacing is present on my glass.

This is a nice märzen from Lake Superior. It fits the style and has some stronger hop flavors than many other American examples. This lager would definitely be a good addition to any of your own Oktoberfest celebrations. If you like this style (or German lagers in general), you probably won't be disappointed with this brew. Give it a try!

Brewery in Spring Green Wisconsin?

Today I received an email containing some info which I consider to be very exciting news. Apparently, the quality brewers at Furthermore Beer are looking into acquiring their own brewery. From the email:

"A facility in Spring Green? You don't say.... So we've weathered the first four + years of small business ownership, a significant economic downturn and our own self-doubt. We have lived to tell the tale, and you're still drinking the beer. And there are lot of others who would like to drink the beer if only we could make enough. So it's time for the next phase of Furthermore Beer, and we're actively working on making that happen."

This is cool to hear, because I really enjoy the brews they produce. Fatty Boombalatty, Knot Stock, Makeweight, and Oscura are just 4 examples of their awesome products. (If you're wondering why you're able to buy six-packs when they don't yet have a facility, it's because they currently contract brew at Sand Creek Brewing in Black River Falls.) When they eventually get their own brewery going, I might have to take a little trip down to Spring Green for a tour...

Beer Tasting Friday

This week, I will be pouring samples for the first time on a Friday. Stop by the Hastings Coborn's Liquor on Friday, September 24th. I will have 3 Oktoberfest Marzens and 3 brews from 21st Amendment available for you to taste:

• Bell's Octoberfest
• Samuel Adams Octoberfest
• Summit Oktoberfest
• 21st Amendment Back in Black
• 21st Amendment Brew Free or Die IPA
• 21st Amendment Hell or High Watermelon Wheat

I'll be there from 4:30 to 8:30pm. Come and try some tasty beer.

612Brew Video Interview

That's right, I've finally finished editing the 612Brew interview! I had a little over an hour of footage when I started, but I managed to cut it down to about a half hour. I may have to post some of those deleted clips on the blog in the future.

I was very excited to post this video until I realized that I couldn't do it through Blogger due to the file size. Blogger only allows up to 100MB for video size. That led me to try Youtube, which only frustrated me more. On Youtube, you can upload a video that is up to 2GB in size, but it can't be any longer than 15 minutes. My file is only 367MB, but it's a half hour long. Frustrating! After checking into some other options, I decided that I had to use Youtube. Because of this, I needed to break the main video into 3 pieces.

Sorry for the mediocre quality and the annoying lens flare that appears in most of the video. This first video was a learning experience. Wow, what a learning experience! I will definitely be better prepared next time.

Enjoy!

Another Fun Beer Day

This past Saturday, I participated in another beer-themed day with a couple of my friends. It's something we like to do because it can be a lot of fun to plan and usually works out to be pretty affordable.

We started off with another free Summit brewery tour at 10:30am. Including this most recent visit, I've been on this tour 4 times. Each time I go, I learn another little detail (or two) that I hadn't known before. Of course we enjoyed 3 free beer samples after the tour and then visited the gift shop to purchase some Summit gear.

From Summit we headed over to Surdyk's, where they were having a free Oktoberfest beer tasting. There were many different tasty brews to sample and I enjoyed most of them. The most interesting part for me was participating in the Samuel Adams Beer Lovers Choice. This is the 6th year for this program, but my first year trying it. There are 2 sample recipes that Boston Beer wants you to try, then you enter your vote in a ballot box. The winning beer will be the next new recipe they add to their bottled lineup. Last year's winner was the Noble Pils. The contenders this year: Sample A - Belgian Style IPA, & Sample B - American Rye Ale. Both were good, but my vote went to Sample A.

After Surdyk's, we made our way over to Town Hall for a late lunch and some good brews. I quelled my hunger with the very delicious Seven Corners Burger. Rather than going with a couple pints to drink, I decided to get their 2 beer flights because I've only been to Town Hall once before. One flight has samples of five every-day brews, while the other has five available seasonals. All the beers were enjoyable and one from each flight really stood out in my mind: West Bank Pub Ale (every-day) and Thunderstorm (seasonal). The West Bank is a really floral, fruity, bitter (and sessionable at 4.8%) pale ale and the Thunderstorm is an ale brewed with orange blossom honey and lemongrass.

