Twin Cities Imbiber - RSS Feed - News & Events

Links for 2008-06-26 [del.icio.us]

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0500

CodeProject: Thumbnail Image Viewer Control for ASP.NET 2.0. Free source code and programming help

Links for 2008-06-16 [del.icio.us]

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Irrigation Products: Controlling Well Pump Cycling

Links for 2008-06-09 [del.icio.us]

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0500

A List of Amazon S3 Backup Tools (by Jeremy Zawodny)

2008 US Barista Championship (USBC) winners announced

Mon, 05 May 2008 16:02:00 CST

59 competitors were reduced to 6. After four days of intense competition at the Minneapolis Convention Center, the winners have just been annouced at 4:15pm today (May 5th, 2008).

#1 Kyle Glanville (Intelligentsia, Los Angeles CA)

#2 Pete Licata (PT’s Coffee, Overland Park KS)

#3 Heather Perry (Coffee Klatch, San Dimas CA)

#4 Chris Baca (Ritual Roasters, San Francisco CA)

#5 Nick Griffith (Intelligentsia, Los Angeles CA)

#6 Drew Cattlin (Ritual Roasters, San Francisco CA)

1867 Munich Dunkel, Schell's next 150th Anniversary Draft-only beer coming May 4th

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:37:00 CST

The next beer in Schell's special draft-only releases is set to be released May 4th. It is named 1867 Munich Dunkel and according to Schell's brewer Dave Berg, it is based on a recipe from 1867 and includes 80% German Munich malt, a touch of 2-row, and some Carafa. It was first wort hopped with Liberty and Perle. It was brewed it in the end of February and weighs in at 13.7 Plato with 25 IBU. Deep copper color with some red hints. Medium bodied, rich and malty with hints of vanilla and cocoa.
(Original image from Schell's website)

Beer Watch: 4/9

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:55:00 CST

Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes: Cuvee Alex La Rouge Jurassian Imperial Stout

This is a very interesting brew out of Switzerland that will wow your palate with a diverse range of flavors. Right out of the gate you will notice heavy hints of cocoa, caramel, dark fruits, a hint of sherry like sweetness, as well as some a pretty heavy raisiny sweet malt. The palate is medium bodied, but screams of chocolate, caramel, vanilla, some green tea and a very good dose of a tannic fruit like sweetness. The finish on this beer is what makes it jump out, as some of the black pepper comes out to pair with a medium level of floral hops to dry out this otherwise sweet stout. Be careful with this brew as the drinkability is very high for a 10% plus beer. Enjoy it with a nice cigar as an after dinner treat or try pairing it up with some venison off the grill.

www.bunitedint.com/portfolios/producers/bfm/alex_la_rouge/overview.php

Brassererie Ellezeloise

This very neat small scale brewery in Belgium was started in 1993, and have been kicking out some amazing brews ever since. Ellezeloise (pronounced EL-ZEL-WOZ) had been absent from the Minnesota market for quite some time, before its return about a year ago. They only produce five beers, two saisons, a blond, an amber ale, and a hardy Belgian stout. The Amber and Blond carry the preface Quintine, referring to a local legendary witch. The stout is named Hercule after detective Hercule Poirot, one of Agatha Christie’s most well known characters in her writings. The saisons are simply called Saisis and Saison 2000, but their names are the only thing simple about these beers. All of these brews come in 33cl swing-top bottles, and are certainly worth a try.

www.brasserie-ellezelloise.be

Furthermore Brewery

This is not even technically a brewery, as it is simply two dudes making and selling beer, but they definitely deserve some mention. Aran Madden and Chris Staples brew down at the Sand Creek Brewery in Black River Falls Wisconsin, and have been in the Minnesota market for about a year now. They produce three year-round brews, and three seasonals that fulfill any session drinkers fancy. Their first beer is Knot Stock Pale Ale, and it is simply an American Pale Ale with a little cracked black pepper added to spice things up a little. Their second beer is Proper, which is simply an easy drinking English style pub ale that will quench anyones thirst one a hot day far better than a fizzy pale yellow lager. The third year round beer is Three Feet Deep, a Guinness like Irish Dry Stout that would sit alongside a nice steak off the grill any day. Their three seasonal are worth mention as well, they have an apple beer for the fall named Fallen Apple, a Belgian Wit on crack called Fatty Boombalattty, and a Belgian styled IPA called Make Weight.

Now bear in mind this is not your over the top DIPA and Imperial stout style brewery, but if you like a well made beer that you can drink more than 3 ounces of at a time, then these guys are for you.

www.furthermorebeer.com

Surly's New Can - Bitter Brewer

Surly has announced that Bitter Brewer will be their next canned beer. Bitter Brewer is Todd’s pet project beer and is a thirst quenching, palate pleasing, beautifully balanced brew, even for Surly.

www.surlybrewing.com

Two Brothers Brewing of Illinois soon to be available in Minnesota

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:48:00 CST

Hohensteins Distributing is pleased to announce they will be distributing the beers of Two Brothers Brewing in Minnesota. Final label approvals are being completed now, expect beer by late Spring.

