All posts by Kevin Swanberg

Kevin Swanberg is an avid craft beer lover and home brewer. In the past, Kevin has brewed for Canal Park Brewing Company in Duluth. You can follow his experiments in homebrewing at amniconbrewing.tumblr.com!, or follow him on twitter: @Swan_Nerd.

Featured, Newsfeed

Why You Should Care About That Grain Belt Sign

February 3, 2016 Kevin Swanberg

You’ve probably already heard that Schell’s has bought the iconic Grain Belt Beer sign that overlooks the Mississippi river in Minneapolis. They plan to restore and re-light the sign by 2017. And if you’ve heard that, then you’ve almost definitely heard that Schell’s is planning to brew a new beer to celebrate this acquisition – a copper lager by the name of Lock & Dam Lager under the Grain Belt brand. The promise of a new lager from a brewery putting out some of the best lagers in the state is definitely exciting news. Remember, Schell’s has taken home GABF medals for Firebrick and Oktoberfest. Even Grain Belt won silver in 2014 and gold in 1994. Despite all this, you might be wondering why we should be so excited about them planning to buy and restore an old beer sign. I mean, Grain Belt isn’t on most craft beer lovers top ten lists. And it is after all, just a rusty old sign.

A Rich History

Grain Belt Brewery — The Historic Minnesota Brewing Company Brewery

Grain Belt isn’t just another pale lager that just happens to be brewed in Minnesota. Much like the malted barley used to produce beer, Grain Belt is steeped in the history of Minnesota. To get to the origins of Grain Belt, we must look back to July of 1890, when four breweries joined together to create the Minneapolis Brewing and Malting Company. This name was later shortened to The Minneapolis Brewing Company. The new brewery this conglomerate constructed would be one of the largest producers of beer of its time. It eventually producing half a million barrels of beer every year. For reference, there is not a single brewery in Minnesota today producing that much – Schell’s comes closest at 131,000 barrels per year. This brewery still stands in Minneapolis to this day, and its unique style stands out. When it was built four different architectural styles were used to honor the four original breweries. It’s this that gives the brewery it’s “mismatched” style.

And the most popular beer of Minneapolis Brewing Company? The Golden Grain Belt Old Lager, whose name honored this part of the country. Minneapolis Brewing Company produced more beer than almost any other brewery in the state, bested only by the Theodore Hamm Brewing Company. Grain Belt was being sold as far away as Michigan, Illinois, and Nebraska. In today’s time of interstate trucks and international distribution this may not seem impressive, but for the time it was a rare achievement.

After prohibition ended Grain Belt returned strong and became one of the most popular beers in the country. But by the 1950s sales had faltered and in 1975 the brand was bought and quickly sold to the G. Heileman Brewing Company in La Crosse, Wisconsin. This would take Grain Belt out of Minnesota, at least temporarily. This would be the last time the Grain Belt Beer sign lit up the Mississippi River.

A Bright Future for Grain Belt

In 2001 Schell’s purchased the brand, returning it to Minnesota and restoring its popularity. It has again become one of the most popular brands of the Midwest, and in 2010 released a new beer, Nordeast, in honor of Northeast Minneapolis. By restoring that old sign Schell’s is restoring an integral part of craft beer – and Minnesota – history.

Every brewery in Minnesota today owes a nod to the Minneapolis Brewing Company and Grain Belt, who were pioneers in Minnesota beer. And yes, in the end, we are just talking about a sign. Nonetheless, I look forward to seeing its light reflecting on the Mississippi again, a symbol of not just Minnesota’s rich history, but the exploding beer culture in our state.

Head to Schell’s website or Twitter for more updates.

Featured, Review

10 Must Try Minnesota Beers This Holiday Season

December 18, 2015 Kevin Swanberg

With the holidays upon us, the liquor store shelves are inundated with winter warmers, Christmas ales, and other seasonal specialties. Choosing the right beers for your gatherings this holiday season can be difficult, so I sat down with RJ White, Beer Manager at The Ale Jail in St. Paul to taste the hottest seasonals coming out of Minnesota right now. In addition to helping with sampling, RJ and The Ale Jail also generously curated this selection of Minnesota winter beers.

holiday beers — Our holiday tasting selection

Barley John’s Boggan Brew Winter Ale

Perhaps the latest brewery to begin producing beer in cans, Barley John’s have started strong with four flagship beers and this seasonal, a winter ale. For a winter ale this had a very welcome and unique spice presence. Instead of the standard cinnamon and nutmeg notes, we tasted a very novel array of flavors including anise, Amaretto, cherries, almonds, and cardamom. The spice flavor was strong but not overpowering, complementing the caramel malt flavor and balanced bitterness.

Bauhaus Brew Labs Tallander Scottish Ale & Winterloper Baltic Porter

Tallander is the newest beer from Bauhaus, a Scottish Ale that just hit the shelves this last week. It starts with an enticing biscuity aroma with light roasty notes. The flavor was surprisingly roasty, with hints of stone fruit from the yeast, and great notes of toffee.

