Harvest Beer Festival @ Bachman's on Lyndale

Hibiscus Sour by Fair State

I was lounging around on a Saturday watching a KARE 11 news segment on the Harvest Beer Festival to be put on by MSP Magazine over MEA break.  Usually travelling for the fall break, I decided to try the new festival.  If I had seen it earlier, I would have likely gotten tickets to the fresh hop festival at Town Hall Lanes with other beer geeks, so I had a little buyers remorse going into the day.

Showing up a half hour early, I wandered around the massive Bachman's on Lyndale hoping I was in the right place because my ride was gone and not coming back until after the fest. All the way in the back, the breweries were set up under an empty green house.  Nice gig, really.  Bachman's gets a lot of foot traffic for using a space that's empty this time of year, and host MSP Magazine likely doesn't pay a lot for the space.

Kathleen serving her brew for Sidhe

I got the VIP ticket to start drinking at hour early, but there were so few of us that I was unclear if anyone was pouring when it started.  I've met the folks at Sidhe before, so started there by talking to Kathleen and Rosemary. Their fall beer was Non-Kin Apple Cream, which had a bright apple taste and the beer was very refreshing—a potential big seller for them.

A harvest fest, most brewers had a fresh hop or dry hopped offering. While not the popular winner, my best fresh hop of the fest was Lucid's Foto Fresh.  Clean and bright, it was everything you'd want in a fresh hop beer.  Unfortunately, not all of the fresh hop beers were as good, though some of it was presentation. Surly Wet was just poured out of a can, leaving it flat and not the spectacular beer that I've been drinking at home for the last week. Others were pouring out of growlers, which were also a bit flat after a few pours. For me the best beer of the day was Lactobac 2, a hibiscus sour from Fair State Cooperative. Fruity and floral with a singular sour base, this beautiful beer was a treat, serving to confirm my positive recent visit to Fair State.

Curried Mushroom Fries from
The Moral Omnivore food truck

While I had only a few top notch beers, there were plenty to try. I logged 33 new beers and two new breweries on the day—impressive for a small festival. I showed without lunch because I under the impression that I was getting a complimentary Lotzza Motzza pizza from the VIP ticket. Turns out the pizza was all meat samples, so I had to buy a slice of cheese from the truck. Basic cheap pizza, but it did the trick. The curried mushroom fries (portobello mushrooms sliced and deep fried) by the The Moral Omnivore were a much better for my mid festival respite on a nearby bench.

And I was supposed to get a free T-shirt on the way out, but I forgot after a day of samples and walked out the wrong way. Oh well. Overall, I had a very pleasant day at the festival tasting in solitude. From overheard discussions, many of the patrons were learning beer and more than a few basic questions were answered by those pouring. At first, I felt like I was in the wrong place and that I had too easily fallen for the pitch of fresh hop beers on KARE 11. While not exactly Great American Beer Festival, the Harvest Beer Festival cheered a lot of locals on a bright fall day with some very good beer, including me.

A Quaint Drinking Village: Waconia Brewing (Waconia, MN)

After an excellent stop at Excelsior Brewing, I headed out to Waconia to try another brewery named after a town. Waconia Brewing sits snugly in the corner of a mall. A food truck was outside on the street, inconveniently not in the parking lot, and it specialized in big, meaty burgers without a veggie option so I passed. 

I ordered a rack of samples rather than a pint to be conservative. Of the group, I liked the Lake Town Brown the best: dark brown with ruby highlights and a thick tan head; full nose with malt, minerals and chocolate; roasted nut and chocolate sweetness on the tongue; not a chewy beer, but just enough body to support the taste. Well done, but mind blowing. Wactown Wheat, Pontoon Pale Ale, and the 255 Amber Ale were all thin bodied, but the lightest ale, the Carver Co. Kolsch was well brewed, clean and had a nice flavor that may be popular in town. The final sample, the 90K IPA, was a reasonable IPA with good balance and a lingering hop that settled with pine and grass on the tongue.

A sign over bar says Waconia, Minnesota: A quaint drinking village with a fishing problem. And the beauty of the surrounding lakes and the friendly feel of the full bar makes the appeal of the area clear. If I lived nearby, I would happily stop in at Waconia Brewing for a pint, likely ordering the newest beer on tap and drinking the brown as a back up. For my trip, the beer wasn't good enough to spend the time for a full pint, but the locals crowding the bar seemed to be having a great time as I walked out the door.

F-Town Brewing (Faribault, MN)

Walking up to F-Town Brewing on a summery Thursday afternoon, I was disappointed by the clear lack of air conditioning due to the garage doors being open. My dashed hopes of a cool bar where lifted by the first sip of IPAlicious: dark for an IPA with a creamy beige head on the top, cherry maroon in color with gold highlights around the edge, grassy nose with clear hops, but not fruity. The malty nose like a good amber ale with a big chewy body.

IPAlicious feels like an "old" IPA—more to style, with a malty base to support the hops before craft beer pushed the hops to shine over the malt.
The caramel and malt flavors are punctuated by the solid hop bitterness. An excellent IPA that doesn't have the flavor of 100+ IBUs, but the hops are needed to burn though the malt. Nice balance and enjoyable to drink.

After looking at the brewhouse, I traded my empty glass for a Nutso, an excellent nut brown ale.  I sampled both Nutso and #1 American, a pale ale that was good but didn't quite measure up to the nut brown for me. At the bar were patrons Tracy and her father Charles. They told me about the Fleckenstein Brewing connection.  I assumed the F of F-Town simply referred to Faribault, but there's a history connected to reviving the Fleckenstein name, a historic brewery in town. In researching, I found a difficult to navigate website giving the history of Fleckenstein. The Faribault Heritage Preservation Commission has a much more understandable video.  SouthernMNBiz.com chronicles the fight over the Fleck's brand name without a conclusion in the article. The Growler makes the clear connection between the controversy and the opening of F-Town. Tracy and Charles at the bar said their last name was Fleck, the reason for their drive.

