Sisyphus thoughts?

So his opinion on what he likes in an IPA is "wrong"? Perhaps you should look up the definition.

He's unequivocally right in my book. "Balanced IPA" is a swear word around here.

 

I liked the #50.50 stout as well but thought my pours didn't have any head and it was a little thin. Great favor and easy drinking for 10% ABV.

 

Well... He didn't actually say anything about what he liked. He said that he feels DIPAs are all about raw over the top hops (paraphrasing there) and the they shouldn't be balanced. And yes, that is an absolutely wrong statement, opinion or not. That said I fully support folks' finding and drinking what they like.

 

Hit up Sisyphus yesterday and the beers were fantastic. Oatmeal Pale Ale infused with grapefruit was delicious.

I will definitely be back.

 

Sisyphus has a very good West Coast IPA (8% ABV, 100 IBU) on right now as well. I still say this place ranks right up there with the likes of Dangerous Man, Indeed, and Fair State among Minneapolis breweries (although I'm not ready to put any of them on the rarefied Surly or Town Hall levels).

Also, and I hope he doesn't mind me sharing this, Sam Harriman (a.k.a., Oneeighthcuban), the owner/brewer, the other day told me (and others at the bar) that he soon is going to start kegging. Right now the beer at the taproom comes straight out of the tank (yep, you can get a West Coast IPA tapped a few days ago straight out of the tank; all the freshness obsessives among the hop heads should get to Sisyphus ASAP). With these kegs, he's going to start distributing to a few bars, but he needs to get an off-site distribution license first (which is also why he can't yet hit the festival circuit). Hopefully outside distribution will get this deserving brewery more exposure.

 

Me and a friend of mine are very enthusiastic repeat customers of Sisyphus. What they are pumping out now is fantastic level beer IMO. They hope to have 6 taps running by the end of March and they have their very first Barrel Aged beer coming out on Friday. It's their Imperial Brown aged in Panther Distillery whiskey barrels.

Sam's new recipe he's using for his Oatmeal Pale Ale 2 is insanely good. I also had it with the Grapefruit infused...so tasty.
His new west coast IPA is freaking killer too. I feel Sam has a great grasp on what makes a good hop forward beer. He makes damn fine malt forward beers too though. Especially his Black Ale/W Coffee. Love that beer.

P.S. Ask him about the sour he's got cooking! Can't wait for that!

 

Many breweries that serve their beer primarily on site serve their beer from brite/serving tanks instead of kegging. It makes sense to use one big keg, rather than a bunch of smaller ones. Rock Bottom and Northbound are two locals that I know for sure use serving tanks. I'd be willing to bet that most if not all of the other "brew pubs" in town do as well.

 

Yep, serving tanks for brew pubs is extremely common. No real point to keg, so why bother.

 

The point of kegging at an operation that serves only on-site is to clear precious tank space for use by the next beer being brewed so that the brewer doesn't have to wait for his customers to clear the tank for him. Because beer served from the tank in practice is going to be served immediately after it's ready, it's about as close to being guaranteed to be extremely fresh as you're going to find. A lot of people consider such freshness of high importance, especially for a very hoppy IPA like the West Coast IPA Sisyphus recently released. My point wasn't that serving from the tank is novel but that the West Coast IPA was very fresh.

 

Very true, I walked right into that

I am big on freshness especially with IPA's. Referencing the tank just reminded me of the joke comments on beers like hopslam "drainpour after it's left the brite tank" etc. Cheers

 

6 taps now on at Sisyphus. Some really good choices too. Hop heads need to get on out and try the new West Coast IPA if you haven't already.

On Tap Right now:

• Blonde Ale
• Double Rye
• West Coast IPA
• Imperial Brown Ale
• Black Ale
• Maple Stout

 

Are they doing growlers now? I saw a picture of a small 750 growler with their logo yesterday.

 

Yes. I think they only do the 750s.

 

Went there last weekend and I loooved the west coast IPA. Maybe my favorite local IPA.

 

Sam said it was probably the best beer he has done to date. I would have to agree. He just made another batch of it because of how fast it kicked. Oh and they just got a new 5 barrel fermenter. Thought I'd pass that along to you guys.

Cheers!

 

Very few brewery taprooms are open on a Monday. I can only think of three: Surly, Eastlake, and Fair State. It's always good to check before you find yourself disappointed.

 

They now have 750ml crowlers.

 

Picked up a West Coast IPA Crowler today, solid solid brew!

 

I agree, I filled growlette and got a crowler of it. I also think their porter is good, got a crowler if that for the wife.

 

What's a "crowler" now? (too lazy to look up)