Growlers, move over! 750 ml bottles are coming!

Under current law, brew pubs can sell growlers--half gallon jugs--of selected beer, and a bill moving through the Minnesota Legislature will allow brew pubs to sell 750 ml (wine bottle-sized) bottles of beer to the public. A provision to regulate the size of samples served by brew pubs was removed. Sponsored by Senator Tom Bakk (DFL-Cook), the bill is included in the Omnibus Liquor Bill, meaning it's almost guaranteed to be signed into law.

Apparently there's a brewer in Bakk's northern Minnesota district who operates a bed and breakfast along with a boutique. His plan is to sell Belgian-style ales, which are typically served in 750 ml bottles. Guess I know where to stay next time I'm on the North Shore.

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.

Get a grip, Rep. Olson

I thought I missed the cask Summit IPA at the Muddy Pig tonight, but apparently its been rescheduled to Thursday night. My bad if you showed up. If you didn't then come on down now.

No, I'm just getting home from an 8 hour debate on the House Omnibus Education Bill, and I've concluded that Rep. Mark Olson has some issues he needs to deal with. From requiring that schools must allocate an equal amount of time for the discussion the theory of biological evolution and the origin of man as referenced in the Declaration of Independence to replacing portions of the international baccalaureate with curriculum and instruction on the United States Dclaration of Independence to making sure that students understand that English is America's first language, Rep. Olson needs to get a grip. His rants about freedom and quoting of the Declaration of Indepence are just a bit much, and in fact delve into ridiculous arguments--no, rants--against early screening and referral of kids with mental problems.

Who's going to run against him?

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.

Lost in beer

Indulge me for a moment: Did you see "Lost" tonight? What. The. Fuck. Brilliant answers and even better questions. Ya love Julliet and then you don't--she just wants to get home!! I hate the Jack--Sayid tension. The end is in sight!

Ok, enough of that.

So I opened a Harp tonight, ready to get on CB and the blast the hell out of it. "Why do people drink Harp?" I was going to write. "What a horrible beer." I actually did write it. But half way into this post, I took a sip, and it was a different beer. Light, balanced, a little nutty aftertaste. Unoffensive and welcoming. And then it hit me, that's what wrong with it. I prefer some character. Some adventure. Malted barley. Fresh hops. Ya ever heard of 'em?

Ahh, TV and beer. TV and beer.

Speechless

Oh boy was I in heaven tonight. Mad props to Valerie for picking up a six pack of--are you ready?--New Belgium Tripple and Stone Levitation on her trip to Colorado. New Belgium Tripple and Stone Levitation.You probably know New Belgium as the brewers of Fat Tire, one of the most overrated beers ever. If you want to see what this Colorado brewery is all about, check out anything else by them. Perfect Belgium ales, and the Tripple is no exception. Come east!

You probably don't know Stone. From California and yet to hit Minneosta or Wisconsin, they're all about extreme. Even Levitation at a mere 4.4% still wallops a mighty hop punch, like a Surly Furious, except you could actually have 3 or 4 in a sitting. Great session beer.

I'll savor these brews for awhile. Or try anyway.

Signs, buttons and lists

The St. Paul DFL ward conventions kick off this weekend, with major endorsements in Wards one (Carter vs Montgomery), four (Hesse vs Stark vs Shubring) and six (Hang vs Bostrom). I'm in ward one, which is Frogtown, Capitol Heights, Cathedral Hill, Aurora St Anthony and a couple other neighborhoods. It's an easy choice for me, with incumbent Debbie Montgomery being reluctant to fully support light rail on University Ave and opposing the smoking ban. C'mon, really?

The Better Ballot Campaign is off and running as well, trying to get support for instant run off voting in local elections. I frankly don't really care passionately about it, but will be attending a beer election to demonstrate how it works. Interested? This Thursday, April 12, 7pm - 11pm at 443 Holly Ave.

I love it when my two worlds collide.

Spring will wait

This weekend wrapped up the much needed legislative spring break, marking the half way point of the 2007 session. I feel like I could use another week, as this year has been balls to the wall since day one, and I expect it to continue until May 21. At least it will be cold and wintery for the rest of the month, making it easier to sit through long committee hearings.

