Mackenzie Pub (Minneapolis, MN)

7/26/12

Mackenzie Pub is a small bar with a surprising amount of charm in the downtown Hennepin Ave,  While I've only had a few experiences at the pub, they have all been positive.  From my notes, the last time I recorded a beer was in the summer of 2008 in which I went two nights in a row with friends for tappings of a couple new breweries of the time: Surly and Furthermore.  Hard to believe I haven't been back since, but, if I have returned, it didn't record anything new.

Which I find hard to believe from their selection.  Last night before heading to the One Voice performance at The Cowles Center, I started with Indeed Old Friend and then followed up with a draft of Deschutes Hop Henge IPA to pair with my mushroom and onion pizza.  Running late, I had to interrupt a pleasant beer conversation with my newly met bar mates to finish both pizza and beer, leaving with a longing for several remaining taps.

Based on the pizza and the well served beer, I need to return.  The pub has an elegant decor with clean lines that also feels like a small town local, which makes me wonder about the history of the older building.  Service was friendly and helpful for a range of drinkers (help for me and eavesdropping on other orders).  Great stop that seems to be underrated based on how often I don't hear about them in beer chatter. However, I plan to make Mackenzie my new go-to place for downtown activities to test it over time, trading in our old place of Rock Bottom.

Rhombus Guys (Grand Forks, MN)

Tall New Belgium Hoptoberfest and my
brother-in-laws Bud Lite with the pizza menu

10/20/12

We headed to NoDak to see our nephew Ben and watch UND versus Montana: amazing game.  UND won in the closing seconds 40-34 with a touchdown.  Very fun and my nephew chose to take us to Rhombus Guys.

The place was packed after the game, so we ended up walking around downtown Grand Forks (just as fun as it sounds) until a table opened about 45 min later.  The Blue Moose had an hour and a half wait, so this was the good deal.

Rhombus Guys downstairs

From the dozen or so taps, I tried the Hoptoberfest from New Belgium, but the draft was a little warm.  My nephew's Deschutes Inversion IPA was off, though I'm not sure if it was the draft line, the age of the keg or something else: just not 100%.

But, the pizza--spectacular.  We had the roasted garlic and nibbled on the remainder during the drive on the way home today.  Great hot and cold.  The crust is somewhere between pita and flatbread--delicious.  I'd go back from the pizza in a heartbeat, but the beer isn't up to par, unfortunately.

Rhombus Guys is a great name with a story on the botton of the menu online.  The focus on pizza and lack of beer knowledge can be read between the lines.  I love the story of Matt and Aaron, and lust after the great pizza.  Hopefully, some day, they will learn to serve beer as well as they make pizza.

Note: Adam of Rhombus Guys contacted me after a repost to TripAdvisor.  He says that they take great pride in their beer selection (which is very good) and that they are installing an upgraded cooler in the near future to address beer issues.  I was very impressed with the response and look forward to returning to Rhombus Guys again for some great beer to go with their fabulous pizza.

The Boulder Tap House (St. Cloud, MN)

9/15/12

Recently, the last day of CTAM has conflicted with Autumn Brew Review.  Last year, I went to the morning meetings in Bloomington and quickly headed down to the fest.  With CTAM in St. Cloud this year, I finally capitulated and missed my first ABR since it started.  In reality, it's a relief to break the string and I'll go again when I'm motivated in the future.  For a re-cap of this year's festival, read my friend Al who continued his string.

However, this left me with the urge for a beer score and The Boulder Tap was going to be it.  Across the street from the hotel, the Boulder Tap taunted me through the weekend and I headed over under the guise of checking it out for next year's conference to replace the disappointing beer of our stop at Granite City.  I announced my intention and nearly a dozen folks joined me for some convention afterglow before heading our separate ways.

I took point, got a table set up for the gang and perused the 41 taps for something new. Hard to pass up a beer named Super IPA, so ordered the New Belgium, which arrived in a small goblet and had a great nose and pleasing bite.  A very "super" start.

With very little in the way of vegetarian offerings on the menu, I settled what turned out to be tasty fish tacos.  Being distracted by good conversation, I hastily ordered the next unfamiliar beer when asked by an attentive waitress: Lucette Brewing's Shining Dawn. Very light pale yellow Belgian ale. With a mouthfeel slightly more full than it appears, it's a solid Belgian that has some assertive spice but won't scare the neophyte.  Wrong beer to go with fish tacos, but that's my fault.  Favorable reports on the food from the gang, so I'm guessing we'll return during CTAM next year for one of the evening meals. We ordered two desserts to share for the dozen of us, but a bite of each was enough.

