MN Craft Brewers Guild Wants You to Have Winterfest Tickets

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Winterfest tickets sold out in under a minute. Hard to believe, but true. It was a serious online crush to snap them up.

Didn’t get tickets? Well the MN Craft Brewers Guild, sponsors of the event that is probably the best beer fest in the Twin Cities, feels bad for you. They want to give you a chance to win tickets in the Minnesota Craft Beer Heritage Contest. Pen your most purple prose explaining why you are the ultimate Minnesota Craft Beer fan and you could win not only tickets to the event, but also early entry and a meet & greet with the brewers. A Mr and a Ms Minnesota Beer will be named, each taking home the coveted prize.

Interested? Here are the details from the website.

Prove Your Minnesota Beer Heritage
The Minnesota Craft Brewer’s Guild wants you to share why you are a true Minnesota craft beer lover. Have you toured every brewery in the state? Do you brew a unique beer for every season? Did you introduce your 80-year old grandmother to the state’s best IPAs? Or do you just have a love affair with the great beers of Minnesota, unmatched by any of your friends? In 200 words or less, tell us your qualifications and heritage when it comes to Minnesota craft beer. Please visit the www.mncraftbrew.org or email minnesotabrewers@gmail.com to submit your entry. The Brewer’s Guild will select two separate winners Mr. Minnesota Craft Beer and Ms. Minnesota Craft Beer. We want to celebrate thou who prove to be the most devoted Minnesota craft beer enthusiast. And please note the winners do not have to be affiliated.

The winners will be awarded four tickets to Winterfest, the Minnesota Craft Brewer’s Guild winter showcase on Friday, February 4. The winners will also get a private meet-and-greet with some Minnesota brewers and early access to Winterfest.

The deadline for submissions is 10pm CST on Monday, Jan 31.

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The Angry Minnow Brewpub in Hayward, Wisconsin

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Traveling from Duluth, Minnesota to Hayward, Wisconsin takes you on winding two-lane highways through the beautiful northern Wisconsin landscape. It’s the kind of country that makes me want to pull off the road and head into the woods for a hike. The thick snow that blanketed the ground when I made the drive last December made it just that much more enchanting. But I didn’t have time to stop. Having spent the afternoon sampling beers at Fitger’s Brewhouse, I was on my way to do more sampling at the Angry Minnow Brewpub in Hayward.

At the Angry Minnow I was met by Jason Rasmussen, brewer and co-owner with his brother Will. While touring the brewery, located in the basement of the historic building that houses the brewpub, Jason explained the Angry Minnow’s development.  Will Rasmussen dreamed up the idea during a 2002 ski trip to Colorado. After visiting several of the state’s renowned brewpubs, he thought the concept might work in his hometown of Hayward, a center of outdoor activity in both summer and winter. He brought Jason on board, who at the time was an avid homebrewer, and in 2004 the Angry Minnow opened.

Jason started homebrewing in college, but never really thought of doing it professionally. When Will approached him about brewing at the Minnow, he left school and finagled an apprenticeship at the Great Dane Brewpub in Madison. The apprenticeship afforded him invaluable hands-on experience. From there he headed to Chicago’s Siebel institute for some deeper textbook knowledge.

Jason offers patrons a wide range of beers, from a “lite” golden ale to an imperial IPA. His personal taste is for big, hoppy beers, but he recognizes a need for easier-drinking session beers as well. He also tries to craft beers that will challenge the mostly lager-drinking locals and satisfy the palates of the steady stream of homebrewers that come through.

On my visit I sampled a very nice smoked porter, a medium bodied beer with smooth roast and subtle but noticeable charred-wood smoke character. The standout beer for me was Redhorse Ale, a seasonal “Midwestern” red ale, slightly malt-forward with toasty, biscuit flavors blending nicely with sweet caramel. Citrus and pine-resin hops offered a bright contrast to the malt, and moderate bitterness with a clean, light finish made it a delightfully drinkable beer. Angry Minnow’s year-round beers include Oaky’s Oatmeal Stout, River Pig American Pale Ale, Honey Wheat, Minnow Lite.

