In the middle of February our friends Mitch and Megan reached out to myself, Samantha, and our other friend Dustin to see if we wanted to meet up for drinks at the brand new Nutmeg Brewhouse. After some intense deliberation we decided that we could shift our schedules around and on a crisp Wednesday evening we made the trek south across the river to Burnsville, Minnesota.
Nutmeg Brewhouse adds a much needed splash to the beer scene of both the suburbs and the south metro. It’s actually the closest brewery to our home in Bloomington. Their concept is to focus on pairing house made beer with cuisine from the former British Empire. That doesn’t narrow their possibilities! It was opened by a group of friends that wanted to share their love of beer with the greater Minnesota area, and add a local store to a suburb not known for it’s local experiences.
The building has large glass windows that let in a ton of natural light. As I entered I couldn’t help but notice the interior design and decor. It seemed like they wanted to get everything right before they opened, from the floor to the ceiling. The walls and art were brightly colored which offset the browns and greys of the wood and stone. Their fixtures range from beautiful Edison bulbs to lights made out of kegs. The high ceilings are painted black with various words and illustrations painted on them. A lot of nice touches.
After we each ordered a flight to start out we decided to order some food from their small menu. Almost everything looked good and the consensus after eating was that it tasted even better. Samantha and I shared the Malaysian Shrimp and New Zealand Lamb Chops. I think it’s worth a visit just for the food.
There were only four beers on their tap list: Wheat Weiss, Frontier Amber Ale, Mild Porter, and Shipmate’s IPA. They said they are working on more, but since they are just starting out this is all they’ve got. For only having been open for a short time the beers were good and will probably get better. Nothing blew me away, but if their attention to detail and focus on quality transfers over to the beer then they’ll have no problem. Of the four I liked the Mild Porter the best. It had a light body with no overpowering flavors that made it very easy to drink.
I’m interested to see how things pan out for Nutmeg. The south metro is begging for more breweries so I think they’ve got the audience to sustain themselves. The food was fantastic and I hope the beer can catch up. Since I live so close I’m sure I’ll visit again, and I can’t wait to try some of their newer beers as they settle in.
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