Two of the three people behind F-Town were in the brewhouse when I walked down to look at it. Talking to Travis while his kids played emphasized the family nature of the operation. Only open two weeks when I visited, sales pressure was already outstripping production. From the articles, these beers have been tested over time and worked on to make this brewery a success. All that I tasted were solid and point to being popular. I sat down to write up some impressions and ended up chatting with more locals at the orange picnic tables that naturally bring everyone together. While I didn't find AC, the shade and friendly locals combined with good beer made F-town a pretty cool stop.

Take 16 Brewing and Sterling's Cafe (Luverne, MN)

Kick the Can IPA

Driving from a family reunion in my Iowan home town, a route I'd had driven nearly every weekend for three years in high school to my wife's home town of Luverne, I now sat down at the bar of Sterling's Cafe and ordered a Kick the Can IPA from Take 16 Brewing about twenty minutes before closing on a Sunday night. 

Kick the Can IPA is a beautiful beer in the glass with a solid hop nose of citrus and grass, almost like an fresh hop smell. The malt balances a clear bitterness and an underlying sweetness. Excellent IPA and I was sorry that I didn't bring growlers along. For those not familiar, Kick the Can is a childhood game, one that I played with cousins on my grandma's farm in the 1970s, which is my guess as to the origins of the name.  

Brewery on Main Street

A local softball team walked in a few moments before closing, so I had time to have a second beer, Stormy Jack. A smooth and easy drinking Irish Stout, it just confirmed the quality of this southwest Minnesota brewery, whose named confused me. I was chatting with my sister-in-law about my plans to beer hunt at Sterling's. She said the local highway through town used to be Highway 16. Growing up in Iowa, I know that road names with locals can remain for decades; for example, the country black top near my home farm was known as Old 9 even though the highway had been moved north before my memory. Just a theory. 

Across  from the Palace Theatre on main street, Sterling's is just down the street from the brewery, so it's about as fresh as you can get all four Take 16 brews. More importantly, Sterling's did an excellent job of beer handling and representing the brand. Check the website for the likely to be growing list of places with Take 16 taps. 

Finding Gold: Excelsior Brewing (Excelsior, MN)

After having lunch with a former student, I had a free Saturday afternoon for some beer hunting. Heading west to Excelsior Brewing in Excelsior, MN, I admittedly had low expectations.

I'd tasted Excelsior at the 2013 Firken Fest at the Happy Gnome and was completely unimpressed. But I didn't think a cask ale fest was a fair test of the brewery. Nine months later, I picked up a couple bottles at the now defunct Four Fikins. While clearly better, I still wasn't impressed.

MinneGose at Excelsior

When I arrived at Excelsior, I struggled to find a parking spot and then was surprised by the exceptionally long line to get a draft at the bar. One stool was available next to a couple at the small bar, so I jumped on it and ordered t MinneGose (Min-uh-Gos-uh). Say it like the exaggerated Fargo pronunciation of Minn-eh-Sew-ta. MinneGose is an exceptional summer ale with the tang of the sea salt and coriander from the description floating over a fresh bread character of the wheat beer.  Each sip filled the mouth with this slightly sour and lemony sun gold beer.

With another brewery in the area, I had a tough choice: try another beer or move on. Conversing with the couple at the bar (moving to New Jersey next week and on a last weekend in Minnesota drinking fling) and the pint were both excellent, so I decided to quit while I was ahead and not fight the crowd, preserving the glow of a great beer drinking experience. I'll wait a bit and find Excelsior again to check out if the rest of the beers live up to this visit.

Sidhe Brewing (St. Paul, MN)

Every year at school, there are always a few students who desperately work for an A, but can't see the path to earning the grade: heartbreaking for me and frustrating for the hard working students. Unfortunately, Sidhe Brewing  is working hard but just not making the grade.  

I've known about Sidhe (formerly Four Elements) Brewing for a long time because the owners attend many One Voice concerts, one of which where I was introduced to the brewer Kathleen and we chatted a bit about their beer adventure. There was even an earlier, smaller, location in St. Paul before finding its present home. To keep from repeating history reported elsewhere, take a look at A Perfect Pint's first look. 

The small door on Jenks Ave belies the comfortable space at the bottom of stairs. On a Saturday afternoon, the place had several scattered customers enjoying the hot summer day with AC and a beer. I hunkered down at the bar to do all eight samples offered today. 

Senor Sol Victorious, a clone of Victoria Mexican lager, was as advertised, clean and very drinkable. Requested by the building owner for the locals, I'm guessing it pairs well with food from the Mexican restaurant in the same building. Next, I liked the Barking Cat, a strong golden Belgian ale. Having the most flavor and complexity, this 9.9% ale was a bit hot and not quite balanced. Finally, the Dark Moon Rising was serviceable dry stout that I considered getting a full pint. None of the beers warmed up well. This test is of limited use at Sidhe because the lighter styles are meant to be colder, especially Senor Sol and the Bast Kissed cream ale. My rather sluggish style of drinking doesn't fit well with some of the styles. 

In reading the menu, Sidhe's mission is to brew approachable session beers for all beer drinkers, not catering to the old school geeks like me. So don't expect a Surly Furious or Stone Ruination at Sidhe. I think this is an admirable mission, especially in the diverse, up-and-coming neighborhood. Sidhe has a real chance of making themselves a community pub, for locals to congregate and commune over lighter, flavorful session beers. However, this raises the bar for Sidhe. It's easier to homebrew a stout than a pilsner because the dark flavors allows for wiggle room to hide flaws. Big, and especially dark beers, are more forgiving, thus why I generally brew big. To focus on session beers, the brewing techniques must be perfect and, to get more flavor out of a small grain bill, the creativity must be inspired. 

