A look back at 2014 (Yeah, it's one of these)

So I was going to start working on this post early next week since I was originally going to designate this holiday weekend to playing video games and not much else. However due to Playstation Network being down thanks to a hacker group that hates humanity and not being able to play Destiny (You need an internet connection to play the game,) I decided to pass the time by starting to write about this year in review.

2014 has been a year full surprises and life-changing events; Some of which I saw coming and others I did not expect. Here I'll be writing about the beers I've had as well as some happenings to mix it up. So without further ado, I give you my recap of 2014!

**Disclaimer: I'm also going to point out right now that this is also a fairly long post, so just a heads up**

January

What can be said about January? To be honest, not a whole lot. I guess the only memorable things I could take away from January would be the record breaking god-awful cold temperatures we had and a little something called Deschutes The Abyss.

With its rich and complex flavor, this beer easily stood out as the best beer in a month that I considered to be lacking. New Glarus' Raspberry Tart also was pretty good but The Abyss edged that one out, though it did make for a good trade a few months down the road.

February

The month of love was also a fairly slow month. However there was one beer that stood out to me...for all the wrong reasons. My regular readers probably know what I'm talking about but I'll explain a little further. I follow a philosophy that I never turn down free beer, regardless of who it's from. In other words, you have to screw up pretty badly to make a beer so horrible that even I wouldn't take it even if it were free.

Lo and behold, a beer matching that description made its way into my hands and it went by the name Miller Fortune.

I promise this is the last time I talk about Miller Fortune. Fortune was Miller's answer to Budweiser Black Crown and was no doubt marketed to the craft beer drinking crowd by promising bourbon-like flavors and toting a higher-than-normal ABV; Which I've mentioned a couple times before is pretentious and unnecessary. 

Needless to say, this ended up being one of the worst beers I had ever had. How could somebody take a wonderful thing like beer and make it so awful? I understand that it's a Miller product and all, but even their regular stuff like MGD, Pabst & Miller Lite, while not great, I would still consider to be tolerable at the very least. In any case, I hope Miller's next attempt at trying to gain a share of the craft beer market is....less terrible.

March

Finally a month that isn't mediocre! In early March, I was contacted by David Grandmaison and was offered the opportunity to help promote The Duluth Experience's North Shore Craft Beer Roundtable, which was a series of four roundtable events pertaining to the craft beer scene in NE Minnesota & NW Wisconsin. 

I cannot express enough how great it was to see well-respected individuals in the craft beer scene sit down, talk, and share their experiences in the industry. On top of that, I got to meet and network with so many great people.

April

April saw the continuation of the The Duluth Experience's Roundtable event, which featured the head-brewers from the various breweries located in the Duluth-Superior area. Much like the first event, the second part was just as engaging and interesting as the first one. 

So what made this month as interesting as March? Well for me it was the interviews I conducted. The first being the interview I did with David Grandmaison from The Duluth Experience, which I found to be extremely interesting and insightful. The second interview I did was with these guys....

I met Seth from Regular Guy Brewing on Twitter in the wee months of 2014 and we have since become good friends. Seth was awesome enough to give me the chance to interview him, which we managed to pull-off despite Google Hangout's attempts to cut our connection. Overall it was a fun month but it was only a prelude to what was to come.

May

During the first half of May, I spent a week down in Minneapolis/St. Paul for Minnesota Craft Beer Week, in which I covered various events which celebrated Minnesota Craft Beer. It was a week full of fun and it made memories that I will remember for the rest of my life. Needless to say it was also a very busy time but they always say time flies when you're having fun.

Among the thing I did during that week:

• Went to Dangerous Man for the first time and checked out Northbound Smokehouse's Buckwheat Honey Porter
• Going to Great Waters Brewing for the first time and going to a keg tapping of Surly Blakkr with Simcoe & Centennial Hops at the Four Firkins
• Making a trip to Pitchfork Brewing in Hudson, Wisconsin (It's not Minnesota beer, but I still consider it local)
• Checking out The Freehouse in downtown Minneapolis & going to Barley John's keg tapping for Warrior's Passage 2.0 Imperial IPA w/ Falconer's Flight Hops.
• Attending the food truck rally at Harriet Brewing, complete with barrel aged sours and Nutella and Bacon covered chocolate chip cookies

Those events were awesome and all, but they don't hold a candle to what the final day of Minnesota Craft Beer week had in store for me. That's because on the last day of Minnesota Craft Beer week, I met these guys for the first time....

