Minnesota Craft Beer Week 2014 - Day 2 (A personal account)

On the second day, it started out as a fairly uneventful day. In the morning I was at my fiance's house having some breakfast whilst her family catching up on the latest episode of India's Got Talent via online streaming on the living room TV. Let me tell you, if the American version was just as entertaining as the one I viewed that morning, I would probably be a regular viewer....maybe.

After me and my fiance left her house, we swung by Elevated Beer Wine & Spirits to take advantage of the discounted Minnesota Craft Beer promotion they were running in honor of Minnesota Craft Beer Week. When we were finished there, we deliberated as to where we would go first decided we would make our way to Great Waters Brewing Company located in downtown St. Paul. Like Dangerous Man the day before, this was my first time at the brewery.

For my beer of choice, I settled for the St. Walpurgis Night Maibock while my fiance had the Chipotle Pale which she found to be quite good.

Great Waters St. Walpurgis Night Maibock - Fairly light bodied with some light honey and pale malt flavors. The floral hop flavor is minor but it does help balance out the flavor profile a little bit.

Sadly that was the only beer I had there and in retrospect, I felt that I should've done a flight as they had quite a few selections on tap there. After finishing up there, my little brother messaged me to let me know that he was free to celebrate his 21st (belated) birthday in St. Louis Park. Since I was going to be in that area, our next stop was The Four Firkins to sample a pin of Surly Blakkr with Simcoe & Centennial hops.

Surly Blakkr w/ Simcoe & Centennial Hops - While I thought the original had a very prominent citrus hop & fruity characteristic even by Black IPA standards, they are only further enhanced by the Simcoe & Centennial Hops. Depending on how you like your beers, you'll either love it or hate it. Personally, I thought it was quite delicious.

While we were at the The Firkins, Jason Alvey, the store owner, was sampling a bottle of Or De Belgique Verte, the newest release from the Duluth-based Blacklist Brewing. The reception amongst the crowd was very positive and for good reason; It's a very flavorful Belgian-style ale and it's also local!

After finishing up at The Four Firkins, we met up with my little brother at Bunny's Bar & Restaurant a few blocks over to celebrate his 21st birthday. When I was looking over the tap selection, I noticed their beer of the month was an offering from Enki Brewing, whom I've had just a couple of beers from before. The beer on tap was Ceili, an Irish Red Ale. It had been a while since I've had an Irish Red Ale so I ordered up a pint for myself.

Enki Brewing Ceili - A light bodied beer with some light floral hops, toasty barley, pale & munich malts with a lightly hopped aftertaste.

Overall it was a good day but it felt a bit underwhelming to me because I felt I could've tried more. Still it was awesome to try out some new beers and I knew the next day would be even better. Stay tuned for my next post as I think you will be in for a treat!


Cheers!

Nick

Steel Toe Provider Ale Review

I remember when Steel Toe Brewing opened up back in 2011 because it's opening was delayed due to the MN State Government shutdown during that summer. When it finally did open, the residents of St. Louis Park proudly had a brewery they could call their own. Their availability in liquor is slowly expanding and is currently available at only a select few liquor stores and bars in Minneapolis & St. Paul.

I had their Rainmaker Double Amber Ale last year and found it to be quite good so keep an eye out for that review in the near future. I'll be taking a look at Steel Toe's Provider Ale, which is their blonde ale. It's also the first Steel Toe beer I had ever had after it was recommended to me at the Four Firkins early last year.

It pours a wet yellow color with a fairly strong haze and carbonation. The head itself is decently sized but is rather soapy in terms of lacing and retention.

The nose gives off a strong yeasty and floral hop scent along with some malty notes. Along with that is a very slight earthy scent that reminds me of a Pilsener.

Flavor-wise it's not too different from the aroma. You have your yeasts, floral hops, cloves and malts, which all come off as surprisingly vibrant considering it's style. The earthy scent I mentioned before is not present here.

It's a heavier ale but with a light carbonation which helps add to the flavor, so you'll have no difficulty drinking this beer.

Provider is the beer I keep finding myself coming back to in case I'm unsure what I want to get. It's not complex or perfect but I know it's a beer that I can't really go wrong with and I know that it will go good with dinner regardless of what I'm eating. What I'm trying to say is that when it comes to Blonde Ales, Provider pulls it off quite well.

Steel Toe Provider Ale - 8/10