The food has an intentionally Wisconsin bent. Menu items include several varieties of freshwater fish from Lake Superior, wild rice, and locally grown pork fed on spent grains and food waste from the brewpub. Dishes are more upscale than traditional pub food, but still reasonably priced with entrees topping out at about $18. The cheese curds were spectacular with a light, crispy crust and firm texture. The only downside to the curds was their lack of a dipping sauce.

The atmosphere is decidedly different from the typical brewpub. High ceilings, exposed brick, and dim lighting give an elegant but inviting feel to the dining room. It is an ambience that would serve well for a romantic date or a round of drinks after work. The building itself has a unique and storied past, having served as the offices of the Northern Wisconsin Lumber Company, an auto body shop, and possibly a brothel. Windows in the walkway from the front to the back dining room provide a bird’s eye view of the basement brewhouse.

Hayward is an outdoor mecca. While you are there you have to check out the Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame with its giant walk-thru walleye. During the winter there are ample opportunities for cross-country skiing. Every February the town hosts the American Birkebeiner Cross-Country Ski Marathon.

Crispin Browns Lane Imported English Cider

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A while back I was talking with Crispin Cider CEO Joe Heron when he handed me a can of cider from England. He told me that the company would soon be importing it to this country under the Crispin label. Heron was very excited about the project, but said that it was still under wraps.

Browns Lane Classic English Dry Cider was finally released earlier this month. It is now available in four-packs of 16-ounce cans at most metro-area fine beverage stores. According to the can Browns Lane is “100% pressed, fermented and produced in England. It is a lightly sparkling, crisply effervescent cider made with traditional English bittersweet cider apples sourced in the Malvern Hills of Worcestershire.”

Sounds tasty. And it is tasty. Here’s my notes:

Browns Lane
Imported by Crispin Cider Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Style: English Dry Cider
Serving Style: 16 oz can

Aroma: Fruity apples and spice. Red apple skins. Hints of sulfur.

Appearance: Golden color and crystal clear. Tiny bubbles rise from the bottom of the glass.

Flavor: Crisp red apple. When cold it’s like biting into a firm, fresh fruit. Vinous like chardonnay. Leans toward tart, with sweetness that just balances. Lingering apple sweetness after the swallow quickly gives way to a long-lasting, very dry and tart finish.

Mouthfeel: Crisp, dry, and light-bodied. Prickly carbonation.

Overall Impression: An easy-drinking and refreshing cider. Nice balance of sweet and tart. More tart and with a dryer finish than the other Crispin offerings, it is my favorite outside of the Artisanal Reserve line. Nothing offensive. Nothing challenging. Just a nice fruity, dry, and lightly tart apple cider. I braised some kale in this stuff and it was fantastic!

Let’s Save Rock Bottom

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The Rock Bottom brewpub chain has a big secret. It’s an open secret, but something that most people, even many beer nerds, don’t know. I myself was unaware of this secret until a ten-minute talking-down from the brewer at the Chicago location corrected my misconception of the chain.

The secret is this: There are no standardized brews at Rock Bottom.

That’s right; every beer at every store is an original creation of the head brewer at that store. While some beer names are used across the chain, the beers behind the names are unique. The food menu is standardized, but the beer menu is not. Brewers have essentially total control of the beers that they produce.

Over the 20 years that the chain has been in existence, this open policy toward brewers has resulted in 45 GABF gold medals and countless silver and bronze medals. Rock Bottom brewers are consistently among the medal-winners in the World Beer Cup and other prestigious brewing competitions. Many Rock Bottom brewers have gone on to open their own breweries or to work at other successful breweries. Surly brewmaster Todd Haug is one example. Anyone who has visited Rock Bottom with any frequency knows that this chain brewpub is different from the others.

