Got Beer?

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I Googled that to see what it was….don’t hit images

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A friend brought it back from a Caribbean vacation. Per the bottle looks like Cayman Islands. It’s not terrible.

It’s rum. Make sure you include rum in your search.

Yeah, definitely do not Google Image Search 'Pitlick'

Noob. Congrats!

Picked up a couple bottles of Lupulin's Whiskey Demigod (BA blend of Imperial Stout/Imperial Brown, we're the only store to have it). Banger of a beer. It was a limit of one, and then the owner said, "Fuggit, if someone wants to buy it all, they can, I don't care." :dance: One of the bottles is going to a friend who's currently out of town, he was happy that I snagged him one.

And for those that don't know, Grizzly's is doing a re-branding. IIRC, the Plymouth one will be patio only starting May 8, lasting 6-8 weeks. Total overhaul, and expanding from 26 to 46 taps.

The Rube wrote:

And for those that don't know, Grizzly's is doing a re-branding. IIRC, the Plymouth one will be patio only starting May 8, lasting 6-8 weeks.

The way it's going they'll be lucky to get 4-6.

Cracked a North Coast BA Old Rasputin XIX (2016) tonight. It was hanging on by a thread. So, that was the fourth vintage I've had in the past few months, and I'd say, don't let this series age more than 3-4 years. I think that's the prime target area.

Just saw that Tin Whiskers is closing. I was surprised to see that.

Although to be fair, they were a few down on my list of brewery stops, on the occasions I made it over to St. Paul

When in St Paul, we went there a bunch, but have been hitting Barrel Theory and Bad Weather if we weren't right downtown.

To be truly successful as a small craft brewery relying on your tasting room, you need to have at least one of:

1 - Great Location

2 - Great Beer

3 - Truly unique offerings that have enough draw

Tin Whiskers had none. The location was definitely not the best, and the beer, while solid, was generally not something I considered to be that special.

Point 3 is directed more toward the couple Cider/Mead places in town. There's only a few of those right now, so people looking for those will go out of their way. If we get a couple dozen Cider/Mead producers, those will be back to relying on points 1&2

That's a good summation of why I never really went to Tin Whiskers when in St. Paul

Kind of a nondescript taproom. The beer was "pretty good", but never made me say wow.

As opposed to places like Barrel Theory who has some of my favorite beer in the state, and St. Paul Brewing, whose beers are good, not great, but their taproom/patio environment is sweet!

Exactly. Tin Whiskers had a couple beers that I definitely liked, but not enough to deal with going to a meh taproom in that location.

Barrel Theory has great beer and a good location (especially in summer with games at CHS Field).

Bad weather has really good beer and another good location.

Surly is Surly. Still has the cult following, but even aside from that, the facility is a great room and solid location.

etc

Steve nailed it. Barrel and Bad Weather had better beers and locations. Tin didn't have food options either and will hit up Waldmann on occasion for their beer garden and german food.

Clutch Brewing in Keg and Case in St Paul is thriving due to location, but the beer isn't mind blowing. Lots of great food options and good location.

Exactly, you can get by with good but not great beer, but your location has to have something else going for it to bring people in. Really good food can easily be that thing.

You fine gentlemen have given me an excuse to swing by Bad Weather on the way home today

Glad to help :beerchug:

Make a stop at Waldman too then since it’s just around the corner. It’s as close to walking into a Bavarian beer hall that you’ll find in the Cities

I just looked in my Untappd profile and I’ve had one Tin Whiskers beer since late 2016. I’m sure that was something my Wheat Beer loving neighbor brought over when he used to go a lot

That didn’t work well for Wayzata Brewworks.

Oh wait, you said they needed to have good beer…

Steve - did you see the new Brewery opening up by the Canes in Brooklyn Park? I think it’s open starting next Friday

Yeah, if the beer is just bad (Blue Wolf up by me for example) location can't overcome that.

I saw that last time I was in the area, yes, wasn't sure when it was opening, but looking at the website, you're correctly, April 8

Covid did them in, didn't it?

Lockdown happened, take away their killer location, and all you were left with was just their pretty bad beer. Not a recipe for success!

Even pre-covid, they never seemed all that busy. Definitely a good location overall, nice and easy to get to, Broadway Pizza right next door to grab food from, but the beer was at best meh, and more usually bad.

Even a great location needs at least a solid product. Blue Wolf lacked that.

And yet somehow, Bald Man survives... :conf2:

:good2:

Bald Man is another one of those good, not great places. Certainly nothing groundbreaking, but I've never been revolted by anything I've had there. And they're far enough out into the burbs where they don't have a ton of competition.

