Drekker Brewing Company, Fargo, North Dakota

The second brewery was Drekker Brewing Company. This is my second trip to Drekker but the first was during the COVID lockdown and we weren't able to sit and enjoy a beer in the taproom. We had to get beers to go and I honestly don't remember what I got.

I sat at the end of the bar and was able to watch the world go around. Several people said hi and had mini-conversations while they waited for their beer. There weren't a lot of people so the waits were short and I didn't have to do too much chit-chat. The bartenders were great. I got my beer quickly and they kept checking in to make sure I was doing well. They even recommended a liquor store where I might find a beer that was interesting but no longer on tap. It was a quality experience in the taproom.

Braaaaaaaains

Interesting beer. Smoothie sour. Kinda had a milkshake feel to it. Crossed with an Orange Julius. Definitely banana but not overpowering. Lots of strawberries. I got a little blueberry. This combo of flavors really puckers and this is truly a sour. The lactose gives the milkshake feel and feels milky and smooth. I saw a description of this beer that includes sea salt. I'm not sure about this one but it may have been lost in the mix of bigger flavors that hit you in the face.

One pint of this beer was enough. I'm not sure I could do more. It's sweet and the flavors got started to be overpowering toward the end.

Overall, enjoyable beer and great taproom.

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Fargo Brewing Company, Fargo, North Dakota

Well, I can't believe that my little kiddo is old enough but I took him on his first college visit last week.  Crazy. Granted we are getting an early start (starting his junior year) but time is really flying. The first trip was to Fargo to visit NDSU, home of the Bison.

I didn't realize that Fargo was home to so many breweries. I couldn't find time to visit all of them in our quick overnight visit. In looking at the beer lists, I found two breweries that had beers with bananas in them. I do love banana-based things - pies, cocktails, candy...

The first brewery was Fargo Brewing Company.

Slap Bracelet

This was a solid beer but I didn't get a ton of the banana. The biggest flavor is pineapple providing a fruity, almost sour feeling. Then the raspberry hits you. Not overpowering but definitely there. The flavor profile on their website says there are marshmallows but I didn't get that flavor. Maybe it was just providing the sweetness and perhaps I was expecting more of a roasty campfire flavor from this. 

I'm not sure I'd make a trip to Fargo for this beer but if I was in town, I'd add it to a flight and try a few more of the beers.

The brewery was pretty cool. The bar space was open and easy to get a beer. There was also a garage space with a band playing but, as usual, I wasn't in the mood for music blasting. I chose to sit on the patio space on the other side and it was full of green space with tables. It was relaxing. At least until the smokers came out and stood by the tables. Then three people stood right next to the table I was sitting at and I got to hear every word of their conversation. They were truly oblivious to everyone around them. That was super annoying.

The people around your beer experience definitely have an impact on your enjoyment.

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Uteplis Brewing, Minneapolis, Mn

Last night, my wonderful and beautiful wife and I snuck away for a beer and Artepils art fair at Utepils Brewing in Minneapolis. It was a lovely night in Minneapolis and the brewery was busy. There were several artists selling canvases and prints in the garage and there was a band playing in the beer garden. I didn't realize how splendid the beer garden is and how many people can fit out there.

We grabbed our beverages, including a free one compliments of my Craftapped membership (that I've sorely not used enough...), and moved outside. We found a picnic table in the back, kinda behind the building that muted the music a bit and let us talk. It was great!

Party Water

My wife got a Party Water hard seltzer. That's the pinkish drink in the picture. She really enjoyed this. I took a sip and these are not usually my jam but it wasn't bad. The carbonation is low. The usual bubble water-type drinks she gets are carbonated like soda and not a win for me. There was definitely fruit in this and I'd guess a mixture of things. I got some grapefruit but that's the only one that stood out for me. I'm not sure I could take a whole glass but if you want to visit Utepils for a beer and need to bring along someone who doesn't really like beer, this is a good option.

