Hi all, First of all, long time lurker, first time poster. Ok, not really - I had a BA account back in the day (long time ago) but was out of country for 5 years. Figured I would start fresh since I can't for the life of me access an old e-mail account. Nuff about that. I just moved to MSP and love it here and am digging the beer scene. Before I went overseas, I lived in MT and CO and was out there during the first boom times. Kind of seems like MN is where those states were in the 90's, which is awesome. With the love of hops here, I am wondering if we will see a move (a true move) towards various styles that are not lupulin crazed. I am not talking about the good folks from BA, but the general public. I was just at a beer fest here and I think every other person was heard asking "what is your hoppiest beer", or something like that. That's not a bad thing, but I am just curious if the general craft beer consumer will move towards a greater variety of beer styles versus the dominant Pale Ale/IPA/IIPA focus? It seems like markets that are a little ahead of MN have really smoothed out the "beer curve" (I have no idea what else to call it). Anyways, good to be back to BA. Cheers
Welcome to Minnesota... the state where absolutely nothing is allowed! As to the craft beer brewers' focus on IPAs and other over-hopped beers, they are just making what sells. As you know from the thread on bitters and ESBs, I keep looking for a more traditional English ale brewed here, but it is tough to find. Those that do brew a beer they call an ESB overhop it, presumably because they think that is what American craft drinkers prefer.
Thanks MNAle! Yeah - no doubt they make what sells (and I buy!), I am just curious to how this market will look in 5 years from a consumer standpoint. Wondering if it will follow similar but more advanced markets like Denver, Portland, etc... or if MN will charge it's own path. Really kind of cool to be a craft beer geek in MN right now. Wow
What are you talking about? I drink IPAs AND BA stouts! I'd say look at Schell's as well as more recently Bauhaus, Northgate, and Bent, all of whom are focusing on other styles. How they progress will be interesting to watch in the future.
Its also worth noting many of our Breweries are relatively young. I think now we are seeing some of them solidify themselves in the market, i.e have a little more freedom/capital to brew different styles. Indeed has just started with their Sour/BA program and offer a bit more variety (allbeit it expensive bombers), and a few breweries have started to fill different beer voids ( Sociable Cider, Bauhaus, Harriet, Boom Island). It also seems to me that breweries which do not distribute have more freedom to have more rotating styles ... Dayblock, Dangerous Man, and Sisyphus all seem to do a great job of mixing things up I have no clue how to brew beer, but if anyone wants to start a Sour/Wild Farmhouse ale brewery like Crooked Stave, DO IT! Finally, a little anecdotal experience. I was helping out a new brewery at a tailgate in GB, they were offering their 2 flag-ship beers (1 keg of each), a Witbier w/orange and coriander, and a Session IPA.. the keg of Witbier blew a good 45 minutes before the IPA. I was surprised by the amount of people who seemed to have a big disdain for hoppy beers
I don't know, I spend a lot of time in those other, more developed markets and I can assure you that most people are asking for hop bombs than anything else....and it's not even close.
I agree with doner24 on this. I've hit quite a few breweries in multiple trips to Colorado. IPA's everywhere. Crooked stave seems to be doing well in the non-traditional front, but there doesn't seem to be much straying from the beaten path anywhere else. The community as a whole just embraces beer much better than Minnesota at this point. I would say that all the stouts I've tried in Colorado pale in comparison to excellent stouts coming out of our fair state.
I am also new to MN and have been extremely pleased with the beer scene here. I came from DC, which has a few gems and is getting better quickly, but MSP feels like a huge step up. There does seem to be a big focus on hop-forward beers here, and I've had several coworkers tell me they drink exclusively uber hoppy stuff. I don't remember ever hearing that anywhere else I've lived, even places with a much less developed beer culture. I won't name names, but I've had some (acclaimed) MN beers that I thought were hoppy for the sake of hoppy, and not very good at all (and I'm not talking about Furious, which I love). I like hoppy stuff, but IPAs/PAs aren't often my first choice. My wife does not like hoppy beers at all, so if we're ordering to share or buying beer for the house I usually avoid them. I love Schell's, and I'm glad to see that some other local breweries are starting to put less emphasis on the hop bombs.
I like a good hop bomb as much as anybody, but those people that drink them exclusively are missing out. I would say there are several breweries here such as Bent Brewstillery (and Pour Decisions before them) that have gone out of their way to not brew a standard hop bomb IPA. It's not really that surprising that there's a lot of IPAs, turn time is quicker than lagers and you can hop the crap out of them to mask other problems. win win. I just wish Abrasive and Let it Ride were year round offerings.
I had Bauhaus for the first time weekend and thought it was excellent. They seem to be focusing on more traditional German styles. Stopped at New Bohemia and paired their pilsner up with a rabbit/rattlesnake brat. Top notch.
