St. Cloud

Old Capital Tavern in Saulk Rapids - good food and beer selection.
www.oldcapitaltavern.com

 

Both Beaver Island and Bad Habit offer flights (or at least they both did last time I was there). I personally prefer the beer at Beaver Island, but you can find something enjoyable at either brewery.

For bars/restaurants, as @SlightlyGrey said, Old Capital is a great choice. They typically have the best variety of good beer offerings. My other favorite places are the White Horse and the Pickled Loon. Both have good food too. The White Horse's dinner menu is one of my favorites in the area. Both have a decent tap selection. DB Searles has decent taps as well. The Veranda Lounge only has a few taplines, but they usually have something interesting to try. They have live music pretty regularly if that's your thing. Monday night is jazz night. Wednesday night is whiskey night (1/2 off all/most whiskey). Since you're staying near Crossroads, I'll also suggest Boulder Taphouse. It's a chain restaurant but they do have a large, frequently rotating tap list.

 

Agree with the Old Capital nods.

7 West Taphouse is close to you.
I liked it a little better, because it's friendlier on the wallet.
Great burgers, and a pretty solid tap list (similar to what OC offers).
Nice little surprise that they had CWBBW on when I was there last month.

Not sure how current
tap list

 

This pretty much sums up my thoughts and adds to them with a few places I'm not familiar with.

Beaver Island is all over town and you can find their beer cheaper just about anywhere other than the tap room. I usually hit the taproom and get a flight of whatever they have new and some of the others but if they are closed while you are there you can find their beer around town pretty easily. They do some pretty good things. Their basic crossover beer Ripple is right up there with Bemidji's German Blonde for a nice slightly malt forward, easy drinker. Their Revolution series IPA (limited) is very good as is their Union Suit....the others are all decent to solid...nothing off at all..Maibock maybe was a little hot but splitting hairs..Negatives are their prices and the fact they don't fill growlers except their own.

Bad Habit is worth a stop too. I've only been there once right after they opened and thought they were off to a good start. Not sure if they fill growlers from other places. The prices seemed fair when I was there ($5 pints I think). They did not have a ton of offerings at the time but they were just getting started. Nice guys. I've been meaning to make a return visit sometime.

Boulder Taphouse I've found to be hit or miss. They do usually have Beaver Island on tap and back when Lupine was in town brewing they had them but last time there was a limited selection of beers that inerested me.

White Horse has some solid beer selections and their food is really good as noted by
jrsaffert. I got their burger ranked in my top ten in the state.

 

Bad Habit has added lines now, so now they have 9 or 10 on tap. There's also Old Chicago in St. Coud. If you're willing to drive a half hour, or so, there's Spilled Grain in Annandale, and Goat Ridge in New London.

 

What do you prefer between Spilled Grain and Goat Ridge?

I hit Spilled Grain a few weeks back....really mixed review...tough to get a handle on them......some of the beers were really top notch and others barely average.....hefe was stellar, dunkelweise was below average...surprised on the inconsistency...but the ones that were on were really legit.....have not been to the Goat yet

 

Another place to consider is JL Beers. They just opened not too long ago, and are located right next to the White Horse. The prices on some of the beers can get kind of steep, but I was just there yesterday and they have a promotion going on right now with dollar burgers so it kind of evened out. Also...they had a Milkshake IPA from Tired Hands/Omnipollo on tap...I am still trying to figure out how they got a keg of it.

 

Goat Ridge is an hour away from St. Cloud in case anyone was confused. I had mixed reviews of Spilled Grain as well as Goat Ridge. But I would chose Goat Ridge. Better consistency through styles. But not worth an additional 30 minutes one way. If someone was going that far out of their way might as well hit up Lupulin in Big Lake or the place in Fergus Falls.

 

I like Lupulin. That wouldn't be any farther than Goat Ridge I don't think. Fergus is a bit of a hike...have not heard much on that place yet...

 

Stopped at Lupulin on our way up north last night. Saw the sign, and said hey, let's grab a beer. Nice place, beer was pretty good.

 

Something else I forgot to mention in my previous post: if you're looking for beer Westside Liquor in Waite Park has an amazing selection.

 

Anyone know if West Sides will be getting BCBS this year and if so variants as well?

 

Even they probably don't know at this point....won't know until it arrives

 

Last year I tried to get a bottle at the Waite Park location. The guy working said that St. Cloud doesn't get BCBS. Shocked me to say the least. I have gotten a bottle in Clearwater, at Coborns Liquor. I might be out of town that Friday, so a chance I'll be getting my bottle elsewhere.

 

If you're referring to their beer guy, he's bullshitting you. That dude is notorious for redirecting "non St Cloud" regulars away from any special arrivals. He takes care of his own & pretty much nothing for the outsiders. Oh well, I guess they're the ones that keep the lights on! Good luck!
BTW, I agree w/ the White Horse suggestions. Great food & tap list. They always have 2-3 Surly styles on draft, (pretty rare for out state).
Cheers

 

I'll add my support for White Horse. Always a good beer selection, and the food is excellent.

The first time I went to Beaver Island I was underwhelmed. But I've been back a couple times since then, and everything I had was solid. (Their taproom is kind of pricey by Twin Cities taproom standards.)

I've only been to Bad Habit once, but I was pleasantly surprised. I got together there this summer with a bunch of old college friends I hadn't seen in years, so maybe the company made the beer taste better? I don't know. But I would definitely go back, if I were in the area.

 

It did seem like a BS answer, but I am also a local who lives a mile from the store. Only Fresh Thyme and Cash Wise are closer to me.

That kind of BS makes me want to shop elsewhere, and I often do after that.

 

I was at Bad Habit recently for the first time in about a year and they are doing some stellar stuff. Tough call between them and Beaver Island in my opinion right now. Bad Habit will have more offerings and more rotating beers etc.