With most of a pint left when everyone left for home, I drifted over to the bar to watch the rest of the Purdue football game on a big screen TV to finish my Deschutes Chainbreaker White IPA.  I love the name of this beer, but I wasn't crazy about it: stark white head that falls with a film over a hazy amber hued yellow ale. A little watery but bright hops blended with fruity yeast esters redeems the beer a bit.

Two things I love in a bar: comfortable bars stools that aren't too tall and under bar hooks for my bag, both of which contributed to nearly two hours of reading while sipping at the beautiful U shaped granite bar.  One of our group noted that this building used to be a Timber Lodge. A bartender confirmed this and added that it was abandoned for a couple of years before being reborn on Jan 16th of this year as The Boulder Tap House.

Final draft of the trip: Dark Horse Plead the Fifth

Sitting at the bar, I noticed a lot of macro brew and hard drinks besides the craft brew. The bar conveniently puts the tap date on every beer; for example, the Hop Session had been on since 6/23 and it's mid September now. Looking over the other dates, this was an anomaly.  I admire the honesty--a lot--but it seems that they may be ahead of the curve for the clientele.  However, as counterpoint, the Tallgrass 8 Bit with it's assertive to harsh hop bite had already blown the keg.  So, maybe the locals are breaking the hop curve.

Overall, The Boulder Tap House is an excellent stop that was a suitable salve for missing ABR and a bar that I'm looking forward to revisiting again, especially since CTAM is planned for the same location for the next two years.  Cheers to us!

Amsterdam Bar & Hall (St. Paul, MN)

Amsterdam Bar and Hill.
Pedal Pub out front, but
didn't find out why.  

6/15/12

Having a bit of time before One Voice performed at The History Theater, I parked in the flat lot across the street from the Amsterdam Bar & Hall in downtown St. Paul.  I've had a pint or two here before for happy hour, but have never stayed very long.

Gnomegang and tap list

Tonight I was able to have a few beers, dinner and run into a beer friend as well.  Started off the visit with an extremely well served draft of Gnomegang--a collaboration ale between Ommegang and Brasserie d' Achouffe.  Hazy yellow brew witha built up white head.  Strong spicy nose that doesn't quite forecast the sweet, pepper and yeast twang the fills the mouth and is very balanced.  I've had it before, but this was a particularly good draft tonight.

Dutch cheese broodje and frites

For dinner, I ordered a Dutch cheese broodje (small sandwich) and the smaller $2 happy hour frites (Belgian fries).  Multiple sauces can be ordered with the frites, so I tried the curry mayo and ketchup.  Having had frites in Amsterdam before, I need to have both mayo and ketchup to eat them.  While not completely authentic, the frites were definitely better than the ones I had last summer at Brugge Brasserie in Indianapolis. The onions were an addition I've never had before but I liked them.  The broodje was heated and excellent for just being a cheese sandwich.  It was definitely small, so ordered a second sandwich: grilled vegetable.  The very friendly waitress said it was her favorite, and it was extremely tasty.  I'll start with it next time.  Later in the evening, I was chatting with someone about the Amsterdam and she recommended the house cured salmon broodje.  Definitely enough foodsoptions of reasonable size and high quality to warrant more sampling.

Amsterdam coasters

Beer friend (and beer writer) Jim walked in with his wife Louise and I suddenly felt like I was in my local.  The bar was lively in the early evening on a Friday with the after work happy hour crowd chatting happily. With the summer sun, it was lighter inside than it has been when I've stopped in the past.  Nice atmosphere, but the music from the stage speakers behind me was a bit loud for easy conversation.  I've never been here late night, but the website (and stage behind be) indicates that it is a music destination, but I have no idea of its quality.  I haven't heard of it as a music venue like Triple Rock Social Club or the Blue Nile, but me not hearing of it for music does not mean much.   A final odd note--I noticed an excessive number of beer mats on the bar--seemingly strewn about for easy use.  For some reason, I like the messy look.

For dessert, I ordered an Amstel Wheat (to add to the database) and finished with a Deschutes Inversion IPA. Overall this is a good beer bar with a nice atmosphere.  Plus they always have La Trappe Quad on tap--an excellent go to beer for my wife.  I won't necessary travel downtown just to visit the Amsterdam, but a stop is definitely in order the next time I'm heading to a show or hopefully my wife's co-workers will do another happy hour here again.

