Last night I finished adding on the last beer patch (that are in my possession) onto my messenger bag. Being a biker around Minneapolis it’s cool to have some sort of trademark for people to recognize you being that we are the second largest bike commuting city in the nation. My bike really doesn’t stand out unless you are a very observant bike geek, which a lot of people around here are. I was in Duluth getting some growlers at Fitgers when I saw they were selling patches for like 3 bucks and in about 10 seconds I came up with the idea to pepper my bag with beer patches from breweries and beer that I love. At first I was planning on adding them as I go on my travels but came to the conclusion that I probably wouldn’t hit the ones that I would want on my bag and after emailing places like Dogfish Head and Stone they don’t even have patches to sell. So I went on the internet and searched and found  Sierra Nevada. I also found a few websites that had a whole bunch but they were all beers that I really had no desire to promote, but I did come across a pretty cool Black Label POWERED which I thought was amusing and I don’t mind the beer itself. Also being that it’s a beer of choice for some of my biking friends I thought it was appropriate. There was also a Mikey’s one that I still enjoy and it was not the hornet but the logo with the bat and castle on it. I contemplated a PBR one but I didn’t want to get too hipstery. The Summit one was easy, I volunteer there. My friend Phil got me the New Belgium one, which has a bike on it, also very appropriate and he also got me the Fulton one from their grand opening tasting at the Happy Gnome, you can read more about this new brewery on the Captain’s site. So there you have it, i figure I still have room for about 5 more depending on size so I want to reserve this space for top notch small breweries. If any of you got any and want to send them my way let me know and I can compensate you for them.

After adding the last one on last night I cracked open a Tyranena Hope Whore. One of their bombastic brews from their Brewers Gone Wild series. An Imperial IPA with a mystery ABV and IBU this is yet another fine batch from a fine brewery. It pours a golden orange with a beautiful frothy head. Bringing it up to my lips and nostrils was like an old friend came back to town. I’ve mellowed out in my beer purchasing as of late, I find that getting one or two interesting beers a week is both easy for my pocketbook and rewarding for my beer soul, having Hop Whore was fantastic when earlier this year when I was a craft beer junkie I had so many of these beers that I wasn’t enjoying them as much as I could. The smell was a strong but not too over the top hop bouquet with a bit of caramel in the back. The taste was exquisite, grapefruit with some mellow sweetness to boot. It was a style that I love, explosive IPA’s are my thing. I am a hop head and this settled the hop giant in me that was getting restless. The mouthfeel was biting yet it quenched my thirst and gave me room for another, not too bitter or potent, a good balance. This should still be floating around liquor stores so if you get a chance pick up a four pack. Bacchus in Shoreview still has a couple that I know of so if you got some time cruise over there, I believe they still have Dark Horse’s Plead the Fifth so it might be a worthy trip.

Tyranena’s Hop Whore

A

1 year anniversary of Friday Night Beer!!!!!!!! Yep, it’s been one year since my leap into the beer blogging world. In the past year I have met some great people and tried many good beers as well as getting deeper in the brew community. I went on a road trip to Munster, Indiana for Dark Lord Day, I got a gig at Summit Brewery as a tour guide plus lending a helping hand at Flat Earth Brewery a couple times. I’ve hooked up with some quality people for trades met with them for some tasting and even just to hang out. In the beginning I had a Beer of the Month post which I eventually decided to scrap. I still have a section for home brewing which I have yet to begin and in the past few months my posting has became less often than when I started but all in all I’ve been happy about what I have done here. So now it’s a new year for the blog. I hope to keep doing what I’ve been doing but maybe changing the style of my posts. Or do any of you have suggestions? What did you like and what didn’t you like. I am open to criticism so don’t be shy. And speaking criticism, here is my review of Surly’s Darkness.

