Modist Hex Code • Graphic via Modist Brewing Co.

Modist Hex Code • Graphic via Modist Brewing 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. 

From sweet desserts to funky sours, smooth nitros, and Minnesota’s first augmented reality and NFT beer label collaboration, there’s a lot tappening this weekend in every corner of the state.

Beer themes are ghoulish this week, with witches and covenants and vampires and zombies—but also fun, with parties at Dangerous Man, Lake Monster, and Rustech. Halloween and seasonal items are definitely popular, from pumpkin spice and candy infusions to crumble and pie-inspired dessert beers and cold press coffee for that added boost after.

 

 

Each week, the Beer Dabbler team highlights five of the most tantalizing new beers that we’re most excited to try.

Bad Habit Never Gonna Give You Up – A special sixth-anniversary release, “The crew brewed up a golden base beer, transferred it into 4-year gin barrels, and hit it with a little bacteria for a delightfully tart treat and the slow burn of gin,” Bad Habit says. Available in bottles and on draft today.

Birch’s On The Lake Mexican Chocolate Milk Stout – A rich and “real spicy” milk stout with chipotle, ancho, habanero, and ghost peppers, plus cinnamon and chocolate. 5.1% ABV.

Little Thistle Fellowship of the Stout Vol. 3 – “The Tiramisu Tower is the final installment in this Stout Collaboration Saga with our friends from 9 Mile Brewing,” Little Thistle proclaims. “This beer is layered with generous helpings of cocoa nibs, espresso coffee from Colorway Coffee, and pounds on pounds of ladyfingers. The result is a decadent Italian dessert-inspired beer.”

Sierra Nevada Celebration Fresh Hop IPA – 2021 is the 40th iteration of Celebration, which features fresh Pacific Northwest-grown Cascade and Centennial hops for citrus, pine, and floral notes. 6.8% ABV, 65 IBU.

Stacked Deck Haze Grenade – The downtown St. Paul brewery is shutting down at the end of the month. While that is bad news for beer fans, the good news is they are tapping several big beers for a final sendoff this Saturday, including this triple IPA and taproom exclusive (onsite Crowler sales too), the brewery explains: “Dry-hopped with a whole ton of Mosaic, Mosaic Incognito and Mosaic Cryo will be on tap and in Crowlers TOMORROW! This is a taproom exclusive and won’t be available in stores so make sure to swing on down tomorrow and Saturday to enjoy some while you can!”

New beers available this week

608 Brewing Company

It’s a bottle release and costume party in La Crosse today with:

  • 608 Premium Lager
  • BA Ghost Ride The Chip – A bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout with chocolate chip cookies, vanilla, and cocoa nibs.
  • Bloo-Berry – A blueberry marshmallow cereal sour.
  • Pumpkin Pie Imperial Stout – A Crowler-only pumpkin pie imperial stout.

Arbeiter Brewing

  • FDHDDHHDIPA.(Fruited Dip Hopped Double Dry-Hopped Hazy Double IPA) – A dip-hopped, fruited hazy IPA collaboration with south Minneapolis neighbors Venn, this IPA uses Azacca, El Dorado, and Mosaic hops for notes of tropical fruits and mango, complemented by the additional of curuba fruit. 9.3% ABV, 26 IBU.

Bad Habit Brewing Company

  • Never Gonna Give You U – Top Flight selection.

Bauhaus Brew Labs

  • BOLO: Sour Purple – A grape flavored hard seltzer sold in 12-packs of cans.

Bell’s Brewery   

  • Mars – The latest, limited release in the Double IPA series.

Bent Brewstillery Dark Fatha

  • The American Empirial stout, matured in rye whiskey barrels, taps on Saturday, October 30.

Bent Paddle Brewing Co.

  • Dune – A limited taproom-only spiced beer.

Birch’s On The Lake

  • Mexican Chocolate Milk Stout – Top Flight selection.