This difference is in jeopardy. The recent merger between Rock Bottom and Gordon Biersch has been widely reported. Initially Frank Day, co-founder of Rock Bottom and board chairman of the newly formed company CraftWorks Restaurants and Breweries, stated that no re-branding would occur. “Each brand will stay separate and do its own thing…we’re not wanting to homogenize the restaurants.” The problem with this statement is that while it may rule out homogenization between the different concepts, it doesn’t preclude increased homogenization within each concept.

That appears to be exactly what is happening at Rock Bottom. As first reported on Brewpublic.com, it seems that the new corporate management intends to limit the amount of control that Rock Bottom brewers have over their production. Sources inside the chain have leaked the information that a number of system-wide, standard beers will soon be required at each location. Because the chain has never done a particularly good job of marketing the fact that each store’s beers are unique, this isn’t technically a “re-branding.” It is, however, a bad idea on many levels.

Unlike the Hops, BJ’s, and Gordon Biersch chains that serve the same beers across the entire system, each Rock Bottom store has a different brewery setup. While every Gordon Biersch has a reverse osmosis system in place to standardize the brewing water, every Rock Bottom location uses different water. Consistency across batches is hard enough for a small brewery. Consistency across a number of small breweries with different systems and water is a near impossibility. If management’s intention is to give guests a consistent experience from store to store, they will most likely miss their mark.

And besides, who really wants another Hop’s, BJ’s, or Gordon Biersch? In a world overflowing with Benihoulafridaybee’s restaurant concepts do we really need another totally-interchangeable, cookie-cutter dining experience? Craft beer is the only segment of the beer industry currently seeing consistent growth. Part of that success is due to a growing desire in the public for all things local. People are beginning to seek out fine food and drink. Grocery stores are beefing up gourmet food sections. Restaurants and bars are offering more and more eclectic beer selections. The number of operating farmers markets saw 16% growth from 2009 to 2010. Why is CraftWorks looking to homogenization when uniqueness and higher quality are the trends of the future?

Rather than trying to limit brewer freedom at Rock Bottom, CraftWorks should be developing a coherent marketing strategy to sell it. They should be shouting from the hilltops that every visit to Rock Bottom is a unique experience. They should boldly declare that their brewers are among the nation’s best, and they should be trotting out their competition medals to prove it.

I am encouraging beer-lovers to send this message to CraftWorks management. Send an email to operations@rockbottom.com. Use the power of Facebook and Twitter to spread the word. Blog about it. Tell your friends.

Let’s save Rock Bottom.

Great Lakes Eliot Ness Amber Lager

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Invented in the 1840s by Austrian brewing magnate Anton Dreher, the Vienna lager style was one of the most popular of its day. The story goes that Dreher was touring Britain, visiting breweries and stealing wort in a hollow cane, an early bit of industrial espionage. He took what he learned there and made an amber lager roughly modeled the English pale ales he had sampled and swiped. I can’t be sure of the truth of this story, but that’s the story.

At any rate, the style gradually went out of favor in Europe and by the early/mid 20th century was gone from the continent. The style survived in central America where expatriate German brewers were still brewing it. Even there Vienna lager underwent a gradual transformation from a full-flavored, all-malt lager to an adjunct-laden shadow of itself. In the 1980s however, upstart American craft brewers re-discovered the toasty, amber lager and revived it. There are now several fine examples brewed in this country, including Capital Wisconsin Amber, Schell’s Firebrick and Great Lakes Eliot Ness Amber Lager. The latter is the one I just sampled. Here’s my notes:

Eliot Ness Amber Lager
Great Lakes Brewing Company, Cleveland, Ohio
Style: Vienna Lager
Serving Style: 12 oz. bottle

Aroma: Toasty bread-crust and earthy spice. Aroma is light overall.

Appearance: Medium amber and brilliant. Long-lasting, creamy, ivory-colored head.

Flavor: Fuller flavor than most of the style. Sweet caramel and toasted bread-crust malt dominate. Moderate bitterness balances. Spicy/herbal hop flavors keep it refreshing and accentuate hints of roast. The crisp, dry finish lingers on toasty malt.

Mouthfeel: Medium body, but full for the style. Medium carbonation. Crisp.

