What's everyones take on Able Beer?

The Able beers I have tried have been likewise terrible. In fact so bad, I refuse to try any other of their offerings. The worst beer I have had this year has been an Able beer I had last month.

 

Oh thank god. I have been saying this since day one. Liquid garbage. They haven’t improved over time, either. They are clearly good at marketing, however, as their beer is often on the menu at very nice restaurants who tend to feature only a couple taps.

Of note, one of the very best local chefs just opened his food truck that (I believe) will be almost exclusively outside of Able. I plan to go very soon to get food and no beer.

 

I've only had their Blk Wlf. I picked it up earlier this year for the dry Irish stout online tasting.

It was very good.

 

Like their taproom ...beer not so much.

 

I'd call Able from the beginning consistently and inoffensively middling and a roughly average Minnesotan brewery. Its variety is inadequate, especially given the ho-hum nature of its lineup. At least nearby Bauhaus compensates for lack of variety with good products in a distinct niche and a unique venue. My current Nordeast Minneapolis brewery rankings:

1. Fair State
2. Indeed
3. Dangerous Man
4. Bauhaus
5. Able
6. HeadFlyer
7. 56
8. 612 Brew
9. Sociable
10. Broken Clock

... but there's a big gap between 4 and 5. I've had one beer from Able that I'd call actively bad (Four Chords Old Ale) but multiple bad beers at the ones ranked below it. That said, I haven't visited Able yet in 2018.

 

Huh. The only Able beer I drink much is BLK WLF, but I like it. Am I that far off on that one, or is the hate mostly for the other beers? BLK WLF is not the best stout out there, but at 3.7% ABV it's a huge winner in the taste versus (calories and alcohol) tradeoff. Sure, some days I might prefer a Ten Fidy or Old Rasputin or whatever, but other days I'll happily drink multiple BLK WLFs.

Edit: Looks like the ratings for BLK WLF are pretty solid, albeit on the sparse side.

 

That Gap between 4 & 5 i would put Insight Brewing?

 

Broken Clock is pretty rough, bottom 10 in the state for me.

612 Brew has a marketable name, a great location, and was one of the first breweries in the state to put a lot of emphasis into its taproom venue, which only a few years ago was a busy social hotspot and now usually is barren. It was "just" four years ago that a panel of so-called experts named it the third best brewery in the state. But consumer tastes change, and both hipness and success can be fleeting, especially when your beer isn't good (a note of caution to Barrel Theory).

If you count it as Nordeast, then yes, probably, although I've had more duds from Insight than from Able (but better beers on the high end as well). I didn't want to get into that debate (35W v. E Hennepin as the dividing line), even though I side with you. Insight also seems more isolated or even associated with the Surly / Dual Citizen / Urban Growler / Bang / Lake Monster / BlackStack / Burning Brothers grouping without NorthGate to tie it toward the core of the Nordeast brewing district. I'd have ranked NorthGate 5th and Insight 6th if the former still were around.

 

I was waiting for your inevitable bashing of BT. Happy Friday everyone!

 

Don't forget 6B (612 Brew) and BC (Broken Clock). This thread should be a safe space for their fans too. I'm so sorry I've subjected all of them to such severe emotional torment, especially knowing the pain that their taste buds already have to endure.

That's on the north side of E Hennepin and west of 35W and thus officially part of Northeast Minneapolis. Insight technically falls into the "Mid-City Industrial" neighborhood. You say "potato;" I say "Bde Maka Ska." (I actually do consider Insight to be in Nordeast Minneapolis and regret that I excluded it. I also don't even know how to say "Bde Maka Ska.")

 

Its so close to Larpenter/280 One could say its Falcon Heights St Paul.

 

I hven't been there for a year or so but the two times I was there previously I thought it was fine. Nothing terrible. Nothing great. Middle of the road.

 

I've been playing in a weekly bocce league at The Nomad for the past couple years. The league has four or five brewery sponsors that take turns having one of their beers on special during the games. Able was one of the sponsors last year, and no one would order their beer. This year Able fielded a team, and had their beer featured during the first game. Again, no one ordered it. They withdrew from the league after that night. I'm not sure of their reasons for withdrawing, but I'm sure they saw their beer not selling that night.

 

I buy BLK WLF occasionally and I was pleasantly surprised by Supergiant. Their IPAs that they have released in cans have been disappointing. Never been to their taproom and never ordered one of their beers in a bar.

 

Lol, seriously, how is 612 still a thing? Able sucks. They definitely have a good marketing game, using Surly style pricing to make its yuppie clientele think that “since it’s expensive it must be good.” I’ve never heard anything good about Able (from serious beer lovers) except that the space is cool and it’s a convenient location for brewery hopping

 

I had Big Blk Wlf and Barrel Aged Big Blk Wlf the one time I was in their taproom, and I thought both were decent. Can't speak to any of their other stuff.

 

Yuppie? Is that still a thing?

"never heard anything good about Able (from serious beer lovers)"
Skipped over parts of this thread, then?

 

I wrote that I never HEARD, not that I never READ. Jk, you make a good point. I totally didn’t read all the posts... I’m sure there are people who love Able Beer. But with Indeed a couple blocks away, Dangerous Man nearby, and even the new-ish HeadFlyer Brewing nearby, I think most beer geeks would agree that there are much better options in the area