Der-Die-Das

If you've been reading this blog lately, you may notice I've been on a little bit of a Dunkel/Bock kick. This one is a Munich Dunkel. I don't think it's as good as Fulton's Barrel-aged Doppelbock or Broken Clock's Bock to the Future but I wouldn't toss this one to the curb. There was plenty of malt and it was slightly sweet. It almost had an amber ale taste. Maybe a dark amber? I also got a little caramel out of it and perhaps a little raisin. I probably should have savored this one a bit more and let it warm up more. I'm pretty sure the flavor would have changed.

Cheers!

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Klockow Brewing, Grand Rapids, MN, USA

Stop #2 on the CABIN WEEK BREWERY DAY TOUR!

Klockow Brewing

For this one, it was Flight Time. Four 4 oz. beers. It's a good way to get a sample of a few beers that you think you might like.

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Rapids Brewing, Park Rapids, MN, USA

 It's was CABIN WEEK last week. 

And during cabin week there is usually one day that rainy or just a pool/lake/boat day.

That's BREWERY DAY!!!

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Broken Clock, Minneapolis, MN, USA

Broken Clock Brewing Cooperative

Okay, so this is a bit of a cheat. It was part of CABIN WEEK!™ but wasn't consumed at the brewery during BREWERY DAY™. I was lucky enough to find these at the Brooklyn Center, MN Muni before we left town. I'm sure that consuming them by a lake with the sun shining and a couple of good friends around only makes them better.

Beer #1: Sundial Citrus IPA
It's good. I think I'm starting to be over IPAs because I haven't really found a stand-out IPA in a while. They aren't bad, it's just there are other things I'm more interested in. That said, this is a solid IPA. The Citra hops give it a grapefruit citrus flavor and the Mosaic hops give it a balance so it's not overpowering.


Beer #2: Bock 2 the Future
Again with the bocks...This one is really good. It's sweet but not overly. Strong (8ish%) but not knock you on your butt strong. The malt is toasty and bready. There's a hint of caramel/toffee that hits just about perfectly. I'd drink this one again.

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Fulton Barrel Aged Dopplebock

Sometimes it's the beer.
Sometimes it's the company.
Sometimes it's the location.

Trifecta!

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Lift Bridge Cowlaboration

As promised: The second beer of the Red Cow-North Loop trip.

Lift Bridge came through. I haven't had many beers from Lift Bridge that are outstanding. They are good but not amazing standouts in a crowded field. I wouldn't turn them down though.

This was one that was simply delicious.  

Lift Bridge Cowlaboration #3: Chocolate Milk Porter.

It appears that this was brewed just for Red Cow as it is only listed on their menu and I couldn't find it on the Lift Bridge site.  

This is most definitely a dessert beer and I'm glad that I didn't order it first. It would have ruined the sandwich and the Pyres Miraculum that would have come second.  

I can best describe this beer as a pretty standard porter, right on style. But this is where it gets interesting. I wish I had watch them pour this beer because then I could say without a doubt that no one just dumped in a chocolate milk and it was truly brewed with this flavor.  

I was blown away at how much these flavors mixed and melded but were also distinct enough to really set this beer apart.  There was a decent amount of sweetness to knock this out of the park as a dessert beer. There was also a enough porter to make it stick to you.  It's a really dark brown that doesn't let any light through. The carbonation is low but is perfect for what this beer is. 

Chocolate milk, porter. Goodness all around.  Well done!!!

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Pyres Miraculum

Dinner at the Red Cow in downtown Minneapolis included an amazing Grilled Cheese sandwich with BBQ chips in the middle. I could go on but this is a beer blog.

This was one of the times that I needed to search out a brew I had never had. Even with the Surly Tap Takeover that was happening, I was still searching.  I found two.  The first was Pyres Miraculum. Pyres calls it a MN IPA.

I was out with a few friends and didn't feel comfortable taking a picture.

Mirauclum has a deep malty redness but clear enough to let the light shine through.  There is a wonderful hop aroma. It's fresh and light.  It hits you with the citrus hop flavor, then a sweet malty flavor.  On the back end, I got more the citrus finish but wasn't a traditional hop citrus. This is a very smooth beer and it paired well with the smoked gouda in the grilled cheese.