Someday I’ll get to the southern metro breweries. That’s one part of town we haven’t been to much of

I grew up down that way so I'm pretty familiar with them. Giesenbrau in New Prague I am NOT a fan of. Boathouse Brothers in PL started off rough, but they've really improved over the last year. Badger Hill I feel has gone downhill lately. I believe they got a new head brewer and their stuff just hasn't vibed with me lately.

If you can make it all the way down to Montgomery, that one is kind of a gem. Super small taproom, their stouts and porters are really solid.

I will have to check out Boathouse Brothers again. The first time I went a couple of years ago, I wasn't that impressed. Shakopee Brewhall has some good selections.

Yeah, the first year or so they were open, I was not very impressed. But kept going because 1) they're both really nice guys and 2) I grew up in PL, parents still live there, and I really love the IDEA of having them on Main Street.

What they've done with that building is amazing. Turned it from the dingy bar that the kids I went to high school with did drugs at, into the really cool taproom they have there now!

The last year in particular they've really stepped it up and listened to their clientele on what works, and what doesn't. I don't think it's award winning beer, but for a suburban/exurban brewery, it's solid.

But the boat theme!!!!

Badger Hill has never really been my thing except for their Cherry Double Dunkel. When that first came out it was the best non-stout I'd ever had from a MN Brewery. Now the last batch of it (I think they're making it every 2 years now) wasn't really worth the trip down there to buy bottles.

Montgomery is solid. Baldman sucks. Dunno about Ineffable (their head brewer is now at Unmapped, which means their beer probably improved, he was an LTD brewer before Ineffable). Only time I ever had Tin Whiskers was at beer fests, and total meh. Never actively bought anything.

Barrel Theory and Bad Weather are very good. I did like Angry Inch (Lakeville?) when I went a couple years ago. Lakeville Brewing was ok, too, but not outstanding.

Sounds like a good idea for a GPL outing. We just need a bus to haul us around. [mention]Armadillo[/mention] - side gig?? GPL brewery tours?

Anybody got a bus they want to donate to the cause?

We could start with a good base at Ansari's.....just saying.

If we start there, we might not leave... just saying.

Knowing this gang of misfits he’s require us to ride in a short bus

Oh, would you lot have to pay me HUGE to do that.

Bad Wearher is a great stop if you’re going to something at the X

Boulevard brewery in Kansas City worth stopping at?

I haven’t been to the brewery but their beer is very good

Many years ago for work, I found myself in Kansas City for a weekend. Got checked into the hotel, went to grab a drink. They had 3 taps.

Bud Light

Miller Lite

Boulevard unfiltered wheat

Definitely a benefit to having a local brewery that's not Bud/Coors/Miller, but has national distribution.

It's on my way home from work. I should see if I can open an account

I went a few years ago and found it to be enjoyable, but that was pre-covid years so I have no idea what may have changed

Far From the Tree cider tap house in Salem, Mass. If you like cider and have a vehicle while out in Boston, highly recommend.

We also hit up Backbeat brewing in Beverly. The Cuban and pulled pork sandwiches we had were great. Reports are the beer was good; I had their hard “tonics” which were way too syrupy sweet and not what you expect for seltzer.

Also some music - two old dudes playing drums and keyboard. (When I say old, I mean 60 ish. )

Lone Pine Brewing in Portland ME is phenomenal.

Wasn’t sure what to expect with this - mostly tart margarita flavor. A little disappointed I don’t really taste donuts. [attachment=0]16490A2F-1964-4B54-A27D-B4D3126D8A27.jpeg[/attachment]

Had a Citrus Got Real from 56 Brewing. I found it very good. If you like citrus and blood orange in particular this one works.

Also had a Mating Ritual which is a Blackstack/Ology double or triple IPA. It was 10% but did not drink like 10%. Felt like it an hour later though.

Are you delivering to Plymouth? I mean MN and not MA

I found out my parents are flying now instead of driving to Boston, but dad did agree to stop at Trillium and bring back a small amount of beer for me. Them flying likely saved me a lot of money in terms of how much I'd have had them get.

On a totally different note we met some friends at Nine Mile down in Bloomington. The space is really large and it was pretty packed on Saturday night even at 5:30pm. For a place that just opened in mid-February the beer was better than a number of breweries that have been open for years. The only downside to being that busy is that they said they're having trouble making beer fast enough to meet demand, but they still had 6 or 7 options while we were there.