While I think many of the ingredients for a great local pub are present, at the moment, in spite of my hopes and desires for these women brewers and owners, Sidhe is coming up short of top marks. However, my evaluation is just that: mine. Beer media is biased towards more radical brewing, so the buzz (including mine) will likely be slanted against them. Quite a few patrons in the bar where happily drinking, chatting and playing games throughout the time I was there. Often by the end of the school year, some students who persevere and continuously strive for improvement will learn how to make the grade. The philosophy and location of Sidhe seems to be well matched, so hopefully the locals will make Sidhe a success in spite of a low beer geek grade, which will give the brewery time to mature and find their path to better beer.  


Update 8/1/15

Based on the photos of my first visit, a group of friends put together a afternoon at Sidhe.  We walked in late and joined Cards Against Humanity with a draft of Barking Cat. To be safe, on my last visit, I only was able to do samples. The draft of Barking Cat was much better than I had remembered from the sample. Slightly hot from the 9.2% ABV, it has a spiciness from the yeast and a warm, round Belgian flavor. Barking Cat is a short, potent pour, so I switched to a pint of Tri-City, which was also significantly better as well.

Glad I went back for a draft, which was much better than my first impression.  Moving from samples to a draft seemed to make a difference. Normally, I prefer to end with a draft for a full review, but it's not always possible.  Friends and full glasses seemed to make quite a bit of difference for Sidhe, and I encourage people to keep giving it a try.

Burning Brothers Brewing (St. Paul, MN)

Not needing gluten-free products, Burning Brothers Brewing hasn't been at the top of my priority list. When friend wanted to check it out for the gluten-free reasons, it seemed liked the perfect opportunity. Burning Brothers' tag line is "Don't fear the beer." Not sure if it was quite fear, but I did have low expectations for a gluten-free brewery. The fear is unwarranted.

I had two variations of the same beer for the stop.  Pyro , their shimmering gold flagship, is much better than most American Pale Ales, a clean and refreshing brew on a spring day. Infused versions of Pyro are also available, of which I tried the orange blossom honey Fused; even more delightful.  If the crowded taproom was any indication, I'm not the only one who is enjoying the product.

On BA, the ratings of Pyro seem a bit low to me.  Most seem to be focusing on a light bodied mouthfeel. While not a heavy beer, Pyro is by no means light.  Some of the lower ratings seem to be from distributive sources, so drinking on site might be part of why I thought it was better. My only other gluten-free beer experience was more than a decade ago with Dragon's Gold by Bard's, the source of my apprehension. While likely a gluten-free cliche, Pyro is a beer that I'd drink because it's good, regardless of ingredients.

Listen to Burning Brothers: Don't fear the beer!

New Bohemia Wurst + Bierhaus (Golden Valley, MN)

Without any planning of my own, I followed beery freinds to New Bohemia Wurst + Bierhaus in Golden Valley after the latest One Voice concert. Being a vegetarian, a bratwurst specialty pub hasn't inspired me to stop for a pint.  Serious mistake. Upon walking in, friends had already filled a long, sociable table and promptly asked me to try the pretzel with pepperjack cheese sauce: light, delicious and massive.

Overwhelmed by beer choices, it took time to pick a new beer to insure New Bohemia on my database. I settled on Lucid Duce, a more than satisfactory amber ale for the end of an evening. A well curated tap list, New Bohemia had a serious devotion to Minnesota with about half of the taps dedicated to local brews. The remainder had some very good national and regional brews.  I settled on New Belgium La Folie for a second draft.

A video DJ was playing tunes with a screen behind him to keep the party rolling, which inspired several singalongs by the choir. A lively and convivial place that still allows a conversation, I was pleasantly impress with New Bohemia.  A vegetarian option for a bratwurst in addition to frites and the above noted pretzel, there's plenty of bar food for every beer drinker.

The original location is in Minneapolis. More than acceptable options for food plus an concentration of several Minnesota brews for me to try is more than enough reason to push New Bohemia up on my drinking list.

Day Block Brewing (Minneapolis, MN)

After a long winter, we took advantage of a sunny Saturday afternoon to go to Town Hall pint club for the first time in a while and then walked down the street to Day Block Brewing.

Day Block is next to Grumpy's Downtown on Washington.  So much beer side by side may look like a bad idea. However, Day Block is much more of an upscale, industrial chic compared to Grumpy's gritty character. My guess is that the clientele for the corner may not overlap much. Plus, with a brewpub and a beer bar, their offerings will likely compliment as much as they compete. Hopefully, the flow of traffic from the nearby apartments, Guthrie Theater, Open Book and the future Viking's stadium will provide more than enough customers for both bars.

Day Block back bar and brewhouse in background

We ordered a rack of all six samples. All of the beers were solid interpretations of the styles. Of the group, I order a draft of the Frank's Red Ale that had lots of body and a pleasant hop balance. Fruhlinhgsfest was my next favorite, in spite of it not being a favored style, followed closely by the Honey Amber IPA. The Spring Lager and Kolsch were both strong for their styles, just not styles I drink. Lot 56 was adequate but I had been expecting more from the description and Al's reviews of other hoppy Day Block beers.

Dinner was a cheese pizza, thin and slightly reminiscent of Pizza Paradiso in DC but didn't live up to that memory.  Thin crust, a bit greasy, full of cheesy goodness and a slight char on the crust, it was a good size for sharing.

I like Day Block. While not  in the same league as Town Hall (yet), it's likely a place we'll visit again.

Indeed Brewing (Minneapolis, MN)

Brown Ale with my fantastic
Red Lentil Burger by Gastrotruck

After years of trying, I squeezed in a quick stop at Indeed Brewing before a One Voice concert nearby. The database says my first draft of Indeed was Midnight Ryder at Northbound Smokehouse almost two years ago. So, this post clearly won't be news for most of my beer geek friends.