I got a lot of people shaking their head and wondering how could I have given Dark Lord a C-. In hindsight it was more of an opinion grade instead of a quality of the style grade but still I felt it was too much. Darkness on the other hand, though still very extreme, is a bit more approachable version of the style, but not by much. You won’t get many people liking this except for the real beer enthusiasts and even then you might only get about 75% liking it. I am part of that 25%. Imperial Stouts or Russian Imperial Stouts are good only in small quantities and even then, to me, keep in mind this is just my opinion, they tend to leave your palate abused or in some cases they get harder and harder to swallow the more you drink. Darkness had these same qualities to me but I enjoyed it much more than the Dark Lord. I am not sure if it was the fact that this was my first stout of the season or if it is much tamer than the DL but I am thinking it’s a combination of both. It had a lovely brown head with an aroma of chocolate notes. The taste may not impress me but the smell sure does. The initial flavor of the beer was welcoming, a nice roasty chocolate flavor with a nice hop backbone, but after while it left and filmy texture in my mouth, the downfall has begun. Maybe it’s just me and my insistence of drinking the whole bottle. Maybe I would enjoy these more if I just stuck with 8 ounces. My last glass was still OK, the smell was still as awesome and the initial sips were great but as usual, towards the end it was like I was choking it down. Maybe I am not a beer connoisseur, just a beer lover and I am not satisfied with just one small glass. Either way I am going to give Surly some credit and commend them on this fine brew. It may not be what I look for in a good beer but the hard work and dedication that they put into this deserves more credit than I can give them. Three Floyds, I will review next years DL with a more open mind.

Surly Darkness

B

Not that you really need a reason. The stuff is crap. All energy drinks are crap. Ever look at the ingredients? I feel more comfortable ingesting methamphetamines. I see young boys at grocery stores staring at the energy drink rack the same way I would stare at the cereal rack. The cereals I would want were obviously not good for me but they are nothing compared to the energy drinks out there. They are mostly sugar but they are also loaded with chemicals that are called “ingredients.” I am not saying that these drink will kill or ultimately harm kids or whoever drinks them but it really does not do a body any good. I think it was Michael Pollan that roughly said, “If what you have has more than 5 ingredients, you probably shouldn’t consume it.” Of course in this society that is easier said than done, but it is good to at least try, and good thing beer usually just has 4.

Now, if you know me I am not a fan of corporations. In fact I really dislike them, really. I try not to get political on here because I don’t want this to turn into an ideology battle but I see corporations as the real government here in American and the real driving force and is the base for a lot of our problems. I grew up with my dad owning a small business and though it is very successful he still had to battle the big dogs. But what Monster Energy Drink is doing is nothing short of despicable.

In a small town in Vermont there is a brewery called Rock Art Brewery. Founded, owned and operated by husband and wife team Matt and Renee Nadeau, these people embody the American dream. But the American dream these days is under attack and so is Rock Art. On September 14, 2009 Matt got an email from Hansen Beverage, the owners of Monster, asking him to cease using the name of their barely wine, Vermonster, because Hansen wants to enter the alcohol market (and I shudder to see what kind of Frankenstein concoction they will come up with). Nadeau said he is going to stand his ground, he is already in the market they want to enter. Sad thing is, Nadeau will win, they are two very different names. But what will happen, that happens so frequently, is that Hansen Beverage Company will continue with the suit, they got the money to do it, Rock Art does not and they will eventually bankrupt them. Hansen will loose, but then they will appeal and appeal basically draining Rock Art dry, Rock Art will not be able to keep up the suits. Or, Rock Art can give in. But someone needs to make a stand. And that is where we can help.

Throughout history governments and corporations (which are one and the same today in my opinion) fear the great beast. The great beast being an aware, fed up and angry people. And what we can do. Well, spread the word, stop buying Monster and all Hansen products, support Rock Art, support all local and small businesses, what we should always do. I know none of us can be completely pure and free of the corporate grip but we can at least do what we can. Grow your own garden and go to farmers markets when you can. Brew your own beer or buy from local/small businesses. Go to a local market or store instead of a chain when you can. When a major corporation does wrong, don’t shrug your shoulders and give in to apathy, just stop giving them your money. I don’t like to get preachy on my blog but there comes a time when something happens that we all can agree on. I believe that no one thinks that Hansen Beverage should do this, so why can they? Or better yet, why do they?

In addition to boycotting Monster I urge you boycott everything from Hansen until they drop their demands and let Rock Art keep the name of Vermonster.

Here is a list of their products.

And you can contact Monster here and Hansen here. And be sure to spread the word and fellow bloggers, you have a duty too, link to this or write your own post. We have to defend one of our own.

Also contact your local Senator and Congress person to have them look into US trademark law to see if we can prevent future bogus attacks like this.

Thank you. And don’t let the cynics tell you it’s not worth it.