Cheers. Oh, I mentioned two beers. Your can read about the other one here.

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10K Brewing

 

The boys went to 10K Brewing last night. It's in downtown Anoka in a cool old building. There was a band playing and the there was a good crowd.  There was a decent mix of older folks, music lovers, hipster-types, and beer snobs.  There was even a brew dog lounging at the bar.

It's a small brewery. We only saw one fermentation tank. It looked like a 5 bbl, 3 vessel system. We didn't see any bright tanks and heard from another brewery that they were carbing in the keg (which isn't horrible but not the best way). Also, just because we didn't see it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

As per usual when trying a new brewery, a flight was ordered.  Here goes:

Haufewiezen
Belgian Hefe. I thought this was decent. Not a true hefewiezen but good. It's a wheat beer and has Belgian hops. It was drinkable and light.  One of the boys was disappointed and said it wasn't a hefe at all. I could be persuaded to drink this again.

Northern Honey Blonde
The cool thing about this beer for me is that it uses local honey from a family farm. I'm a big fan of local ingredients and keeping things local in general. It's light, but not really a lawn-mower beer, which I was expecting.  It was decent cold but as it warmed a bit, there was a buttery smell and taste. This is an off-flavor called diacetyl and not something you look for in a beer.  

Amber
This might have been the most disappointing of the group for me. Generally, I like ambers and reds. However, the first taste had a sour note to it which is not characteristic to the style.  If it had been labeled a Amber Sour, I may have thought differently. I also got a small note of smoke flavor, which was very strange in this style. The carbonation on this one was very low. However, I think there is a good base to this and could be a great beer.

Smoked Porter
This was the best of the lot. Perfect low carbonation for the style. A hint of chocolate and light roasted nut flavor. The smoked malt was just enough without being overwhelming. I saved this for last in the group and it was really good. Generally, I'm not the biggest fan of smoked beers but this smoked Baltic porter had just enough of the subtle hints of a few flavors that made it quality.

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Eastlake Brewing & Tavern

You've already read about the Nicollet Mauler Black IPA and you should go get one.

Well enjoying the beer, I tried to snoop around a bit and get some pictures.  I didn't need to do much snooping though because it's just not all that big of a place, which makes it so cool.

The tap room is roughly double the size of my classroom. The bar wraps around the taps in an L-shape. There are plenty of long tables for sitting and window seating that looks out over  Lake Street.  If you sit next to the windows, you can turn and see the whole taproom.  The bar back is all black tile with black chalkboards listing all the beer and swag available. There is also eye-popping white letting under the taps.

Behind the bar wall is the cold room.  The cool part of the cold room is the that there is a glass door so you can see some the kegs and lines. I was intrigued because the kegs are 1/6 barrel and a few 1/2 barrel and just a step up from homebrewing.

The brewery area is really just a garage stall. There is a glass garage door that lets wanderers see what is happening in there. Unfortunately, I wasn't there on a brew day. I would be dollars to doughnuts to that it makes the whole Midtown Global Market smell amazing. It's pretty amazing to see how much stainless steel they packed into this small space. 

Being there on a brew day and seeing how the brewers are able to make the space work would be fun to watch.

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Nicollet Mauler Black IPA (Eastlake Brewing)

 

What to do while you are trying to kill time waiting for you kid and you find yourself on Lake Street? Try a new beer in a brewery you've never been to in a really cool building. I decided to try Eastlake Brewery & Tavern in the Midtown Global Market. I'll be sharing the brewery experience tomorrow.

There wasn't a lot of time, so decided on one beverage rather than a flight and smaller tulip glass rather than a full pint.  I will definitely go back and try both of their flights (they have 2).

