All posts by Andrew Schmitt

Andrew is just a guy that likes beer. You can usually find him on the twitters or spending time with his family.
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Oskar Blues Announces Minnesota Debut

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Oskar Blues has announced the launch of the Greater Minneapolis/St. Paul markets in the great state of Minnesota and will partner with the Original Gravity group of distributors consisting of Capitol Beverage Sales, Thorpe Distributing, College City Beverage and C&L Distributing.

“Ultimately, the OG group was a great fit for Oskar Blues and we’re confident in their ability to dig deep in their markets and effectively grow the full portfolio of OB brands for many years to come. The decision was not an easy one as there were several strong potential partners in the mix” says Oskar Blues Business Development Director Chris Russell.

The launch is targeted for late January and early February and will be kicked off at the Beer Dabbler Winter Carnival on January 25th. What better way to celebrate than sampling outside with 150 other brewers around, live music, gourmet food from local food trucks and carts, a homebrew contest, Silent Disco & attempt at the world’s largest snow ball fight.

The 10,000 Lakes Region is a great fit for Oskar Blues’ passion for the outdoors, music, craft beer & their line-up of complex craft beer-in-a-can.   Oskar Blues will launch by building on and off premise distribution with the full line-up of craft CAN packages.  Draft offerings are set to follow in the early spring of 2014.

The Minnesota launch follows additional 2013 Oskar Blues distribution in Central California and a new market launch in Indiana where Kroger is seeing increasing success with Oskar Blues brands.  2014 will see Oskar Blues increase distribution in a handful of new states including Idaho, Delaware, Kansas, Nevada and increased coverage in Southern Alabama.

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Harriet Brewing now Available in Bottles

Harriet Brewing BottlesHarriet Brewing is now selling corked and caged 750ml bottles of their Belgian-style brews. This is great news for fans of the south Minneapolis brewery.

The brewery has always sold 64 oz growlers to go, but 750ml bottles will make it easier to enjoy the craft beer without having to commit to an afternoon of drinking. In addition to friendlier serving size the new bottles will allow you to cellar Dark Abbey Divine Oculusts, something you couldn’t really do before.

Bottles of West Side are $9, dark Abbey and Divine Oculust are $10. The bottles are only available at the brewery for the time being.

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Summit Brewing Unchained Batch #15 – Fest Bier

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Summit Brewing is continuing their unchained series at a fast and furious pace with batch #15, Fest Bier. The 5.5% ABV Fest Bier will be brewed by Nate Siats. This will be Nate’s third beer in the Summit Unchained Series, following his #5 Imperial Pumpkin Porter, and #10 Abbey Ale.

Look for Unchained Batch #15 to be released sometime in March after it undergoes lagering for some time.
It looks like this might be a traditional Märzen style beer, Nate is using Weyermann malt straight from Bamburg Germany. If Nate goes the traditional route it should be hopped with something like Saaz, Tettnanger, or maybe Hallertauer. But, this is the Unchained Series, so Nate may have something crazy up his sleeve.

UPDATE: The hops in this beer are actually Sladek (Czech hop with Saaz parentage) and Saphir (German hop with Hallertau parentage), so a non-traditional take on a traditional hopping bill. Nate also used a new-to-the-scene Czech Pils base malt with two types of Munich worked in as well.

Summit Brewing Unchained 15 Fest Bier

Legislative Events, Newsfeed

Governor Mark Dayton says he Would Sign a Bill Repealing the Ban on Sunday Liquor Sales in Minnesota

In a story released by the Associated Press, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton, said he would sign a bill lifting the ban on Sunday liquor sales.

The Governor’s neutral stance is surely good news in the common sense battle for Sunday sales. However, the Governor saying he will sign a bill is a long way from saying he supports it. You would think he would be all for Sunday sales. The Governor is pushing for a new kind of legislative session, an “Unsession.” The unsession concept is to undo some of the things that no longer make sense for Minnesota. A widely supported issue like selling wine, liquor, or beer in Sunday should be at the very top of the unsession list.

The Unsession is a first-of-its-kind effort to make government better, faster, simpler and more efficient for people. We want to improve service, shorten wait times, eliminate old and outdated rules, and undo anything else that makes government nearly impossible for people to understand.