Our designated driver took us back to Saint Paul and dropped us off at the Hilton Garden Inn. We took it easy and relaxed there for a while before we walked over to Great Waters for dinner and beer. Their Pizza of the Week was chicken, bacon, and ranch, so I had to get it. Very good stuff. To drink, I had the Unkeldunkel Dunkelweizen, which was new to me. It was a tasty brew that contrasted well with my salty dinner.

That was a very fun, beer-filled day. I encourage any of you to try something similar. It is definitely a worthwhile experience.

612Brew Interview Update

Another update on my 612Brew video interview: I'm almost done editing!

I started with a little over an hour of awesome, interesting dialogue and funny blooper-style moments. However, I knew that an hour is probably way too long. I had a hard time deciding what I should cut out, but I eventually got the video down to about a half hour. That might still seem like a long video to some of you, but it has a lot of good stuff in it. I might eventually release some of the cut video clips in small doses for those that might be interested.

The hard part is now complete. I just need to make some finishing touches to the audio, credits, and transitions before I post it. I hope to have it on the blog sometime next week. Look for it!

Oktoberfest Sampler

I was recently working on my continued efforts of editing my video interview with 612Brew. (I never knew editing could be so much work.) A friend of mine has more knowledge than I do with the particular software I am using, so he agreed to give me some assistance. In order to thank him for his help, I decided to bring some beer to his house for us to sample while we worked.

Ever since the Oktoberfest beers started to appear on liquor store shelves within the last month, I had been wanting to assemble a variety six-pack of all different versions. I did just that at Coborn's Liquor so that I could share it with my friend. Here is what I grabbed:

• Leinenkugel's Oktoberfest
• Schell's Oktoberfest
• Bell's Octoberfest
• Great Lakes Oktoberfest
• Summit Oktoberfest
• New Belgium Hoptober

The first five are all true marzen style lagers. The last on the list, Hoptober, is labeled a golden ale by New Belgium and is very different than the others. I knew that when I bought it, but I thought it would be fun to mix it up with something unique. As my friend and I worked on the video, we split each beer and briefly discussed them.

As far as the Marzen Octoberfest beers go, It's not hard at all to say that four of the five are very tasty and enjoyable. The one we didn't like? Sorry Leinenkugel's. Your marzen smells off, tastes a little funky (not in a good way), and I probably won't buy it again. I guarantee I will be revisiting the other four marzens in the future.

The Hoptober was definitely something special for a fall seasonal. My friend and I both chose it as our favorite out of the six we tasted. Sweet honey, mango, pineapple, and a pleasant bitterness are some of the flavors that come to mind. However, for you fall traditionalists, it's definitely not a marzen style lager. If that's what you're looking for, get one of the others mentioned above.

Food and Craft Beer at the State Fair

My family and I made our trip to the Minnesota State Fair yesterday. We walked our loop and sampled food and beverages (including some beer) along the way. As usual, we looked for some old favorites and some new things to try. Here is what we had (don't worry, we share it all):

• Strawberries and Cream (my wife's favorite)
• A jumbo cup of 1919 root beer - Who doesn't like good root beer?
• Pig Ear Fries - From Famous Dave's, these are pig ears sliced really thin, dusted with seasoned flour, and fried 'til their crispy. They are served with a lime chipotle glaze for dipping. They were pretty tasty, but they definitely gave my jaw a workout - chewy stuff.
• Pig Lickers - I guided us to Famous Dave's for the pig ears, but while we were there my wife noticed this item on the menu. It is simply this: chocolate-covered bacon. My wife and daughter enjoyed them, but I wasn't so sure. They're chilled to keep the chocolate from melting and the bacon is soggy and chewy. The salty/sweet flavor combo was decent, but I'm not sure I like cold, soggy bacon. I'm a crispy bacon kind of guy.
• Walleye Chop - This local lager was also served at Famous Dave's. It is brewed by Bank Beer Company, which gives 100% of its profits to the Pheasants Forever Build a Wildlife Area campaign. I was not too impressed by this beer in the moment, but I'll revisit it someday to see if that changes.
• Schell's Octoberfest - My wife and I both had a 20 ounce cup of this staple Minnesota seasonal.
• The Perfect Pickle - Tasty sliced dill pickles battered and deep fried, served with ranch dipping sauce. One of our favorites.
• Scotch Egg - This has been at the fair for years, but I hadn't tried it until now. It's a hard boiled egg on a stick wrapped in sausage, rolled in bread crumbs, and deep fried. They also have a variety of sauces for dipping. Wow, this was tasty. My wife and both my daughters loved it.
• Spam Curds - Spam and cheese, battered and deep fried. We dip them in their ranch sauce. Salty, tasty Minnesota goodness.
• Of course, at the end of our day we went to Sweet Martha's to buy a pail of chocolate chip cookies, then headed over to the All You Can Drink Milk booth. Milk and cookies, cookies and milk; need I say more?

