All posts by Corey Butler

Hi, I'm Corey. I like craft beer; specifically, like a lot of people here, I like Minnesota beer. I'm co-host of On Tap with Corey and Ira, a biweekly radio show and podcast out of Northfield that explores southern Minnesota breweries and beer. Find us on Facebook and Twitter @OnTapNorthfield. I'm a recovering journalist -- now communications guy -- and wannabe great fisherman. Follow me on Twitter @CoreyButlerMN.
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Summer on the mind with Summit Boundary Waters Box

It’s going to be a good couple of seasons for Minnesotans.

A couple old-time favorites are making a return in April as part of Summit’s Boundary Waters Box, including Summit’s Hefeweizen and Keller Pils, which debuted last year. That duo is joined by the always enjoyable Summer Ale and a debuting Summit Wit Bier. Each 12-ounce beer will be represented three times in the variety pack.

First introduced in 2002, the classic German wheat beer hasn’t been brewed by Summit since 2011.

“This classical style was first developed by the brewers of Bavaria, Germany, to refresh thirsty beer lovers during hot continental European summers,” says Summit head brewer Damian McConn. “It was one of our very first seasonal beers, and with its effervescent, slightly dry finish, beautiful golden haze, and billowing head of foam atop the glass, this is truly one of the most refreshing beer styles available.”

Summit says its Wit Bier will feature a light body and a slightly dry, tart finish.

“Wit Biers contain significant amounts of protein and yeast in suspension,” says Damo. “They’re typically lightly hopped and lower in alcohol, containing pale malt, malted and unmalted wheat, and a touch of oats for mouthfeel and body. Our Summit Wit Bier follows this traditional profile, with small amounts of orange peel, grains of paradise, and fresh-ground coriander enhancing the final beer’s citrus and herbal qualities.

“For a unique spin on this world classic,” Damo adds, “we’ve used 100 percent Mandarina Bavaria hops and an obscure Belgian white yeast strain for aromas of peach, apricot, and additional citrus refreshment.”

The Boundary Waters Box will be released the first week of April.


Summit Hefeweizen information
ABV: 4.8%
IBU: 18
Color: Harvest Gold (7L)
Malts: German Pils, US Pils, US Wheat, Carapils, Carawheat
Hops: Tettnang
Yeast: German Ale Yeast
Serving Tips: Serve at 38–42ºF in a Hefeweizen glass. Skip the lemon wedge and instead pair your Hefe with traditional German dishes like weisswurst, wiener schnitzel, and spaetzle. Also try white fish, chicken flautas, or Bavarian salad.

Summit Wit Bier information
ABV: 4.8%
IBU: 15
Color: Pale Straw (5L)
Malts: Pils Malt, Wheat Malt, Acidulated Malt, Raw Wheat, Flaked Oats
Hops: Mandarina Bavaria
Kettle Additions: Orange peel, grains of paradise, fresh-ground coriander
Yeast: Belgian Ale Yeast
Serving Tips: Serve in a stemmed wheat beer glass at 38–42F. Pair with shellfish, steamed mussels, gruyere cheese, fruit salad, goat’s cheese omelet, or white pizza.

Summit Keller Pils
IBUs: 38
ABV: 5.1%
Color: Pale Straw (4L)
Malts: Weyermann Barke Pilsner Malt
Hops: Tettnang, Huell Melon
Yeast: German Lager
Serving Tips: Serve in a Pilsner glass. Pair with foods like Caesar salad bites, grilled meat with chimichurri sauce, pork belly, or street tacos.

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Surdyk’s pulls expensive Sunday sales stunt

The internet was ablaze Sunday after Surdyk’s Liquor and Cheese Shop opened — more than three months ahead of schedule of the first legal Sunday liquor sales date on July 2.

Credit: Grondin’s Sunday Selfie

Ignoring requests from the city of Minneapolis to close down, Surdyk’s was issued a $2,000 fine and a 30-day suspension of its liquor license starting July 2, according to WCCO. The very first Sunday all other Minnesota liquor stores (if locally allowed) will be able to LEGALLY open for Sunday liquor sales.

