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

Thirsty Pagan Velo Saison Review

Despite what the growler says, this is indeed a Thirsty Pagan beer.

Name: Thirsty Pagan Velo Saison
Style: Saison
ABV: 6%

I feel that I've been neglecting the local craft beer scene for a while in terms of reviews so I decided to switch it up tonight and review an offering from Thirsty Pagan Brewing, located over in neighboring Superior, Wisconsin. For those of you unfamiliar with the area, Thirsty Pagan is the only brewery located over in Superior, Wisconsin whereas compared to the numerous breweries located over in Duluth. I also think that they serve the best pizza in the area but of course that is just my opinion.

For this review I have their Velo Saison, which is their Saison-style ale and it's usually on their regular line-up whenever I go in. A quick fun fact: Velo is the French word for "Bicycle"

Velo Saison pours a hazy yellow color with a average foamy head with decent retention. The visible carbonation is mild and the lacing is decent.

The aroma starts off with some notes of cloves and Belgian Yeasts backed up by some nice floral hops and a solid malty backbone.

Likewise, the flavor isn't too different from the nose. It starts off with a strong Belgian yeast spiciness/cloveiness before the floral hops make themselves known at as it finishes up. There is also an encompassing malty backbone that helps even everything out. The aftertaste is a light Belgian yeast and floral hoppiness.

The palate as a whole is more moderate in weight but thankfully the carbonation is very mild so you shouldn't have any difficulty trying to drink this.

Velo Saison is a very enjoyable and rather robust Saison-style ale. Usually if I'm not really sure what to get while I'm there (or not feeling like a sour that day), I can always rely on this beer in terms of flavor and quality.

Thirsty Pagan Velo Saison - 8.5/10

Canal Park Dawn Treader Review

Name: Canal Park Dawn Treader
Style: Tripel
ABV: 9.2%

Around a year ago, a new brewpub opened it's doors here in Duluth much to the delight of beer geeks, locals and tourists alike. It's name is Canal Park Brewing Company and it gets it's name from the Canal Park area of Duluth which is where it's located. It's also a frequent tourist destination year round here in Duluth so it's usually packed whenever there's something going on here in town, which is almost every weekend.

To celebrate their 1 year in business, I've decided to honor this occasion by reviewing the first beer that I ever had from this brewpub: Dawn Treader Tripel. It's not too often you see a brewpub with a year round Tripel offering, but Canal Park has just that.

Dawn Treader pours a clear golden color with a foamy head and a good amount of lacing. The carbonation visible is moderate in appearance.

The nose has some strong spicy, clove, banana and fruity notes paired with some pale malts and mild citrus hops.

Flavor-wise, the maltiness has a bit more of an obvious presence with caramel, cloves, bananas, citrus hops and yeast/biscuits. The aftertaste is a mixture of banana-cloves and spiciness.

It's got a medium weighted feel to it and the carbonation is just a notch below moderate, which is perfect for allowing the flavors to settle in.

This is the perfect beer to try out if you're a seasoned beer aficionado looking to get acquainted with Canal Park for the first time. It's rich, robust and it's available all-year round!

Canal Park Dawn Treader - 9.25/10

Northbound Smokehouse Light Rail Pale Ale

Recently there has been a huge growth of taprooms & brewpubs in the past couple of years here in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. Due to my limited budget as of right now, I can only eat out every once in a while and it's cheaper for me to buy beer at the store than get it on tap at a bar. I expect this to change a month from now when I'm at my new job and making some real money. I decided to treat myself for my new job so yesterday I decided to make a visit to the Northbound Smokehouse.
Northbound Smokehouse opened up last year and is located at the corner of 38th St. E and 28th Ave S.

If the fermentation tanks were not visible, you would think this is just another neighborhood watering hole. So I went in, had a seat at the bar and asked the waitress what beer was worth trying out and decided on the Light Rail Pale Ale and ordered a Bacon Cheeseburger to go along with it.

To start out, it pours a mildy hazy orange color with a little bit of carbonation making their way to the top. Not really any lacing to be had so in finishes rather clean.

The nose has a moderately pungent aroma of citrus, piney hops, malts, and barley. The citrus and malt notes in particular give this beer a rather sweet aroma but not overtly so.

The flavor has more of a piney hop flavor to it, with the citrus and malt sweetness taking more of a backseat and giving it more of a balance than the nose. Aftertaste is a dry resin flavor which has a bit of dryness to it.

The body is moderate in weight and the carbonation is also fairly light. It's not crisp but it's very easy to drink and it helps with the food pairing.

In terms of Pale Ales, there's nothing extraordinary about it and that's just fine! What it is good at is that it's just a solid Pale Ale and it pairs very well with food. You can tell by talking with the staff at Northbound that they're very passionate about beer and that's always refreshing! If you're ever in the Longfellow neighborhood you should stop by, and grab a pint; You will not be disappointed.

Northbound Smokehouse Light Rail Pale Ale - 8/10

Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Review

Name: Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier
Style: Smoked Beer
ABV: 5.4%

I'm a fan of Smoked Beers (or Rauchbier in German), and not just because it tastes like ham. I've always enjoyed the uniqueness of the flavor and the cycle as to how it's made. It's also considered to be an authentic German-Style beer and one of the reasons why I want my upcoming honeymoon to be in Germany though my fiance insists we go to France.

When I first wanted to get into Smoked Beers, I was unsure where to start so one of the clerks recommended I try out the (Aecht) Schlenkerla Rauchbier  for starters mainly because of it's price and popularity.

According to what I have found out, Schlenkerla is a brewpub based out of Bamberg, Germany, which itself is a UNESCO World Hertiage Site. According to the brewery's website, Schlenkerla has been around since the 15th Century.

So I took this home and a couple days later I tried it out. Needless to say I fell in love with it and the Rauchbier style, so this is more or less a re-review.

To start out, it pours a dark brown color with a foamy, but fizzy head. Really doesn't leave behind anything in terms of lacing and it's dark appearance makes it hard to see any sorts of carbonation save for a few bubbles climbing up the sides

The smell is a outdoorsman's dream. You got an aroma of Smoked Ham/Bacon, Oak and Roasted Malts. There is also an aroma of Bonfire that reminds me of going up to our family's cabin in the middle of the summer. We'd cook smoked ham, pancakes and eggs over an open bonfire pit before heading out fishing for the day.

The flavor is just like the smell....but better! It has some very strong ham notes and some equally strong smoke notes on the back of the palate, which gives way to the oak/wood flavor. The roasted malts also give the flavor a dimension of sweetness that keeps the beer from tasting too woodsy/smokey. I've forgotten how awesome this flavor is until now!

The body is light and the carbonation is rather mild as well, which feels very smooth when drinking. Despite the fact this is an easy drinker, you'll want to savor this beer as much as you possibly can.

Since I've first had Schlenkerla Rauchbier, I've had many different variations of the Smoked Beer Style from different breweries. While all of them were good in their own respects, Schlenkerla always leaves the biggest impression on me.With that said, this beer (and style) is not for everyone, mainly the causal drinker and those who don't like "unusual" flavors in their beer. However, if you're feeling slightly adventurous, like the smell of bacon, and looking for a truly authentic German Beer, then this one if for you!

Schlenkerla Rauchbier : 9.5/10