Two Brothers Brewing Company, of Warrenville Illinois, was founded by Jim and Jason Ebel in late 1996. Today it is still 100% family owned. They package four beers all year around. A farmhouse ale named Domaine DuPage which took a bronze medal at the 2007 Great American Beer Festival. The Bitter End, a classic American pale ale. Ebel's Weiss hefeweizen. Lastly Prairie Path Ale, a golden ale made with Belgian malt and noble hops. In addition, they have a variety of seasonal beers and special releases which we hope to see in Minnesota in the future.

Sam Adams Product Recall

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:03:00 CST

The Boston Beer Co., makers of Samuel Adams, have posted a voluntary product recall due to a very small percentage of bottles having manufacturing defects resulting in "random presence of bits of glass, most the size of grains of sand, but some small slivers in some bottles as well."

According to their recall website and FAQ, the affected bottles are embossed with the digits “N35” followed by the letters “OI”. Bottles with this coding should be not be consumed. Consumers can claim a refund for bottles with the “N35” code through their website.

More details about this recall at Sam Adams website http://www.samadams.com/cidefault.htm

Links for 2008-04-06 [del.icio.us]

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0500

AIKO - QUALITY BEVERAGES IMPORTER

Sour news for Rodenbach?

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 09:52:00 CST

UPDATED 12:20 PM. Some bad news for the U.S. fans of Rodenbach, the brewer of the classic Flemish sour beers by the same name. A representative with Duvel USA, Rodenbach's most recent importer, confirms that the beer is no longer being brought into the USA. This decision was handed down from the Belgian-side and was not a decision made by the importer. At this time no new importer has been planned or announced. Rodenbach was the only brewery in Duvel USA's portfolio that was not owned in some fashion by Duvel Moortgat. Also of note, the Rodenbach USA website has been stripped down to a bare shell.

Brouwerij Rodenbach, of Roeselare, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, dates back to the 1700s. In 1998 they were acquired by brewing conglomerate Palm Breweries, who made several changes including halting production of the Rodenbach Alexander label. After a number of years away from the United States (late '90s to early '00s), Rodenbach was relaunched by Duvel USA in mid-2005.

Twin Cities Imbiber will post updates when additional facts are available.

Flat Earth Brewing Co. launches new website

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 17:14:00 CST

Celebrating their first anniversary, Saint Paul brewer Flat Earth has just launched their brand new website.

Visit it at www.flatearthbrewing.com

Colorado's Steamworks Brewing Co. beer available soon

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 17:08:00 CST

The beers of Colorado's Steamworks Brewing Co. will soon be available via local distributor JJ Taylor.

Colorado Kolsch and an Conductor Imperial IPA will be available in 22 oz bombers along side 6 packs of GABF Gold-medal winning Steam Engine Lager and Third Eye Pale Ale.

Look for the brand launch the first week in April.

Leinie's Big Eddy Imperial Stout hits the Twin Cities

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 12:35:00 CST

Last year Leinenkugel launched a line of specialty beer under the name "Big Eddy". The second beer in the series is a big, 9.5% abv, jet-black Russian Imperial Stout (RIS) that is just hitting the draft lines of some of the better beer bars in the area. According to Zach Wilson, of the Miller Craft and Import division, only around 70 twenty liter kegs are being sold in the Twin Cities (and no bottles), so this beer is certainly in limited supply.

Twin Cities Imbiber recently sampled the beer and it did not disappoint. Viscous and complex, the initial sweetness was quickly balanced by ample hop bitterness. An excellent example of the RIS style. Be sure to let this one warm to just below room temp for maximum enjoyment.

Below is some information from their press release:

Big Eddy Russian Imperial Stout, at 9.5% alcohol by volume, boasts a selection of eleven malts and grains, balanced by three distinct hops. Munich, Caramel and Chocolate malts combine with classic Pale and Pale Ale malts to provide a rich, dry character balancing Big Eddy's hoppy assertiveness provided by Warrior, Summit and Glacier hops.

The "Big Eddy" moniker is derived from the name of the spring that feeds the Leinenkugel brewery in Chippewa Falls, Wis. Beginning in late February 2007, Leinenkugel's tested its first big ale, Big Eddy Imperial IPA.

Though the name is derived from a spring in Chippewa Falls, this beer is brewed at their 10th Street Brewery in Milwaukee Wisconsin.

We'll provide more information and availability information as it becomes available.

Links for 2008-03-27 [del.icio.us]

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Links for 2008-03-26 [del.icio.us]

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Rich, chewy barley wine takes time

Acadia Cafe Grand Re-opening - 03/28/2008

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:07:00 CST

Acadia Cafe has moved from Franklin/Nicollet to the Cedar/Riverside neighborhood and has increased their already extensive beer selection to 28 taps and 40 bottles.

Help them celebrate this weekend! 1 Grand Re-opening, 2 grand days of celebration.

Friday 3/28 - An evening of Great Local Beer with National and International guest brews

Talk to brewery folks from local breweries like Tyranena, Rush River (Brewers Dan and Nick), 8pm Surly (brewer Todd), and international importer Lanny Hoff of Artisanal Imports.

