Hazy IPA Image from Rogue

Photo via Indie Creative Co

Welcome to Beer Dabbler’s Freshies, our weekly rundown on the newest beers hitting the store shelves and taproom coolers in Minnesota from your favorite local and national breweries. 

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ometimes it rains in February and sometimes it snows. But that’s not the only lesson of the week. Sometimes dark beer is heavy and rich and sometimes it’s light-bodied and sessionable. This week showcases that diversity, with dark lagers and ales under 6% ABV on many taplines and Crowler stations throughout the state. And, on the flip side, Town Hall has just unearthed their Barrel Aged treasure trove at the brewery location and likely cascading to satellites like Town Hall Station, Tap, and Lanes in the near future.

 

We’ll see dark beer on tap for a while yet, with St. Patrick’s Day soon-to-come, with expectations of red and green to come.

Each week, the Beer Dabbler team highlights the most tantalizing new beers available across the state that we’re most excited to try. Check out these Top Flights at Dabbler Depot—Click on each image for stock levels.

Bell’s Brewery Hazy Hearted IPA- Hazys come and hazys go, but none have this much heart. With tropical and fruity aromas, this hazy IPA finishes smooth. 7.5% ABV

Portage Brewing Co. Along The Coast – A meeting point between New Zealand and American hops. Fermented cold with our house ale strain to minimize esters, with layers of Citra Cryo, Nelson, and NZ Revolutionary Blend hops. Crisp, with aromatics of tangerine, sauv blanc, and tropical fruits, and an assertive alcoholic bite to keep the beer drinkable. ABV 8.4%

Portage Brewing Co. Coffeecake – Locally roasted Portage Coffee from Kaffe Havn Roastery with vanilla bean paste, and cinnamon. ABV 5.2%

Shop for the newest beer at Dabbler Depot

The beers in this gallery are now available for purchase at Dabbler Depot, 1545 7th St W, St. Paul, MN 55102

New beers available this week across Minnesota

Looking for a taste of these great new beers? The icon indicates beers available at Dabbler Depot. Keep in mind—stock is limited! Check dabblerdepot.com or text (651)-802-2112 for availability.

3rd Act Craft Brewery

  • Belgian Golden Strong – A cellar-aged Belgian-style ale, tapped at the end of January in Woodbury.

AEGIR Brewing Company

  • Fruited Lager – Unnamed at press time, this is a lager with pineapple, passion fruit, and pink guava, tapping today for the brewery’s tropical theme party.

Bear Cave Brewing

  • Black Bear – A German-style schwarzbier dark lager with roasted coffee and dark chocolate notes.

Bell’s Brewery

  • Big Hearted IPA – An imperial IPA. One of three new recipes sold in the Two Hearted Mixed Pack alongside the original Two Hearted Ale.
  • Experimental IPA

Boom Island Brewing Company

  • Shapeshifter – A new series of infused imperial stouts, which kicked off with a special blend of cacao nibs, vanilla, and cinnamon on Feb. 9.

Brew d’État

  • 2021 I.M.P. – An all grain, cold conditioned stout. This will be poured at Winter Dabbler. 11.0% ABV.
  • Brisco County Juicer – This new hazy double IPA makes its debut at Winter Dabbler (and is sold in the “Take the Festival Home” sale. It offers pineapple-like flavors and was dry-hopped with BRU-1, Citra, and Galaxy hops. 8.5% ABV.
  • Flailing Tube Man – Another new beer, this is a pink grapefruit lemonade sour ale at 5.5% ABV. Pouring at Winter Dabbler and sold via “Take the Festival Home”.
  • Modern – A German-style Pilsner made with Barke Pils Malt and Spalt Select hops. 5.0% ABV. Pouring at Winter Dabbler.

Clutch Brewing Co.

  • E’s Alt – An altbier collaboration with Black Brewers Podcast.

Dangerous Man Brewing Company

  • Marionberry Lime Hard Seltzer – A new hard seltzer conditioned on lime juice and marionberries. 6% ABV and gluten-free.

Eastlake Craft Brewery

  • Kirby Pucker Paloma – A tart sour ale fruited with grapefruit, lime puree, tequila añejo, and sea salt.
  • N.A. Tsathoggua – A limited supply non-alcoholic imperial stout with pineapple, orange marmalade, coconut cacao, coffee, and burnt caramel notes.

