Record numbers of Minnesotans attended precinct caucuses on Super Tuesday. While much of the focus was on the Presidential races, caucus-goers also passed resolutions urging policymakers to support various policies.
Popular with Voters
One of the most popular policies that consumer activists acted on at many caucus sites across Minnesota was a resolution supporting Sunday liquor sales. Many reported the resolution was passed with applause from caucus attendees. Sunday liquor sales is a nonpartisan issue, and resolutions were passed in both DFL and GOP caucuses.
Resolution to allow Sunday liquor sales gets a round of applause at Whittier precinct
The public overwhelming supports Sunday liquor sales, passing resolutions at the precinct caucuses sends a loud message to politicians that the grassroots activists from both parties want to see this passed in the 2016 legislative session. Some candidates looking to the be elected this fall are already talking about the issue.
I fully support #SundaySalesMN. Sen Dziedzic voted against. If you live in SD60 (NE& SE Mpls), caucus tonight and become a delegate for me!
Allowing Sunday growlers was a good start. However, it is clear Minnesota voters want to see the entire ban repealed. Not only does the current setup leave out consumers of wine and spirits, but it excludes other local retailers, even some craft brewers. Sunday is the number 1 shopping day for consumers in Minnesota. It is just common sense the people of Minnesota should be able to buy a bottle of wine or a six-pack of beer along with everything else.
Did Your Resolution Pass?
We have heard from consumer activists all over the state. Did a resolution pass at your caucus? Want to learn more or help? Contact us here.
Learn More
To learn more about the ban on Sunday liquor sales or sign the online petition visit SundaySalesMN.org.
Just in time for the spring thaw and eventual dog days of summer, Indeed Brewing Company’s Let It Ride IPA is hitting the shelves of your favorite liquor store.
I got my hands on the release, which is reskinned this year with art from Minneapolis-based Chuck U, a frequent Indeed collaborator. It didn’t disappoint – the beer or the design.
The pungent smell (in a good way) and tropical taste work in unison to offer a pleasing experience, a good balance for a new approach to the beer.
“There’s a bunch of aroma in these new varieties of hops that we weren’t getting from hops even a few years ago,” said Josh Bischoff, Indeed head brewer. “Expect big fruity aromas containing, but not limited to, dank citrus, pineapple, blueberry and tropical fruits.”
Indeed you should. I did. Now, I’m far from a cicerone, so you don’t have to take my word from it. Head out and pick up a six-pack to check it out for yourself.
Also for a limited time, you can find Let It Ride packaged in a special six-pack with Let It Roll, Indeed’s winter IPA offering. It is, indeed, hard to go wrong here.
Beer breakdown ABV: 6.8 percent
IBU: 90
Malt: Pale, medium crystal, Munich, Dextrin, Caramel 80
Yeast: American Ale II
Hops: Mosaic, Calypso, El Dorado
Visual: Copper color
Aroma: Pear, tropical fruit, blueberry
Taste: Big fruity IPA with a satisfying body
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied
The latest Summit Unchained release is on its way to stores near you. This time, in the 21st of the series, Summit’s brewer Gabe Smoley has produced Us and Them, a “Two Thread Brewing Experience.” Based on the popular Sága IPA, this release is made of two beers; an American IPA and a session IPA.
Gabe has started with the grain bill of Sága and created two distinct beers. Using a technique known as “Parti-gyle,” the same grain bill was used to produce a stronger, first “thread,” and a second, sessionable “thread.” Then, using the same hops in different ways, the two threads were brewed in a way that really provides a unique experience, and a unique take on Sága, a familiar local beer.
It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Sága, so I was excited to dig into the first thread.
The first thread, the American IPA
The American IPA portion of this beer is the bolder of the two. It’s a bit darker in color, with a bigger malt presence. Biscuit and caramel back up the beer. The carbonation is slightly more pronounced than the second thread. Hops are definitely reminiscent of what you get in Sága. There are some Citra and Amarillo present, but the biggest hop presence is the Rakau hop. This is a New Zealand hop that tastes a bit like dried apricot. While this is the stronger of the two threads, it’s not a huge beer by any means. At 7.2% ABV, this feels very much like Sága turned up just a touch.
