342 (Town Hall Brewery, Minneapolis, MN)

Town Hall 342

During my week of barrel aged beers, I picked up a growler of a Town Hall single hop beer simply called 342. This is an experimental high alpha aroma hop from Hop Union according to farmhouse brewing supply.

Creamy thick head of extremely tight bubbles on a shiny copper colored pale ale.  Singular hop is strong citrus, lemon, light spice and grassiness.  Aromatic and pleasant on top of a bready malt.  Significant bite lingers and floats above a solid malt backbone.  Sweetly bites for a finish.  

I remember the draft on site being brighter, but time and circumstances conspiring to delay the drinking of this growler for over a week may account for this difference.  Both versions were excellent beer drinking experiences and I expect HBC 342 will get a cool, marketable name that will inspire more hop laden beers in the future.

Town Hall Barrel Aged Week 2012

Happy to say I completed my week of barrel aged beers at Town Hall.  Over the years, I've always pined for the nights missed during special tapping weeks.  Reflecting on the week, I've made a couple of conclusions.

First, Town Hall is spectacular.  The fact that they are able to produce and tap this many cool beers in a week is a great benefit to the beer drinking community of the Twin Cities. In a discussion with Hoops a while back, I mentioned that I had gone on a recent beer trip and had been disappointed with the brewpubs I had visited.  I kept saying to myself  "Not bad, but it's not Town Hall."  So the week was a reconfirmation of my love and dedication to what I consider to be my local pub.

Second, I don't think I need to go every night of a special week in the future.  I did enjoy going to each tapping, but I'm exhausted even though I was on spring break.  This is mostly a logistical issue because I live about a 25 minutes from Town Hall, assuming there's no traffic.  Or, maybe I'm too old to going out drinking every night (though I didn't do that when I was young either).  In the future, I'll return to my pick and choose method of prioritizing what looks best and hope to catch a beer or two leftover.  Maybe this experience will result in an unexpected mental health benefit because I will hopefully not pine as much for days and beers missed  in the future.

Here's the week linked in review.
Day 1 Buffalo Bock
Day 2 Wee Jack
Day 3 Twisted Jim
Day 4 Tumaltuous Rare
Day 5 Barrel Monkey
Day 6 Czar Jack

Barrel Aged Week 2012 Day 6 (Town Hall Brewery, Minneapolis, MN)

Czar Jack with Gold Medal GABF banner.  

Last night of barrel aged week, and it sure finished strong with a full house when I showed up a bit before 7 pm.  Packed front to back, I appreciate that a whole bunch of people keep my local profitable even though I don't show up every day like this week.

From years of drinking Czar Jack as eight drafts, a growler, and a stone growler for those who remember, this tenth time is simply recognizing an old friend who's greatness resides in not being extreme but a nuanced interplay and overlap of style, bourbon and barrel.  Dark tan and brown streaked head lusciously falls to a rimmed film.  Opaque, black on black in the glass with a nose of dark roast and oak, black strap molasses, burnt sugar, buried earthy hop, alcohol warmth and a clear bourbon smoke and vanilla from the Jack Daniels.  Taste follows the nose but adds chocolate blended in a malty center that supports rum raisin with a lingering hop bitterness that sneaks out from under the sweetness.  8.5% alcohol isn't pushy, but let's you know that it's there.  Smooth and blended, this is a great beer that deserves to carry a gold medal.

Barrel Aged Week 2012 Day 5 (Town Hall Brewery, Minneapolis, MN)

Motueka growler.  Couldn't resist using my
Stone glass for a light yellow lager. 

Penultimate night of the Barrel Aged Week and out comes the big dog Double IPA Barrel Monkey for a Friday night.  Got there early, so had some time to burn before the monkey was released.

Started with a "double lager" named Motueka.  I know nothing about this beer beyond the quoted style, but liked it a lot better than my anti-lager bias would predict.  Stark white head lingers over a straw gold lager that has a light floral hop and bready light malt.  The combination is delicate, but not weak.  Sweet malt continues in the taste with  significant and surprisingly assertive hop profile that is floral, slightly earthy and a bit peppery.  Such a strong showing, that I took a growler home to continue the sampling.  Growler is similar, except there's a momentary smokiness and the hops have more clarity.

Barrel Monkey at far end of bar at Town Hall

I finally tried the dubbel that was on tap all week--also a strong beer.  Any other week this beer would've made the night, but tonight it's a footnote.  In part, I was having an interesting conversation with a pint club member that I haven't met until tonight despite each of us being members for about eight years.  Tonight was the only night that I didn't run into some I know, but it was a great night of discussion and connecting with a new beer friend.

On to tonight's beer: Barrel Monkey has a off white head that rims the glass.  Murky orange brown ale that is very barleywine-like.  Tasting blind, I could be convinced that this was an overly hopped, light barleywine rather than a double IPA.  Dark fruit and strong fig in the nose with earthy, grapefruit hops mixed with bourbon and wood.  Strong alcohol in the nose wafts up through the taste of a dark fruited hop bite that's sweet from the caramel and toffee maltiness.  Whiskey is underneath and growths as the beer warms.  Alcohol and hops linger of the back of the tongue and remind you that another sip is following soon.  Great beer that's a lot of fun.  Too bad I only had the capacity for one, but hope that I can get another tomorrow night before Czar Jack distracts me completely.

Barrel Aged Week 2012 Day 4 (Town Hall Brewery, Minneapolis, MN)

I headed down to Town Hall with a good feeling of success after picking up at case of Stone Old Guardian Barleywine at the Four Firkins.  Plus, wheat wines are relatively rare and a treat when available.  Sadly, Tumaltuous Rare didn't  measure up to my imagination.  Taking a look at my database, it seems that my relationship with Tumaltuous has been up and down--always good and only sometimes great.