Well worth the effort, Indeed is a pretty amazing taproom; the attention to detail is clear in every choice, right down to the picture perfect chalk draft board. Big tables are gather groups well but a little hard to find a place alone with Americans not use to sharing space.  I really appreciated the designated serving area for walking up to get a pint instead of having to reach over someone sitting at the bar. The $2 happy hour discount had the place full and the line was a bit slow each time, though it disappeared, of course, just have I got my last pint.

Cask of Haywire with
Mosaic hops added

Event the clearly designated food truck location closing off the patio points to the obviously well thought out plan. I personally love the food truck format for taprooms, and Gastrotruck was a hit for me. Especially for a vegan burger, it was one of the very best veggie burgers I've tasted. I wanted to go back for the nachos, but didn't have time but happily hope to run into Gastrotruck again.

Overall, this is an experience I would like to try again with a bit more time to savor. I can see why it's so popular and why the beer buzz has been good. The simply named Brown Ale was fantastic and one of the best of the style I've had in a very long time: beautiful chocolate brown color, full mouth feel and a robust flavor that is usually the hallmark of bigger beers. I want to seek out a growler of this beer, like maybe later today when I'm back in the area. In a long running argument with my friend Al, I'm not a fan of the Indeed name; however, when the beer is this good, the name will grow on me.

Beer Hunter: The Movie screening at Republic Seven Corners (Minneapolis, MN)

Michael Jackson drinking Malheur on screen

While not completely a JFK or 9/11 moment, I do remember when I read that Michael Jackson had died. I never had the opportunity to meet the less famous Michael, but I felt a deep sense of loss. Like many beer geeks, I learned a lot from reading Michael's rambling, insightful style. I even joined the Rare Beer Club during the last year that he chose the selections, ending my membership a few months after his death.  While the decision was mostly due to logistical reasons, I think, in all honesty, I lost heart when it felt that it wasn't really Michael Jackson's Rare Beer Club anymore.

When I saw an advertised  screening of Beer Hunter: The Movie at the Republic Seven Corners, I felt powerfully drawn to this documentary. Walking in, Alvey and the Four Firkins guys did a great job hosting. Free cheese to snack on the way in with a short draft of Samuel Smith's Imperial Stout (featured in the movie). Two FF employees set up the screening as a labor of devotion to Michael. After a short delay for technical difficulties, the movie played on a large screen on the end of a back room of the bar. The waiters discreetly and efficiently refilled beers and delivered orders from the special food menu. Plus, the 15 minute intermission, planned in the film I think, was well appreciated and an opportunity for more silent auction bids to benefit Parkinson's research. I did not bid but did my part by drinking $4 drafts of a donated keg of London Pride, the proceeds also going for research.

Four Firkins event poster

Concentrating on a two year period of Michael's travels in 2004-5, I simply enjoyed this documentary and took few notes. Sipping on a beer while watching this life history unfold, I was enraptured and no real judge of the film. I suspect it's not going to win an Oscar; however, I will be ordering a copy to watch again at home. One line that got a big laugh and encapsulates Michael's attitude was "Moderation is ok as long as it is in moderation." Following a short rant by Michael on not wanting to take advice about everything that's bad for you, the quote captures how driven he was to enjoy and advocate for beer, whiskey and living life with friends.

Following the film, Mark Stutrud of Summit told of his experiences with Michael. Clearly affected by talking of Michael again, Mark led us in a toast to Michael using Summit's Great Northern Porter, which was the cover picture on the 2nd edition of Michael Jackson's World Guide to Beer. Overall, the entire experience was a well planned and watching the film was greatly enhanced by their efforts.

Claims that Michael Jackson created beer styles or helped birth the craft beer movement have seem overblown to me in the past. Ironically, according to the film, beer was truly a passion because whiskey paid more bills than beer did in his career. However, in watching the film, the paradigm shifting impact that was Michael's writing and personality is made clear in the film—but not in a manner that's bragging or arrogant. With the natural "film is always rolling" presentation of the documentary, Michael's love and connection with beer people is apparent. While I had no interaction besides reading his articles, Michael's passion seemed to be infectious and he clearly inspired those who had direct contact with him.

In writing this post, it only seems right to refer to Michael as Michael and not Mr. Jackson or his full name. I write this post as a friend that he never met. Today, oddly, Michael Jackson and my father have a similar place in my heart. Each taken before the job was complete, I wish I could have shared my passion and a great craft beer with both. Sharing the day (and fries) with Al, I also recognized a number of beer people that have been a part of my journey at both screenings (Four Firkins posted pictures). I'm not the only one with such reverence for the ungloved Michael. Cheers Michael and thanks for everything you did to make our beer world what it is today and what it will be tomorrow.

The Valley Tap House (Apple Valley, MN)

The Valley Tap House from far end of bar
towards kitchen

8/21/13

A vegetarian walks into a tap house that specializes in "Baltimore Style Pit Meat" aka The Valley Tap House, situated nicely across the street from the Ford dealer where our new hybrid is being updated. Surprisingly, VTH has more vegetarian offerings than Old Chicago down the street, so decided to check out the beer as well.

Pretzels with cheddar and mustard

As it turned out, the stop became a Stone tasting. Started with the Stone Smoked Porter as my appetizer and then moved to Arrogant Bastard for dessert.  In between, I had the pretzels with cheddar ale and honey mustard sauce.The cheddar ale sauce was very thin but had ok flavor.The sweetness of the honey mustard went much better with the soft and chewy pretzel sticks. Several other veggie items on the menu, and with this tap list, I'd happily stop in again to give them a try with friends.

Not much of a lunch crowd today, so I had some time to chat about the place with the bartender. She mentioned that the lines cleaned recently, so the fact that I had one of the best drafts of Arrogant Bastard in a while—fresh and fell with a full lace—isn't surprising. My primary concern in a multi-tap, especially one in the suburbs, is whether or not the beer is moving well enough to give a good experience for the edgy beer at the end of the tap line that I will be ordering. Drinking familiar beers today, both Stone beers were very good, so it seems that VTP is selling enough beer to keep it fresh and presenting it well.

