Happy Firkin Holidays

The Groveland Tap was the place to be tonight for beer geeks. As part of their "12 Nights of Christmas," which features a different drink special every night leading up the birthday of Christ, tonight they offered five firkins of different beers from Schell's (Pils), Summit (Winter dry hopped with Fuggles), Surly (Bender bourbon barrel aged), Bell's (Cream Stout) and Big Sky (Powder Hound). (A firkin is a keg for serving cask-conditioned beer. Cask beer is beer which is carbonated in and served directly--"pulled" from--the container.)

Reps from most of the breweries and other notables made an appearance, along with other beer fan-boys and girls . I joined the MnBeer.com folks, and between us, we were able to sample most of the offerings. The Summit Winter was hands-down my favorite, followed by the Pils. The Bender, despite a nice bourbon undertone, seemed a little premature, as it was still a bit uncarbonated. The Bell's was good, but nothing to write home about. We unfortunately didn't get around to the Big Sky.

Many beer-related events are on the calendar this time of year, giving my palate a nice warm-up for the coming week with Christmas and New Year's Eve.

Roguishly Busy

Well I've been busy working on an article to submit to the Twin Cities Imbiber about recent legislative changes to the State's liquor laws. Whether they publish it or not, it's been a great experience working on my first journalistic piece. First, that is, if you don't consider all the words printed here. Anyway, I learned a ton about said liquor laws, and that our franchise laws, tax and fee system, and commerce laws play as much as of role in preventing more good beer from reaching the masses as do the laws which directly govern beer. Thanks a ton to the folks at Town Hall Brewery for filling me in, and if TCI decides to run my piece it will be in the August/September issue.

I believe I had the most overrated beer ever--besides Fat Tire that is, which just made its return to Minnesota last week. Ok, it wasn't really overrated, just over-priced. (Besides, I couldn't resist getting a shot in at the FT.) Rogue's 10,000 Brew Ale is just that--their 10,000th batch of beer. It's a double IPA, clocking in at about 10% abv and 83 IBUs (bittering units). Sure, the 750ml re-sealable ceramic bottle is a keeper, and the contents were pretty amazing, but at $22 a bottle, I want to be completely blown away. I guess it's a good thing I don't drink high end wine.

At the Happy Gnome a couple weeks ago, I paid a similar price for a beer, but this experience was far different. As some background, every Thursday, the Gnome taps a couple casks of beer. Surly Furious is a regular, but usually they supplement that with something else. Bells makes consistent appearances, recently offering an Expedition Stout. When I went by for a drink it was the Tuesday after tapping it, and they surprisingly had some left. See, the oxygen in the cask begins altering the beer's characteristics, so I was intrigued. The $7 for 10 ounces was meager compared to the Rogue. Bitter chocolate and smooth espresso, brought out by the roughly 10% abv, was numbing. It lasted me a nice long 60 minutes, and was worth every one of 'em.

Homebrew Update

So after two-and-a-half weeks without a post I better have some good homebrew news, right? Actually Jane has the scoop over at her blog. I will add though that I tried the mild today, and it's a lot better than I anticipated. The tastings during each transfer were a bit bland and a little funky, but I think the carbonation really livens it up. Another week and it will be perfect.

The Good, The Bad..the Veto, the Beer

This week, the Minnesota Legislature begins holding conference committee hearings to work out the differences between House and Senate omnibus bills. This consists of long hours and lots of waiting around, and this year it's mostly for naught, as the main funding source for all these bills--tax increases--will likely be vetoed. It's pretty exhilarating to spend all this time for nothing. I'm psyched. I especially love not seeing my wife and kids very much, when the prospects for success are only slight. It's truly a great feeling.

Thank god for good beer then. The cask Summit EPA at the Muddy Pig--the IPA wasn't ready--was simply amazing. The complex fresh hop flavors of Summit rise to the forefront, offering a flowery and suprising citrus undertone. Sometimes I forget how great Summit EPA is, especially when it's served fresh, and even better when it's on cask.

Also note that Summit ESB is back on the shelves. I've been drinking Red Hook ESB lately (on sale at Big Top until the end of the month), so the timing is impeccablel; it tastes much better and it's Summit.