The extended winter also has made it difficult to switch to lighter beers, but I am trying. I made it to Town Hall Brewery this weekend for their limited release Wine Barrel Aged Saison, tapped in honor of the end of prohibition. Fermented for a year in a Honey Wine barrel, it was really like no other beer I have ever had. A little sweet, even a bit sour, but extremely pleasant to drink. I could see drinking this on a hot July afternoon, but unfortunately, they only had one keg.

While there I also had their legendary cask IPA, one of the best beers made in Minnesota, which prompted me to buy a growler of the non-cask version. They were also kind enough to let me have a sip of one of their guest taps, Duchesse de Bourgogne, a wild ale from Brouwerij Verhaeghe in Belgium. Yeah, that's right, I said, "Brouwerij Verhaeghe." It was amazing.

Finally I transfered my Saison to the secondary fermenter:

I shoulda taken a picture of the actual transfer, with the tubes and all, but I was transferring beer. As expected it's much clearer than when it went in the primary. And, as expected, it's already drinkable and a fine ale. But it deserves another couple months, to mellow out the hops and develop a little more character.

More beer, no politics

So I was going to write about this great beer and better experience I had at the Happy Gnome last night with a little quadrupel from the Netherlands called Koningshoeven , formerly La Trappe, but Jane beat me to it. I'll only add that I looked at a 750 ml bottle today at the store for less than we paid for a 10 ounce pour. Still a fucking incredible 11.5% abv beer, but still fucking expensive on tap.

On the lighter side of things, I bought a 12-pack of Red Hook this weekend, beer of the month at Big Top Liquors in St. Paul. Always a sucker for the sampler, I got to try two new refreshing beers, the Copper Hook and Blonde Ale. Paired with their solid ESB and their average IPA, at $9.50, this is a good mixer for cautious palates.

St. Paul's old and new

Today I swung by one of my old haunts, Thomas Liquors on Grand and Prior in St. Paul, to pick a bottle of Mephistopheles. Part of Avery Brewing's The Demon of Ales series, Mephistopheles is a double stout pulling 15% abv and 107 IBUs. Yikes! At eight dollars for a 12 ounce bottle ($18 at select bars), it's going in the basement for a few months.

Speaking of select bars, be sure to order a Flat Earth Pale Ale the next time you're out. Flat Earth Brewing is St. Paul's newest micro, committed it seems to pushing the brewing envelope. Their pale ale is a very drinkable Belgian-style ale, and is absolutely fabulous.

Go blow yourself!

For the first time in months, I made a visit to Town Hall Brewery in Minneapolis on Friday. I was looking forward to the Masala Mama IPA or one of their tasty cask brews. But alas, they were out of both of these. As much as one can "settle" at THB, I did just this for an amazing India Brown Ale, which reminded me a little bit of Surly Bender. I also sipped on a Pot of Gold Potato Stout, a stout brewed with--you guessed it--potatoes. Don't scoff; it was as solid as a stout as they come.


In homebrew news, the airlock on my Saison blew off on Friday afternoon, requiring me to leave a conference early to clean up the kitchen. See, as yeast eats sugar, it produces foam and gas, which has to go someplace. Generally a simple airlock will suffice (see photo), allowing air to leave the carboy but not re-enter (oxygen is the leading cause of bad beer!). I'm guessing all the extra sugar I added was to blame, and it couldn't leave the container quick enough, so it forced the lock (and the extra foam) to shoot out the top, and onto my floor and wall. So from now on I will use a blow off tube, which goes from the carboy into a bucket of water. Lessons learned.

'Tis the Saison

The Saison is in the primary fermenter! I strayed from the original recipe and added some Belgian candied sugar for more flavor and alcohol (yeast + more sugar = alcohol). The original gravity--the first measurement to determine alcohol content--was aboout 1058, so this should weigh in at 6-7%.

Darren was along for the ride and helped me drink my second to last bourbon barrel porter. I shoulda waited to open the first bottle because it is so much better now than it was two months ago. Expecting this, I'm saving the last bottle for next winter.

As is the custom we imbibed on a specialty brew during the brewing, choosing Maudite from Unibroue, a strong amber ale. Unibroue, from Canada, only brews Belgian-style beer, and is always wonderfully consistent and cheaper than their Belgian counterparts. La Fin du Monde is another favorite.