Throughout our journey, I was happy to see a good amount of craft beer at various locations. In Heritage Square, there were 3 Schell's craft labels (along with 2 Grain Belt). At Shanghaied Henri's in the International Bazaar, there were 3 Summit brands and 4 European imports. Then O'Garas had probably the best variety with Guinness, Harp, Smithwicks, Finnegan's, Schell's Oktoberfest, and Summit EPA on tap, while also having Deschutes Mirror Pond, Odell 90 Shilling, and Schell's Hopfenmalz in bottles.

Seeing all this craft beer made me thirsty, but I had to limit myself to 2 brews for the 9 hours we were at the fair. Why? In a word: price. The prices for these session-style craft beers were the exact same throughout the fair. I have a hard time bringing myself to pay $4 for 12 ounces and $6.75 for 20 ounces unless it's some rare specialty high alcohol brew. I mean, I've spent $7 on a 12 ounce bottle of Mephistophele's, but that's some extreme stuff! I know it's the way things are at events like this, but I wish it wasn't. Hot dogs, cheese curds, and soda aren't required to be the exact same price at every booth in the fair, so why is beer? It would never happen, but I'd like to see a little friendly beer price competition by letting the vendors price it the way they see fit. Oh well, I guess some things never change. Let me know what you think about it in the comments.

Surly Hell

I know that fall is sneaking up on us, but I wanted to have an official session with something I've been saving in my fridge since mid-July. I haven't had a lot of time for beer sessions lately because of an extremely busy late summer, so I made a decision last night to fit this brew into my schedule. This particular beer may be produced with the intention of consuming it in warm weather, but I'm sure you won't mind drinking it in the early fall (or any other time, for that matter). It's time for my session with Hell, from Surly.

Hell is an unfiltered German-style Munich Helles lager. In German, hell is the adjective for "light" while helles is a noun that basically translates to "a light one." As Surly's summer seasonal, it would be fitting for this brew to be "a light one." According to their website, the numbers come in at 20 IBUs and 4.5% ABV.

I pour the pint can into my pilsner glass. A big, 3-finger white head is easily generated and then slowly settles into a thin layer of sticky bubbles. The body is a lovely golden hue and is not as light in color as you might expect from the name translation. It has a slight haze (because it is unfiltered, no doubt) and some visible carbonation floating to the top.

The mellow aroma is dominated by honey-kissed grain and is followed by just a touch of hop earthiness. There is also a little bit of spice detectable.

The flavor of sweet bready malt leads into a pleasant herbal spice and a nice moderate level of bitterness. A sharp coppery tang at the finish lets me know it's time for the next sip.

This brew has a nice medium-light thickness with some light, but prickly, carbonation. It is quite crisp while remaining very easy to swallow. There is some light lacing visible as the liquid level keeps dropping.

Hell is a very good German-style lager. This brew is easy drinking with its lighter body and simple, yet tasty, flavors. Crisp and refreshing, it is very appropriate for quenching your beer thirst in warm weather. The bonus of the low ABV makes it possible for you to consume a few without getting too tipsy. Sorry this session came at the end of summer, but you might still be able to find some Hell in stores to enjoy before the weather gets too cool. Definitely buy it if you see it. If not, don't worry. Hell will return again!