Some of you may have noticed a new brewing outfit on Twin Cities shelves, the Tonka Beer Co. (Short segment from KSTP here, slightly longer read here). With profits generated benefiting area lakes through Save Our Lakes I think they've set an achieveable goal, and can get behind the concept. Think I'll pick up some Big Island Shandy tonight -- along with a favorite local Fall seasonal. P.S. They'll have an I.P.A. out in August, whoohoo!
I see it all the time. I picked it up once and saw, Brewed in Monroe, WI. and promptly put it back down.
Had a pint of The Curious Traveller last weekend. It really changed my mind a about Shandys. Really enjoyed it on a sweltering Mn evening.
Curious Traveller opened my mind on the shandy style. Had a Big Island Shandy on the fourth (great whether for a shandy, IMO) and enjoyed it quite a bit. It was nice and refreshing with a decent malt backbone. Not something I'll drink often, but on a 100° day it was great.
I've seen Curious Traveler around, too, with quite a few tap placements. I'll have to try that one next. I'm not a regular drinker of "fruit/vegetable beer", but was offered a Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy a couple of weeks back at a barbecue. The first time I tried it (tour at the brewery) it didn't do much for me, but it hit the spot on a fairly hot, sunny day.
Hah! I've actually read --well, not "good" things-- but that Big Island Shandy is 'not that bad', which is better than the descriptions that I routinely read about products from Minhas. And hey! They have a new brewery up 'der!
I'd also recommend Potosi Steamboat Shandy. Quite a bit better than Leinie's, but I can't compare it to Big Island, since I haven't had it yet. The last I knew, Steamboat was available in Hudson.
I see Steamboat all up and down the river! On a more general note --and since this is a Shand-tastic thread-- there's recently been label approval for a bevy of lemon/citrus FMBs, and there's even a Lemon-Berry variety coming soon from our favorite Wisconsin microbrewery!
OMG, that sounds horrid...but Berry Weiss might be the worst thing (or, one of) I ever put to my lips, so this might be a little better than that.
Speaking of 'Shandy-esque' beers, give Sand Creek Hard Lemonade a try. I had tried it back in '07 at the brewery, and while not a 'malternative' fan, i thought it was quite good, refreshing, and seemed to have more of a malty backbone to it then your typically Mikes, or the like. Fast forward to '12-I grabbed a single in Hudson the other day, and may have to get over to Chicones to grab a six for 7.49(sale). Of course all NG is also on sale for 6.99 , so it could be a battle for my beer dollars.
My gal actually enjoyed that one on tap not too long ago (and Sand Creek upped the ante by adding Hard Pomegranate Lemonade to their lineup this spring).
Oh yeah! One of the finest malt beverages ever to make it out of the tanks at Minnesota Brewing. (Still not sure what the "55" meant -- code for some sort of street slang no doubt )
I think the '55' was the number he was in high school when he played defensive end and pancake'd foolz.. known as 'the big yellow sour phreak'.. just kidding I've got nothing. 55 lemons in every bottle (damn what a waste.) no one has lived past '55' that's consumed this... b'cuz of the arsenic (which was grandma's secret ingredient). DNA was the one I had out of MN Brewing when they ran a lot of Malty things before closing. I think they had just started with Mike's now its in La Crosse with all those others should request Yellow Belly to make a come back.
