Ranking MN Breweries (Sep. Update)

Here is a new update after a couple months of perusing various places.

New Visits: LTD, Urban Moose, Junkyard, Dubliner, Castle Danger, South Fork

Other adds: Lake Superior, Fulton, Brau Brothers, Third Street, (For some reason I never had them included before)

Return Visits: Roundhouse (three times), Lupine, Jackpine (twice), Big Axe (three times), Lupulin, Dayblock, Sissyphus, Bad Habit, Bemidji(three times), Disgruntled (twice) , Northbound. Liftbridge (twice), Canal Park, Fitger’s Tavern Brewery


*This doesn’t take into account all the off-sale I have enjoyed that made me rethink things slightly in some cases.

Recap:
Junkyard is just killing it and continues to move up the ratings. We hit it at the start and the end of a tour of the F-M taprooms and it was by far the best. I didn’t take notes but had six different beers and all were stellar. Another riser is Sissyphus. Real top-notch offerings and when push comes to shove I’d rather drink their beer than those listed below it in my rankings. Congrats to this place for continuing to improve their quality. Castle Danger has a great taproom facility and they do some solid beer but nothing during my visit blew me away. In fact the only beer they have done that is truly special is the Mosaic Fresh Hop. They dropped slightly. I was extremely impressed with Disgruntled. They make a nice jump up the ratings. I thought they were very solid the first visit but this time they had several beers I would consider special. Namely “Stupid Good”, “Toasted Blonde” and “Chocolate Milk Stout”. Their “Govnor” is one of the best plain malty crossover beer I’ve had. It’s single hopped with East Kent Golding and the caramel maltiness is great. Bemidji has been kicking out some nice sours and also did a very nice job with their first lager. An “oatmeal brown” on a recent trip was one of the most flavorful brown ales I’ve had. My first visit to LTD was impressive. No notes as I met up with a buddy there but I thought everything was impressive. Urban Moose seemed to get off to a solid start based on our visit within a week or so of their opening. Clean, flavorful beers with no off flavors. Good assertiveness to some as well. A second stop confirmed my thoughts and more. For just getting started they are doing some great stuff and I see further rises in the rankings ahead. Bad Habit has added four beers since my initial visit and continue to impress. They make a nice move up. Scored three of their beers 4.0-4.1 and one 3.1. Very good for sure. Lupine continuers to produce well made, very good beer. They garner a slight move up. Maybe it’s just in my head because I know Hoops moved on but I thought Fitger’s was not quite as stellar during both of my stops there. They drop a little. Nothing terrible. Just did not seem as full flavored. Roundhouse is showing some inconsistencies from visit to visit. Probably just working out the kinks but for now they drop to below average for now. Big Axe moves up with some encouraging signs of improvement. Scores were 3.2, 3, 2.8,4, 3.8 for the four beers I had. Made another recent stop and their ofest while sweet and probably not to style was tasty and clean. Their DIPA and Mosaic IPA during the previous visit were head of the class, but especially encouraging was the cleaner tasting blonde with no off notes. Northbound wasn’t as impressive as I remembered (no notes) and drops. Another slight faller is Canal Park. Scores: 4.0, 2.6, 3.2, 2.7, 2, 4.3, 2.9, 3.5 Nothing real terrible here. The highlight was a fresh tasting strawberry ale. The worst of the bunch was their porter. I remembered most of the beers I tried there in the past as around 3.3-3.6. My first visit to Dubliner will likely be my last. Nothing flat out terrible but nothing that struck me as above average except for a a decent barrel aged stout called Harmony Killer Brew. Scored that a 3.8. The rest were around 2.5 Tavern Brewery in Detroit Lakes made a strong push for worst brewery in the state but were edged out later in my travels. Scores: Lager (2.5), Porter (2.1), Pale Ale (2.5), IPA (0.1). I think I was probably too kind on a couple scores based on memory. Southfork was a complete waste of money. Every single beer I tried was infected and sour. Amazing Scores: Kolsch (0.5), Cream Ale (1.0), Amber (1.2), Session IPA (0.2), Plunger IPA (1.9), Stout (1.8). It’s saying something but they are the worst of the breweries I have been to.

BEST OF THE BEST:
Schell’s
Town Hall
Surly
Summit
Fair State
Junkyard
Fitger’s
Sissyphus
Indeed
Liftbridge
Steel Toe
Dangerous Man
Bent Paddle

EXCELLENT
Fulton
Birch’s on the Lake
Hammerheart
Bemidji
Disgruntled

VERY GOOD:
Castle Danger
Badger Hill
The Freehouse
Waconia
LTD
Bad Weather
Lake Monster
Urban Moose
Lake Superior
Foxhole
Urban Growler
Mankato Brewing
Bauhaus
Lupulin
Beaver Island
Lupine

GOOD:
Bad Habit
Brau Brothers
Insight
Lynn Lake
Northbound
Jack Pine
Northgate
Schram
Barley John’s
Day Block
Harriet
East Lake
Able Seedhouse
Spilled Grain
Great Waters

AVERAGE:
Rock Bottom
Tin Whiskers
Lucid (Northloop Brew Co)
Wabasha
Third Street
Hayes Public House
Canal Park
Bang
Omni
Big Axe
Flat Earth


BELOW AVERAGE:
612
Big Wood
Excelsior
Roundhouse
F-Town
Bent
Dubliner

POOR:
Gull Dam
Goat Ridge
Herkimer
10K
Maple Island
Tavern Brewery
South Fork

 

Yes you did but I thought since I was there what the heck. I was impressed with Lupine and their taproom is pretty cool.

 

I agree on Birch's. Been meaning to bring the wife out there one of these times we're passing through. I definitely need to revisit as they could certainly be worthy of being even higher than I have them.

 

I've had two Forager beers and thought both were great. Just not enough to put them in the rankings yet.

 

Yeah I can't argue with that.

 

You could be onto something there. I'll correct next update. Thanks.

 

Never heard of them...Thanks for the info...I'll try to make it out that way to try...

 

To be fair I need to revisit 612 as it has been a year and a half.