ENKI Brewing Co.

  • Belgian Tripel – A special 3-year, gin barrel-aged Tripel, available Saturday at ENKI Winterfest.
  • English Strong Ale – Tapping at noon on Saturday.

Fair State Brewing Cooperative

  • It’s All Steel – A dark American lager with malt-forward and roasty flavors. A collaboration with Lowercase Brewing (Seattle, WA). 4.8% ABV.

Falling Knife Brewing Co.  

  • Dancin’ Shoes – The latest in the Brewer’s Beer series, this is a 4.6% ABV pub lager with spicy rye notes and a prominent malt base.

Firestone Walker Brewing Company

  • Hop Fighters  – A new-age West Coast IPA that’s destined to invade your senses with its citrusy hop flavors of pineapple, blackberry, and mojito,” the brewery says.
  • Psychedelic Arcade – One of two new beers in the IPA Mixed Pack, this IPA features a tropical fruit-forward flavor profile.

Foxhole Brewhouse

  • Wimpy

Fulton Brewing

  • Basil McRae – A smooth wheat beer with basil, new in the Garage Series and taproom-only. Debuting today.

Gambit Brewing Company

  • Disco Pony Cold IPA – Mosaic hops and a little Citra set the tone in this IPA that balances West Coast-style crispness with East Coast juiciness, with a dose of rice for lighter body. 5.8% ABV.

Hacienda Beer Co. It Just Does Weird Things

  • A hop combo of Mosaic, Citra, and El Dorado, with minimal bitterness and a massive tropical fruit-forward flavor and aroma including lemon/lime, blueberry, pine, peach, orange, watermelon, and stone fruit. 6.5% ABV

Little Thistle Brewing

  • Bob’s Your Dunkle – The winner of the Boys & Girls Club Home Brew Competition. A portion of proceeds benefit the Boys and Girls Club of Rochester. 

Lost Sanity Brewing

  • Ultimate Luchador – A fifth anniversary Mexican-style amber lager: “A light bodied sessionable smooth lager at weighing in at 5.4% ABV that has nice light flavors of caramel and dark toast with subtle notes of sweet fruit that comes from the finishing hops grown by our friends at Tonne Century Farms,” Lost Sanity says.

LTS Brewing Co.

  • Girl Scout Cookie Flight – Available, as of Feb. 16, in Rochester.

Lupine Brewing Company

  • O’Keane’s Irish Stout A dry stout with roasty flavors and mild bitterness. 5.5% ABV, 45 IBU.

Northbound Smokehouse & Brewpub

  • Meanwhile IPA A recently tapped IPA made with white wheat for extra smooth and light fruity elements. Expect notes of pineapple, peach, and stone fruit, the brewpub says.

Nouvelle Brewing

  • Gris and Glory – A saison with Pinot Gris juicy, brewed in collaboration with Dual Citizen. “It has a dry spritzy flavor with a peppery floral finish,” Nouvelle says.
  • Rotary Girder – A light-body, sessionable American red ale with a dry grainy flavor, plus hop-derived notes of fruit and pine, without the heavy caramel flavor typical of the style.
  • The g.O.A.T. – “Never heard of an oat lager before? They’re not very common but damn, are they tasty, especially when dry-hopped with delicate German hops,” says Nouvelle. “You can expect notes of Honey Nut Cheerios, par-baked bread dough with citrus and herbal hop notes, and a trace of firm bitterness,” 4.8% ABV.

Oliphant Brewing

  • Lizardize Mariguanas – The 5.5% ABV pale ale is back.
  • Teenage Muten Ninja Roshi – Citra, Wakatu, and Amarillo hops go together in this double IPA with limited distribution. 8.5% ABV.

OMNI Brewing Co.

  • Bear Necessities – A 4.9% ABV seltzer: “Fuchsia with a thin, pale pink head. Aromas of Orange, currant, sweet fruits, and an herbal earthiness…made from prickly pear, blood orange, and black currant,” OMNI says.

  • Berliner Weisse – A sessionable 3.6% ABV sour Berliner Weisse made with a traditional malt bill and American Luxy 13-grown Comet hops.