The store has a sordid history with some Minnesota consumers. Store ownership has been a longtime opponent of Sunday liquor sales and has drawn some outrage in the past for their pricing tactics.

overpriced surly surdyks liquor

Jim Surdyk, the owner of the liquor store, told several media outlets on Sunday that because the bill was signed by Gov. Mark Dayton, there was no reason to wait until July to be open on Sunday.

No word on if the suspension will impact their partnership with Amazon.com. Surdyk’s is the sole Twin Cities partner for Amazon Prime’s liquor delivery service.

Surdyk’s Liquor does have an opportunity to appeal the decision.

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Modist Brewing Co. begins distribution

The Twin Cities beer market is about to be modified.

Modist Brewing Co., the North Loop brewery that does brewing just a little differently than the rest of the crowd, goes to market on Thursday, March 7 with its first two 16-ounce can releases. Previously, crowlers have been available in select stores, but the release of First Call, a cold press coffee lager, and Dream Yard, an American IPA, represents the brewery’s first true-to-form multi-pack beer bliss with four packs.

About that beer ..

First Call, according to Modist, uses “barley and oats to create a light, clean beer with a nice full body, the infuse it with an outstanding espresso roast from local coffee roasters Welsey Andrews.”

Dream Yard, on the other hand, is a hazy, juicy American IPA that is created through the brewery’s “ability of our mash filter system to create a grain bill that is almost entirely oats and wheat. The properties of the grain create a fantastic haze that helps to lock in the aromas and flavors from an insane amount of Citra and Denali hops.”

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Tanzenwald Brewing Company opening in Northfield

There’s no place like home — or, well, some place fairly close to it.

For Steve Pittman and Jenaveve Bell Pittman, who grew up in the La Crosse, Wis. area, their new city of Northfield and brewery will be home from here on out.

The two, who didn’t know each other growing up, met in California after both attended college in the Twin Cities. Steve, who most previously served as a brewer at Lagunitas Brewing Company, and Jenaveve, with decades of experience in the food industry, wanted to return to their Midwest roots.

They landed in Northfield, and plan to open Tanzenwald Brewing Company by late winter.

They recently took some time to chat with Minnesota Beer Activists.

What brought you to Northfield?

We knew we wanted to come back to the Midwest. We missed our families and the winter is in our bones. Nothing against California, but we’re just pureblooded Midwesterners. We’re also country folk. We knew we wanted to live close to a metropolitan area for distribution, but not in a city. We also didn’t want to live in any old suburb either.

We were searching for the perfect small town on the outskirts of the Twin Cities, Madison, Chicago and even Detroit. The Twin Cities being our first choice, as that is where we both went to college and its closest to our families. Jenaveve had been to Northfield regularly over the last 10 years visiting her best friend and always loved the town, but it wasn’t until her friend told her about a great old building that was available a few blocks from downtown that we considered Northfield. It was really a no-brainer. It was perfect. Perfect size, wonderful people, great culture and the building! We really scored with this spot. This building was sitting vacant for decades, and for good reason; it really was atrocious inside. When we visited last year it was dirty, filled with junk and falling apart, but we saw a diamond in the rough. It took a lot of work, but it’s really an incredible spot. And you just can’t find a community like Northfield anywhere; believe us, we’ve tried. This place is something special.

What does Minnesota’s current brewing scene and continual growth tell you about the Minnesota beer consumer and market?

The current brewing scene here is exciting, as it is in California and everywhere else, really. People are digging craft beer, and it’s amazing to see and be a part of, because it’s a multi-generational thing. You see young hip 20-somethings bringing their parents and grandparents into a taproom and hanging out together.  The difference between Minnesota and California is that the market here is not quite as developed as the west coast. There are a lot of seasoned vets in California and they have carved out huge chunks of the market out there. To start a new brewery there means you really need to try hard to stand out. Luckily, they have a great craft customer base and a quite a few large metros. Minnesota feels like its heading that way right now, but with lots of space for the small brewer to be successful without having to be gimmicky.

