Barrel Aged Week 2012 Day 1 (Town Hall Brewery, Minneapolis, MN)

I saw a few weeks ago that Barrel Aged Week at Town Hall fell during only my second spring break at school in over a decade.  The beer gods are smiling on me.

Beer friend Ian and I started with a draft of Buffalo Bock in a 10 oz glass, which turned out to be a good idea.  This beer is a Weizenbock aged in a Buffalo Trace barrel, a Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey.  Strong bourbon taste on top of a smooth, alcohol laden bock.  Very nice opening offering for the week.  End result was maybe a bit out of balance, but I didn't care by the end of the glass.

Town Hall, Pete and Mike on TV!

In between drafts, Channel 5 news interviewed owner Pete Rifakes and head brewer Mike Hoops for the 6 pm news right behind us.  I didn't hear a word of it form behind me or on the TV, but everyone cheered when it was over.  Very cool that craft beer is getting such great coverage of the amazing growth of the industry.  Big TV day for Hoops since he was on WCCO this morning on a story that included the Summit, Finnegan's and the Four Firkins.

Second glass of the night was 342,  an American Pale Ale made with an experiment hop called HBC 342.  No back story on where they got this hop, but it was a strong, highly hopped pale ale that was a showcase for this fruity, intense hop.  So good, I bought a growler to review later.

Bottles were being handed out by the brew house to those with tickets.  But, I missed that memo in the course of the hectic speech season, so no idea how they were handed out.  Doesn't matter--I'm fine with a draft and an excuse to visit my local pub.  I hope to make the rest of the nights, so will report as I can get there.  Come on down if you want some great barrel aged beers.