JL Beers (Grand Forks, ND)

JL postcard with The Abyss

1/14/12

On our last trip to visit my nephew, our plan for the night was to spend the evening at JL Beers to watch the Gophers/UND hockey game because the beer list is clearly the best in Grand Forks. Since it's a burger joint without vegetarian options, we had dinner at The Blue Moose instead so we could spend more beer time at JL.The beer stop started off well.  It's a small, narrow bar that's dimly lit, but we were seated quickly at a table opposite of the bar.  Actually, all tables are opposite of the bar because of the long, narrow design of the building.

I started off with Fargo Brewing's Woodchipper IPA that my nephew had recommended.  Nice beer and I like the support of the local breweries. Between the three of us, we also shared Deschutes The Abyss, Empyrean Winter Tilt FestivAle, and Widmer Brother's Nelson Imperial IPA.  Too my surprise, the Widmer draft was the best of the night, even over a draft of the legendary The Abyss that didn't live up to my memory of having it in a bottle.We even had fun filling out the free JL Beers postcards.  But, then the evening was soured by a simple request.  My wife asked for a glass of water and was told that they don't serve water, but they would sell us bottled water.  In an email response from co-owner Lance Thorson, he explained that there wasn't enough room for ice machines and water faucets in their small bar, and that bottled water is a better and more consistent product than local tap water for their multiple JL locations.  As a result, they can have room for more taps, cans and bottles of beer.

As for us, we finished our beers and brought our business to Happy Harry's Bottle Shop for some beer to watch the game in the hotel room.  While I don't doubt JL's reasons for not serving water, we saw it as inconvenient at best and irresponsible at worst to not have free water in a drinking establishment to help control for the effects of alcohol.  On a different bar stop a few weeks later, I noticed that I drink water pint for pint with the beer I sampled.  It's a part of the process to drinking responsibly, a process that should be taught and encouraged in all establishments, especially one in a college town.  To me the staff, while friendly, we're clearly frustrated by customers repeatedly asking the same incredulous questions about having to buy water.  While I understand the reasoning, I sharply disagree with it.  

JL Beers from front--as narrow inside
as it looks on the outside, but comfortable
and cozy when you get a table.  

As for the beer, the range of beers is worth the trip, and each beer we drank was well served in an appropriate glass for the style.  Nothing to complain about for the beer.  Since we're vegetarians, we didn't try a burger but my nephew reports that they are quite good and have a good reputation.  I also asked about serving a veggie burger option like Fitger's, Town Hall or Whistle Binkies; however, all of their burgers are never frozen and cooked with an "automatic top-side cooker that is setup and designed for our hamburger patties thickness."  A frozen veggie burger is a square peg that doesn't fit into their one size fits all approach. Before the water issue when getting our initial beers, I also got the vibe that sitting and drinking on a Saturday night was not appreciated unless we were going to eat, drink and get out of the way for the next customers.  While I will readily admit and applaud their dedication to craft brew, JL Beers is a one trick pony with limited appeal for me. 

Collaboration #2-White IPA (Boulevard Smokestack, Boulevard Brewing, Kansas City, MO)

From the label, the beer is a combination of a Belgian wit and an IPA.  A new style of collaboration ale, Boulevard and Deschutes used a single recipe and brewed it separately at each location.  The Deschutes version is Conflux, which I didn't have the pleasure of drinking.  Regardless, the creativity of the beer community can produce a collaboration white IPA is worth the taste for me.

White head of big vacuous bubbles rush up when poured and nearly overflows.  Falls to a heavy lace on top of an extremely pale straw gold. Floral and spicy nose.  According to the label, the beer used coriander and orange peel of a traditional to wit, plus sage and lemongrass added.  Lemongrass is strongest, but they are all there-- blended with an assertive flowery and west coast citrusy hop that is light and pleasant.  Taste has more hop bite than expected from looking at the beer in the glass. Mouthfeel is light without being watery. The pepper in the description doesn't appear until it warms up and it adds a sharpness to the finish. Overall, my first white IPA is a good experience.  I've had this one in the fridge for a while, which may have been a mistake to let the hops mellow.  Well worth the price of admission, but I wouldn't track down another bottle.

Fresh Hop Mirror Pond (Deschutes Brewery, Bend, OR)

Copper ale with a stark white head that leave a nice lace. Grass and grapefruit nose with a light malty base. Taste lacks the hop, oddly—some bitterness, but muddled badly with a sourdough taste with watery mouthfeel. Sweet ending, but too off center to have more than one. I was surprised because I've often liked the Mirror Pond Pale Ale, but adding fresh hop just didn't pull together.