I met with Jon & Josh from Angry Inch Brewing in Rosemount, Minnesota for a private tasting event. Originally it was supposed to be an hour long affair but it ended up turning into a 3 hour conversation about their experiences in brewing as well as the story behind each beer and just getting to know them; All the while drinking some fantastic beers which they made for the tasting event. 

June

June started off with me moving into my new place, which put me in close proximity to all the breweries & brewpubs located in Duluth. It was during this time I started doing weekly roundup posts which continued until the end of July; I would also like to take this time to point out that those posts WILL be making a return in the near future. As for when, I don't know yet.

June also marked the final event in The Duluth Experience North Shore Craft Beer Roundtable event, which focused on the role of women in the Craft Brewing Industry. Of all the roundtable events, I found that one to be the most educational and interesting of the topics that were covered during the Roundtable series

As for the beer, there was a lot of great beers that I had that month but the one I found to be the most memorable was Heady Topper from The Alchemist. Talk about a great and well balanced Imperial IPA, I can see why all the craft beer fanatics love to post pictures and boast about this beer online.

July

July brought about something new for me: an interview with a film director. I sat down with Dave Okar, director of Crafted to Last: Minnesota Beer Blossoms, a documentary which covered the rapid expansion of Minnesota Craft Beer movement thanks to the Taproom Bill that was passed back in 2011. It was a fun interview and it gave me a really good appreciation for all the local beer which we here in Minnesota have the pleasure of drinking.

Next up is The Duluth Experience Saturday Evening Brewery Tour, which consisted of tours at Vikre Distillery, Bent Paddle Brewing Company & Fitger's Brewhouse. For me, it was my own fun little mini-bachelor party that I threw for myself. It was a great time and it gave me a much greater appreciation for the craft beer scene in Duluth.

I ended July by going to camp.....Beer Camp that is! I acquired a 12-pack of Sierra Nevada's Beer Camp, which featured collaborations between Sierra Nevada and twelve different breweries across the country. Some of my favorites included:

• Electric Ray IPL - Brewed in collaboration with Ballast Point.
• Yonker Bock Tropical Maibock - Brewed in collaboration with Cigar City Brewing.
• CANfusion Rye Maibock - Brewing in collaboration with Oskar Blues (Probably my favorite of the bunch)

Just a few days after I finished with that 12-pack, a big life changing event happened to me....

August

I got married.

Wait, that doesn't count? My mistake!

I suppose if I were to talk about anything beer related, the first order of business would be my mini-honeymoon up to Ely, MN for a couple of days right after we got married. It was my first time going through the Mesabi Iron Range and the sights were truly something to behold. 

Nestled deep in the northern edge of the Iron Range is a small brewery called the Boathouse Brewpub. It was a far cry in terms of size and scale when compared to other brewpubs in Minnesota. With that said, it was a nice and cozy place to eat and drink. 

Speaking of which, the beers were fantastic and quite tasty. I can also tell that it doesn't possess the same traffic and reputation as Town Hall & Fitger's but any craft beer fan owes it to themselves to check this place out. On top of that, the drive up there is gorgeous.

September

This the month of homebrew reviews. I reviewed not one, not two but seven homebrews. Remember Regular Guy & Angry Inch Brewing? Well I finally was able to sit down and do a proper review of their beers. 

From Angry Inch Brewing:

• Daddy's Honey Pot Saison
• 42 Short & Portly
• Menage a Trois Tripel
• Four Horseman IPA 

From Regular Guy Brewing:

• Smokey Grove Porter
• Hot Blonde Jalapeno
• Unnamed Extra Pale Ale 

Also worth noting is my interview with Sarina Otabi, who is the co-founder of Bluenose Gopher Brewery, an upcoming brewpub that will be based out of Granite Falls, MN which is scheduled to open sometime in the near future. It was a fun interview and I enjoyed learning more about the brewpub and what the future plans are.

October

The big thing to happen to me in October was being brought on board by Northland Beer, a website that is dedicated to raising awareness of the craft beer scene in the Upper Midwest. I am extremely grateful to be part of such a wonderful team and I really enjoy having another outlet to get my name and writing out there.

November & December

Finally to wrap up the year, a couple of pretty big things happened and the first thing I'd like to bring up is finding out that Angry Inch Brewing is planning on opening up their own brewery sometime next year in Lakeville, MN. They were also kind enough to let me officially announce the opening on Northland Beer's main website. 