BlackStack Brewing

  • Ghost Stories – This 10.0% ABV double dry-hopped triple IPA showcases a Strata, Idaho 7 Cryo, Simcoe, and El Dorado hop cocktail. On tap, sold in Crowlers, and available in liquor stores too.
  • Speltie Oatie Dope Delicious – This 10.2% ABV triple IPA showcases Citra, Amarillo Cryo, Simcoe Cryo, and El Dorado hops.

Broken Clock Brewing Cooperative

  • Pumpkin Spice Dunkel – A dunkelweizen-style ale with sweet malt and chocolate character, plus hefeweizen-like banana and clove. This batch comes with the addition of Gus Dean Pumpkin Spice Cold Press Coffee. Available Saturday. And, starting on Nov. 12, Broken Clock will be adding outdoor igloos to their taproom for the winter season.

Castle Danger Brewery

  • Autumn in Pottsfield – A light hefeweizen brewed on Castle Danger’s pilot system and available only at the taproom. The name is a nod to the dark fantasy “Over the Garden Wall”.
  • Mosaic Fresh Hop IPA – A fresh-hopped IPA featuring Mosaic hops. Available in cans and on draft.

Dangerous Man Brewing Company

  • BlueCran Cobbler A La Mode – Tapped last week.
  • Hurry Up and Wait – A Vienna lager collaboration with Nine Mile Brewing. There is a release party at Grumpy’s NE this afternoon.
  • Spiced Apple Rhubarb Crumble – Another pie-inspired beer that tapped last week, this apple, rhubarb, nutmeg, fenugreek, and allspice beer pours at 5.8% ABV.
  • Dammit Janet – The featured beer release at Saturday’s Deviant Minds’ presented Rocky Horror party, a cherry and jalapeño lager.

Disgruntled Brewing

  • Mandatory Vacation – A dank and juicy New England-style IPA made with tangerine and dry-hopped with Rakau and Taiheke hops. 7.4% ABV.

Drekker Brewing

  • Abnormal Proportions    – A smoothie seltzer with mango, lime, and vanilla soft serve. 6.9% ABV.
  • Braaaaaaaains – The newest in Drekker’s smoothie sour series comes with added blueberry, black currant, plum, sea salt, lactose, and vanilla. 7.2% ABV.
  • Operation: Magical – One of two collaborations with Electric Brewing (Abnormal Proportions being the other), this is a hazy IPA with Galaxy, Citra, and Strata hops. 8.0% ABV.
  • Slang Du Jour – A new “Sour à la Mode” made with strawberry, rhubarb, granola, brown sugar, cinnamon, lactose, and vanilla beans. 7.6% ABV.

Dual Citizen Brewing Company

  • N/A Elbow Bender Kolsch

Duluth Cider

  • Glensheen Gold Honey Cider – A small batch release a week ago today, “The Glensheen Gold Honey Cider is a semi-sweet cider made with apples hand-picked from Chester Congdon’s own 100-year-old apple trees on the Glensheen estate. We combined that juice with local honey,” the cidery adds.

Eastlake Craft Brewery   

  • Almond Milk Stout with chocolate and ancho chiles – A one-off infusion available on Saturday as Eastlake, and the entire Global Market, celebrates Día de los Muertos.

Elm Creek Brewing Co.

  • Fresh Hop of Bel-Air – A 7% ale made with locally grown Cascade hops.
  • Indistinct Chatter – A 4.3% ABV brown ale with sweet caramel and nutty notes with a dry finish.
  • Juice Covenant – A New England-style IPA featuring Cru-1 and Rakau hops. It’s hazy and juicy, with stone fruit flavors and less sweetness than is typical of the style, the brewery says. 6.5% ABV.
  • Rare Candy: Strawberry Banana – A 7% ABV smoothie sour.
  • Still Night – The third release in the milk stout series, the 8% ABV offering was made with blueberry, cocoa nibs, and vanilla.
  • Unwinding Subconscious – “A double New England IPA brewed with Zappa, Mosaic, and Strata,” the brewery says.

Fair State Brewing Cooperative

  • Foeder Pils – The fourth foeder-aged release at Fair State, on tap now.
  • Yonder – A funky, tart, and dry saison made with a blend of fresh and barrel-aged beer, with added blueberry.