I am hooked on the pumpkin beers. Seems lately that when I go to the store it’s the first thing I look for and the one thing I walk out with. Unfortunately pumpkin beers are really scarce around here, maybe everywhere. I think you can only get your hands on 10 different kinds here in the Twin Cities. I know Fitgers has one and that is one I have yet to have but as soon as it is available I will be there for it. I used to believe I would hate these beers, as I stated in my first pumpkin beer review, but I have grown to love them. They seem to come and go very quickly and the flavor is so unique that I am glad they come and go and I don’t get too sick of them. So instead of making three separate reviews I am going to cram three into one.

First on the block is probably the most accessible one of the three, New Holland’s Ichabod Ale. And not only is this one more accessible it is also more drinkable to those who are not veterans of this style. Lighter like Shipyard’s version but it packs a bit more spice to it. But that’s about it, a bit more. The mouth feel is light, the aroma, though pumpkiny, is still fairly light and the taste is light on the pumpkin as well. Not saying this is a bad thing but being a lover of this style and its ruler, Pumpking, this one is for the beginners.

Next up we got Flat Earth’s Mummy Train. I was stoked to hear this one was available in growlers at the brewery. I cruised down the other weekend and picked one up along with tasting some of their beers including this one. Right away with the first taste at the brewery my anticipation was snuffed out. The was too spicy, not quite overwhelming but just enough to mark this pretty low on my pumpkin scale. I think this is their first run at the brew so I forgive them. Everything else was perfect. The richness, the aroma, but the spice needs to be toned down just a bit.

And last we got a dandy. Tyranena’s Painted Ladies. I know last year at Stub and Herbs I had a pumpkin ale on tap which was generically called Imperial Pumpkin Ale. This sort of tasted similar but I am not sure. It weighs in pretty heavy at 7.5% so it very well could be the same. This was like October/November in a bottle. A perfect balance. It poured a beautiful dark orange color wit probably one of the fluffiest heads I have come across, it was like a pumpkin marsh mellow. The aroma was what I want in a pumpkin beer, a combo of spices: nutmeg, cinnamon, all spice and the pumpkin itself. The mouth feel was thick and rich, it occupied my mouth with no carbonated tingle, a slice of liquid pumpkin pie. And taste made me sink into my recliner and enjoy that evenings viewing of Hockey Night In Canada. I saw only 5 six packs of this at the liquor store, Cellars in Roseville, so it might be very hard to get. So I highly recommend that is you see this get an extra 6 pack. I will be going there later this week in hope to secure a couple more.

New Holland’s Ichabod Ale

B+

Flat Earth’s Mummy Train

C+

Tyranena’s Painted Ladies

A+

Right now I am currently in the hunt for a new cell phone. About a year ago I got my first cell phone in like 5 years. I never really had a use for one, the only time I would use it was to call my wife to see if she needed anything while I was on my home. When Delia was born Kelly decided to get one in case of an emergency, but there was countless times when something would come up with me and I would have to resort to using someone else’s phone. So after too many times of this and wanting one for other occasions I decided that it was time. So after some thinking we decided to ditch our land line and leap forward into the 21st century and strictly use our phones. At the time however I really didn’t care what I got so I just went with the basic phone, no frills. However now after getting fairly sick of what my phone cannot do I am looking into something else. My main thing is the camera. I want a phone that can take fairly decent pictures. We only got one camera as a family, and that is starting to act up, and I would love to have a camera at me at all times so I can take more pictures of things I see on my bike rides, gatherings and new beers at bars that I try so I can review them. I am not really interested in internet type stuff, sure it would be nice but I really don’t see a reason to pay the extra cash for it. I narrowed down my choice to one phone, the Motorola Renegade V950. I decided on this one for a few reasons. One, the camera. Not only is it 2.0 mega pixels which is pretty good for cameras, it also has a flash which is rare. Other features that have me sold is that it has a rugged design that makes it difficult to damage plus it has a push to talk function, both of these designs will be great for biking and other outdoor activities. The only flaw that people were saying was that the battery life was bad, really bad, like it dies within hours. But that seemed to be coming from people that were cell phone junkies, using the internet, texting and talking all the time. Mine will be strictly for talking, possibly some texting and the occasional camera use. The positive reviews I’ve read about this appears to be coming from people who will use the phone like I have so I am not too worried about the battery, plus I guess you can get a better one for it so it seems this shouldn’t be an issue.