Overall Impression: A very nice, full-flavored Vienna lager. I love toasted flavors in malt and this beer has them in spades. Refreshingly dry finish makes this a very easy beer to drink, sessionable except for the 6.2% ABV.

Cozy Comforts Beer & Wine Pairing Dinner at Cooks of Crocus Hill

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Last night the tastebud-teasing trio of Sommelier Leslee Miller, Chef Mike Shannon, and Cicerone Michael Agnew (that’s me) came together at Cooks of Crocus Hill in St. Paul for another beer, wine, and food pairing experience. This one, called Cozy Comforts, focused on the kind of foods that Minnesotans need to help them through January’s deep-freeze. As temperatures routinely drop well below zero, we crave rich and wholesome foods like pot roast and mac & cheese; the kind of food that your grandma used to make (only a lot fancier). During the three-hour class, guests tasted their way through five courses, each paired with a beer, a wine, or both.

I started the night off with a welcome beer, Schell’s Snowstorm. Snowstorm is the annual winter seasonal release from New Ulm’s August Schell Brewing. Every year it is brewed to a different style. This year’s version is a dark wheat doppelbock (just try saying that three times fast). This is a fantastic beer to warm the soul, combining the familiar banana and clove flavors of a German Hefeweizen with the rich, sweet, caramel maltiness of a doppelbock. Several people told me that they typically don’t like wheat beers, but that this one made them reconsider.

The first course was braised winter greens with bacon. Imagine kale (I love kale) braised in cider and topped off with cranberries and bacon; bitter, sweet, tart, and salty/savory all in one place. Leslee paired this with Helfrich Riesling from Alsace. The wine had earthy aromas of wet stone and a bright acidic tartness. It really spoke to the cranberries in the dish and made them absolutely pop.

For the second course Chef Mike whipped up four-cheese macaroni and cheese with gruyere, white cheddar, parmesan, and just a touch of gorgonzola. I paired this with Isolation Ale from Odell Brewing Company in Fort Collins, Colorado. Isolation Ale is a traditional English winter warmer, malt-forward with a bit of bitterness to balance and light orangey citrus notes. It paired well, but I think I could have gone even maltier with something like an English barleywine.

Next on the menu was ginger orange Cornish hens with sweet potatoes and green apples. Leslee made an unexpected pairing to this dish, choosing a bigger Spanish red, Caliza Syrah from Marqués de Griñón. The wine had strong peppery flavors that spoke to the ginger in the dish, while the citrusy sauce and sweet potato/apple side-dish pulled out nice fruity notes from the wine.

The pairings with the fourth and fifth courses were the best of the night. The fourth course was a very traditional pot roast with carrots and shallots. Leslee focused on the sweetness of the carrots and onions, choosing Root: 1 Carmenere, a red from Chile. It featured juicy plum and berry flavors with light tannins on the finish. The wine went perfectly with the veggies and also pulled some sweetness from the meat. I went with Meantime London Porter, a medium-bodied, moderately-roasty porter from England. The roastiness of the beer was perfect with the meat and the light caramel sweetness also spoke to the carrots and onions.

Desert was S ‘more Pot De Crème, an original creation of Chef Mike. Rich chocolate custard was topped with crumbled graham-cracker and torch-toasted marshmallow cream. The drink pairings offered a lesson in both complementary and contrasting flavors. I chose Rogue Chocolate Stout, rich, sweet, and chocolaty. I was going for chocolate overload. The flavors melded perfectly as one disappeared into the other. Leslee went with Astoria Lounge Sweet a tasty sparkling wine from Italy. It’s deep honeycomb and fruit flavors countered the rich chocolate/marshmallow of the desert and the light sparkle cleansed the palate for the next bite. It reminded me of the way a tart raspberry sauce enhances a dark chocolate cake.

Our next Cooks of Crocus Hill beer/wine pairing event is on April 15th. The theme is “the Big Thaw”; food, beer, and wine to bring us out of hibernation.