 The Nicollet Mauler Black IPA pours black, just like it should.  There's a cream, almost roasty, color head. The nose had so many aromas. I got some floral notes, a bit of caramel, and a tiny hint of smoke or roast (not sure where that came from).  
​
Then the sip. Wow. All the aromas come through in that first taste. I'm not a huge fan of licorice but it's there. Then you get everything else. The caramel and chocolate come through. A hint of the licorice. 

The problem with this beer is that complexity doesn't lend itself to a quick beer.  This one should be sipped, conversed over, let to warm a bit, swirled, and deeply enjoyed. I'll go back to try this again and take the time to really let it take over.

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Lakefront Oktoberfest

 

It is January something. In Minneapolis, the temperature is 0̊ F. There are no leaves on the trees. Having a bonfire to keep warm simply isn't enough. And my dog's pee freezes before it hits the snow.

Yet, I'm still dreaming of grilling, smores, and Oktoberfest beers.

I like lots of styles but this is favorite. Technically, it's Marzen/Oktoberfest.  Whenever I find a new one, it somehow ends up on my basement fridge and I end up drinking them until Februaryish.  I had not seen Lakefront Brewery locally and had never tried their Oktoberfest.

It has a nice copper color and white head. There is a ton of malt flavor that defines this style. A bit of caramel flavor rounds out the malt. The Mt. Hood hops add just enough balance to make this a super drinkable beer.  

I'm thankful there are a couple more in the basement fridge to make it through the bitter Minnesota January and dream of a toasty fire in the backyard.

Oy! Oy! Oy!

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Able Seedhouse + Brewery

 Last weekend, a couple of long time buddies and I went to Able Seedhouse + Brewery.

One of my buddies had been there previously. This was a place that I had wanted to see because it used to be the maintenance building for the Minneapolis Public Schools when the district headquarters was at 807 Broadway (before they moved into 1250 Broadway North on the other side of the river). Before being the district headquarters, it was a light bulb factory. There is some really cool history on that corner.

None of us had been in the maintenance building before. The guys at Able did a great job of turning it into a taproom while keeping the industrial feel. They kept the exposed metal beams in the ceiling. They kept the concrete floor (although it looks like the poured a new floor with drainage under the fermenters). They added lots of wood and metal. The bar and bar back is a terrific mix of these two. On the bar back, there is, what I thought was lighting, a light diagonal stripe that goes up from the bar with the edges being matched in stainless behind the taps.  When I looked closer, it is actually two different stains to make the long, left had side of an uppercase "A".  

The word that comes to mind when describing the interior of Able is simple. The tables, chairs, and bar stools are basic but fit in the design perfectly.  The exposed piping in the ceiling blends new and old really well.  The tap handles appear to be simple dowels with a tiny splash of color and carving. The flight paddle is a 2x4 with a rounded edge. All the little details support the bigger picture.  

Sadly, we didn't get into the brewery part. So, let's talk beer.

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Castle Danger Brewery

I'm a teacher.  Did you know?  That means I get some breaks from school.  Over MEA, I usually get at least one day off from all school. This year, it was two days and a weekend.  Just a beautiful thing.

We loaded up the family truckster for Duluth, MN.  We drove past Duluth to the Gunflint Trail. We made it to the Gunflint Trail and the Moose Overlook. My family, my brother and his family, and our stepmom spent time at the overlook spreading my dad's ashes.  It is a great spot that my dad is surely enjoying. 

After many stories, we departed and headed back toward Duluth.  We stopped several times to enjoy the views, walk the rocks, and dip our toes in the water.  There may have been some rock skipping too. Check out the awesome pictures!

I convinced my wife to make one extra stop at Castle Danger Brewing in Two Harbors.  Sadly, it was just a quick stop for growler.  

My son and I ran in, grabbed a growler, and left. I was able to snap a picture of the awesome brewery sign above the tap wall.  I also got a picture of the super cool tap handles.  

Sadly, I can't even post a beer review.  The growler went to a Fun Friday event, was enjoyed, and the growler is now proudly displayed in the pool room.

I can't wait to get back to Castle Danger Brewing, sit down, and actually enjoy the brewery.

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