What can people expect from Tanzenwald?

Well, they can expect a heck of a good time, that’s for damn sure! We’re the kind of people that like to have fun, and creating a company culture that is celebratory in nature is important to us. That’s the whole point of beer and food.  

As far as beer styles go: We tend to think of beer non-stylistically. The whole history of traditional beer styles is based on what was the best tasting beer created with the ingredients in hand. That is essentially our goal. We want to explore taste profiles, and the main ones that interest us right now are hoppy beer, lagers and sours. Lagunitas turned us into hop-heads and created an appreciation for the range of flavors hops can input on beer beyond the bitterness of IPAs. As Midwesterners growing up in the backyard of the G. Heileman’s Brewery, lagers were the beer that we grew up on and still have much appreciation for, plus they are due for a craft-influenced renaissance. Sour beers are becoming hot right now, and there is a reason for that. The flavors of a sour can be complex and multidimensional, and we feel they can be a great way of showcasing the amazing range of flavor that beer is capable of.

We hope that people can come in and get something from us that is interesting and well done. The taps will be rotating constantly, but if something is popular, and that is a huge compliment, we plan to start honing things in. Not saying flagships be damned, but our customers will have a say in our identity, which we think is cool.

The food will be globally influenced and locally sourced. That is our kitchen’s motto. Our signature dishes will be what we call tatkes (a cross between a tater tot and a latke), our house-made sausages, and spaetzle; but besides these quintessential German items, we also have empanadas, fish tacos, lamb kabobs and a Vietnamese Bahn Mi sandwich. Just like our beer styles, we don’t want to limit ourselves to any certain genre.  

We are looking forward to distributing our beer in kegs to bars and restaurants. Someday, we will start packaging, but we don’t even want to think about that right now. We just want to get our doors open.

Imminent Brewing is being built less than a mile away. Chapel Brewery (formerly Meetinghall Brewery) is the next town over in Dundas. There’s also Loon Liquors and its cocktail room in Northfield. Do you view other breweries in the immediate area as a positive for bringing more people to town who may not be willing to drive the — gasp — 30-45 minutes from the metro area for one brewery?

We just moved from a city of 50,000 people that had six breweries, one of them being Lagunitas, the nation’s third-largest craft brewery, and none of them were struggling. They definitely fed off one another. There’s strength in numbers. The fact that Northfield is about to become a craft beer hub is incredibly exciting for us. So, yes, having Imminent and Chapel open will definitely be in our best interest because that makes Northfield so much more of a draw for craft beer tourism.

What’s the plan for Tanzenwald in five years?

We hope to have a dedicated following at the taproom and be opening our second location on Mars.

More from Tanzenwald:
Website
Facebook
KYMN 1080 Radio interview

 

 

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Beers to enjoy as the weather chills

Quick! There’s not much time left until frost is a daily word again and snow is on the horizon. Some beers are firmly in the fall category, some in the winter category and some, like the three listed below, can be enjoyed in either setting. But don’t waste any time. Check them out for yourself today!
Rood Tart Red Ale
Borealis Fermentery
2016-06-23_014740456_da435_ios
Borealis Fermentery is known for its small-batch Belgian style ales made in a small timber frame strawbale brewery in Knife River just north of Duluth. Borealis is also known because owner and brewer Ken Thiemann has been kicking out high-quality beers for a while, and one to consider as the crisp air returns and brings us toward that cold winter nip is Rood, a tart red ale. Once a winter seasonal, the popularity of this tart, but not-too-sour ale, led Ken to produce it year-round. Grab one today.

Watts Wheat Wine
Tin Whiskers Brewing Company

This anniversary beer is still lingering about with a little searching. It’s a big beer at 9.4% ABV, which will keep you warm in the coming months. Tin Whiskers continues to increase its footprint and this Wheat Wine, with its notes of orange, honey, and peppercorn is one to please Twin Cities consumers.

