Minnesota Beers?

[gblowfish]

In a couple weeks I'm going up to the Twin Cities to an event. My good friend up there is having the gathering at a place called 612 Brewing.
http://www.612brew.com/

I'm going to take him up some KC BBQ sauces, and a Boulevard Sampler pack.

For those of you who live up in that area, or are familiar with the Twin Cities, what kinds of beer should I bring back with me?

I've tried Summit Extra Pale Ale -it's OK, Boulevard Pale Ale is better, and I've had Schell from New Ulm.

And yeah smart asses, I've had Hamm's and Grain Belt.

I actually like Hamm's as my lawn mower beer.

Any regional brews I should check out?

Oh, and I understand Harmon Killebrew Root Beer is good too.

[KCUnited]

Surly Brewing Co. is very legit. I've had their Furious, Bender, Coffee Bender, and Doomtree here in Chicago. All very good with Furious being a regular in my fridge.

[Saulbadguy]

Surly.

[Jewish Rabbi]

In a couple weeks I'm going up to the Twin Cities to an event. My good friend up there is having the gathering at a place called 612 Brewing.
http://www.612brew.com/

I'm going to take him up some KC BBQ sauces, and a Boulevard Sampler pack.

For those of you who live up in that area, or are familiar with the Twin Cities, what kinds of beer should I bring back with me?

I've tried Summit Extra Pale Ale -it's OK, Boulevard Pale Ale is better, and I've had Schell from New Ulm.

And yeah smart asses, I've had Hamm's and Grain Belt.

I actually like Hamm's as my lawn mower beer.

Any regional brews I should check out?

Oh, and I understand Harmon Killebrew Root Beer is good too.

I'd rather chop my dick off and suck out the remaining fluid than drink another Killebrew.

[Bugeater]

Grain Belt.

[mikeyis4dcats.]

Take a quick run into Wisconsin and get some New Glarus. Spotted cow and moon man are great. Can't get it outside Wisconsin.

[stonedstooge]

I wonder if Schmidt Beer is still made. When I was a kid, my Grandfather and Uncle always had Schmidt's around when we visited them in Nortt Dakota. They made such pretty cans. And at that time, had to be opened with a can opener

[petegz28]

step 1. buy any bottle of beer
step 2. open said bottle and pour out contents
step 3. pull out your wanker and piss into said empty bottle
step 4. enjoy your minniscrotum beer

[gblowfish]

step 1. buy any bottle of beer
step 2. open said bottle and pour out contents
step 3. pull out your wanker and piss into said empty bottle
step 4. enjoy your minniscrotum beer

That's pretty harsh, man. They have to have at least ONE decent beer.

[steve_minor]

MN craft beer is growing really fast and we actually are getting so much it is hard to try them all. I have listed some of my favorites below:

http://www.lucidbrewing.com/

FOTO is a great IPA, Air is a really nice lighter craft beer

http://surlybrewing.com/

This is probably the largest and most popular in the Twin Cities right now. Furious is a really tasty hoppy IPA, but they have many others and have really good food. If you have time, try their beer and food pairings.

http://www.insightbrewing.com/

This is my personal favorite and I love almost every beer they make!!!

http://fultonbeer.com/

I have never been to here, but they sell beer in most Twin Cities liquor stores and "Sweet Child of Vine" is awesome, as is "Lonely Blonde"

http://www.waconiabrewing.com/all-brews/

This brewery is close to me, and they usually have at least 8 of their beers on tap. Currently recommend highly: Pontoon Pale Ale, 90K IPA, and if they still have some left of their Gin Barrel Honey Ale.

Waconia Brew is in Waconia MN, if your are traveling with ladies like prefer wine, Waconia has 3 vineyards, and 1 vineyard also makes craft beer. Waconia also just got a new watering hole Iron Tap. They have 30 craft beers on tap ... Tank 7 is one of them.

http://irontapmn.com/

Hope this helps, please reply after your trip and lets us know what you enjoyed!!!

[steve_minor]

FYI - 612 is by far my least favorite brewery in Mpls

[Eleazar]

Summit and Surly.

[displacedinMN]

+on Surly.

Can only get Spotted Cow if you are in Wisconsin.

Leinenkugles is Wisconsin, but still good. I do not know if you get it in KC

G-I don't drive around a lot, but if you see a red Ram 1500 with KC all over it, its me.
I'll pull over.

[ISUJeff]

Surly Furious.

A lot of the other Surly beers aren't as impressive in my opinion, but Furious is the gold standard all other beers should be measured against. (at least for IPAs)

And regarding the WI piss water beers, Spotted Cow and Leinies aren't even half the quality of Boulevard (for a KC perspective). Honestly they're only a small step better than Miller-Bud-Coors.