Spring is in the air

Yikes! Almost 3 months since my last post. The 2007 Legislative Sesssion has wrangled me away from Capitol Brewhaha, but it's worth it, as the state will hopefully do some good things for kids. In an attempt get the blog back on track, I need a new hook, for my readers and for me. Because this is really about me. So I'm following Jane's lead, and will be doing shorter, to the point, posts, but still keeping with quality you've come to expect. On to the beer.

I've recently completed some time with high gravity ales (read: lots more character and alcohol), which in turn lead to the start of a nice collection of Belgians, Barley Wines, Bourbon Barrel Ales to cellar for a couple years. The cold and snow are leaving, and with them, the heart warming nine- and ten-percent extreme beers.

In preparation for Spring, I'm making the switch to some lighter beers. So I picked up a sample pack of Sam Adams. Six different kinds of beer, and I found not only their flagship Boston Ale and Lager, but also a couple Honey Porters, Scotch Ales and Brown Ales. A few surprisingly well-done darker stronger beers to help with the transition. Nice. Also check out their six-pack of homebrew competition winners for a great sampling of beers.


Also in preparation for the warmer weather, I'll be brewing a Saison this week. Just in time, since my heavenly bourbon barrel porter is running out. I'll keep you updated.

Back to the sampling!

I Think Everybody Knows

High gravity beers, the Surly Beer Dinner and homemade concoctions coming soon. While you wait, peep the world premier of MC Dylan, my first You Tube contribution. Check out the purple and gold....

***Update***

The video was screwing up the formatting, so follow this link to You Tube to view the video.

November is....

What can I say? I've been busy figuring out how the organization I work for fits into the new make of the Minnesota legislature. It should come as no surprise that I'm pleased as beer-spiked-punch (ok, that's gross). The leadership posts of both the House and Senate are filled with advocates of early care and education (ECE): Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller, former chair of the K-12 Committee, has always touted the benefits of ECE; Assistant Majority Leader Tarryl Clark lobbied for Head Start for years; Speaker of the House Margaret Anderson Kelliher has long promised promoting ECE when she's speaker; and House Majority Leader Tony Sertich was in past years a huge advocate of affordable child care.

In other words, my job became a lot easier with the results of last Tuesday, and even more so after the bodies picked their leaders.

Election season also means that it's winter beer season. Mmmmm, winter beers. Winter beers, in case you don't know, are usually darker ales, somewhere along the lines of a porter. But some breweries take the opportunity to try something new. Take Bells for example. They introduced their Winter White a couple years back, and I have to say I'm not a fan. I like White Ales, and no one does 'em finer than Bells, but not when it's 20 degrees out. Schells is another that likes to experiment with their Snow Storm. They did a cherry porter a couple years ago, a brown ale recently, and this year a Sweet Stout--which by the way is perfect, as most of their beer are.

Summit Winter is a real standard bearer for winters, as far as I'm concerned, but I have to say I was pretty disappointed this year. Instead of their usual dark spicy goodness, they brewed a brown ale. Granted, it was good for a brown, but I was really let down. Two other great solid winter ales this year are the Snow Cap by Pyramid and Wassail by Full Sail--although the latter was much better, in my opinion.

But by far The Best Winter Beer Every Year is the Anchor Christmas Ale. While the recipe is different every year, you can always taste nutmeg, juniper and, hm, coffee or chocolate or hazelnut or something. Incredible.

Back to Bells for a minute. If you don't want to try their White, please do not miss their Hop Slam, one of their limited release brews. As the name suggests, its full of hops. Like 10 percent alcohol slam worth of hops. Yeah, it's about $13 a six pack, but if you like bitterly hop-o-riffic brews, then don't pass this up.

So, in closing, it's an all around good November. And I'll try to get in at least one other post by Christmas...

Get Surly in a can

That's right. Beginning today, Surly Bender and Furious are available to the masses. Or at least more of the masses. For months, Omar at Surly had said "No bottles, never." Oh he's a tricky one! Four packs of 16 ounce cans can now be found in your local liquor store.