Present tap list.  Black lettered
$3 at lunch

I made an argument to the bartender that I almost didn't come in because their website doesn't have a list of taps at all, much less an updated one. Also, at the Apple Valley location (another is on Lyndale in Minneapolis), thirty beers are being poured (even more taps since the heavy movers like Fate Tire and Honey Weiss have two lines) instead of the twenty listed on the website. Being that I live locally and had a reason to stop, it's no big deal. However, as I mentioned in my recent post on how I research a beer trip, the lack of a beer menu online is often a reason for scratching a bar from my to-drink list. Of the thirty taps, there wasn't a new beer among them for me, so no entry on the database for VTP; however, there was more than enough choice of old favorites to keep me happy today.

While not a beer destination, Valley Tap House is a perfectly fine stop that has a solid range of drafts to satisfy most beer geeks for a night out with a group of friends or family, especially those that lean towards the carnivore end of the eating spectrum. I've been meaning to get here for nearly a year because some meat eating friends recommended the place, so I think the food is as safe a bet as the beer.

McGoon's Taxi Co (Rochester, MN)

McGoon's Taxi Co Pub and Restaurant

Tonight's evening of fun and laugh's was my first visit to this downtown location since it was O'Neill's Pizza Pub.  In fact, until an invitation by friends for dinner and open mic night, I avoided going into the old place where we spent so much time waiting for Dan's heart transplant.

Walking in, it's hard to recognize the old place when I walked into McGoon's for dinner. A themed restaurant like Friday's down to the taxicab menus, it's a very friendly and cozy place to chat and drink. Limited drafts on tap and different from what is listed online. Something to be said for how a server pitches a tap list, ending with the "dark and bitter" Lagunitas Undercover Investigation Shutdown Ale, which was the best on the list. It seemed obvious that he wasn't a fan of hops, but it's nice that they have at least one hoppy beer on tap for those of use of the persuasion.  Oddly, in spite of having been to Lagunitas on vacation earlier this month, Undercover is as a draft is missing from my list. Sticking with Lagunitas for the night, the draft upstairs at Goonie's seemed a bit brighter than the tall I had downstairs.  No specific problem I noticed; both were served just fine.

After finishing a very good dinner, we headed upstairs to Goonie's Comedy Club for open mic night. All stand up comedians, each on a tight time limit.  An interesting mix of veteran comics with several on stage for the very first time. Going in with relatively low expectations (because I had no idea), I was pleasantly surprised by how often I laughed out loud. Most of the comics were good (or tolerable) and only a few that I would have been a good opportunity to get a drink, especially since there's no cover. A diverse crowd trickled in through the show until nearly full at the end and seemed quite merry.

Greek Veggie Wrap and potato salad

I found the night interesting, not just for the laughs, but to see the developing skill of each of the comedians as writers, especially the younger performers just starting out. I half-jokingly credit much of I initial knowledge of writing from my days as a bouncer during Comedy Caravan at Nick's, a nightclub on the levee at Purdue. Bored at my post since no one fights when drinking Long Island Ice Tea for a $1.75 while listening to top comics on the circuit from New York to LA. As a communications major, I took the time to analyze the structure of humor, much of which ended up in my "writing buddy" format that I use to teach freshmen. Tonight's open mic night was a flip side of this old practice by seeing budding comics as opposed to the professionals at Nick's.

McGoon's and Goonie's is an amusing diversion with good beer and food and more than a few laughs for a Thursday cheap date night, plus I would be optimistic that the full weekend comedy shows would be worth the price of admission.  While I was slightly disconcerted underneath from my personal history with the space, it was a great time that helped me erase ghosts of my past. While not a beer bar per se, there's a couple good drafts to while away an evening with in good humor, upstairs or down.

O'Neill's Pizza Pub (Rochester, MN)

O'Neill's "new" location in the Crossroads Shopping Center

July 2013

I love O'Neill's Pizza Pub.  Besides that I really love the pizza, the additional reasons are listed below in my original review of the pub in 2006. We continued to go to O'Neill's after Dan received his heart transplant for the additional six years Dan lived in town, but my wife and I don't get there much since his passing.

My bias for O'Neill's is clear and unabashed. However, back in the day with Dan, we tried restaurants all over town and nearly every slice of pizza. Our group honestly returned to O'Neill's because we preferred their food, beer list and friendly atmosphere. Luckily, my speech coach friends indulge my obsession to stop here, so we will have business and/or social meetings over pizza at the pub. Also, local friends agree that the pizza is unique and go there for "German Club" (code for an after school teacher happy hour), independent of my influence. So, I feel somewhat justified that my bias isn't just about nostalgia.

So, please stop by O'Neill's (any day but Sunday or Monday when closed) and help keep my favorite pub in Rochester serving great pizza and beer for a very long time.


BeerAdvocate review from 9/16/2006
My nephew Dan was in Rochester waiting for a heat transplant for a year and a half. My wife and I traveled from the Twin Cities to see him every Wednesday during that time, and for about nine months of it we went to O'Neill's for pizza, beer, and edited Dan's poetry (now a self published collection). With that said, I think O'Neill's is one of the most unique restaurants I've ever been and, obviously, one of my favorites.

I rarely miss the opportunity to have beer and pizza at O'Neill's when in Rochester.