Amazed and defused

Customer service is not something you get a chance to see direct from microbreweries, especially ones that are expanding the definition of "micro." I mean, how often to you have to deal with the actual brewing company? Well one my favorite breweries, Boulder Beer Company, brewers of Hazed and Infused, Mojo IPA and Singletrack Ale, let some serious bacteria get into one of their fermenters or something. I had this Hazed and Infused at two different parties, and it was FOUL.

So I contacted Boulder, and they contacted my buddy who bought it, and they were real serious about correcting the problem. Of course they reimbursed him, but I was more pretty impressed with their commitment to selling a good product. Cheers, guys!

Cheers also to St. Paul Cave Dweller for alerting me that The Muddy Pig will be tapping a keg of cask Summit IPA at 6 pm this Wednesday. That's tomorrow. At The Muddy Pig. 6pm. Summit IPA on cask. Maybe you should go.

Dashed Hopes: Summit Cask Update

I've never gone through so much trouble to try a beer and end up being so disappointed. Saturday I was all pumped about Town Hall Brewery having two Summit beers on cask, so my wife, the queen that she is, let me drag the family to Minneapolis for lunch and beer. I asked the server to try the Summit cask beers, and she brings me what was clearly not a Summit, but a steam beer (what is legally called a "California Common"). Friggin' amazing, but I didn't stuff the family in the car for a road trip across the river to try a regular tap.

After throwing a bit of a fit, the server, bless her heart, sent the manager over to ease my brewing worries. Apparently, all the websites failed to mention that this was in conjunction with Saturday evenings' Fringe Festival shows in the area, and that the kegs wouldn't be tapped until about 6pm for Fringe-ers to sample, and for the general public at 7pm. Fair enough, I thought. I'll just stop back later. An 8pm arrival would ensure me a sample, he said.

So me and a couple buddies show up at about 8pm, swagger up to the bar and order a round of Summit ESB on cask. "Nope sorry, just ran out." Apparently, Town Hall Pint Club meets Saturday evenings, and they, in conjunction with Fringe Fest attendees drained the keg in two hours. We weren't sure to blame Summit or Town Hall, but someone had slashed our expectations. Thankfully, the Great Northern Porter was still around, and while much better as a winter ale, its smoky coffee-maple overtones were amazing, even in August. If the ESB matched this, which I would expect it to, then Summit lovers have something to look forward to.

And what better way to enjoy beer on an August evening than outside? We proceeded to take our beers out on the patio, and were immediately approached by a server who said we need to pour our drinks into plastic glasses if we wanted to sit outside. Fine, ok, I suppose. But she hands us fresh-out-of-the-dishwasher-HOT TO THE TOUCH-glasses. C'mon, she didn't really expect us to pour our already warm beer into a 120-degree plastic glass?!

So we sat at the bar to enjoy our fine porters, watch the Twins sink the Royals, and drink more of Town Hall's finely-crafted beer. It's amazing how a good brew can solve most of the days' problems.

Summit Cask

Looking for something fun to do this weekend? Enjoy Summit beer? Then head over to Town Hall Brewery in Minneapolis and sample some Great Northern Porter and ESB on cask. What the hell is cask, you say? Cask is the process of storing the beer in the container it will be served from, as the fermentation continues throughout the serving process. Also called "real ale," the resulting drink is a much fuller and often smoother beer, served at a balmy 52 degrees. Beeradvocate.com compares cask ales to "a whole food experience" while the bigger American breweries produce the Wonder Bread of beers:

We suggest “real ale,” which is essentially ale that is still alive and evolving with its continuing fermentation processes. High in vitamin B (from yeast), real ale is not filtered or pasteurized. It contains no artificial additives or preservatives, and it's as close to a whole food experience as you can find in beer. We're talking some old-school beer in the raw!

I for one am pleased as punch that in the last few years Summit has really expanded their beer lines and tried some new, experimental things, like producing cask ales. But if you're going to wait to visit Town Hall in a few days, think again. Once tapped, and the beer is exposed to oxygen, it needs to be drank within a few days. It's pretty amazing--the beer you start to drink is not necessarily the beer you finish! So really, Town Hall and Summit need you to help drink their beer this weekend.

Town Hall Brewery is located at 1430 Washington Avenue (Seven Corners area) in Minneapolis.