A Sunday liquor sales bill will need to pass votes the House Commerce Committee and the Senate Commerce Committee and be approved on the floor before it can go to the Governor for his signature. Previous Sunday sales bills have always been stalled out in the past at the committee level.

There is a lot of influence from powerful lobbying groups to keep the status quo. And, many in the liquor industry make donations to election campaigns and PAC’s, that kind of money probably gets you some special attention liquor issues come up. It should come as no surprise that some of those donations come from those in the Wisconsin and North Dakota liquor industry. After all, Minnesota’s ban on Sunday liquor sales works to their advantage.

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Last Minute Holiday Gift Ideas for Beer Lovers

You should probably have all your holiday season shopping done already. It’s cool, nobody here is judging. Life is busy, you’re busy. The important thing is that you finally have your act together and you’re on the ball now. We are here to help you on your quest with some last minute holiday gift ideas for beer lovers in your life.

For the Local Craftbeer Lover

Some beer nerds swear by only local brew. Good. Drinking local helps grow our Minnesota beer culture, and keeps Minnesota brewing. After all, the further away a beer is brewed, the longer it takes to get to your lips. 612Brew is currently offering a Living Social deal. The NE Mpls Brewery gives you a flight of beer to share, 2 pints of beer of your choice and 2 signature pint glasses for $16.

If holiday beer is more your target’s taste you can opt for the Indeed Brewing Old Friend gift box. Available only in the taproom, you’ll get 1 bottle of Old Friend, 2 Indeed Pint glasses and 1 Indeed decal for $9.99! That is steal any time of year.

For the Home Brewer

brewers unionHomebrewing is like any other hobby. You can always expand your setup to include the latest and greatest gizmo or doohickey. This is ALWAYS the case with homebrewing. Basic entry into the hobby is pretty easy with a deluxe kit that includes everything needed to make great beer at home.

If the brewer in your life already has everything they need you can give them the gift that gives back, a recipe kit. Give them a recipe kit for a beer YOU want to drink, they’ll pretty much be honor-bound to give you some when it is ready. Win-win.

Liquor is Quicker

Cupa RocksOK, I concede, not everyone wants beer. Some people are more into liquor and spirits. I’ve actually been exploring the world of Rye Whiskey myself lately.

Red Envelope has a whole section dedicated to keeping your bar functional and stylish. A personalized leather wrapped flask, or a set of crystal glasses designed to let the spirits “breath” should do the trick.

If your liquor lover is into bourbon, you can stop into Liquor Boy Wine & Spirits in St. Louis Park, and get them a personalized bottle of Knob Creek. They will be engraving bottles Knob Creek on Friday, Dec 19th, from 4pm-7pm. Have it engraved with a personal message. But keep it clean, will you? Santa is watching.

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Steel Toe Brewing’s Wee Heavy Scotch Ale Returns

Steel Toe Brewing Wee HeavyIt is that time of year. No, not the holidays, big beer season. That time of year when Minnesotans look for a beer with a little extra warming factor to help us fight the cold weather. Just in time to get you through the next cold snap Steel Toe Brewing’s Wee Heavy Scotch Ale returns next week.

This copper colored beer showcases the the maltier, sweeter side beer. The side of beer that often gets ignored in favor the latest IPA with experimental hops from Yakima, New Zealand, or Parts Unknown.

The Scotch Ale will be tapped in the Steel Toe Brewing taproom on Friday, Dec 20th, for $5/10oz pour. There will be a bottle release at noon the following day on Saturday, Dec 21st. At $10/750 you can afford to grab a couple and stash some in the cellar for a vertical tasting sometime down the line. I know am.

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Surly Brewing and Three Floyds to Release Blakkr

Surly Brewing Company has brewed another collaboration beer with Three Floyd’s in Indiana. However, this time they are bringing Real Ale Brewing from TX, in the mix.

The new brew is an Imperial Cascadian Dark Ale, or an an Imperial Black IPA, whichever you prefer. The jury is still out on how this “style” of beer will be known to future beer historians.

No word on when the beer will be released. The shortest day of the year is Dec 21st, and would be a cool day to launch a beer named Blakkr.

The beer will be available in 16oz cans in Minnesota, 22oz bottles in IN. No word yet on how this three headed monster will be packaged in TX.

Surly Brewing, Three Floyds, Blakkr