During a tasting party I attended for Angry Inch Brewing back in November, several people who were at the event were familiar with my blog thanks to word of mouth by Angry Inch and quite fond of my work. To me, it was a very humbling experience and it was fun talking with everyone. 

Overall, it was a fun year and I am looking forward to what next year has in store for me. In fact, I know 2015 is going to be a great year. How do I know this? You'll just have to wait and see.

Thanks for reading and have a Happy New Year!

- Nick

Angry Inch Brewing Company - An Introspective

It's hard to believe all that has happened to me since starting this blog early last year. All the people I've met, the places I've gone, the events I have attended and so forth; But what I'm about to tell you is something so unexpected (in a good way) that even I am still trying to comprehend that it's even happening.

It all started back in January of this year when I connected with Angry Inch Brewing, based out of Rosemount, MN. We started to hit it off right away when I was asking about the name and the close proximity of the brewery to where I used to live. It was mainly batting around ideas of where their future brewery would be located and during that time, we rattled off about half of the streets in the South Metro area.

A few months later during Minnesota Craft Beer Week, I stopped in for a private tasting with Jon & Josh from Angry Inch to see what they were planning on offering, which included their Beer Dabbler Award winning Saison & Dubbel. What was supposed to be an hour long tasting event turned into 3 hour discussion about our experiences in the craft beer industry, hearing the story behind each of the beers they had on tap as well as their plans to one day open a brewery.

As I drove back to Duluth that afternoon, I remember thinking to myself how excellent the beer was and how much love and care they put into each batch which they brew. I also thought to myself that once their brewery opens up, which I thought at the time would be in a few years, that it would be a welcome addition to the South Metro, which lacks the number of breweries as say.....Minneapolis.

During Labor Day Weekend, I was given some samples to review in depth and I enjoyed each and every one given to me. There were some minor changes to a couple of the beers I had tried before but for the better. Again I was still holding onto the belief that a production brewery for Angry Inch was still a few years out.

Now imagine my surprise when, a few weeks back, this exchange happened....

Upon finishing my double-take, my first reaction was that it was an auto-correct typo, as you can see from our conversation above. Of course, I was informed almost immediately that it was, in fact, NOT a typo. It was at this time I had a startling realization:

I was witnessing the birth of a new commercial brewery in Minnesota and I had a front row seat to all the action.

Last week I published my Angry Inch Opening Press Release on Northland Beer, the other website I write for (which you should totally check out.) For those who don't feel like doing more reading, I'll give you the Sparknotes of the Press Release:

• Angry Inch is planning on opening their brewery sometime in Spring/Summer 2015
• They will be located at 20730 Holyoak Ave, Suite 160, Lakeville, MN.
• They plan on having nine draft lines in their taproom. They will consist of six year round offerings, one 6 month rotating seasonal, one 2 month rotating seasonal, and one tapline for an experimental brew.

It has been such a privilege to see how much Angry Inch Brewing has grown this past year and I cannot wait to see how much they will grow in the upcoming year. I also wanted to extend my sincerest thanks to Jon from Angry Inch for giving me the honor of writing & publishing the press release for their grand opening; It is something I am truly grateful for. 

While you wait to try out some of their fantastic beers, for the time being you can do your part by following Angry Inch on social media. You can find them at:

Twitter - https://twitter.com/AngryInchBrew

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Angry-Inch-Brewing/632502360094820

 

I am truly looking forward to writing more about Angry Inch Brewing in the near future, and I cannot wait for the day when beer drinkers everywhere will be able to try out some of their fantastic beers.

Cheers!

- Nick

Nick of the Northland

When I first started this blog last year, my intention was to make it an outlet for my thoughts about the different craft beers I tried out and nothing else. To me, there was nothing better than coming home from work, sitting down at my desk, cracking open a beer, and writing my thoughts about it.

A few months after my blog started, my job brought me to Duluth. It was when I moved here that I discovered that the craft beer scene in this area had a lot to offer and I tried covering it to the best of my abilities. However with all the writing that I was doing, I still considered it to be a hobby, went about my daily routine and gave it no second thought.