Yamma Jamma Harvest Ale
Indeed Brewing Company

I’m not ready to let go of fall just quite yet, how about you? While I love a good brown ale and my share of Oktoberfests, I’m one of the few (the many?) who really enjoys a pumpkin — or yam — beer, if done well. Count Indeed’s Yamma Jamma Harvest Ale among them. Brewed with sweet potatoes (yes!) and delicately spiced, Yamma Jamma hits all the right notes as the mercury bounces between cozy and chilly. It’s equally perfect to be enjoyed by an evening fire as it is by the TV watching the Vikings defeat whatever team is on the schedule (keep hope alive). Hurry, though, distribution ends in November. I can’t imagine this festive brew will stay on shelves for long.

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Harpoon Brewery entering Minnesota

An East Coast favorite will soon be available in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

Massachusetts-based Harpoon Brewery is partnering with J.J. Taylor Distributing Company, bringing the New England-brewed beer to the Twin Cities.

Known for its Harpoon IPA, Minnesota is the first new state in eight years for Harpoon Brewery to expand to.

“We couldn’t be more thrilled about bringing our beer to Minnesota,” said Harpoon CEO and co-founder Dan Kenary. “There’s a fantastic craft beer scene here, and we’re excited to add some New England flavor to it. Drinking beer in the Twin Cities and the north woods over the years, I’ve seen that there are many like-minded beer drinkers out here, who love beer and love life like we do.”

Harpoon Winter Warmer and a new year-round golden ale, called Harpoon Sweet Spot, are also expected to enter the market, according to the company. The brewery will also kick winter into high gear with its seasonal ‘Tis the Seasonal Winter Mix, which includes the aforementioned beers and its Vanilla Bean Porter.

J.J. Taylor is happy to add to its offerings.

“We are excited to expand our outstanding portfolio with the world class beers from Harpoon Brewery,” stated Chris Morton, President of J.J. Taylor Distributing Company of MN, Inc. “We look forward to a long and successful partnership.”

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A six-pack plus one to try for Fourth of July

Sun’s out, guns out. Eh, maybe not.

But, as we look to celebrate our independence on July 4 and the mercury nears its peak, a few staples quickly come to mind, including our favorite topic around here: beer.

As someone who admittedly steers towards IPAs and stouts (I mean, who doesn’t?), it’s sometimes difficult for me to enjoy too many “summer” beers. I’ve gone to work and compiled a list of six seven Minnesota beers I recently enjoyed and encourage you to give them a go for the long weekend. As always, you, too, can share in the fortune of these Minnesota-made beers as they are available at all the finest off-sale joints (as well as taprooms), with the exception of Lake Monster’s Serpent Summer Ale.

And, here’s my usual general disclaimer: I’m not a cicerone. I’m just a guy who likes beer and relies on liquor stores for most of my beer. I’m not often disappointed, as you’ve no doubt seen in previous posts (and will see in this one). Maybe I’m easy to please.

Breweries featured: Take 16 Brewing Co., Blacklist Artisan Ales, Waconia Brewing, Fulton Brewing, Indeed Brewing, Insight Brewing and Lake Monster Brewing.

Take 16 Brewing Co., Luverne

  • Hayloft, hefeweizen (12-ounce bottle)

take16

A small southwestern brewery growing its footprint, Take 16 Brewing Co. launched in 2014. It’s steadily expanded its beer and operations, starting bottling in late 2015. Their beers can now be found in Mankato and beyond (I’ve seen them in Lonsdale and Northfield).

Like some of its better counterparts sprinkled throughout Greater Minnesota, Take 16 is definitely worth tracking down. All of its beers are clean and refreshing, but for a hot, summer day on the water, grab their Hayloft hefeweizen. It’s quickly become a go-to for a style I don’t usually drink.

 

Blacklist Artisan Ales, Duluth

  • Makrut Wit, Belgian-style wheat ale (750-ml bottle)

Here’s another brewery in the midst of growth, including opening a new taproom in downtown Duluth (aiming for opening this summer). Blacklist focuses on small batches and brews in the Belgian tradition. All Blacklist beers come in a 750-ml bomber bottles and are corked. Any decent liquor store should have a row dedicated to these guys (many do), so they’re not hard to find.