Next, the session IPA.
Thread 2, the Session IPA
Thread 2 pours just a bit lighter. The malt profile is similar but definitely favors biscuity flavors over any caramel. While the same hops are used here, they are used differently. Citra is much more prominent in this thread, with it’s oily, melon fruitiness. This is the Session IPA, so drinks a little lighter, at 4% ABV. The Citra stands out quite a bit, though, so this doesn’t drink quite as easily as your standard session beer. When drinking this side by side against the first thread, it’s really interesting that you can taste the same things in either beer, but just balanced differently enough to really stand out.
The two beers really are different expressions of a familiar beer. It’s kind of a salute to beer nerds that Gabe has shown how much difference can be made with small changes to a beer. I’m a regular drinker of Sága, and drinking these two beers really opened my eyes to what goes into my go to IPA. Look for six and twelve packs of Unchained #21 hitting stores soon, packaged with both threads.
SundaySalesMN.org is urging supporters of ending the prohibition on Sunday liquor sales to go out to the caucuses Tuesday evening and get involved. Minnesota’s precinct caucuses will be held
Tuesday, March 1, 2016 at 7:00 p.m.
Click on the image above to find your neighborhood caucus location.
Precinct caucuses are meetings organized by Minnesota’s political parties. Caucuses are typically held early in the spring during a statewide election year. Minnesota’s major political parties must hold Caucuses at a minimum of every statewide election year. Other political parties may also choose to hold caucuses. It is the first step for the party to select candidates and choose the party’s goals and values (called the party platform).
Who can attend a caucus?
Precinct caucuses are open to the public. But in order to vote, offer resolutions, or become a delegate, you must:
Be eligible to vote in the fall election.
Live in the precinct.
Be in general agreement with the principles of the political party (Minnesota does not have a party registration process).
What happens at a caucus?
Elect precinct officers who work to organize political activities in the precinct. This could include maintaining contact lists, convening political meetings and helping with campaign efforts.
Discuss issues and ideas for the party to support. People may bring ideas, called resolutions, to be voted on. People usually bring a typed or handwritten copy of their resolution.
Vote for the person you want the party to support for governor or president. This is called the straw poll, which is an informal poll to learn how much support each candidate has. Candidates are officially chosen at future meetings, called conventions.
Elect delegates to represent your precinct at upcoming political conventions that are held during an election year. The first are the political party’s county or district conventions. At these conventions, delegates endorse candidates to represent the county or district, and then choose a smaller number of delegates for the party’s congressional and state conventions. These delegates will endorse candidates to represent the congressional district or statewide offices such as governor or U.S. Senator.
It is important to introduce resolutions, but it is also important to support the legislative candidates that support listening to voters and repealing the Sunday liquor sales ban.
The First of Six Taproom Posts from North Central Minnesota’s Craft Breweries
The current brewery and tap room, soon to be called the old brewery tap room. (Image courtesy Bemidji Brewing)
154 miles west of Duluth, 217 miles north of the Twin Cities, and a mere 130 miles east of Fargo you’ll find a nano brewery in the city which claims to be the first on the Mississippi. From humble beginnings of a Kickstarter campaign to help finance their nano brewing system which produced their first kegs in October 2013 (which sold out immediately), Bemidji Brewing Company has grown out of its current space.
On the Friday night I visited the soon-to-be-called “old” brewery and taproom, it was standing room only for the customers who hadn’t found a table, bar stool or couch. As the Friday Firkin of Winter IPA with Dry-Hopped Citra was being served (and going quickly) I chatted with Brewer and Owner Tom Hill, Brewer Chris Marty and grabbed answers from Owner Tina Kaney who was busily working the bar and busing tables with the staff.
