Minneapolis/St.Paul Visit Without a Car?

Jesus since when are we giving out of towners such bad advice? The first few posts of recommendations are correct. You can altogether skip St. Paul unless you wanna hit barrel theory. Listen to @nograz with the addition of town hall.

 

A strange contribution from someone who doesn't even like Barrel Theory and thinks many of its beers are deeply flawed. Bang and Waldmann are the most interesting taproom venues in the state. If you care solely about beer and have contemporary style preferences, there are better options (Surly, Sisyphus, Wild Mind, and Fair State in Minneapolis, for starters, as @nograz mentioned). If you want a unique taproom experience during your vacation while still drinking pretty good beer, there aren't better options. They're especially relevant given that the OP will be carless and originally said he was going to be based in downtown St. Paul.

 

Another person with reading comprehension problems, I see. I have had flawed beers there and I don’t love several of their offerings, but I also cannot deny that they have the most hype of any brewery in some time. Also, there aren’t other breweries most folks would go to StP for (for better or worse). For comparison: I gave up on TG quite some time ago and don’t bother with any of their beer. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t recommend a stop for someone from out of state visiting IA.

Bang is an awful recommendation. Sorry. When you travel, do you hope people will recommend mediocre breweries to you based on the taproom experience? Waldmann I enjoyed on my visit on their first day, but it’s not at the level of recommending to an out of towner. Cool space and story. Solid beer. Nothing to tell someone to go out of their way for. As you said, the beer quality at other places are better.

 

Before/After the game, a lot of fans will be at Surly or Town Hall Brewery. Republic, across the street from Town Hall, is one of the best beer bars in town and a must stop. Just down the street from the stadium is Stub and Herbs, which usually has a good beer list too.

If you are downtown Minneapolis, the best bet for breweries is in the North Loop area. There is a cluster right by the Twins stadium. I prefer Fulton and Modist, but Inbound isn't a bad stop if you are right there. Not a lot of local beer bars downtown. I like the beer garden at Butcher and the Boar, but I can't pass up the cocktails when I am there. Also love the burger & cocktails at Parlour Bar downtown.

If you want to get out of DT, take a trip to NE Minneapolis. Lots of breweries in the area. I think the best are Fair State and Indeed. Dangerous Man is also a fun stop. If you want a C'tail, stop by Tattersall Distilling.

 

Yes, without hesitation. Not for merely a very nice taproom, but for something special and different. I've been to a bunch of breweries, and most of them are a heck of a lot alike. I'm going to enjoy and remember a unique taproom a lot more and more fondly than I'm going to remember a good beer. If the OP just wants great beer, there's plenty of Three Floyds available for him at home. What he's not going to get at home or pretty much anywhere else other than St. Paul is a taproom experience like the ones at Bang and Waldmann. That said, Bang on average is my 2nd-highest-rated brewery in St. Paul, 12th-highest-rated in the Twin Cities area (including behind Dave's BrewFarm and Bobtown in western Wisconsin), and 14th-highest-rated in the state. Waldmann I have a little lower but still comfortably above average. Neither brews in sexy styles, and that's going to hurt their popularity on a forum like this. I don't know the OP's style preferences, so I didn't attempt to tailor my recommendations. I'll throw in Surly as another special taproom experience, if only for its sheer size. It's also, in my opinion, still the best game in town and still pushing boundaries, albeit now usually against the grain instead of with it.

 

You're paid by the word for your posts on here, aren't you?

 

Sorry. BT TH DMBC FSBC WMAA whalez bro haze yo. Better?

 

Actually that list is much better, ha. You said yourself Bang is your 12th rated brewery in the Twin Cities. When someone asks "what's necessary to visit?" The 12th rated brewery in town isn't usually on the list.

 

While I agree w the majority here I kind of see where islay is coming from. Does Dave’s Brewfarm have my favorite beer in town? No, but on a nice Saturday afternoon it’s hard to beat.

I’ve never been to Waldmann or Bang, but if they are unique or cool like the brewfarm, I would definitely add it to a recommended list.

 

Based on the OP typed they wanted to spend as little as possible, another idea is on the day of the game is to tailgate and bring some Illinois or Chicago beers you can't get here. The Dark Clouds usually do a share of beer with the opposition. The MNUnited fans also pregame at Town Hall Brewery and walk or light rail to TCF stadium.

 

Just wanted to voice my support for Bang. They're one of my favorites, and they have a dedicated following in St. Paul despite not being hyped up much on the internet. But, I have come across folks not so keen on them. Part of it is probably that they're not brewing more hype-worthy styles or even easy-to-classify styles, but also, I can imagine that some people's palates just don't align with what they're about.

But, if you're looking for a wider swath of things from sour beers to IPAs to lagers, Fair State is great all around. If you're looking for hazy IPAs, Barrel Theory was worth the hype for me.

 

This thread is terrible.

 

^This. The OP came in here looking for good advice and this thread did not deliver. Islay pushing his personal agenda and other push average breweries (at best) like Bang.

St. Paul - Barrel Theory.
Near stadium - Surly
Mpls - Fair State, Modist, Town Hall, Republic.

 

This is all correct, OP

 

And the OP never really stated what type/style of beer he is looking for or what tap room experience he is looking for. Terrible thread it is

 

^^I second this short list.

I'd add Indeed to the Mpls section given it's proximity to Fair State. Nice taproom, great beer, and they always seem to have 10-15 beers of varying styles on tap.

 

I don't have a massive sweet tooth. Far from it. To say that one would need a massive sweet tooth to enjoy the beer at Barrel Theory is ludicrous.

 

This is the list you're looking for. Apologies for being so curt but put yourself in the OP's shoes. They're simply looking for advice as an out of towner.

 

OP might start at Surly and stay there. They have plenty on tap for everyone to enjoy. And Surly has plenty of hoppy IPAs similar to Barrel Theory and might be redundant.

Don't forget Fulton by Modist.

I'd suggest light rail to Surly, then light rail to Fulton. Walk to Inbound, walk to Modist.

Uber from Modist/Fulton/Inbound area to State Fair and enjoy the NE breweries. Start at Fair State, Holy Land for food (or any of the other ethnic restaurants along Central Ave), walk ~10 blocks south to Indeed, a couple blocks east to BauHaus, get some water at 612. If you are still standing, Able (if you feel lucky) and back to Indeed for a taxis to the light rail near Fulton/Twins Stadium. Depending on weather you could always walk the ~12 blocks west to Dangerous Man from Indeed.

This won't hit all the great breweries we have but enables the OP to look at the breweries web sites and see if there is something tasty enough for them to make it a destination.

 

Granted I haven't made it to the taproom in a while, but I'm not sure what Surly IPAs you are thinking of.