The Year in Beer – Highs and Lows from 2010

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My most memorable beer in 2010

In the first days of 2010, my favorite beer of 2009, Ommegang Rouge/Cuvee de Jacobins Rouge, was tenaciously holding on to its position; then came the release of Rodenbach Vintage 2007. Rodenbach Classic and Rodenbach Grand Cru are blended beers; a mixture of soured beer that has been aged in huge oak vats for up to two years and young beer that has never seen wood.  Vintage is unblended. It is the product of a single vat. And it is heaven. Smoother than Grand Cru, Vintage is an explosion of balsamic vinegar and fruit. Juicy flavors of cherries, currents, fresh plums, and grapes literally burst in your mouth. Tart acidity is balanced by just a bit of residual sweetness, and toasty malt. Oaky tannins provide some pucker. I recently read that Rodenbach has released Vintage 2008. I haven’t seen it in area stores. I’ll have to hunt some down.

The beer I wish I could forget from 2010

In researching my January Star Tribune column on smoked beers I had a bottle of Mantorville Stagecoach Smoked Porter. I really wanted to like it. It scores well on both Beer Advocate and Ratebeer. I try to be a supporter of Minnesota brewed beer, big and small. Unfortunately, this was a difficult beer to get through, a jumble of pieces that crash into one another and then fall in fragments on the floor. Acrid roast buries the smoke. An odd kind of café mocha sweetness fights against the other flavors. It’s unclear which side is winning the battle. The next day I tried one on tap, hoping that I had just had a bad bottle. Alas, it was the same beer.

Best Twin Cities Beer Festival of 2010

I have to say that I am a big fan of Winterfest. I like that it is an intimate festival, not a gigantic drunk-fest like some of them can be. I like that it features only Minnesota Beer. I like the setting at the Minnesota History Center. The 2010 event was laid out better than 2009. The hallways were much less crowded. The food in 2010 was good and lasted until the end of the event. The beer line-up – especially from Town Hall – was excellent. It was a great fest. You can read my re-cap here.

Runner up for Best Fest goes to Where the Wild Beers Are. Again, this is an intimate event. Great rare beers were poured. Much fun was had by all. Organizers Jeff Halverson and Tim Stendahl did a great job. Can’t wait for this year’s event.

Worst Twin Cities Beer Festival of 2010

Without a doubt the title goes to Firkin Fest at the Happy Gnome. Too many people. Too little space. Too few porta-poties. The beer ran out well before the scheduled end of the event. Horrible things were done to firkins of perfectly good beer. Read my full write-up here.

Stupidest Beer Quote of 2010

Overheard at Stub & Herbs.  “I need to slow down on these (Surly) Abrasives. I’ve had like seven of them already.” 9% ABV ≠ session beer.

Craziest Internet Comment Thread of 2010

Following an announcement by former Stub & Herbs bar manager Jon Landers that Stubs would be serving 100% local and regional beer, the internet lit up. Lengthy threads on both Beer Advocate and MNbeer got quite heated and verged on inappropriate. The great guys at Fulton Beer took quite a shellacking.

Growth for Minnesota Beer

Two new Minnesota Breweries came on line in 2010. The first was Leech Lake Brewing in Walker, MN. The tiny brewery in this Northern Minnesota lake town started brewing in mid August. Owners Greg and Gina Smith debuted their beers in the Twin Cities at the Autumn Brew Review. I look forward to getting up there for a visit this year.

Jason Sowards of Harriet Brewing sneaked in his inaugural brew just before Christmas. It was a long road to get there that included getting Minneapolis ordinances changed to allow production breweries to sell growlers within the city limits. I’ve tasted Jason’s beers and very much look forward to seeing them in bars soon.

My Personal Beer Highs of 2010

#1: Craft Brewers Conference in Chicago. The awards dinner was perhaps the biggest beer dinner ever staged. Several courses, each paired with beer, were prepared by Chef Sean Paxton for 2000 diners. My table drank a lot of Allagash Curieux, as we kept stealing bottles from empty table. At the pre-dinner reception, large troughs of ice were set on two very long tables. In them were all the entries in the World Beer Cup. While looking through the beers to decide what I wanted to try, someone next to me pulled out a bottle labeled “Alaskan Smoked Porter 1998.” “This should work.” she said. It did.