Another seasonal beer from Bauhaus, their Winterloper Baltic Porter, stays true to Bauhaus’s focus on lager styles. With sweet notes of chocolate and caramel, this is a phenomenal beer with the strong, complex flavors of your typical porter, but an easy-drinking, dangerously smooth and crisp finish.

Rush River Nevermore Chocolate Oatmeal Stout

Despite not being from Minnesota, Rush River is a beloved brewery in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, and we couldn’t resist including this brew in our rundown. Out of all the beers we tried, this definitely had the most pronounced chocolate flavor. Thick, sweet, and smooth, this would make a fantastic dessert beer, great for sipping by the fire this Christmas. I would call this beer the prototypical chocolate oatmeal stout. It tastes exactly how you would expect it to, and that is not a bad thing. Rush River hit the nail on the head with this one.

Bad Weather Brewing Ominous “Midwest” Warmer

A brown ale for the winter season is a great description for Ominous. With great notes of nuts and roast, this beer is very approachable and drinkable, but subdued and complex. The use of dark candi sugar evokes flavors similar to a spiced beer, giving off subtle dark stone fruit, raisin, and chocolate flavors, as well as a mild, balanced sweetness. I would call this a spiced beer for people who don’t like spiced beer. Very mature flavors from a young brewery.

Indeed Stir Crazy Winter Warmer & Old Friend Holiday Ale

If Ominous was spiced beer for people who don’t like spiced beer, then Stir Crazy is spiced beer for people who love spiced beer. Shirking the standard spice offerings, this beer uses vanilla, raisins, and brown sugar. The raisins stand out at the forefront, giving a great fruit flavor without any unwanted syrupy sweetness. The vanilla gives a nice complement to this dark fruit flavor, and behind all that is some great malty caramel and toffee flavor.

Old Friend is a refreshing and novel surprise. The use of ginger gives an incredibly unique flavor, but the beer is very smooth, without any of the “burn” most people associate with ginger. There is also a strong presence of lemon citrus. This ginger/citrus combination pairs surprisingly well with the dark, sweet malt flavor.

Bent Paddle Harness IPA

After so many dark, heavy beers we were ready for something a bit more drinkable. Harness IPA was just the thing to break up this session of stouts, winter ales, and other beers great for sipping. With a bold aroma of simcoe and citra hops, this beer clears your senses. Great citrus hop flavor greets the tastebuds and evokes summertime IPAs, and a mild spiciness from the rye subtly reminds us that it is still cold outside. This will certainly be my go-to beer for New Years. Drinkable enough to enjoy all night, but complex enough not to bore.

Boom Island 2014 Yule

Yes, that year is correct, we’re talking about last year’s Yule from Boom Island. Boom Island cellared this beer for a year themselves because they knew we wouldn’t be patient enough to wait for it. Despite being a year old, there is plenty of this available. And boy was this one worth waiting for. True to Boom Island’s MO, this dark belgian holiday beer gives off light belgian yeast notes of clove. A phenomenal tart flavor complements the black currants used in this beer. The currants themselves give off phenomenally complex fruit notes, and a light spice note subtly complements all of this. This is a great choice for a table beer for any of your holiday parties. And yes – there is also Yule from this year available.

Olvalde Farm & Brewing Company Spiced Ode to a Russian Shipwright

This beer is a spiced version of Olvalde’s Porter, Ode to a Russian Shipwright. The spiced version makes for a great holiday beer, with notes of allspice and nutmeg, and a heavy cinnamon presence to warm you up. Beneath that are notes of wood, caramel and licorice. Similar to its base beer, there is a great spruce presence in this beer as well. This is an incredibly complex and well crafted beer. Perhaps most exciting about Olvalde is their incredible commitment to using ingredients grown on their farm, creating a true farm-to-bottle experience.

Among these ten beers are some of the most unique and exciting offerings available this holiday season in Minnesota. Any on this list will make the bar at your holiday party stand out, or just make you relish the cold winter season. Hopefully this will make your holiday buying just a little bit easier.

All of these beers and many more are available at The Ale Jail, located on St. Clair Avenue in St. Paul. Their commitment to craft beer is admirable – you would be hard pressed to find a can of macro beer in the entire store. In addition to a great selection of Minnesota beers, they have a strong selection of foreign and international beers including beers from traditional Belgian and German breweries. On top of this, their staff are some of the most knowledgeable in the metro area. Check The Ale Jail out on Facebook or Twitter.

Newsfeed, Review

Lakes and Legends – Minneapolis’s Newest Brewery

December 4, 2015 Kevin Swanberg

With Lakes and Legends grand opening celebration this Saturday, I thought I would stop in and see what the new brewery located in Loring Park had to offer. I was more than impressed with this new Minneapolis brewery.