Which leads me to the new brew in Town Hall’s hop series, the Warrior Strong. What a fine beer. It uses straight warrior hops, a lot of them, how many I couldn’t tell you but this is a hop lovers beer. Some hop bombs are fairly sweet but this is straight up bitter. It weighs in at 8% ABV, unfortunately it’s only served in an 8 ounce glasses at a higher price but it is a small batch and loaded with hops so it is worth the price, though after work I really prefer a full 16 ounces but every once and a while a beer will come by where 8 is enough and this is one of them. You are not able to see a picture of this. That is because I do not carry a camera with me. But when I get this phone you will, in fact you will see a lot of Town Hall beers because I usually get all their new releases at that is usually once every other week, and most of them are pretty good. The Warrior Strong will not be around for long and it appears it is quite popular so I would advise you hop heads to hurry out there and get it while you can.

Town Hall’s Warrior Strong

A

Hayward is a small city in the northwest corner of Wisconsin. Lot’s of cabins, trails and wooded areas. There is a big fish in town. Biggest muskie in the world in fact. There is a Main Street with lots of little shops and it always seems to be packed. I’ve been there I think 3 times in my life and have never bought a thing. I have always wondered how those stores survive, same with the stores on State Street in Madison. I really have no reason to go up there. However this last time we were there for a wedding which was at the Telemark Resort in Cable which is a city about 10 miles north of Hayward. The Telemark Resort is a great place. It was probably a little more classier in it’s heyday but I found it to be rather charming. This is where the Birkebeiner Cross Country ski race takes place. There are cross country ski trails all over that area, 40 km worth, and in the summer those trails are mountain bike trails, in fact on of the biggest off-road bike events, the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival, is held there. I got money down on a Redline monocog and plan on doing this event next year or just going there for fun, the trails look slamming. The resort also has a great bar with shitty music on the jukebox, I mean real shitty, but when looking at the taps they had something I have never heard. Angry Minnow beer. They had two different styles, a Pale Ale and a Oatmeal Stout and both were very nice, especially the Pale Ale. I asked the bartender what the brewery was and with my luck the bartender knew his beer and with even more luck he told me that the Angry Minnow is a brewpub in Hayward. So the next day before the wedding, which was a hit by the way, you could drink during the ceremony, my wife and I hit up the Angry Minnow.

Approaching the place I was pleasantly surprised with its outer decor. Built in 1889 it’s an old brick building that housed the Northern Wisconsin Lumber company’s offices. It had a smaller porch in front and a very nice patio in back surrounded by brick archways. Inside is what I have to come to expect from the better brew pubs out there. The bar was beautiful. A mixture of old brick and new wood that had more little archways for the bartender to walk through and the taps were all made of wood, nothing cheesy. We ordered some food and I had a Gourmet Grilled Cheese which was good but my wife on the other hand had the Turkey Sandwich and that was something to die for. The meat was slow roasted with all these spices and it was the best turkey I have ever had. What I look for in a great brew pub is also great food and this place did not disappoint. Now the beers. What they had on tap was a pale ale, stout (both of which were at the resort), a light lager, honey wheat, a red and to make me happy, an imperial IPA. Obviously I took the IPA first and I found it to be a bit light on the imperial side but still very good. I even took home a growler of this. After that I just got samples of the other beers minus the two I had at the resort and the light lager, which was actually just two beers then. The red was decent but pretty tame, not much different from commercial reds. And the honey wheat was good but also nothing to scream about. I really liked the feel of this place but I wish there were more selections. But with 6 beers on tap and three being worthy I have to say that even though this place is young and in the middle of a very small town this place will be hit up by my on one of my adventures back home to Duluth, a little out of the way but I’ll make a day of it, maybe the Minnow for lunch and Fitgers for dinner.

Angry Minnow Brew Pub

B+

At the Minnesota State Fair this year Summit introduced Beer on a Stick to go with all the other things that are on a stick at the great Minnesota get together. It was three 7 ounce beers, the Horizon Red, Oktoberfest and EPA, cradled in a paddle shaped stick. However one guy decided to make it a little more entertaining. Not sure who this is and I wish I had gotten video of it but he knew how to utilize the new attraction,

Super busy this time of year with school starting. I also got a bike build and other things that have been occupying my time. I got a couple reviews on hand so I will hopefully try to get one or two out here in the next week. The hops vine has reached the roof so that’s pretty good but no buds and I am not sure I will see any this year. Surly Hell came out with a bang and a huge fizzle, review of that coming soon. Plotting my attack for Darkness Day. And other than that just drinking whatever comes my way. Haven’t really done much exploring as of late but Pumpkin season is just around the corner and I am going to try and get my hands on as many different styles of that as I can. Any of you guys out there know of stuff I cannot get let me know and we will do some trading.