#2: Taking the Gold Medal for my Bohemian Pilsner at the National Homebrew Competition. And I wasn’t even at that dinner.

Overall 2010 was a good year for beer. Craft beer sales continued to rise at a fast pace. The number of small breweries around the country reached its highest number since prohibition. For me personally 2010 was a huge year. I hope for more of the same for the industry and myself in 2011.

Toasting the New Year with Beer

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For those of us who prefer beer to wine (I like wine, don’t get me wrong) toasting the New Year can be a frustrating affair. Champagne, champagne, champagne. I’ve never been a huge fan. But there are several champagne beers out there to do the deed in style.

I have started blogging for the City Pages Hot Dish blog. My first post about these celebratory suds went up today. Check out Toast the New Year with beer by clicking here.

Goose Island Madame Rose

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On a recent visit to the Goose Island production brewery on Fulton Street in Chicago, I marveled at the barrel room. Row upon row of racks stacked with wine and whiskey barrels beckoned me to sample. Labels with hand-written brewer’s notes tempted me with seductive names like Juliet, Sofie, and Lolita. My heart raced as I read ingredients like “brett”, “lacto” and cherries. Sadly, their contents went untasted.

Last night I opened a bottle of the fruit of these barrels (and fruit is the appropriate word here), Madame Rose. Goose Island calls the beer a Flemish Brown Ale. After an initial fermentation in stainless, the beer is transferred into wine barrels for a long fermentation with wild yeasts and acid-producing bacteria. 40-pounds of cherries are added to every barrel.

Here’s my notes:

Madame Rose
Goose Island Brewing Company, Chicago, Illinois
Style: Flemish Brown Ale
Serving Style: 750 ml Bottle

Aroma: Blush wine and balsamic vinegar. Tart cherry fruitiness with almond highlights. Earthy, mossy, woody. Brings to mind the smell of fresh cedar mulch.

Appearance: Light brown and clear. Small carbonation bubbles and color make this resemble champagne. Off-white head does not persist.

Flavor: Mouthwatering tart cherry. Vinous red wine vinegar combined with complex lingering malt flavors. Dark plums. Light almond, wood, and floral notes complete the picture. Finish is dry and light.

Mouthfeel: Light body, but with a velvety chewiness. Refreshing. Spritzy.

Overall Impression: Complex without being complicated. Delicate and delightful. This beer falls somewhere between a Kriek and a Flemish Brown. It has the residual malt character of a brown and the tart-cherry fruit of a Kriek. Less funky than a lambic, but funkier than an Oud Bruin.

Upcoming Beer Classes at Cooks of Crocus Hill

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I have a couple of beer classes upcoming at Cooks of Crocus Hill. Check these out.

ABCs of Beer
Monday, December 20th, 6-8 PM
Cost: $55
What’s the difference between ale and lager? What’s the best glass for my favorite beer? Which beers can I cellar and which ones should I drink young? Join Certified Cicerone (the beer expert equivalent of a sommelier) Michael Agnew as he shows you all the basics and then some. You’ll learn how to taste, select and care for beers of all types and styles. Includes a selection of Craft Beers from around the world representing basic styles and light snacks.

Cozy Comforts Wine & Beer Pairing Dinner
With Sommelier Leslee Miller and Chef Mike Shannon
Thursday, January 6th, 6-9 PM
Cost: $75
The weather outside is still frightful, but the wine, beer and tasty comfort food at Cooks are totally delightful! Snuggle up with Sommelier Leslee, Cicerone Michael and Chef Mike for a fun-filled new take on Minnesotan winter comforts.
Menu: Braised Winter Greens; Four-Cheese Macaroni and Cheese; Cornish Hens with Ginger-Apple Sweet Potatoes, Smore Pot de Creme.