Tumaltuaous Malt

Off white head is thin but stable on the multiple pours that were set up for the release at 6 pm.  Hazy orange beer is thick with golden highlights.  Very little nose, even with a swirl--a light wheat spice and alcohol.  In the taste, a fruity center is redolent of apricot and peaches with an assertive wheat character.  Strong and very sweet, the light body is overpowered by the Eagle Rare bourbon.  The end result is pleasant, but unbalanced.    I'm slightly disappointed, but it was more my expectation than the beer.  A good beer, but not up to the standard of others for the week.  

While finishing my second glass, I headed to the back to chat with a bored tender of the bottles of Tumaltuous Rare for those with tickets.  Among other beery items, we chatted about the ticket sales on the previous Sunday for the bottles.  Evidently, selling tickets at 5pm on the same night created a long line and some hard  feelings.  The Sunday sale was an attempt to streamline and organize the sale.  I empathize with businesses attempting to create a desire for rare beers and trying to sell these hotly pursued beers fairly.  While I missed the opportunity to buy the bottles, I'm happy that Town Hall is producing such a fine product and will take solace in the excellent beers I do get to taste.  

  

Barrel Aged Week 2012 Day 3 (Town Hall Brewery, Minneapolis, MN)

Twisted Jim night was much busier than the previous two nights

For the sake of posterity and for those still considering a trip to Town Hall for Barrel Aged Week, here's the list of what's on tap this week:  

Mon Feb 20- Buffalo Bock- Weizenbock aged in Buffalo Trace Bourbon Barrel

Tues Feb 21- Wee Jack- Scottish style Wee heavy aged in JD Tennessee Whiskey Barrel

Wed Feb 22- Twisted Jim- American Barley Wine aged in Jim Beam Bourbon Barrel

Thurs Feb 23- Tumaltuous Rare- Wheat Wine aged in Eagle Rare Bourbon Barrel

Fri Feb 24- Barrel Monkey- Double IPA aged in Buffalo Trace Bourbon Barrel

Sat Feb 25- Czar Jack- Everyone’s favorite barrel Aged Imperial Stout

For those familiar with Town Hall beers, it clearly looks like a champions pyramid that builds to the pinnacle Czar Jack, but the penultimate Barrel Monkey should bring in the hop heads on a Friday night.  For me as a wheat wine lover, I am very much looking forward to the Tumaltuous Rare on Thursday.  

Which begs the question, why go out for these beers. Last night when buying my draft of Wee Jack, someone at the bar who's presence at THB was unrelated to the barrel aged releases asked for a sample of Wee Jack.  The response (understandably) was that it's too rare and limited to give samples; subtext: buy a draft or miss out.  For me, it's the fun of drinking a beer that will exist briefly on this earth, never (or rarely in the case of Czar Jack) to be tasted again.  Adding it to the beer database, it becomes a rare jewel that, once gone, cannot be replaced.  Breweries or brewpubs that have gone out of business also fall into this category for me.  Like most, I have my favorites. However, drinking one offs is truly beer hunting as its best.  

On to tonight's barrel aged beauty: Twisted Jim aged in a Jim Beam Bourbon barrel.  Off white head completely disappeared immediately and forever.  Neither draft maintained a head.  Burnished copper mixed with gold in the light (much prettier than my picture) that swirls in the light.  Nose isn't heavy, but expansive malt, dark fruit, fig, and an earth hoppiness that's fueled by potent fusel alcohols.  Hope bite is more than expected on the tongue.  Sweet, oily taste full malt full of caramel and toffee with more apparent alcohol.  Jim Beam and wood is well blended, but floating above the beer a bit.  From my recollection of Twisted Jim straight (two years ago according to the database), I like this version better.  More complex and a great sipper seated in a high back chair by the fire.  


Wee heavy was still available tonight, but I would be hesitant whether any of the first three will be available tomorrow with all of the people there tonight.  At 6:30 pm when I showed up, the entire front bar was full and a 20 minute wait for the back restaurant.  Either Wednesday night is date night or barleywine pulls in a big crowd.  

Barrel Aged Week 2012 Day 2 (Town Hall Brewery, Minneapolis, MN)

Wee Jack aged in Jack Daniels barrel
at Town Hall Brewery.  

Day 2 of Barrel Aged Week brings us to Wee Jack aged in a Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey barrel.  While I don't consider myself a Jack Daniels drinker, the JD blends very well with this beer.

It also brought out the Beer Geeks.  Not just folks like me, but the fellas of Beer Geek TV show that's been running at 11 pm on channel 45 after Friends reruns.  They were filming in the back where bottles of the Wee Jack were being handed out near the brew house.  I was pleasantly distracted talking to beer friend Eric, so didn't get a picture.  Maybe it's that I'm not a fan of the show, so I wasn't overly concerned that I missed what they were doing.  I'll watch the episode when it airs to see what happened.

The draft in the picture is mine, but the bottle belongs to Eric.  This was my second draft, which poured better than the first one that was a part of the long line of beers coming out right after six.

The tan head with very tight bubbles lingers nicely on the draft.  Strong alcohol in the nose blended on top of a light peat, heavy malt and some white oak from the JD barrel.  Full mouthfeel, sticky sweet but still not cloying.  The whiskey is smooth with an assertive hot alcohol spiciness with dark chocolate cherry and burnt raisin. Compared to the weizenbock last night, the JD whiskey blends extremely well with the wee heavy.  Great barrel aged beer that makes the most of the technique.

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.