Then earlier this year, Dave Grandmaison from The Duluth Experience contacted me to help promote the North Shore Craft Beer Roundtable, to which I was more than happy to help with since I knew just how vibrant the craft beer scene in Duluth-Superior was. After the first Roundtable event, I drove home with my notebook full of notes sitting in the passenger's seat and was thinking of ways I was going to present my notes in a blog post. It was during this time I was hit with a realization that came out of nowhere: I wanted to make a living in the craft brewing industry.

Back in 2012, during my last semester in Augsburg College, I along with other seniors had to take a Keystone course prior to graduating and the purpose of the class was meant to make us reflect on our college experience as well as our respective career paths we had carved out for ourselves. Now when you take a bunch of graduating seniors and put them in a room once a week for 2-3 hours to talk about their college experience, chances are that their attention span will be like that of a five year old who just drank a can of Mountain Dew.

For all the times we brushed off the lectures, one of the professors talked about finding our personal vocation and how some of us will realize our calling when we least expect it. It took me two years after taking that course to figure out what exactly he meant by that, so perhaps he knew what he was talking about after all.

After this actualization, I began to take myself as a writer seriously. Suddenly my writing was no longer about beer reviews. As I continued to do more promotions for The Duluth Experience, I started conducting interviews with figures in the craft brewing industry. I was even taking time to attend craft beer-related events as well as visiting different breweries that were either well-established or that were just starting out.

Then this past June, I met a gentleman by the name of Lee Witte, who runs NorthlandBeer.com along with his partner, Marissa Sauer. I told him about my blog and offered to help promote events that Northland Beer was organizing, of which you have probably seen posts on this past summer.

Recently I was given the opportunity to become a major contributor for Northland Beer as a columnist called Nick of the Northland. It is a position that I am very honored to have and I'm excited to bring my knowledge and expertise to a wider audience. My duties will be mainly covering the craft beer and events in the Upper Midwest, as well as doing special interest posts (i.e. Seasonal recommendations, Q&As, etc.) as well as highlighted beers that I feel should be shared with readers.

Never in a million years would I have guessed that when I first started this blog that it would've taken me here! From all the awesome people I've met to all the fun times that I've had (as well as many more I'll have down the road), I cannot wait to see what the future holds for me.

Now before you start getting any ideas, I'm going to get this out of the way right now. This blog isn't going anywhere. I will still be posting on here as usual. After all, it has been good to me and I still feel there is tons of ground to cover both on the local and national level.

Thank you all for your support & remember.....

"Good people drink good beer."

- Hunter S. Thompson

Cheers!

- Nick

Northland Beer presents the OctoberFest Local-Motive

As we make the transition from summer to fall, not only do the color of the leaves change but also the beer that we drink. That is why it's my pleasure to announce the OctoberFest Local-Motive brought to you by Northland Beer.

The OctoberFest Local-Motive will take passengers on two and a half hour train ride up Lake Superior's North Shore Scenic Railroad, all while being treated to a dinner courtesy of Duluth Grill.

The dinner will be paired with local craft beer from Blacklist Brewing, Bent Paddle Brewing Company and Lake Superior Brewing . Keeping in the spirit of eating and drinking local, the event will also feature local Twin Ports-based musical acts.

The train will depart Saturday, October 11, 2014 at 5:30 to 8:00PM from the Historic Depot located at 506 W. Michigan St. in downtown Duluth. Tickets are $60 and you must be 21 or older to attend. To register, you can sign up at Duluthtrains.com or by calling 218-722-1273

Come celebrate the fall season with Northland Beer and have a great dinner paired with locally-made beer that perfectly showcases Duluth's vibrant craft brewing community. This is truly an event that can only happen along Minnesota's North Shore.

Northland Beer Presents The Duluth-Superior Pride Fest Craft Brew Tent

In a couple of weeks, the 28th annual Duluth-Superior Pride Festival will kick off August 28th thru August 31th and will feature a wide range of events and activities to choose from. That is why it is my pleasure to announce the first ever Duluth-Superior Pride's Craft Brew Tent, sponsored by Northlandbeer.com.

Northland Beer will be running the very first Pride Festival Craft Beer Tent during the Pride Festival in The Park on August 30th from 11am-7pm in Bayfront Park in Duluth. Featured will be beer from Duluth's very own Bent Paddle Brewing and for the first time ever in the Twin Ports, Sociable Cider Werks, Minnesota's very first producer of hard cider.

Come on down to the festivities in Bayfront Park on August 30th, support the GLBTQ community and have some good beer and cider at the same time, courtesy of Northland Beer.

