Where I work, we’ve got a lot of craft beer lovers. There’s also a heavy emphasis on happy hour. That hour typically stretches into two or three and ends at a St. Paul brewery. When my coworker Carly announced that she would be leaving the company for a new opportunity, there was one place she’d been wanting to go for quite awhile. Never hesitant to try a new place, we quickly scheduled a trip to Barrel Theory Beer Company.
Continue Reading…Able Seedhouse + Brewery
March 11, 2018
My wife and I had just finished our delicious dinner at Hai Hai and after feeling the euphoria from their Hanoi Sticky Rice, I didn’t want the night to end. We’d been to all the usual spots in Northeast Minneapolis and we were in the mood for something new. There was exactly one taproom that we hadn’t visited: Able Seedhouse + Brewery.
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It’s that time of year again. Time to reflect upon the breweries that I visited in the past year and identify some of my favorites. Since this is the second time I’m doing these awards I added some ground rules. I’m only assigning an award to somewhere that I visited in 2017. If you don’t see one of your favorites then let please let me know. Rest assured that with the amount of breweries now in Minnesota there is a great chance I didn’t make it there. In an effort to shake things up, I decided to ensure there were no repeats from last year. Lastly, to recognize the best of the breweries that opened in 2017, there is a new category called Best New Brewery. Let’s get started!
Continue Reading…Union 32 Craft House
December 30, 2017
The company I work for does an event every quarter. After we’re done there are a handful of regulars that like to keep things going. We were in Eagan and someone mentioned that there was a new place that had opened recently. Before long I was closing my vehicle door and searching for the entrance to Union 32 Craft House.
Continue Reading…HammerHeart Brewing Company
December 27, 2017
There are a couple of breweries that have been on my “must visit” list for a couple of years now. The issue is that they are usually a bit out of the way or may have beers that may not be that approachable. When my friend Mitch expressed that he had a night free and wanted to visit a brewery I realized that the stars had aligned. It’d be just us, two craft beer lovers always looking for something new. I was quick to suggest HammerHeart Brewing Company, and he was quick to accept.
Continue Reading…12welve Eyes Brewing
December 14, 2017
We haven’t taken this year’s Northern Ale Guide as seriously as we did last year. It’s looking like we’ll be lucky to finish half of the book, a far cry from the full stamping we previously notched. While snacking on delicious salsa at Pajarito in St. Paul our conversation naturally led us to where we should end our evening. It was only natural that we’d take a peak in the book and take the short drive to 12welve Eyes Brewing.
Continue Reading…Broken Clock Brewing Cooperative
December 12, 2017
I’ve got a bad habit about buying a Groupon and forgetting to use it. There is even a brewery that closed after I bought one and I was unable to redeem it. On a brisk Autumn evening my loving wife informed me that we were down to the last day of my latest purchase and I was bound and determined not to let it expire. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to join me as she was preparing for a dinner party the following evening. So I called my father, never one to turn down a free beer, and we headed to Broken Clock Brewing Cooperative.
Continue Reading…Chapel Brewing
November 25, 2017
We’ve got a couple of friends that live south of the metro area that enjoy visiting new breweries with us. Because of this we’re always looking for openings in that area. This allows us to spend more time in the taproom and waste less of our weeknights on the road. One thing we noticed was a pocket of new breweries opening near Northfield. The newest of these is Chapel Brewing and not long after they opened we stopped by for a visit.
Continue Reading…Unmapped Brewing Co.
November 25, 2017
These days most of our friends know that I blog about our breweries. When they want to hang out, we don’t need to suggest a venue. Usually people want to share one of their favorite spots, their local taproom, or are looking to try something new. We recently had some out of state friends that wanted to meet up and they were quick to suggest a new brewery near the area they were staying. That’s how we found ourselves in the parking lot of Unmapped Brewing Co.
Continue Reading…Hoops Brewing Company
November 20, 2017
When you backpack for 22 days you find yourself with a lot of time to think. If you’ve got nothing to drink except artificially sweetened water your mind inevitably wanders to beer. After completing our trek we had one last stretch to retrieve our car. With pavement pounding against our weary feet we had one criteria for our final evening: no walking. So we booked a room at the Suites Hotel in Canal Park, inhaled some pizza at the Old Chicago below, and strolled down the hall to our final destination. Hoops Brewing Company beckoned.
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