Lakes and Legends' taproom — Lakes and Legends’ taproom

Walking into a large open room, I note lawn games lining one wall, bringing a bit of the outdoors to the indoors. Another wall hosts a clear view of the brewhouse equipment. The heavy dark-wood tables and bar, and floor to ceiling windows are evocative of the farm to bottle attitude that co-owner Ethan Applen says defines Lakes and Legend’s vision. Applen says they plan to focus on brewing Belgian and farmhouse styles, a unique approach that should set them apart from other Minnesota breweries. They also intend to source as many local ingredients as possible. When I asked Applen why they decided to focus on Belgian styles, he responded that these were the styles that got him interested in craft beer because they are approachable and demonstrate different flavors than other popular craft beer styles like IPAs. Applen hopes that Lakes and Legends’ unique takes on Belgian beers can ignite interest in these styles for others as well.

With their expansive and eclectic taplist, Lakes and Legends is already standing out. I tried four, but the new brewery already has eight different beers on tap. Starting with their Belgian IPA, I was already impressed. This beer has all the esters one should expect of a traditional Belgian ale. The flavor itself is dry and biscuity, with a healthy bitterness to satisfy any hop-head, and a mild fruitiness. The next beer I tried was their raspberry braggot. A braggot is a style of mead made using malt for a portion of the fermentable sugars. Not many Minnesota breweries serve a braggot, so I knew I had to try this one. This beer is fantastically sweet, a bit tart from the raspberries, and overall a very pleasant, light, easy-drinking brew. Their Belgian Rauch was the next beer I tried, a beer brewed with smoked malt and belgian yeast. This beer had an expectedly strong flavor of smokiness, but notes of clove and pepper shined through as well in this crisp ale.

So much good beer! — The long and eclectic taplist!

The standout beer from my flight however was their seasonal cranberry saison. The cranberries lend the beer a lingering tartness. This complemented the spicy clove notes from the saison yeast very well. The beer finishes crisp and dry, making it a complex but very drinkable choice. Also, the cranberries were all locally sourced from a family cranberry farm in Aiken, Minnesota. In addition to the beers I didn’t try, Also on their menu are several appetizers and craft sodas. Overall, the beer at Lakes and Legends seemed very consistent and refined, and I look forward to trying more from them.

This Saturday, Lakes and Legends is celebrating with a grand opening party, where they will release their newest beer – a Winter Warmer. At the party patrons can donate a new unwrapped childrens toy or book for donation to the Children’s Hospital and receive a free 4 oz. beer! Celebrate the season with the newest member of the Minnesota craft beer community, we’ll see you there!

Lakes & Legends: 1368 Lasalle Ave, Minneapolis MN 55403

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Hours:

Tuesday – Thursday: 3pm – 10pm
Friday: 3pm – 12am
Saturday: 12pm – 12am
Sunday: 12pm – 9pm

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Able Seedhouse + Brewery Opens

November 9, 2015 Kevin Swanberg

Able Seedhouse and Brewery, the newest brewery in the Logan Park neighborhood, is opening November 6th. We stopped by their soft opening the night before in order to get a sneak peak at what you can expect from Able. Located just walking distance from Indeed, 612Brew, Bauhaus Brew Labs, and Sociable Cider Werks, Able is definitely in good company.

The Taproom is clean and spacious, making use of natural wood and ample lighting to give a warm atmosphere. There are attractive views of both the brewhouse and fermentation areas from the Taproom for those looking for a peak behind the scenes. Tables are lined with small plants, and an intriguing magazine Able had created just for their taproom. Featuring photos, information about Able, and fun facts, these handouts were a nice twist on the typical bar literature. Inside you can even find a flowchart showing the musical connection between Bob Dylan and Insane Clown Posse.

On opening night Able Seedhouse + Brewery will have four flagship beers on tap: First Light IPA, Blk Wlf Stout, Twin Sparrows Wheat Pale Ale, and House Red Ale. We tried all but the IPA, as it wasn’t on tap at the soft opening, but we were assured it would be on tap at the grand opening the next evening. Among the three beers we tried, Blk Wlf Stout was the clear standout. The nose had a mild hint of hops and a light caramel sweetness. On first taste we noted an excellent malt character that was strong in roast, with a mild chocolate finish. Served on nitro, the body was smooth and creamy.

One standout thing about Able’s beer was the ABV. Their Stout, Wheat Pale Ale, and Red Ale all stand below 5% ABV. This means that one can have more than just one or two beers without feeling a serious buzz, and with session beers becoming even more popular, this is a wise move on Able’s part.

Perhaps the most intriguing fact about Able Seedhouse + Brewery is their plan to start malting their own grain. Malting, the process of kilning and drying grains for use in brewing, is typically done by dedicated malt houses, not by breweries themselves. Able intends to malt locally grown grains, and use a percentage of that in their own brews. Will this in-house malting capability bring a unique twist to their beers? We are interested to find out.

Taproom Hours:

Wednesday: 3-11
Thursday: 3-11
Friday 1-11
Saturday 12-11
Sunday 12-6

Able Seedhouse + Brewery | 1121 Quincy St NE, Minneapolis

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