Hey BAs, I'll be moving to the Twin Cities in August to start law school at U of M and was hoping that my fellow beer advocates could give me some recommendations on the best Minnesota brews that I might not have tried yet. Living in the Chicagoland area has made me a Surly fiend already, I'm really hoping to finally taste Darkness this year after having wanted to for a while. Any recommendations on beers from Minnesota or that get distro in Minnesota and not Illinois are appreciated. Also, I'm always looking for good places to drink beer so throw those my way as well! Looking forward to meeting some new beeradvocates in the Twin Cities!
For me right now, really enjoying Steel Toe, Indeed, Bent Paddle, Lift Bridge and Sisyphus beers. For taprooms, Dangerous Man, Indeed and Bauhaus are solid taprooms in NE Minneapolis and all pretty close to one another. Town Hall is also a must. I know you said you are familiar with Surly, but going to their new taproom/brewery is a must. Darkness is pretty to easy to get when it hits distro here. Overall it seems it is not the crazy shit show here that it is to get limited releases in Chicago.
Town Hall, one of the best brewpubs in the world, and Republic, arguably the best beer bar in the state, are literally a block away from the main law school building. @nograz provided a good list of Minnesota breweries to get you started. Note that Sisyphus, which I love, does not bottle or can for sale in liquor stores (750 mL growlettes and crowlettes are available at the taproom). Other Minnesota breweries worthy of top mention include Fair State in Northeast Minneapolis, HammerHeart in the northern suburb of Lino Lakes (does not bottle or can), Bang in St. Paul (does not bottle or can but has a very cool taproom), Olvalde in southeastern Minnesota (bottles are available in the Twin Cities), Barley John's in New Brighton (brewpub -- brewpubs are prohibited by law from bottling or canning in Minnesota). August Schell in New Ulm southwest of the metro area (bottles available in the Twin Cities) is a Minnesota classic that has been putting out some really impressive beer lately, and Summit in St. Paul is the grandfather of Minnesota craft brewing and also has improved its output recently. There are approximately 60 brewpubs and taprooms that are located within about an hour's drive of where you will be with several more likely to open by the time you arrive. I presume that's less than what you had in the Chicago area but not by much. I recommend exploring them as you get the chance (since law students are known for having so much free time) and finding your personal favorites. I track those at the other site: https://www.beeradvocate.com/ratebe...es-area-brewpubs-and-taprooms-2015_269321.htm Chicago has some of the best distribution in the country, so the Twin Cities will be a downgrade in that arena. You're not going to find many non-Minnesotan breweries of note that distribute in the Twin Cities but not in Chicago. Hudson, Wisconsin is about half an hour east of the U of M, so you can take advantage of Wisconsin distribution, including New Glarus and Toppling Goliath, as well as Sunday liquor store sales (still banned in Minnesota). Here are some recent threads for visitors that are relevant: http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/minneapolis-summer-trip.258866/ http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/a-visitors-guide-to-minneapolis-st-paul.263741/ http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/minneapolis-taproom-day-advice.257800/ If you want a really deep dive into developments in the Minnesota brewing scene, here's an interesting but potentially overwhelming thread: http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/breweries-opening-in-minnesota-2015-2016.243513/
yeah shit if I was going to Law School there these two places would be my staples....I might not graduate though but I'd have fun. Islay: I have yet to hit Bang. Any beers to note or anything I should know? Don't mean to highjack the thread but this is more of a sidetrack I think
Being an undergrad at the U (and with a short attention span) was moider on my G.P.A. @A-Smoove, Stub and Herb's was my designated watering hole for years, but the area (West Bank especially) is now better than ever. From Big 10 to Sporty's, everyone gets happy little tap placements just like Bob Ross' happy little trees.
All of Bang's beers are organic. As you probably know, the entire brewery is in a silo-like structure (it never actually operated as a silo), so it's one of the smallest taprooms you'll encounter. There are some picnic benches on the patio for overflow seating. It's adjacent to Urban Growler, so you might as well go to both, although, for me, Bang is the significantly better of the two (not that Urban Growler is awful). It's open only on Fridays and Saturdays. The couple who own it have a dog who hangs out there. I'm pretty sure they have no employees (i.e., the two of them do everything at the brewery). Almost everything Bang brews is in English styles and pretty subtle but invariably well made. The ABVs range from 4.2% to 7.2%. Nice, which is something of a black IPA (Bang describes it as an "STP Dark Ale," which I think is a riff on "Cascadian Dark Ale," with "STP" standing for "St. Paul"), probably is my favorite beer Bang brews. If I recall correctly, pints are $6 and half pints are $3, so I recommend buying half pints in order to try more beers. Bang doesn't offer flights.