Work is well underway to re-purpose a barrel-roofed, 6000 square foot building about 6 blocks away. The old floor is gone, new drains laid out and plumbed, and fresh high-strength concrete (needed to support the concentrated weight of full brewing equipment) poured and curing. The new space will allocate 4000 sq ft for the brewery and 2000 sq ft for the taproom. Unlike the current space, the new digs will have room to feature an exterior patio to enjoy those warmer northern Minnesota evenings.
The current brewhouse is 3 bbl and 1.5 bbl kettle, 8 3 bbl polyethelene fermenters that live in separately cooled closets that keep company with 2 brite tanks at 3 and 7 bbl each.
“We hope to be done with the final construction and have the brewery equipment installed and operational by April,” forecast Tom. “Then we’ll move the taproom over and open that in June.” What about the old equipment? “We’ve already had folks calling and wanting to buy it,” smiled Tom. Later, I overheard Tina sharing with some customers the plan to add a small kitchen in the new space. She assures me that this doesn’t make them a brewpub and they’ll keep the brewery license, allowing them to add even more than the five distribution accounts they have now.
Shiny, newborn, happy fermenters still sleeping in their shipping cradles, dreaming about their future where they will be full of wonder and goodness. (Image courtesy Bemidji Brewing)
The new brewery, built by Alpha Brewing Operations in Lincoln, NE, sports two 15 bbl kettles, two 30 bbl fermenters and 15 and 30 bbl brite tanks. If you’re looking at numbers in the image caption and doing math, yes: a lot bigger.
According to Tom, making enough beer to satisfy demand is impossible with the current configuration. The new brewery will have the space to add additional fermenters as well as offer more barrel storage and potentially a canning line in the future,
The current brewery can produce about 450 barrels a year. The new one? 7,000 barrels.
While Tom and Chris updated me on some of the challenges of brewing (as brewers love to do), my left hand was steadily working through the six glass flight (plus the firkin sample on the handle). You can get samples of the beers that don’t fit in the flight. From the German Blonde to a Holiday Ale and a Coffee Stout, there was a little something for everyone.
German Blonde, Red Ale, India Pale Ale, Export Stout, Holiday Ale, Coffee Stout and the Winter IPA on Citra riding the handle.
“We do a lot of education with our customers,” explained Tom. I asked if the perception of the rural Minnesotan preferring Bud/Miller/Coors over craft more than the metropolitan Minnesotan was accurate. “I think people are the same all over. We’re showing them that there is a lot more than those three beers available and an even greater variety of flavors and tastes.”
With the now obligatory “I ain’t a beer critic” disclaimer, I enjoyed the Winter IPA on firkin the best. I was disappointed to learn that their most acclaimed beer, a double porter bottled for a Christmas holiday release, was long gone. Hopefully with the new brew house, more will be made and Santa will bring me one next Christmas. I hear Paul and Babe make regular trips to the metro, pushing lumber down the river, so they can bring it down with them, ok?
To what should be no surprise to anyone who enjoys beer around the Twin Cities, a few local breweries were recently acknowledged by RateBeer.com’s annual rankings.
Fair State Brewing Cooperative in Minneapolis was named the 10th best new brewery in the world – quite the feat considering more than 5,400 new operations were eligible. Fair State was also named the best new brewery in Minnesota.
Ratebeer.com highlighted Fair State’s creation of some of the best new craft beer, as well as its cooperative business model, allowing members to get happy hour discounts, collaborate on beer recipes and exclusive access to special releases.
Founded in 2014, Fair State is spearheaded by president and CEO Evan Sallee, head brewer Niko Tonks and director of operations Matt Hauck.
“This award belongs to the entire Fair State community, including our more than 700 member-owners who have a stake in our beer and our business,” Sallee said. “We’re humbled to be recognized among this amazing group of breweries, and we’re especially excited to play a role in putting Minnesota craft beer on the world stage.”
Don’t get Surly – well, yes, please do
Surly Brewing wasn’t shut out.
It was named the best brewery in Minnesota, according to the beer website, as well as offering the best taproom. Surly also was honored with the best Minnesota-made beer – its Abrasive Ale.