O'Neill's bar area.  Free pizza set out at happy hour

Here's why. The beer list is excellent. Not as big as either Whistle Binkies, but well chosen and fresh. I've never once had a stale beer, bottle or draft, in the times I've visited. On my last visit, there were eight drafts ranging from Kul Lite to Mojo IPA, and, as an Irish Pub, Guinness, Bass, and Smithwick's are par for the course. Always a consistent range of bottles including Victory Golden Monkey, Sleeman, several Rogue, Hazed and Infused, Murphy's, Wexford Irish Creme, Kostritzer, Weihenstephaner, Erdinger, Wittekerke, Kwak, Orval, Tilburg Brown Ale, Lindemans Framboise, Belhaven's Twisted Thistle and a few others. The list doesn't change much, but sometimes the bottled beers will show up on tap. It's a carefully crafted selection of beers that sell well with few changes over time.

Now the food. The first pizza here we had was a Greek pizza with feta, tomatoes, and black olives. In the original location (moved recently), Irish and Greek flags flew in the rafters. And it is probably the only Irish Pub that you can have baklava for dessert. Evidently, one of the O'Neill daughters married into Greek cuisine. Our "usual" is a Golden Monkey for myself, a Kostritzer for my wife, a Triple-Double (our name, not O'Nei'll's, for double crust, double sauce, double cheese) and baklava for dessert. The pizza sauce is the heart of it, sweet and tasty, very different than an Italian style oregano and basil sauce. Not sure what it is, but it is very unique and good. We enjoy our multi-continent meal several times a year when we visit my nephew, who lives and goes to school in Rochester now and is doing well with his new heart
Even wrote an ode. Irish for Pizza is a T-shirt slogan of ONeills that I borrowed for the title. Allison no longer works there (graduated and joined the service), but we've kept some contact and we were still recognized when we had a Greek pizza yesterday for lunch.

My expository poem from Do chicks really dig scars?, a collection of poems written by Dan and revised by me. Click on the Poetry tab on the blog's home page for a link to buy our book.  

Irish for Pizza

Restaurant seating

ONeills Pizza Pub, family run, marked only
by a small yellow neon sign, an Irish pub with
Greek food (both flags fly from the rafters) and
an Irish/German/American beer list worthy of
   Slainte!      Prosit!      and        Cheers!

A daughters marriage, we were told, changed the
menu so that ordering baklava with Guinness or a
hefeweizen as dessert to a feta cheese pizza with
tomatoes and olives, somehow, makes great sense.

Every Wednesday night, our ill-formed group
(get it—Dan's sick, illness formed...…never mind)
picks the center booth, puts quarters quickly in
the jukebox, and then, we wait not-so-patiently for

Draft list on last visit in June 2013

Johnny Cash to rumble out Ring of Fire.

Allison, our Supergirl waitress, as much a part
of Wednesdays with Dan as we are, takes our
high maintenance order:

a Schwarzbier for Aunt Gloria, triple-double pizza
(double crustdouble cheeseand always double
of their Oh! so sweet Greek pizza sauce), best beer
on this week's list for Uncle Cal, soda and poetry
for Dan, and whatever conversation that's on tap.

When Dan went back in the hospital, briefly, we
even ordered a pizza to-go, an excuse to tell Allison
that Dan's ok, just couldn't make it that week, tied
up with hospital tubing and an infection.

We came for pizza and a pub, and stayed for a big
booth with quiet nights to write and laugh and cry
(some tears happy, some sad) with great food and
fine drink and people who care—a sense of home
in a very hard time.

Town Hall Lanes opening night (Minneapolis, MN)

Town Hall Lanes

After our initial stop of the evening at the Urban Growler Open House and dinner at the Foxy Falafel (excellent!), friends of ours who were at the newly opened Town Hall Lanes said the crowd had thinned a bit and that we should head over. When we walked in, I felt like Norm at Cheers—beer folk I knew at every turn, servers and customers.

The text from our insider friend that it's "not that bad if you just want beer" meant there was actually standing room when we arrived some time a bit before 9 pm. Two sets of friends who had been in line before the grand opening at 6 pm were seated and reported that the food was very good. Compared to Town Hall proper, the new place has the standards like Masala Mama and other TH greats, but a lot more guest taps. I started and finished with the White IPA, a superb brew that demonstrates the genius of Mike Hoops et al at the TH brew house. Peppery, spicy and light while still being assertive and full bodied, I settled in with a second pint while chatting away with friends.

TH Lanes is much larger than TH Tap, a place I have only been a few times because the effort to get there versus seven corners is about the same and I mostly drink new releases. Plus, my pint club discount works downtown. TH Lanes is a much closer and easier to get to from the beer wasteland where I live, so I see myself heading there more often. Also, we have more friends near TH Lanes, so the added incentive might give it the boost for me to show up for a pint.  I didn't look at the menu, but the flatbread offering alone looked worth a second visit.

Town Hall Lanes main bar and restaurant.  Wish I had a better
picture of the absolutely incredible 100+ year old bar
Pete brought home from Washington. 

Owner Pete Rifakes seems to have pulled out all of the stops for the Lanes.  I heard the high ceiling and room for a gorgeous chandelier (I know, weird, but it really works) came from knocking out a floor. The extensive remodeling is apparent when compared to a picture posted by MNBeer of the old Skylane Bowling. From a distance, the condition of the bowling lanes looked superb to this semi-informed bowler (watched the PBA every Saturday with my mom growing up).

Tiled bathroom of Grey Lodge Pub in Northeast Philadelphia

And, the bathroom.  If the reader has ever been in the Town Hall bathrooms, the only thing that has changed in my memory is the advertisement over the urinal. Better than Triple Rock, but nothing to write about. At the TH Lanes, it was like being in a disco tech. The unified wash area splits into gender specific locations and is posh and beautifully finished; it ranks up there with the ceramic tile of the Grey Lodge Pub or the barley art stall dividers of Left Hand Brewing.

Just before leaving, I was able to congratulate Pete and Mike on a jammed packed opening night and on the beauty of the bar. Both, along with staff moved over from the brewery, were working hard to keep the beer and food flowing. Town Hall Lanes is a fantastic bar space that has the benefit of great beer and presentation of Town Hall, plus the added bonus of a bowling party without being forced to drink macro swill. Stop by—it's worth the trip.

