Great Lakes Brewing News Archive

Minnesota Beer News

Originally Published: 10/97

By Jim Ellingson

Microbreweries

Ambleside beers are now available on draught and in bottles in the greater Twin Cities area. Look for the rich and malty Pale Ale and the dry and refreshing St. Cloud Wheat at your favorite offsale, bar, and restaurant.

Lake Superior Brewing Company is an 8 bbl brewhouse in the historic Fitgers Brewery shopping complex in Duluth. Their hoppy Pale Ale and refreshing Kölsch were both well received at this year's Great Taste of the Midwest. They're looking to expand the brewery and the distribution in the near future. LSBC's fine beers are available on tap at bars and restaurants in the Duluth area. Soon, they will be available in Wisconsin.

On July 21, ground was broken on Summit Brewing Company's new $7M brewery. The 5 vessel, 150 bbl German brewhouse is scheduled to come on line summer of 1998 and will allow Summit to keep up with the 20-50% growth in sales they've enjoyed since opening in 1986. The decoction ready system will allow for re-formulation of some old favorites (the Maibock, Hefeweizen and Alt come to mind) and expansion of the product line in new directions. Highlights included a mercifully short speech by St. Paul Mayor Norm "Pucks" Coleman and the filling of a time-keg-sule to be buried in the cornerstone of the first all new brewery built in MN in 60(?) years. Summit's rich and malty Dusseldorfer style Alt beer is now available, and is well suited to the season.

Congratulations to James Page Brewing on their strong showing at the Great Taste. The refreshing Kölsch was very well received.

Cold Spring has a new name. It is now called Glueck's Brewery.

Brewpubs

What a difference a year makes. I first stopped at O'Hara's 1 year ago. They'd just opened, and only 4 of the 5 beers were available. The last batch of Pale Ale had been dumped because it wasn't up to par. Homebrewers are shocked to hear of 10 bbls of beer going down the drain, but the most expensive beer in the world is the one the brewery should have never released. While I lament the loss, I admire the conviction! Now, O'Hara's brewer, Chris Laumb, has five solid beers on tap. O'Hara's is the first brewpub in St. Cloud, so their beers cater to the tastes of the local residents and compete with a wide range of bottled and draft domestic beers. They're served very cold, very clear and with plenty of carbonation. The Golden Honey Wheat is the number one seller, and as delivered, is very satisfying to a mega brew drinker. Allowed to warm, the honey character comes through nicely. The Red and Raspberry Wheat are good. The Pantown Pale Ale had a nice American hop flavor and was appropriately bitter. Sid's Stout had plenty of carmel, chocolate and roast on the palate, but finished dry in the Irish tradition.

Great Waters Brewing Company, in downtown St. Paul, serves eight authentic English style beers, four via hand pump. St. Martin's Bitter and the Pale Ale are always good choices. The menu has been reformulated by the new chef, so you might try heading there for dinner prior to your trip to the Ordway, the Civic Center or one of the other St. Paul destinations.

By the time you read this, O'Gara's Oktoberfest will be back on tap. The O-fest was my favorite O'Gara's beer in 1996 and I look forward to the '97 model. I also recommend the Bitter.

Green Mill Brewing Co., formerly Mill Street on Grand Ave. in St. Paul, is making their own beer. Head brewer Ron Flett presides over a wonderfully compact, direct fired 10 barrel, 2 vessel brew house. Last trip, the pale and seasonal Pils were both very good. We also sampled a variety of appetizers. This trip, the smoked pheasant and the calamari were most impressive, while the often excellent mussels steamed in ale were just passable. Such is the variable nature of seafood living 1500 miles from the ocean.

Rock Bottom Brewery's Oktober-fest is back. Todd and Jeff brewed this seasonal beer, a very smooth, malty lager brewed in the late spring and aged until September.

Big News at Sherlock's Home is the 6th Minnesota Brewfest and Scotch Tasting, the first annual Real Ale Festival, and the return of Michael Jackson. Call for further details.

Minnesota Home Brewing News

L. L. Kraemer Company, the Renaissance Festival and the Minnesota homeBrewer's Assoc. sponsored the 3rd Annual Beer, Mead and Cider competition. Winners were chosen in 6 categories from the 100 entries, with awards provided by LL Kraemer. MhBA members judged the entries while dressed in Renaissance garb, and also made presentations on the fine art of homebrewing, mead and cider making.

The 6th annual Minnesota Brewfest will be held on October 10-12th at Sherlock's Home Brewpub and restaurant in Minnetonka. Final round judging will be on Friday and Saturday. Best of Show judging features Michael Jackson along with 2 BJCP judges and is MC-ed by Sherlock Holmes. There is a Scotch Tasting hosted by Michael Jackson at noon on Saturday and a real ale festival hosted by Jackson and the brewers on Sunday. Mr. Jackson's books, videos and CD ROMs are available for sale, and the good-natured Beer Hunter will sign most anything within the realms of good taste or good fun.

For more information about the Brewfest, contact Sherlock's Home. For information on the competition and judging contact Steve Piatz at 612-452-2444 (Home), 612-683-5268 (work) or piatz@cray.com on the internet http://reality.sgi.com/piatz_craypark/brewfest.html on the Web.

New at Northern Brewer is German Munich Malt. This is great news for those of us who pursue the holy grail of a home-brewed Oktoberfest. Northern Brewer has everything a homebrewer needs. They offer a wide range of brew kits, extracts, grains from England, Belgium, Germany and the US, hops, yeast, and brewing equipement. Fall is the start of the traditional brewing season. I like to start with a bitter or pale ale that will be ready soon. Next, I make a spiced brown ale for the holiday season, so that the flavors will have plenty of time to blend and meld before December rolls around. Chris, Peter and the crew at NB can help you select one of their kits, or formulate your own recipes.

Big news at Vine Park, a Minnesota BOP, is the addition of Andy Graige to the staff. Andy's been in the homebrewing industry for several years, and is bringing that expertise to Vine Park. You can use one of their well tested recipes (The American Pale Ale is very good) or they'll work with you in formulating your own recipe.