Also enjoy Lucid and Fulton. Never had an Indeed that impressed me. Summit is just consistently good, but not great.

[GloryDayz]

While I can't stand the Twin Cities for my own reasons, I did appreciate the Surly beer that's served there.

I'd also recommend going to both the Blue Door and Matt's Bar (home of the Juicy Lucy). And if you can make it just a touch south, there's a place called Nina's Grill that's owned by a Russian couple that I just love. While it hits "dive" status in some ways, the food has always been incredible.

[BullJunkandIron]

Try not to stick a bubbles container up your butt.

[Reaper16]

Surly all day every day

[BullJunkandIron]

http://m.ozarkcountytimes.com/news/article_e52b56d0-264c-11e5-b122-b7cb1de57115.html?mode=jqm

[srvy]

In a couple weeks I'm going up to the Twin Cities to an event. My good friend up there is having the gathering at a place called 612 Brewing.
http://www.612brew.com/

I'm going to take him up some KC BBQ sauces, and a Boulevard Sampler pack.

For those of you who live up in that area, or are familiar with the Twin Cities, what kinds of beer should I bring back with me?

I've tried Summit Extra Pale Ale -it's OK, Boulevard Pale Ale is better, and I've had Schell from New Ulm.

And yeah smart asses, I've had Hamm's and Grain Belt.

I actually like Hamm's as my lawn mower beer.

Any regional brews I should check out?

Oh, and I understand Harmon Killebrew Root Beer is good too.

Hey 11.49 a 30 pack at Wally World Market. I made it my sit out on patio after mowing lawn beer. Now if they could just dust off Doug McClure and the Hamms bear for commercials I would be right back in my youth. Oh yeah and the keg barrel can!

[gblowfish]

I have a beer fridge on my back porch. It's usually filled with cans of Hamm's or Busch. It's called "Lawn Mower Beer" for having one after cutting grass or working around the yard. Cheap, cold, oh yeah. All the "good beer" is in the garage. Right now I've got Boulevard Wheat, some of that Summit Pale Ale, a couple of Boulevard Bully Porters and some other odds and ends in the beer fridge in my garage. Yes, I have not one but TWO beer fridges. A HA HA HA HAAAAA! I love being a grown up. BTW: Thanks to all for the advice in this thread.

[Shag]

To each their own, but 612 and Lucid are my two least favorite breweries in the Twin Cities by a long shot (the 612 space is great, though). If you're only looking for MN-based bottles/cans, I'd recommend:

- Surly
- Steel Toe
- Indeed
- Lift Bridge
- Fulton (only if you can't find the above)

If you're open to growlers, I highly recommend stopping to Town Hall and getting a growler or two.

There are a lot of great taprooms in the area, if you're looking for local drinking. I'm a big beer guy, so if you have more questions, want more (or more specific) recommendations, let me know.

[Nzoner]

While I can't stand the Twin Cities for my own reasons,

Same here,if I never have to visit there again it will be just fine with me.

[Shag]

Same here,if I never have to visit there again it will be just fine with me.

WTF is wrong with you?

[srvy]

I have a beer fridge on my back porch. It's usually filled with cans of Hamm's or Busch. It's called "Lawn Mower Beer" for having one after cutting grass or working around the yard. Cheap, cold, oh yeah. All the "good beer" is in the garage. Right now I've got Boulevard Wheat, some of that Summit Pale Ale, a couple of Boulevard Bully Porters and some other odds and ends in the beer fridge in my garage. Yes, I have not one but TWO beer fridges. A HA HA HA HAAAAA! I love being a grown up. BTW: Thanks to all for the advice in this thread.

And perfect for kinda friends or neighbors who show up after the work is done.

[MGM]

Pig's Eye Pilsner if you can find. That shit is a classic.

[Canofbier]

As everyone else has already mentioned, Surly is a sure bet. They just opened up a massive new facility with a bunch of their stuff on tap and good food to match, so that would be a good place to experience their beer if you have the time.

A couple more suggestions if you have the time to sit down for a bit:
LynLake Brewery (very new, very good)
Dangerous Man (hipster as shit, but their beer is awesome)

[MGM]

Pig's Eye has a scary looking lumberjack on the can with an eye patch. It is one of the cooler looking cans.

[Nzoner]

WTF is wrong with you?

I used to live there(Coon Rapids) and I've visited for two Chiefs away games and also visited for Super Bowl XXVI.Other than the Super Bowl my experiences were not very good.