Fox News gives some love to the TH Lanes and Summit.  And a great article by Vita.mn.

Urban Growler open house (Urban Growler, Minneapolis, MN)

Station 5: take a picture with a
life size pint

7/19/13

Saw the Urban Growler's sneak peak opening on MNBeer and our friends Dan and Lori thought it sounded fun for our Third Friday outing. The Heavy Table wrote up a nice introduction to the brewery, including the two women owners their goal to serve local brew and food. I found the mock up drawings of what the Urban Growler will look like in the future interesting as well.

Following the GPS to Endicott Ave, which is barely this side of the river in St. Paul, we drove slowly through an industrial area until we found the Urban Growler building. We saw The Lyric luxury apartments nearby with the green line light rail down the street. Walking in the door, a part of the initial pitch to invest was that Urban Growler was in an up and coming neighborhood, beer (Surly's destination pub is to be nearby plus "others" are looking at the area) and otherwise, and was to be the next Nordeast. Maybe. Not sure I'm the one to agree or disagree with that claim.

With  more people there than I expected, the interior of the future bar and restaurant was set up as eight stations, including the membership table, architectural drawings, beer pouring, meet the chef and merchandise. We voted for the few veggie options on the proposed menu and checked "more veggie options" that someone had written in below. This is the first time we have been at a brewery this early in the process, and trying to match the designs to the physical space was entertaining. The whole point of the evening was to create investment, ranging from a $500 minimum for a T-shirt and your name on the Founder's Wall to a $10 grand investment to be an actual part owner of the enterprise.  The $1000 investment was the $500 plus first pint in the door free for life.  My wife and I briefly debated that latter before the math failed because we live too far away for it to pay off as well as our Pint Club membership at Town Hall.

So, to the heart of the investment: beer. Eight beers on tap with the Wild Rice Ale out before we walked in the door (I assume because of the previous night's open house). We luckily got to the Rhubarb Wit, my wife's first and favorite, before it ran out half way through the night. My favorite was the Graffiti Rye IPA, listed as their flagship beer on the description sheet, which had a bite that made me sit up and notice it without being overwhelming. Of the rest, the Everyday Ale was an unusual style: Kentucky Common Beer, a pre-prohibition ale that was brewed and enjoyed almost exclusively around Louisville, Kentucky.  I liked the sample, but will need a full pint when they open to give it a fair taste.

My wife and I didn't invest, but mostly because of logistics rather than the beer or food on offer.  If we lived nearby, the decision would have been tougher. All of the beers were solid to very good with some interesting food planned. Being a veggie, the offerings were slight and, to be fair, similar to most pubs. I look forward to giving Urban Growler another shot when they open and wish them the best of luck.

Bigfork Wilderness Bar & Liquor (Bigfork, MN)

The One Voice choir descended upon the town of Big Fork, Minnesota to perform at The Edge Center that evening.  Of course, the beer sub-group of the choir headed to Bigfork Wilderness Bar & Liquor.

For a town of 446 people (and tourists), the beer selection is pretty good. Ten taps with New Belgium Ranger IPA for the hoppy end with Fat Tire, Leinie's Honey Weiss, Nordeast and Shock Top as examples of the range. More than exceeding my expectations and my Ranger IPA was fresh, well served and the lines are clearly very well maintained.

The gang filled nearly every seat in the place.  What we didn't understand was the bar wasn't really a restaurant but a bar with a single deep fryer.  When the orders inevitably backed up in spite of the frenetic efforts of the staff, we took the bartender's advice and ordered a cheese pizza from the Pizza Palace across the parking lot. I walked over, ordered and they delivered to our table a local, thin crust pizza with a bit of spice that even went well with my Ranger IPA. Had we read the note on the food board that we could order from next door, it might have been better logistically for all.  Hindsight.

We so overwhelmed the place that glasses ran low and I drank from a plastic cup the whole time.  The beer was so well served that even the plastic cup had a nice lace.  On the way out, I specifically complimented the wait staff for the fine job they did handling the beer.  Not only was the hoppiest beer in the tap line fresh and clean, but I sipped on several others among our group and all were similarly well served.  

As a result of drink, laughter and a couple of games of darts (all of which I lost in spite of my best efforts), we saw very little of the town of Bigfork beyond the bar.  The walk over the bridge from the performance center to downtown was picturesque.  Many in the choir reported enjoying Scenic State Park and, while walking back, we caught our friends laughing under the bridge as they paddled their canoes back to the rental office.  And, the dusk drive from to our hotel in Grand Rapids on Highway 38 was so beautiful that I felt like we were hiking on that incredibly curvy road.  We may have to return to see what else we missed.  Overall, our stop in Bigfork was one of the most fun, relaxing times of the trip and, when I find myself this far into the Minnesota Northwoods again, I won't hesitate to stop for pizza and a beer in Bigfork.

Stout's Pub (Falcon Heights, MN)

612 Mary Ann with tap list

Rather than go to the St. Paul Summer Beer Fest today, I opted for the One Voice concert and to meet friends from my wife's choir at Stout's Pub for dinner between shows. With a summer thunderstorm downpour outside, it seems that I made the right choice—several wet and weary festivalers wandered in from the state fair grounds while I was there.

Walking into the pub, the Ommegang dinner is advertised and shows a bit of their beer knowledge to start.  Plus, I noticed later that the pub hosted a pre-festival Kegs and Eggs brunch as well.  The bar is clearly trying to be in tune with the beer community.  I settled in with a cardboard bowl of free popcorn on a corner stool of the larger rectangular bar, which is clearly the center of the pub, literally and metaphorically, as the restaurant surrounds both sides. Standard sports bar TVs all around for everyone. The decoration gives it a Friday's feel, but it's far too local and genuine for that comparison. In the mid afternoon of this rainy Saturday, the bar is over half full. The bartender's pitch of reduced priced happy hour appetizers explains the excitement.

