A fairly amazing-sounding Better Beer Society brown bag series event at Butcher & the Boar, some revised menus at local restaurants, a local foodie’s epic Mother’s Day feast, tasting notes for Summit Pilsner and Steel Toe’s Provider, the Star Tribune’s Taste 50, and a new urban farm in Minneapolis.
A profile of Lucid Brewing, Brewing TV covers Lift Bridge Brewing, the Food Network show Worst Cooks in America is having an open casting call at Faces Mears Park in St. Paul, how young gardeners at the Crosswinds Arts & Science School in Woodbury bring some fresh flavors to school lunch, praise for the sandwiches at the St. Paul Cheese Shop, how to can tomatoes, and a dynamite kafta sandwich at St. Mary’s Orthodox Church’s Coptic Festival.
by Maja Ingeman on July 19, 2011
@andrewzimmern praises ex-Minnesotan @RogueChocolate, @honeympls offers a deal on anything starting with the letter ‘b’ tomorrow evening, @ngonbistro raises money for the Susan G. Komen walk with a fundraiser tonight, @LiftBridge opens up another tour for this Saturday, and @Smack_Shack has a few tickets remaining for this weekend’s lobster boil.
PastureLand Co-op fights to survive, Lift Bridge Brewing suspends six-pack bottle sales (due to a lack of capacity at Cold Spring Brewing), a look at the Waite Park neighborhood of Minneapolis featuring Ready Meats, how the temporary loss of MillerCoors beers could also threaten local craft beers, craft beers-a-plenty at Belgian independence week celebrations, a fair assessment of Market BBQ (as decent but flawed), and a fascinating local take on ceviche featuring whitefish, green apple juice, green prickly ash berries, and salted milkweed buds.
Sunnyside Up closes down in Uptown, a California writer sums up the attack on Wisconsin craft brew by Miller, a gorgeous photo shoot at Patisserie 46 (read our coverage here and here), Rick looks at the Kingfield brunch scene (we recently brunched at Corner Table and wrote up The Lowbrow and Sun Street), a look at and praise for Tanpopo in St. Paul, Lift Bridge is planning dinners with Chef Jim Kyndberg and Water Street Inn (featuring cigars!), a visit to the St. Paul food truck court (here’s our photo essay), and a look at the Youth Farm and Market Project.
Becca Dilley / Heavy Table
While making a futile attempt to leave the beer section of Pairings in Minnetonka with less than $50 in brew, I came across Brau Brothers’ Scotch Ale and felt compelled to give this easygoing, sweet, full-bodied, caramel malty style a shot. It’s substantial and complex enough to be good cold-weather drinking, but not as fiercely hibernal as a Russian imperial stout or a robust porter.
Within moments of picking up the Scotch Ale, the helpful clerk at Pairings had sold me on trying out Shaggin’ in the Wood, part of Tyranena’s Brewers Gone Wild! series described by its creators as “70% Scotch Ale aged in Bourbon barrels and 30% Scotch Ale.”
And, hell, to round things out, why not sample Chestnut Hill by Lift Bridge Brewing? Not a Scotch Ale per se, but this American-style spicy brown ale certainly wouldn’t taste out of place alongside the Brau Bros. and Tyranena offerings.
The plan had been to suggest one or two of these beers as being preferable to one or two of the others, but they’re all eminently drinkable and beautifully crafted specimens. You can’t go wrong.
Becca Dilley / Heavy Table
BEER: Shaggin’ in the Wood
BREWER: Tyranena Brewing Company (Lake Mills, WI)
STYLE: Bourbon barrel-aged Scotch Ale
ABV: ~7.25%
Becca Dilley / Heavy Table
The first sip strongly suggests the barrels in which this beer was aged — wood and bourbon come right through. There’s a borderline grape-tasting pungency to this beer that would be unpleasant were it not so nicely balanced by a caramel-coffee undernote. It’s got a real sweetness to it, but it’s not cloying, and it conveys a wonderful sense of warmth.
BEER: Scotch Ale
BREWER: Brau Brothers Brewing Company (Lucan, MN)
STYLE: Scotch Ale with peat-smoked malt
ABV: 7.30%
The first sip of this stuff tasted like a charcoal-grilled satsuma, and that’s a good thing — the citrus and smoke really complemented one another. A balanced, almost cherry finish made this a fun imbibe, even with its pronounced alcohol back.
BEER: Chestnut Hill
BREWER: Lift Bridge Brewery (Stillwater, MN)
STYLE: Brown Ale with cinnamon and allspice
ABV: 7%
Smells like a caramel apple pie — absolutely delightful. Mellow, mild, and gently carbonated, this beer shows off Lift Bridge’s trademark sense of balance — it’s also not overspiced, even though the cinnamon and allspice do come through in the beer. The spices and hops intermingle pleasantly, and there’s an almost maple syrup sweetness up front.
Becca Dilley / Heavy Table
by James Norton on November 5, 2010
Footage and details from the new Lift Bridge brewery in Stillwater, a profile of the Flamenco Organic coffee roastery in Northeast, another review of Capital Supper Club beer (“a gateway to quality”; our review here), Zimmern provides context for the Rick Nelson story on the sale of Solera, and a food blogger gets elected to City Council in Northfield.
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