They’ve earned the shelf; Makrut Wit, made with Makrut lime leaves, popped with a smooth fruit flavor, aided by coriander and orange peel. It was a real pleaser.

 

Waconia Brewing, Waconia

  • Paradise Island DIPA (750-ml bottle)

Here’s another specialty offer from Waconia Brewing, which focuses mostly on taproom-only releases. This DIPA, like Waconia’s previous release, Waconiator, is a nice beer. I may have held on to this beer a little long before opening it, but the 25.9-oz bottle still opened to and poured with a great aroma, and had a nice balance to the beer upon consumption. I’m not shy to say I had no problem drinking this solo in one (short) sitting. Like its predecessor, this beer, coming in at 9.8 percent ABV and 88 IBU, has limited availability and can most easily be found in the west metro. You may want to work up to this one as your shoulders brown (or, redden, as it were).

 

Fulton Brewing, Minneapolis

  • War & Peace, imperial coffee stout (12-ounce bottle)

Fulton probably doesn’t need much introduction to the initiated, but for those who haven’t had the privilege to check out their lineup, their beers are ones to check out.

For me, as a break from light, crisp (and sometimes hoppy) beers, I just need to dip my toes in a stout. Look no further than the War & Peace imperial coffee stout for a change of pace as the sun dips and the air cools. Or, if you’re on the boat for fishing at dawn, have at it. It does have coffee in its name, right?

 

Indeed Brewing, Minneapolis

  • Shenanigans Summer Ale (12-ounce can)

Another brewery that doesn’t need an introduction. Indeed’s annual summer offering, Shenanigans, is known as a crowd pleaser and it didn’t disappoint me. It’s a light-bodied beer (5 percent ABV) that has the wheat and Indeed-favorite honey flavors coming through, aided by the lemon and orange notes. Strongly endorsed for golfing, fishing and anything else above ground.

 

Insight Brewing, Minneapolis

  • In the Halls of the Sunken City, saison and sauv blanc grapes (16-ounce can)

Insight Brewing is quickly gaining a reputation for sleek branding, as well as sleek beer. All four of its mainstay offerings are good, but they may not be for everyone, mostly because the “average” beer drinker may be unfamiliar with and turned off by such ingredients as sauv blanc grapes or yuzu; to those people, I say just try it, then form an opinion.

The saison, made with sauv blanc grapes, is a palate pleaser. It’ll be a refreshing beverage as your steak slowly works toward perfection.

 

Lake Monster Brewing, St. Paul

  • Serpent Summer Ale (taproom only)

One of the rare Minnesota breweries that had distribution before a taproom, Lake Monster has been on the market for a few years and benefited from honing in their flagship beers before throwing out a bunch of recipes. Both the Calhoun Claw Pilsener and Empty Rowboat IPA, the latter in particular, have been heralded by many and for good reason. They’re just good, easy-drinking beers.

But you should make a visit to the Lake Monster taproom (sweet space) and pick up a growler of the Serpent Summer Ale, a Belgian wheat style ale. It has a very smooth, citrusy taste. It’s good on the front and back.

Cheers!

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Boom Island hosting second annual Pints & Pups event

pintsandpumps

Boom Island Brewing Company presents its second annual Pints & Pups fundraising event on Saturday.

The event, which is 1-6 p.m. in the Boom parking lot, is hosting seven fostering and adoption agencies. The aim of the event is to raise dollars and awareness for animals in need of forever homes.

Boom Island is donating a portion of its sales from the entire day (until 9 p.m.) to the participating rescue organizations.

A dog-washing truck, dog treats and dog daycare services will also be available. And, it wouldn’t be a pooch event without Nate Dogs to serve some quality meat to the humankind.

Well-behaved and leashed dogs are encouraged to attend.

Find out more information about Pints & Pups at the Boom Island website.