MN Tapline

Considering the launch party features an IPA chug-off, belching contest, and Q&A with the head brewer of “Bro Choice Brewing”, I’m assuming it’s just a college publication.

 

"Whether you're a sophisticated beer drinker who knows what "hops" are, an enlightened foodie who only dines at restaurants with "&" somewhere in the title, or just a white guy with a beard and a dream, this magazine is FOR YOU!!!"

My reaction?

 

No results on the brewer or his (?) brewery via the Googles and Book Of Flakes.

Maybe it’s all just an elaborate troll...

 

I found nothing online when googling The Tapline magazine so I'm guessing it's fake (or they are really, really bad at marketing).
It would be nice for a magazine to focus on MN craft beer again since The Growler often doesn't have any craft beer content besides the ads.

 

You mean how's it seems like it's a print version of "The Heavy Table", circa 2017?

 

I will agree the Growler has strayed from mostly beer to other topics. Also the advertising prices are a little high if you are just a geeky blogger.

 

Perhaps, but their launching event blurb doesn't encourage me to seek it out.

 

At the risk of giving away the joke, I'll say that The Tapline appears to be a parody of The Growler. I base that take on only the cover and the snapshot of the article in the Twitter/Instagram post.

 

I disagree that the Growler has strayed from beer. They launched in 2012, and even then they sought to cover stories not just about beer, but food, arts, and Minnesota's wider culture. Here's an article from eight years ago — DESSA interviewing Chris Kluwe about his band, video games, gay marriage, and more. https://growlermag.com/dessa-chris-kluwe-talk-football-and-marriage-amendments/

I don't know if there's a large enough market for a beer-centric magazine — let alone a local one — and this Tapline thing looks borderline tasteless.

 

I completely disagree that The Growler has strayed from mainly covering the MN craft beer scene. The Grower the past few years (especially after Joe Alton left) focuses on the "craft culture/lifestyle".

The first few years found the majority of the pages of The Growler covering craft beer topics like brewer profiles/interviews, articles on beer styles, stories on new breweries, homebrew recipes etc. Yes there were a few stories about food, music or other topics in each issue back then. I often count the number of actual written pages per issue covering beer related topics and it is almost always less than 5 pages currently (not counting beer ads).

 

I think there's probably plenty of interest to sustain a local free beer magazine; I just get the impression that the editors of The Growler are bored of the topic. It's hard for me to imagine that the people picking up The Growler on their way out of liquor stores and taprooms are glossing over the articles about beer and skipping to a multi-page "Craft Culture" feature about a master wood-whittler in Owatonna. With regard to beer, there remain tons of industry participants to be interviewed, tons of beers and breweries to be featured, tons of legal issues to be examined, tons of cultural think pieces to be published, etc., and because The Growler has chosen largely to stop doing that, it has left a void in local coverage.

The "Now Open (Or Damn Close)" articles usually remain pretty good (although I believe some of them don't even make the print edition), and I like "The Mash-Up" if only to track what proportion of publicized new releases are gimmicky (usually about half). I think the ads have become the best part of the print edition, unfortunately.

Thanks for the reminder on the Dessa/Kluwe article. I remember rolling my eyes at it at the time. A local musician talking to a local football player about anything other than music, football, or, given the publication, beer represents the worst of feature journalism. "Mike check: Four local rappers named Mike explain how craft beer helps 'craft' their rhymes" is, if anything, an excessively generous lampooning. The Growler should aspire to keep its focus that well.

 

I picked one up and I can say the entire thing is satire. There are a couple real ads but its mostly made up brewery names and puns all over the place. If anyone remembers Big Brother skateboard magazine, it's pretty much just like that. There is a real Modist Brewing ad on the back so maybe they are behind this?