I hope to see you all there.

Cheers!

- Nick

A visit to The Boathouse Brewpub & Restaurant

This week is technically supposed to be my honeymoon, but me and the wife had to improvise as far as what to do for a vacation. Since places like Germany, Mexico, and Italy are (currently) out of the questions, we decided to get away for a couple of days and make our way to beautiful Ely, Minnesota.

Ely is a remote town located in the northern part of Minnesota's Iron Range and is the primary entry point for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) in the Superior National Forest. Ely is considered by many to be the Canoe Capital of the world due to its high production of canoes and proximity to the BWCA. For the record, I had never been to Ely before; In fact, I've only been to the Iron Range maybe about 3-4 times either for Giant's Ridge or for hockey back when I was in high school, so this trip was somewhat of an adventure for myself.

Now I wouldn't be writing about this unless there was beer involved, which in this instance there is. Which brings us to The Boathouse Brewpub, the only brewery located in the Iron Range. Located on the main drag of Sheridan Road (the main street that runs through Ely,) this brewpub has more of a quaint feel to it, yet the atmosphere accurately reflects that Northwoods feel that we all know and love.

Since the drive was about 2 1/2 hours, I decided to sample all of the beers they had on tap through a flight. Keep in mind that a couple of these beers are no longer on tap at the time of writing this but I feel this article accurately reflects the choices that Boathouse offers on a regular basis.

Boathouse Blueberry Blonde - Not only are blueberries used in the brewing process but they actually throw in a couple of blueberries after pouring! A fairly light blonde ale but the blueberry sweetness really livens things up and the fruity and light floral hop finish make for an excellent blonde ale.

Boathouse Husky Hefe - This beer starts out with some malt wheat and banana notes before changing over to a nice berry sweetness and finish. Not complex by any means but a perfect beer for a hot summer day.

Boathouse Dock Star Pilsner - A pilsner with some grassy notes and mild citrus hop sweetness. It possesses a solid pilsner and pale maltiness and finishes rather dry. Perfect beer for the warm summer day outside and the beer of choice for my wife.

Boathouse Katzenjammer IPA - I decided to try out both this and Bearded Fellers side-by-side. This IPA starts out with a nice citrus hop profile with a solid caramel malt backbone and a bitter floral hop finish.

Boathouse Bearded Fellers IPA - On the flipside, this IPA has a fairly strong piney hop profile upfront with a fairly mild caramel maltiness and a bitter resiny finish. Though they had two IPAs on tap, the differences were fairly obvious. Still a good IPA though!

Boathouse Off-Kilter Scottish Wee Heavy - Very smokey taste all around with some prominent peated scotch notes. The aftertaste opens up to a surprisingly strong (for the style) dry hoppiness and caramel sweetness. Definitely one of the smokier wee heavies I've had but I found it to be nicely balanced.

After trying out their beers, I would say that Boathouse Brewpub is definitely worth the drive up to Ely, especially if you're looking for something new or if you're in the mood for some truly local beer. They also have BWCA-legal plastic growlers in case you want to bring some with you canoeing. On one final note, it's worth mentioning that drive up there is gorgeous! I mean it when I say that the Northwoods are absolutely beautiful at this time of year and the clear skies made it even more so which makes the experience all the more enjoyable.

The Northland Beer Dinner Train

As the North Shore Craft Beer Scene grows with each passing day, with it are the ways we can enjoy what is has to offer. That is why it is my pleasure to announce the Dinner Train from NorthlandBeer.com.

The train ride will take you up the picturesque Lake Superior Shoreline along the Northshore Scenic Railroad onboard the Lake of the Isles Dining Car. While you take in the beautiful sights of Minnesota's North Shore, you will be treated to a first class dinner courtesy of Executive Chef Richard Salz from JJ Astor Restaurant in Duluth. The dinner itself will feature beer pairings from Duluth's very own Lake Superior Brewing Company. There will also be beer available from Bent Paddle & South Shore Brewing as well as a cash bar for patrons.

Departure is on July 5th, 2014 at 6:30 PM from the Historic Duluth Depot located at 506 W. Michigan Street in Downtown Duluth, MN.

Tickets will be $59 and you must be 21 or older to attend. To reserve your spot, you can register at www.duluthtrains.com or you can call at 218-722-1273.

Spend the 4th of July weekend in style and join Northland Beer for this exciting and unique experience that can only happen here along Minnesota's North Shore.