I’m fortunate enough to work in an area where a craft brewery is no more than ten minutes away. Many are even closer. Even though we’re spoiled for choice, we usually end up at the brewery or bar that’s closest to the office. However, when a new brewery opens we generally jump at the chance to visit before we settle back into our old ways. On a particular winter afternoon I was thirsty for some natural light, and made the suggestion to my coworkers that we venture a couple of minutes further to BlackStack Brewing.
Continue Reading…Burning Brothers Brewing
March 24, 2018
It’s fairly clear that beer and gluten go hand in hand. When you’re looking to meet up with an old college friend who has celiac disease you tend not to think of visiting a brewery, even if you are a beer blogger. Where there is a will there is a way, which is why I searched out the one notable exception that can be found around the Twin Cities: Burning Brothers Brewing.
Continue Reading…Barrel Theory Beer Company
March 18, 2018
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…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…Tin Whiskers Brewing
August 11, 2017
“I want pizza.” This was the response when I asked if we had any plans for dinner. Not an odd request, but when my wife said she wanted to try Black Sheep I mentioned we could kill two birds with one stone. We’d been to the brewery before but I’d never formally blogged about it. With camera in tow we made our way across the river to Tin Whiskers Brewing.
Continue Reading…Bad Weather Brewing Company
March 25, 2016
In an ongoing effort to nurture our relationships with people that, like us, lack children we called our newlywed friends Mattie and Sara up for a night out. They were looking for a night to unwind so we decided to visit a brewery in the cities. We had initially planned on using one of our Groupons but during the drive Samantha identified that it wasn’t good for that day! After some quick pivoting we decided to venture into St. Paul to the relatively new Bad Weather Brewing Company.
Continue Reading…Sidhe Brewing Company
January 18, 2016
In early December my wife and I realized that a Groupon we’d purchased was about to expire. It was for a flight, two pints, and a growler, which was something we didn’t want to go to waste. So, on the last day of eligibility we made the trip into St. Paul to visit the relatively new Sidhe Brewing Company.
Continue Reading…
It’s that time of year again! The Minnesota State Fair has begun, and it’s becoming an increasingly great destination for beer lovers. In the past handful of years we’ve seen the addition of the Land of 10,000 Beers exhibit and the expanded availability of craft beers throughout the entire fair. It’s a chance for brewers to get creative and make some crazy beers that fit at the fair but wouldn’t fly year round. The Growler has a great guide to the beers available at the fair, and I got the chance to try some of them this Thursday.
Continue Reading…