Meet/Greet and $2 beers for each brewery as follows:

6pm Jesse Nimm from Tyranena
7pm Lanny Hoff from Artisanal Imports
7:30pm Dan & Nick from Rush River, bringing a firkin of yet to be released IPA
8pm Todd from Surly will be tapping Acadia's cherished, lovingly stored, somewhat reluctantly released '06 Darkness
More TBA

Saturday 3/29

$2 Rogue – Dead Guy, Maibock, Shakespeare Nitro, Kells Irish Lager – all day long (we’ve got about 8 kegs on hand)

Music lineup:

12AM = A Night In the Box
11PM = Mike Krenner & Icedink
10PM = Junkyard Empire - band
9PM = Gabriel James Band
8PM = Dan Dragich and the Polemics
7PM = Colleen Buckman & Jill James
6PM = Wallace Wylie - solo
5PM = Sam Grimes
4PM = Steve Kaul (from Brass Kings) and Dave Babb (from Front Porch Liquor Pigs)
3PM = John Wills - solo (3pm)
2PM = Daddy Squeeze (from Café Accordion Orchestra)

Links for 2008-03-25 [del.icio.us]

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Beer Watch: 3/25

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 16:24:00 CST

Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree IPA

In the last issue of Twin Cities Imbiber we mentioned the stout series from these guys, of which the Tres, Fore, and Pleading the fifth have arrived. This particular beer is deserving of special mention though. The Double Crooked Tree IPA is an excellent example of the Double IPA style as it is simply the Crooked Tree IPA recipe doubled with no increase in water, and no additions of honey, spices, or other ingredients.

This particular DIPA is stylistically similar to a big hoppy American Barleywine, as there is an almost overpowering amount of bitterness (98 IBU), complemented by a nice caramel, honey, and passion fruit malty sweetness. The guys at Dark Horse actually recommend laying this beer down for a year or two, and I could definitely see that being advantageous to the flavor, as the astringent hoppy bitterness would be mellowed a touch and the very well structured malt backbone could begin to shine. This beer is available in four packs of wax-dipped 12 ounce bottles, and will not be around long, so grab it while you can.

Bøgedal Bryghus # 101 and #103

Well, here is yet another addition to our already impressive and growing Scandinavian beer scene here in Minnesota. Bødegal is Scandinavia’s only free falling brewery, which according to their website means “The beer runs from cask to cask by help of pulleys and level differentiation… without the use of pumps, and the herb is cooked over an open fire. Because of the delicate methods in use, Bøgedal can produce a nearly clear beer without filtration, thereby retaining many of the important flavours and aromas.”

This Danish brewery does not name beers, instead they just label them by what batch number the beer is. The following is the brewery's description for these beers:

Brew No. 101 - Pale Ale, Pearl, Cascade 5.9%

Light amber, small, compact bubbles and creamy head. Aromatic sweetness with traces of honey, wheat and fine wine. A wonderful latent sweetness and bitterness with a taste of citrus. Good body, balanced and comfortable. Goes well with an informal get-together, but also with classical white meats and poultry, yams, pasta, mushrooms or mature, but mild, port cheeses.

Brew No. 103 - Dark Ale with Northern Brewer, Orange, Brown Sugar 6.3%

Dark-brown beer with a dark-brown head. Smells sweet of prunes and citrus with an acidic tip. It fills the palate with its sweetness, and opens up into a pleasant bitterness. Hangs in the mouth like a dark chocolate with a faint smoky aftertaste. Goes well with venison and chestnuts, blackberries and brussell sprouts, smoked or salted meats.

Vine Park growler sales

Anyone who has been down to Vine Park to brew a batch of beer knows that these guys know what they are doing, and they do it well. Well, now you can take home some of their product, without making it. According to Harley on Beeradvocate, “The growlers will be $5.00 each, then there is a $10.00 filling charge, so your initial investment is 15, after that refills are ten dollars.”

Vinepark is open Tuesday thru Friday from 11 AM until 8 PM, and Saturday from 9AM-4PM

Sapor Cafe Beer Dinner with Artisanal Imports - 04/26/2008

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:28:00 CST

Sapor Cafe Belgian Beer Dinner, Saturday, April 26
3-Course Dinner, 7 Beers, $55 per person
Each course paired with two beers chosen by Sapor Chef/Owner Tanya Siebenaler and Artisanal Beer Importer Lanny Hoff
Call or visit their website for reservations (see contact details at right).

Schedule:
6:30pm-Meet in Bar for Beer and a Bite
7:00pm-Three-Course Dinner in Cafe

First Course - Coconut-Curry Soup with Mussels and Belgian Endive
     Pairing: Urthel Hibernus Quentum Tripel and St. Feuillien Abbey Triple Ale

     Second Course - Grilled Hanger Steak on Grotten Ale-Braised Potatoes
     Pairing: Brouwerij St. Bernardus Grotten Flemish Ale and Grotten Brown Ale

     Third Course - Caramel Semifreddo
     Pairing: Urthel Hop-It and Pauwel Kwak Belgian Ale