Visiting Minneapolis/St. Paul - March 2016

You can actually rent bikes from bike stations. There is always Uber or mass transit.

 

Uber requires a smart phone. I have a flip phone I am likely going to use mass transit to get to surly, but after a few beers, I think the cab is my best bet. Renting bike stations sounds awesome. Thanks for the info.

 

The Green line

 

Haute Dish is close to the river and an awesome place to eat and drink in the area you should check out. Sisyphus Brewing is on the opposite side of Loring Park that would be around 6 blocks and the park, but walkable, is highly recommended. It is closer than anything walkable to downtown. I personally would rather go to Minneapolis Town Hall (MTH) than Surly unless Surly is on your must visits. I would eat at The Freehouse, walk over to MTH, drink, and if you did not drink enough stumble across the street to The Republic. Then get a cab back to the lodging.

 

Thanks for the recommendation. Surly is not necessarily on my must list.

 

I think Surly is worth the visit, and if you want to spend on dinner, you can try the Brewers' Table: http://surlybrewing.com/destination-brewery/brewers-table/

 

Just thought I should stick this article in with this thread. Nothing earth-shattering as far as new information but there are some cool pictures that show what the featured breweries look like.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/trave...ortheast-minneapolis-breweries-beer/85558374/

 

I'm visiting the Cities this coming weekend from Boston and I'd like to thank you for compiling this information. Ludicrously helpful!
I'll be driving south from Crookston to Minneapolis on Friday. Any suggestions for a lunch pit stop around the halfway point?
Cheers!

 

Though it's a little further than halfway, Nelson Bros. in Clearwater has a decent cafe. It's right off I-29 and is in a large "truck stop" type complex that includes a bakery, deli, convenience store, and gas station - so it's a very handy stop if you need gas, a bathroom break, treats, and lunch. If you need to stop sooner than that, you're looking at Fergus Falls or Alexandria, and the only places I've stopped to eat in those towns have been fast food, so I don't really have much knowledge of anything beyond that.

If you're looking for a pint, I agree with @sembo that you should stop in Moorhead at Junkyard - although they don't open until 4pm on Fridays so you might be out of luck on that depending on timing.

 

Drive down to Decorah. It's only 2.5 hours past Minneapolis and they just happen to have King Sue available this weekend.

 

May be a little later, but Zorbaz is always a great place to stop. There are several on the way including Alexandria off of 94.

 

There is a pizza place brewery in Fergus Falls. I have not been there. It looks like they open at 4 though so guessing that won't work.

http://unionpizzaandbrewing.com/#

Bad Habbit is right off 94. No food but you could order in a pizza or something.

http://www.badhabitbeer.com/

 

Zorbaz usually is awesome, and the Alex location is really quite nice, but that's a good 20ish minutes from 94.

 

Thanks all.

 

Would love some feedback from visitors. We often get ask these questions but never receive any feedback from out of state visitors. How were the venues compared to what you are use to? Beer up to par? etc.

 

I'm on a flight to Minneapolis as I type this. Greatly appreciate the time put into this list. Hoping to grab a few cans of local IPAs while I'm here. I'll be staying downtown, and was given the recommendation of Zipp's in another thread for finding Todd. Would love to know what else is close to downtown that would be worth visiting to purchase a few cans/bottles. Cheers!

 

Sure thing. I was in town for only a day and a half, so I hit up Town Hall on Friday night and Steel Toe and Surly Saturday.
I was underwhelmed by Steel Toe's beers but they were solid enough, if not mindblowing. I guess if they were in my neighborhood I'd be thrilled.
Town Hall was terrific, as always. It's my third trip there in 5 years.
Surly was absolutely world-class. Fresh Todd is everything they said it was, and the anniversary beers and the Bender variations were simply delicious. Overrated did not live up to that name-yummy! And you know, I find it somewhat perplexing to hear the locals ho-humming Surly, but I'm not surprised. People here in Boston grumble about Trillium and Tree House being "not as good as they used to be" after recent expansions. Oy...
In my travels, I was also a big fan of the $5 pint-something that's pretty elusive here in Massachusetts. And everyone I met in MN and ND was polite, funny, accommodating and, in general, just very nice. I guess that's they way they roll in Minnesota, but it probably didn't hurt that it was Pride Week in the Cities. Those downtown crowds seemed pretty cheerful ;-)
Thanks again all.

 

Next time you are in town, hit up a local (BM me or various others on here) to crack some bottles so you can taste some of Steel Toe's wonderful BA beers. I'd happily crack one with an out-of-towner to show them what Steel Toe is capable of.

Cheers!

 

Before the Dawn and BA Wee Heavy are still on tap at Steel Toe, but I'm guessing @andylipp might've missed those and gone with beers from their year-round lineup, which would fit his description of "solid enough, if not mindblowing". But, yes, the beers that really shine are their BA Barleywines and the Gold medal winning Wee Heavy.