10 Best Breweries in Minnesota

Spoken like a true Illinois troll.

 

I am sorry but 612 doesn't deserve to be on this list IMO, every time I've gone (3 or 4 times) I have left disappointed, their beer is average at best.

 

I loved Hammerheart a hell of a lot last fall, went back a month ago and wasn't as impressed. I don't know what happened but it wasn't the same for me

 

I yet to see "Surlyites" having their panties in a bunch. Seems people think the list as a whole is odd and not consistant with what most of us see. And as I noted, the list is odd as Summit is one with 30 points. Which means 3 could name it #1 and 2 leave it off completely. Seems very inconsistant.

 

There's several ways to add up to 30 points based on their point assignment. For example, 2 people voting them #1, 2 people voting them #7 and 1 person voting them #9.

10 + 10 + 4 + 4 + 2 = 30

Doesn't seem inconsistent to me.

 

Sorry. I posted to the wrong thread about this same list.

 

Well now I'm just getting confused. Forget it, I'm having a beer.

 

The two 10s are the 2 foodies.
The two 4s are the 2 beer writers.
The 2 rating is from the liquor store buyer who doesn't like the Summit delivery driver!

 

You can tell... I'm already confused, but I'm at work, so no beer...

 

FIBs

 

It wasn't trolling, it was a joke. I'll admit, it wasn't my best work.

 

Yeah, I'm sure you can do better. We have standards, after all.

 

I think you're misinterpreting where I was coming from, my man.

 

I've only had a couple of their beers and have never found it bad, but nothing worth seeking out. At work today a coworker asked if I had heard of 612 because one of his wife's friends said it was the best brewery in the state. I said "no".

 

The only thing good at 612 is the scenery, if you catch my drift.
I'd choke down a pint of their swill just to get a sore neck for an 1/2 hour on a Saturday afternoon/evening.

But seriously, I'm with the mob on this one.
Their beer is just Godawful.

 

The list is an average of points scored from the various judges, most of whom aren't total beer nuts. 612's presence, let alone high score is seriously shocking on that list, and there are some notable exceptions (Town Hall? Hammerheart? Fitger's?). With that said, I consider Surly to be a good brewery but IMO one of the most over-hyped in the entire country. I like that Summit scored highly... I wouldn't quite put them at #1 on my list, but overall they don't get nearly as much love as they should because they're not new and brew well-crafted beer that people can actually drink instead of imperial everything and whatever's trendy this week. In the end, this is an opinion piece. Everyone's opinion is going to vary drastically.

 

I believe Todd often lists Bender as his favorite of the Surly brews. It's under-appreciated, as far as I'm concerned, as a nuanced, subtle, but flavorful and tasty beer. With that said, I buy Furious more regularly, and I'd call Abrasive my favorite beer, but don't sleep on Bender.

 

We could always make our own list.

 

I hate that they use the phrase "key beer". Makes them sound like a bunch of frat boys.

 

By Chicago standards that was spot on.