Summit Kolsch has just hit the shelves here in Minnesota. This is part of their new Unchained Series of beers in which each brewer at Summit gets a chance to make whatever he wants, no strings attached. And first up to get the chance is Mike “The Miz” Miziorko who decided to recreate this German brew adhering strictly to the style it is intended to be. More info on that can be read here. When this became known to be the first beer of the series a lot of people were thinking, “what the hell?” In this day in age an offshoot from the regular line-up means it should be a hop bomb or some barley wine or some imperial Russian stout but a Kolsch? Well, maybe there will be one of those down the line but this is what this particular brewer wanted. Most people were disappointed. Until the description came out as you can read in the link I posted above. This gave people a better understanding of what Mike was trying to achieve and a bit of history behind the beer. When I first head about it I thought the same thing as others did, but then I thought to myself, have I ever had a Kolsch? I know Schell’s has one which I think I had only 1 of but this is a style that seems to fly under the radar. In fact I tend to believe, at least these days, that most German beers are out of favor here in the states sans the Oktoberfests. German beers have a long tradition of sticking to their styles, which is the problem, here in the States and almost all over we have gone to the stratosphere in our brewing. But one has to have a deep appreciation to the German’s and with this new Summit brew that is what they are doing.

I personally enjoyed this beer. It poured a golden color with a beautiful frothy head, almost fluffy like a cloud with an aroma that gives a subtle malt smell. The flavor is very smooth. Malty up front with a mild bitter bite in the back. I want to say that this is bland but I really cannot because even though it did not smack you in the face it was very clean and crisp. The mouthfeel was kind and made me think that this is what the Buds and Millers should be like. I hate to use this “word” but this is drinkability. Completely pure, completely honest and a nice first batch for this new series.

Summit Kolsch

A

My god is it hot out. I was a puddle this morning after biking into work. This is what I do not like about summer. Sure, relaxing in the sun, at the beach and such is great but trying to bike, do yard work or go for walks it’s not ideal and that’s usually what I do. Luckily for me this summer has been perfect. It usually hung around the low 70’s, wind has been subtle and the rain, though not as much as we need, has still been better than years past. But right now, in the last few days, it’s been high 80’s and with the humidity near the top of the scale it pretty oppressive. My friends that live in the south may say that this is nothing compared to what they have but then we here in the north are a different breed of human. And for me I am definitely cold blooded, anyone who has read this blog knows this to be true. But. Fear not. Fall is just around the corner. I am going to be sad that summer will end soon, and this one sure went fast, but I do love fall, except for that classes start here at the U start up and I have to deal with students while during the summer the campus is left to the people that actually take college seriously and the employees, and the leaves that I will be raking over and over and over and over again. But other than that, cool weather, football, hockey’s starting, leaves change (then fall, grrr), and the fall line of beers come back.

And imagine my surprise when I was in Hudson, WI and low and behold on the shelf was Southern Tier’s Pumpking. It doesn’t get more pumpkin than this. A very thick and rich brew, hitting the scales at 9% ABV this not only has a very intense pumpkin spice flavor it sets you right after one bottle, however those not used to such powerful flavors might not be able to handle more than 8 ounces. But I do think that most people can get into this beer or at least this style. At first I was like a lot of people and thought, before I even had a pumpkin beer, that this style would be putrid. And at first I was not very impressed but that didn’t last very long. I quickly started to love pumpkin beers and I got my hands on as many as I could and Pumpking was the one that I loved. Now that being said I do not think that this is the best representation of a pumpkin beer, just my favorite. However it is still mid August and I should not be drinking this so early in the season, heck, so late in the season prior to the actually season I should be drinking this is more accurate. That and the Oktoberfest’s that are already popping up. Last year the Pumpking was poorly distributed here in the Twin Cities. I got my hands on 2 bottles. I guess a store in Rochester got like 6 cases while the Cellar’s in Roseville got 1. However we went to Madison and a store there, in late October, still had like 4 cases so we stocked up. This year hopefully things are different . I am going to get as much as my allowance allows me to get. But in truth I think too much might not be a good idea. The rich flavor of this might just get old. So maybe I will stick with a few bottles and allow it to be very limited to me. I know that after my many Two Brothers Hop Juices that I get at the bar here I’m kinda getting sick of it. Intense and potent beers are nice but too much of one thing is never good.

Southern Tier’s Pumpking

A+