We'll be vacationing in the Duluth area in the near future, staying in one of the lakefront hotels. We visited a few years ago, before I got into craft. Though my wife isn't a drinker I'll drag her along as I visit stores and taprooms in the immediate area, pretty much on foot. I do plan to stop at the Mount Royal Bottle Shop on the way out of town to look for beers not in our distribution. I'm mainly into stouts, porters, quads, strongs, and BA beers though have had all styles and am putting a toe in sours. Any suggestions for breweries or stores in the lakefront area, or within walking distance? Any lakefront restaurant suggestions? Thanks!
Hoops, Canal Park, Ursa Minor Across the bridge, Earth Rider for beer, Thirsty Pagen for Pizza http://keyportliquors.com/
There are six breweries near Lake Superior in Duluth. Of them, Fitger's historically is the best (and oldest), but its reputation has suffered a bit since long-time brewer Dave Hoops left a few years ago. His new brewery, Hoops Brewing, disappointed me under its original head brewer, but I wouldn't be surprised if it has improved now that Hoops himself has taken over head brewing duties. Blacklist is decent, nothing to write home about. The others (Carmody, Dubh Linn, and Canal Park) are skippable. A couple miles southwest, Bent Paddle probably has the best reputation among Duluth breweries, but I've never been a big fan. It does have a nice taproom. Ursa Minor, however, I find to be superb. There's also Lake Superior, which I've long thought is underrated, but I'm not sure if it has a taproom. A nice thing about Duluth breweries is that all of them, besides Blacklist (Belgian-oriented), Carmody, and Dubh Linn (the last two Irish/British-oriented), are pretty versatile stylistically. My ranking from a visit priority perspective would be: 1. Ursa Minor 2. Fitger's 3. Bent Paddle 4. Hoops
Lake Superior has a tap room, well they did last May when i was there. It is easy to miss it. it's next to, almost behind a gas station. They have limited days and hours that there open If you have never been to Fitgers you must stop there, the wife might like it. You can eat there also
All above suggestion are good. Another to consider if you have a car is Castle Danger in Two Harbors just north of Duluth (25 min drive). I like Bent Paddle (new Taproom is beautiful) and Ursa Minor just blocks away,both are a short drive from Canal Park area (Duluth).
Was going to suggest Endion Station, its Fitger owned and dated to the 1880's, and ran across this. @islay any other info? Looks like 4 rooms directly on LK Superior. https://www.fox21online.com/2019/02/04/endion-station-pub-to-become-a-brewtique-hotel/
This is pretty good advice but I have Hoops #1 after this summers visit. Ursa and Bent Paddle are pretty close in quality in my opinion but Ursa has a lot more options and varieties. Fitger's is still good enough. I'd skip the others too.
Fitger's has good food along with their beer. A 'must stop' IMO. Love that place. Canal Park Brewing has decent food. Northern Waters is great, https://northernwaterssmokehaus.com/ Right in Canal Park. Good sandwiches, lines can be long though. Also in Canal Park, https://www.vittapizza.com/ Really good pizza. Brewery wise, everything has pretty much been mentioned. I agree with @ZAP , Hoops is probably #1 and I put Fitger's at #2 myself. None of the breweries are bad at all. Earth Rider/Cedar Lounge and Thirsty Pagan In Superior are both solid as well. Edit: as @cheeseheadinMinneapolis mentioned. Hit up Keyport Liquor in Superior. Lots of good stuff there
I should have mentioned Earth Rider. I'd put them in that same area as Bent Paddle and Ursa on my list. Pagean pizza is my favorite stop when it Duluth. Tough to beat a five or six dollar triple third pounder at the Anchor too. Earth Rider/Cedar Lounge and Thirsty Pagan In Superior are both solid as well.
We’re actually in Duluth right now for a family backpacking trip along northern Superior. With two kids along, we went to Fitger’s. Food was not bad and I had the Brett Biere De Garde which was great. I would have loved to check out Hoops but it wouldn’t be fun for the family since they do not serve food.
I buy a pizza from nearly Vitta Pizza and bring it into Hoops with my family. My kids love playing games and eating pizza and I get to drink Hoops beer. A great win/win.
Stupid question, maybe: how are you getting to Duluth, drive or fly? Which way are you going if driving?
Driving but as for route we're winging it. Not going through the Minneapolis/St Paul metro area though.
My guess you're, probably, going to take MN 23 to I 35. A stop in St. Cloud, at Pantown Brewing, is just a couple blocks off 23. You'll also be going right by Beaver Island as well in downtown St Cloud. A stop on the way to Duluth, I'd recommend Moose Lake Brewing, off of 35.
Re: Northern Waters - they deliver to Hoops. So you get to have a beer, and get a delicious sandwich delivered to you.
I'm not a Duluth resident, but I've been there several times. Ursa Minor would be my first choice of the breweries in that area. No one has mentioned the 7 West Taphouse. It's pretty close to Canal Park. It has the best overall taplist of any spot I've been to in Duluth, and the food was quite good too. You can see the taplist here: http://7westtaphouse.com/index.php/downtown-duluth And be sure to get across the river to Keyport Liquors. That's the only way you can get New Glarus beers (distribution in Wisconsin only), and they also have other beers there that might not be at Mount Royal. Both Mount Royal and Keyport are really first rate bottle shops.