Abrasive, as well as Surly Darkness, are also ranked in the top 100 beers in the world.
For styles, Surly was recognized for its SurlyFest (No. 1 in the dark lager category), Todd the Axe Man (No. 6 in the IPA category) and Abrasive (No. 11 in the imperial IPA category)
Surly, as well as Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery, are considered in the top 100 breweries in the world based on RateBeer.com’s users’ rankings.
Other Minnesota businesses recognized:
Best Minnesota brewpub: Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery
Image from Schell’s Twitter of the Grain Belt Sign
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
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
Schell’s 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.
We’ve got to admit… the Blacklist expansion announced today has got us very excited. Not only do we get to see our good friends expand their business but we also get to see another important example of Duluth’s craft beer scene solidifying its status as a serious beer town… some even call it Duluth Beer City.
With Blacklist Expansion Comes Expanding Excitement for Duluth Beer
Early Duluth Experience tour at Blacklist’s warehouse space. Far left is co-founder Jon Loss.
We’ve been introducing our guests to Blacklist’s Belgian-inspired beers since our first tours in 2013 and they’ve always been one of the most exciting locations for us to visit. Founded in 2012 and situated in a modest warehouse space located in Duluth’s Central Hillside, the brewery has expanded their operations at a modest pace… until now. An epic Blacklist expansion has begun!
Today the Team at Blacklist – including co-founders Brian Schanzenbach and Jon Loss and parter TJ Estabrook – announced that they’ve solidified plans to expand their operations… substantially. They’ll be leaving behind their warehouse space for a bigger and more ideal location in Duluth’s Historic Arts and Theater District. With an expanded production capacity and a Superior St. taproom in Duluth’s Downtown, this small artesian brewery has truly set the stage for an amazing craft beer experience.
And you can bet that The Duluth Experience will be there to bring you behind-the-scenes once the new space is operational! Check out Blacklist’s press release below for more info.
Visit the Blacklist website to learn more about this exciting Duluth brewery.
PRESS RELEASE: Blacklist Expands into Iconic Building on Superior Street
Co-founder and head brewer Brian Schanzenbach busy mashing in.
DULUTH, MN – The New Year rings in new growth in Duluth’s craft brewing community, as construction begins on a fresh brewery and taproom for Blacklist Artisan Ales at 120 East Superior Street. The fully-remodeled 5,700 square foot space represents a major expansion for Blacklist, which has enjoyed growing notoriety for high-quality artisan ales.
“This move allows us to expand production while continuing to experiment with new ales, in a setting that leaves us more accessible and better connected to our customers,” said Brian Schanzenbach, founding partner and head brewer.
Jon Loss, founding partner and marketing director stated, “We are thrilled to be securing a space in Duluth’s Historic Arts and Theater District, a HART District location aligns with our goal to further solidify our place in Duluth’s dynamic craft brewing and arts community”.
Originally built as the Delray Hotel in 1908, this historic building in downtown Duluth suffered a period of neglect after becoming the home of the notorious Last Place on Earth. The building was forfeited to federal authorities in 2013 after its owner was sentenced to prison. Titanium Partners has since purchased and invested heavily in returning the building to its former glory, salvaging and showcasing the building’s unique and historic architectural features. Blacklist Artisan Ales will serve as the flagship tenant in the newly remodeled building.
“We couldn’t be more proud to welcome Blacklist to this revitalized part of our vibrant downtown,” said the newly elected Mayor Emily Larson, “Blacklist embodies the spirit of Duluth’s craft culture. Whether we’re talking about better beers or better neighborhoods, we come together to make things better.”
Blacklist expects to be fully moved into its new space by summer 2016 with a grand opening to be announced.
If you’re interested in learning more about Blacklist and the other great breweries that comprise The North Shore Craft Beer Scene, please visit our Brewery Tour Page and book a brewery tour with The Duluth Experience!
This post first appeared on The Duluth Experience and has been republished here with permission.