Looking at the taps, I ordered the Castle Danger seasonal, which turned out to be appropriate for the day: Gale Force Wheat. The amber-orange beer with an off white head falls quickly with a clean lace. Not much of a nose, but where's there is fresh wheat and a hint of fruitiness. Full mouthfeel, carbonic twang and an orange, citrus flavor that matches the color. Very surprising. almost chewy. wheat beer and one that I would happily drink through the summer.

Well designed tap list of about two dozen that represents the basic range of drinkers from MGD Light and Apple Orchard Crispy Apple to Surly Furious and Pour Decisions Infidelity (out today). Towards the lighter end overall, but enough to keep most folks happy. With a clear bent towards Minnesota craft, I'm finding two local breweries that I haven't tried before, so hard to complain, plus there are two bonus firkins of Summit at the end of the bar.

Second draft is 612 Brew's Mary Ann, a German lager with ginger, a clear Gilligan's Island reference for those of a particular age. Shimmering yellow lager with a thin, stark white head. With a deep whiff, I can smell the ginger and light breadiness, but not a strong presence. Wait for it—light and refreshing while not thin, the ginger bites hard on the tongue. Ginger lovers will bask in this beer all summer.  Happy I tried it and a very strong addition to the local beerscape, but not a new favorite of mine. However, it does perk up my hopes for trying more 612.

With a group, got to try a range of food. Deep fried Pub Shrooms with remoulade sauce were excellent, and we shared Fried Hop Curds, the lightest, not greasy cheese curds I have ever had. The Wood Fired Pub Nachos and clam chowder soup, while good, didn't match up to the appetizers. Strong service by our waitress allowed us to eat quickly and relax a bit before heading to the show. Final pint of Summit Saga on cask was well served and a good choice to end my stop.

When at the bar, one of the five guys that ordered tequila shots gives me a stare for taking a picture of my beer with my iPad. I might be a bit yuppy for the bar but Stout's is a great local is St. Paul that seems to be working hard to serve a range of clientele, handling the beer with respect and providing a comfortable place for all.

Brigid's Cross Irish Pub & Restaurant (Bemidji, MN)

Brigid's Irish Pub

In 2005, I spent a week at the university in Bemidji for the Northwoods Writers Conference and spent a night at Brigid's having a few pints. When we found ourselves in Bemidji for a wedding and time to chat with friends before the reception, so I pulled Brigid's from my foggy recollection and we happily went down the street.

Oddly, I don't seem to have added a new beer to the database on that first trip, which may explain the three forays to the now defunct 1st City Brewery & Grill.  Based on this absence, Brigid's seems to have expanded its list and I had a chance to try my first drafts of Leech Lake.

Leech Lake 3 Sheet Imperial IPA

I ordered the 3 Sheets Imperial IPA on tap, which didn't live up to the bottle.  My suspicions point to two theories: it wasn't served as well or that the hoppy beer had languished a bit in the keg.  However, my wife's pint of the porter Driven Snow, also by Leech Lake, exceeded my expectations, so going to rule out the beer handling. Either the 3 Sheets changes a lot on draft or hoppy doesn't move that well up north.

Food awaited us a the reception, so we only tested the pints and the atmosphere at Brigid's this trip. A family friendly place, Brigid's Cross is clearly aiming to fulfill the traditional role of an Irish pub as the heart of the whole community. Named after St. Brigid, who is rumored to have turned milk into ale, the pub honors their patron by offering a free pint to customers on St. Brigid's Day (Feb 1st).   It was a pleasant experience and I would definitely give the food and some more pints a chance in the future.

Gluek's Restaurant & Bar (Minneapolis, MN)

My wife had an OVation gig nearby at the Graves 601 Hotel but I had some time between dropping her off and the performance, so a pint seemed like a good idea when I fortuitously walked by Gluek's. Sitting at the end of the bar near the door, the house beers were directly in front of me.  Ordered an IPA, which was tapped out, so started instead with a Gluek's Red: dark amber to brown with a dirty white head; mineral, caramel and wheat bread in the nose; sweet caramel on top of a chewy breadiness with the mineral note in the background. Perfectly adequate amber ale but not a new favorite. However, this Cold Spring Brewery made beer is better than drinking a Leinie's Red.

Gluek's Red with tap list

I occasionally tell a story to prove that I have the coolest wife in the world, which includes Gluek's. It was May 17th, 2000 and my buddy John, who had been KISS ARMY since he was a kid, invited me to a KISS concert at the Target Center. We started the evening at Gluek's to get primed for the show, drinking with the idea that we had an entire concert before going home.  However, the bar, full of KISS fans, started to buzz with whispering that the concert was postponed until the next night. A trip outside to see the Target Center marquee confirmed that the band was trapped in Chicago by weather. I called Gloria from the bar pay phone and said we'd try to sell the ticket since the show was postponed to our 15th wedding anniversary.  My very cool wife said I'd been looking forward to this for a while, my first big time rock concert, and that I should go.  After confirming her opinion in the next morning and planning a weekend celebration for the anniversary, John and I repeated the night at Gluek's and had a memorable time of head banging at the "farewell" KISS tour.

I remember the food at Gluek's being good in preparation for the concert, but I didn't have time to confirm that memory today. I had a draft of Surly Furious to test the beer serving with a more familiar beer.  Well served, maybe a half a step short of 100%, but I don't have any real problems with the drafts I sampled.  Music was too loud sitting near the door, but then it changed to a guy running trivia.  Interesting trivia set up: no cell phones, internet, and a team member had two minutes to bring up a piece of paper with the answer on it.  A throwback that seemed appropriate in a local landmark since 1934.  A beautiful old bar that has seriously expanded drinking options to a perfectly respectable beer list since my last visit.  I'd be happy to find myself at Gluek's again, hopefully returning a bit faster than last time.