  • Strategery – A New England-style IPA and part of the Will Ferrell series (for beer names). This hazy IPA pours 6.3% ABV with melon and tropical fruit flavors and notes of white wine grapes, cantaloupe, citrus, and pine on the nose.

Outstate Brewing Co.

  • Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake Sour – Tapped two weeks ago.
  • EXP 1 – A new West Coast-style IPA kicking off the Experimental IPA series. This beer was made with a mix of Bravo, Galaxy, Strata, and Cascade hops.
  • Strawberry Peach Ring Sour

Pantown Brewing Company

  • Coffee Cream Ale – Tapped last week.

Portage Brewing Company

The lasting tappings at the Portage brewery include:

  • North Of Schwarz – A 4.6% ABV oak black lager.

Pryes Brewing Co.

  • Stone Skipper Red IPA – “This IPA has flavors of juicy tangerine, cherry, pine, and notes of caramel rye. Amarillo and HS17704 hops give it aromas of citrus, black currant, passion fruit and papaya,” Pryes says of this new taproom-only beer.

Sisyphus Brewing

  • More Than a Trace – A limited barrel-aged imperial stout that spent time in both Buffalo Trace and Templeton Rye barrels. Tapped last week.

Take 16 Beer

  • Reminisce Barrel-Aged Sour Red Ale – “Savor the unequaled intensity of Montmorency cherries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries combined with this two-year-old barrel aged sour red. With an enchanting aubergine color and bold jam flavor, it is perfectly paired to reminisce with an old friend,” Take 16 says of this special bottled release.

The Freehouse

  • No. 67 Double Dry Hopped Double NEIPA – An 8.5% ABV tropical fruit-forward IPA made with Idaho 7 and Vista hops and thiolized yeast. On tap today.

Town Hall Brewery

  • 100% Malted Rye Barrel – A blend of Belgian-style ales aged in a 100% malted rye barrel, resulting in flavors of butterscotch, vanilla, citrus, oak, and cherry with a peppery finish. 14.04% ABV.
  • Double Barrel Czar Jack – Tapped on Monday, this big beer was aged in two different whiskey barrels and brings flavors of dark chocolate, fudge, hazelnut, roasted caramel, blackberry, and dark cherry.
  • Double Barrel Twisted Trace – Two separate barrels from the same distillery impart extra flavors of fruit and toffee, plus cherry, strawberry, oak, maple, milk chocolate, and vanilla to the base barleywine beer. 16.35% ABV.
  • Double Barrel Xtra Milk Stout – “Strong milk stout aged to maturity in a great citrus/fudge barrel,” the brewpub notes, with two barrels combining for chocolate forward flavors (but no actual chocolate).
  • ET Wee – The final Barrel Aged 2023 release is a Scottish-style wee heavy, barrel aged and offering notes of maple, chocolate, cherry, sweet roasted caramel, and mesquite, Town Hall says. 13.22% ABV.
  • Rye Not Belgian Grand – This 14.21% ABV Grand Cru was aged in a whiskey barrel with notes of earth, spice, and leather, Town Hall says.

Waconia Brewing Company

  • Citrus Cucumber Seltzer – Fresh on tap.

Waldmann Brewery

  • Schwarzbier – A smokey dark lager, on tap in Saint Paul now.

WeldWerks Brewing Co.

  • Old Rip Medianoche – “After resting for nearly 18 months in freshly-emptied ORVW 10-year bourbon barrels, WeldWerks’ flagship Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout, Medianoche, expresses notes of honey soaked pecans, freshly split Madagascar vanilla beans, crème pâtissière, dark chocolate cinnamon butter, and just a hint of dried sweet cherries,” the bGreeley, CO brewery says. This is the first barrel-aged beer to hit be distributed out of state, and is sold in 500-milliliter bottles.

Wild Mind Ales

  • Daylight – A dry-hopped mixed culture saison with a secondary Brett fermentation for added funk. 5.5% ABV.
  • Starry Wisdom – This French-style farmhouse ale uses saison yeast and Bretty for dry, herbal, and lively notes. 6.3% ABV.

Have a new beer we should know about? Send the details to newbeer@beerdabbler.com for inclusion in Freshies.