MN Beer Activists feed of news, events, education, legislation related to beer, wine, and spirits in Minnesota.
Excelsior Brewing
421 3rd Street
Excelsior, Minnesota 55391
952-474-SUDS (7837)
The last few years have been an exciting time for beer drinkers in Minnesota. We have seen a real groundswell in the craft beer community. Small breweries are popping up left & right. Third Street Brewhouse, the latest brewery to jump into the craft beer scene, is anything but small and not exactly new. Cold Spring Brewing, the company behind Third Street, has existed in one form or another since 1857. The deep pockets and wealth of industry knowledge at Cold Spring Brewing has enabled them to build a brand new and impressively large brewery. Staffing the new brewery are several very experienced brewers using the very latest in brewing technology.
Part of appealing to consumers is making sure they know what they are drinking. Horace is putting together a “Beer School” at the brewery to educate their consumers. The education aspect makes a lot sense. Why bother creating a premium product if most people don’t know realize what they should be tasting, or how it was created? Hopefully we will see similar educational programs from brewers.
Horace is supported by a very Minnesota-based crew of brewers. They hired brewers from Rock Bottom Minneapolis, Granite City, and McCann’s. If you follow the brewing culture in Minnesota you will recognize names like Mike Niep, Steven Gittens, Bob McKenzie, Karl Schmitz, Chris Laumb, and Adam Thies.
The facilities at Third Street Brewhouse are simply amazing. They have invested $12 Million dollars into creating what is probably the most advanced brewery in Minnesota. The technology is really second to none. There are data cables linked to sensors and probes running literally everywhere. Everything is recorded and monitored by a state of the art brewing system put together by GEA Brewery Systems in Kitzingen, Germany. The use technology in the brewing process enables the brewers to create beer to exacting specifications and consistency. One of the things beer lovers hate is any variation in the final product. The ability to brew a consistent premium product will go a long way with craft beer fans.
This is an easily drinkable beer that can satisfy at a session with friends. It is definitely the beer I found most appealing. Minnesota doesn’t have many cream ales and this one is executed to perfection.
COLOR: Brown
ABV: 4.1%
MALTS: Pale, Wheat
DRY HOPS: Northern Brewer and Saaz
IBU: 20
Lost Trout is a brown ale that adheres stringently to the style guidelines. The hop flavor and aroma is full and plays well with the roasted malt flavors. There is limited fruitiness and medium body.
COLOR: Brown
ABV: 4.9%
MALTS: Pale, Caramunich, and Barley
DRY HOPS: Magnum, Goldings, Tettnang
IBU: 20
COLOR: Black
ABV: 6.5%
MALTS: Pale, Caramel, Munich, Roasted, Black
DRY HOPS: Magnum, Hersbrucker, Amarillo, Cascade
IBU: 62
Third Street Brewhouse
219 Red River Ave
Cold Spring, MN 56320
Registration is OPEN for the Nordeast Big River Homebrew Competition. From Aug 1 – Sep 1 you can register for this BJCP/AHA competition being held in Nordeast Minneapolis!
Sponsored by the Nordeast Brewers Alliance, in conjunction with the 2nd annual Nordeast Big River Brew Fest, the competition is open to all BJCP beer styles, as well as two special categories: 100% Brett (Beers brewed with only Brettanomyces) and American Wild Ale. This competition has an emphasis on the funk!
Entries are $7 each, and can be dropped off at Northern Brewer or Midwest Supplies in Minneapolis before September 15.
Register at nordeasthbc.brewcompetition.com. Judges and stewards are needed as well.Â
Contact tylerabye@gmail.com with any questions.
Written By Andrew Giesen
Photos By Yaisha Neiderhiser
On a beautiful, cloudless Saturday afternoon, scores of local craft beer enthusiasts braved the sweltering heat and seemingly endless road construction to celebrate local beer shortly before the St. Paul Saints game. For the first annual Craft Beer and Baseball Festival, 12 breweries (Mantorville/St. Croix Brewing, Finnegan’s, Lucid Brewing, Schell’s Brewery, Mankato Brewery, Lift Bridge Brewery, Brau Brothers Brewing, Granite City Food & Brewery, Vine Park Brewing, Summit Brewery, Flat Earth Brewing, and Boom Island Brewery) offered up 35 beers for sampling.
Brewers and representatives were on hand to discuss details of their offerings, and star of movies “Super Troopers” and “Beerfest” (and Minneapolis native) Erik Stolhanske made an appearance to greet people and throw out the first pitch. Minnesota’s brand new beer-centric publication The Growler had a booth with a healthy amount of copies of their debut issue for the taking.
Some of the more interesting highlights included hearing loose plans from Tod Fyten of St. Croix Brewing and Mantorville Brewing about setting up a brewery and the Smoked Rye Whiskey Ale on deck for next weekend’s St. Paul Beer Festival. Another bit of intriguing information came from Lift Bridge, who will be bottling Hop Dish later this summer. They also mentioned that their taproom hours have expanded, Tu-Th 5-8p and Fr & Sa 12-5p.
Lucid had an ironic leak in the Air tap line, which ended up getting taken care of after someone ran back to the brewery for a replacement barrel and parts. After a very brief hiatus, the golden blonde ale joined Cammo (a dangerously smooth 9% double IPA) and Dyno (a light bodied pale ale perfect for patio consumption) as options.
Speaking of patio beers, the Zommerfest from Schell’s was an incredibly crisp, light, and refreshing Kölsch. It struck me as the type of gateway beer that I’d offer up to someone partial to macros, and it was one that I’ll be coming back to over the next few months.
I was curious to try Vine Park and Granite City, as I’m familiar with both places, but had yet to try anything from either. Mankato was a welcome participant, whose beer was made available only around the beginning of the year, and until recently, was previously distributed primarily in the Mankato area. They had Stickum (an Alt) and Original (a Kölsh) available for tasting.
The marriage of local breweries and baseball proved to be a good one, and it has a lot of potential to grow into a really fun yearly event to return to. Since baseball is “America’s Pastime,” and it’s arguably difficult to enjoy it without a delicious hopped beverage, it only makes sense that they come together for a lively day of sun, suds, and Saints.