Listen to some music, then doorknock your ass off

So where were you the morning of October 25th, 2002 when you heard the news? First you heard about Paul, then Sheila, then Marcia, then "campaign workers," then Mary McEvoy, then Tom Lapic and Will McLaughlin, then the pilots. I believe my mom called and told me, but frankly it's all kind of a blur. Dylan was born 10 days earlier, and I was intimately involved in the DFL State Senate races. My grandparents were coming over to visit that afternoon, and I was trying to take in the deaths of three of the most influential people in my political formation, Paul, Sheila and Mary. But I held it together and doorknocked my ass off. Ironically, it took Joe Soucharay's touching column (seriously) about Paul a few days later for me to be able release the floodgates. Like most of my friends, the next 13 days were some of the most sad and bizarre and exciting ever.

And this Wednesday is the 4th annual Wellstone World Music Day. If you're able, go check out some live music. Or have some friends over to play music. Or at least put on your favorite CD and remember.

Then go doorknock your ass off.

Summit admits errs, lets fans sneek a peak

Summit Brewing has recognized their mistakes in planning last month's Big Brew, apologizing for the long lines in ads published in several weekly news magazines. President Mark Stutrud went one step further in a letter to supporters, offering them opportunity to keep tabs on their work via a webcam of the Summit Ratskeller.

Great message guys, and even better marketing. I'm back on board.

(I never really left!)

Hatch: Our Pitbull

Many of my friends have sworn off Mike Hatch, embracing Hutchinson as a more comfortable choice. And it makes me ask, is comfortable 4 more years of republican control? Mike's a pitbull, but he's a pitbull with a heart. And more importantly, he's our pitbull.

And really, who cares about what kind of guy he is? The fact is, Hutchinson can't win. He's been hovering at about 6% for three months now, and I just don't think the same people that voted for Jesse are going to vote for Hutchinson. So all the votes of my friends (and people like my friends) might push him to, say 8% or 9%--hell I'll even give him a shot at 17% for conversation's sake. But I just don't think he has it in him to pull off an upset.

He will however tip the election to Pawlenty. And is that what you want to be a part of? To my Minneapolis friends, you're already voting for Ellison; doesn't that solve your core liberal itch?

And it's hard for me, working in early childhood. Hutchinson is the only one who has laid out any resemblance of a plan, offering to put $100 million into early ed programs. Even Pawlenty and his staff have not been horrible to work with. And I gotta admit that Hatch just hasn't seemed like he's very interested in making it a center piece of his campaign.

And that's just fine with me.

So to those people considering voting for Hutchinson: get off your high horse, and think this through. Give it some good thought about what it really means. This is a close race, and while I don't like to ever ever accuse anyone of "throwing away" their vote, that's essentially what you'll be doing with a vote for Hutchinson. But even more so, this state needs a pitbull, a pitbull like Mike Hatch to get it on the right direction.

Ruff.

Summit Big Brew = loooong lines

I hate to be a hater, especially since Summit has been doing some amazing things in their industry recently, like introducing a bunch of new beers, including some cask style ales. But when asked what most people will remember from this past weekends' Summit Big Brew, I would hedge to guess that most people will say, "the long lines." For both beer and bathrooms. Half hour lines for a $5 pint of beer. Fifteen minutes to use the can. It seemed liked Summit didn't think people would be interested in drinking beer at their 20th anniversary party. Or more likely that they didn't think over 10,000 people would show up on a beautilful fall day to hear some great music.

(Not one to offer criticisms wthout some solutions, here are some suggestions: After you solve the quantity issue--more kegs, more servers, more porta-potties--how about a free beer token for everyone with a ticket? Or better yet, reduced prices, especially if you have to wait in line for 30 minutes. )

And the music. I missed the early side of it, namely Tapes N' Tapes and the Alarmists--next year think of offering re-entry--but the Suburbs and Soul Asylum rocked it. We should have left after Soul Asylum, but hindsight being blah blah blah, we had to see Cake. I've seen Soul Asylum like 20 times, so I was ready to get my world rocked by Cake. And when they were playing they did just that. But then the lead singer would feel the need to talk for about five minutes between each song about the mirror ball that didn't work or how musically-uneducated the audience was. Way to kill the groove, guys. More play, less talk.

Well live and learn. Next year--if there is one--will be the Best Beer/Music Fest Ever. The potential is huge, and Summit deserves to meet it. I'll even volunteer to serve beer (actually I did this year and no one got back to me....)