FINNEGANS Brew Co.

  • Dead Irish Caribou Coffee Stout – On tap this weekend and coming to liquor stores soon in the Celebration Fan Pack, this take on the Irish-style stout has added Caribou coffee. 7% ABV.
  • Code 4 – “A crisp, clean, light-bodied lager,” FINNEGANS explains, with a portion of proceeds to benefit Firefighters for Healing. 4.5% ABV. On draft now and coming to liquor stores in cans next month.

Firestone Walker Brewing Company   

  • Galaxy Hazy IPA – A Hop Pack exclusive single-hopped IPA with notes of passion fruit, guava, and peach.
  • 25th Anniversary Ale – The annual blended beer for Firestone Walker’s silver anniversary is a blend of Parabola Autumn Edition, Tequila Barrel Merkin, Brandy Barrel Barley Wine, Stickee Monkee, and Whiskey Barrel Wheat Wine.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CVf-TjNvsxB/

Humble Forager

  • Coastal Sunset v5 – A new fruited dessert sour inspired by a fruity almond crumble cake. 6% ABV.

Invictus Brewing Co.

  • Apple Pie Shine – Just like the name says, this beer offers baked apple, pie crust, and cinnamon notes.

Junkyard Brewing Co.   

  • Grandpa Bill’s Pils – A crisp, light, and dry-hopped with Citra Pilsner. 5.2% ABV.
  • Remixing Hits – A New England-style double IPA with the already classic hop combo of Citra plus Mosaic, which provide creamy citrus and bright berry flavors. 8.3% ABV, draft only.
  • Retro Ski Suit – “A crisp, juicy New England-style IPA loaded to the brim with Citra, Citra, and more Citra! This IPA features a pillowy soft mouthfeel and citrusy bursts of orange, passionfruit, and mango,” Junkyard says. 7% ABV.
  • Laser Focus – A malty but balanced altbier with crisp, fruity notes, pouring deep copper in color.

Lake Monster Brewing

  • Chocolate Vanilla Pastry Stout – “Constructed with a blend of roasted malts to create big malty backbone, then layer on raw cacao nibs and whole vanilla beans,” the brewery says, culminating in a sweet and smooth dessert stout. 7.2% ABV, 25 IBU.

Monster Bash returns at the brewery on Saturday, with live music, the following beers, and limited one-off casks:

  • Apricot Gose
  • Black Is Beautiful – A vanilla-infused barrel-aged imperial stout.
  • Octoberfest
  • Splendid Things – A pink lemonade ale.
  • Wassail – A fruited, spiced beer, served warm.

Lakes & Legends Brewing Company   

  • Strawberry Kiwi Sour – Just tapped today.

Left Hand Brewing Company   

  • Hard Wired Nitro Coffee Porter – A smooth nitrogenated coffee porter, sold as part of the Nitro Mixed 8-pack.

Little Thistle Brewery

  • Fellowship of the Stout Vol.3 – Top Flight selection.
  • I Dip, U Dip, We Dip Pale Ale – A dip-hop pale ale collaboration with Talking Waters, this is a Nelson Sauvin single-hopped pale ale with a clean grain bill and notes of white wine and passion fruit, the brewery says.

Lupulin Brewing Company

  • Ark Royal – A 5.3% ABV, 38 IBU English-style ESP, served on nitro and regular tap.
  • Imperial CPB – A 10% ABV imperial porter with peanut butter. Similar to SPB, but “infused with even more layers of chocolate, peanut butter, more chocolate,” Lupulin says.
  • Night Witch – The bottle release is Saturday for this Knob Creek bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout. 12.2% ABV.
  • Periodical Musings v1 – The kickoff in a mixed culture farmhouse ale series that uses fruit and botanicals, “Periodical Musings v.1 was fruited with cranberry and blueberry is a beautiful, bright, slightly bitter farmhouse ale fermented with Brettanomyces. Enjoy nice notes of cranberry that will remind you of a fruited wine, with blueberry notes adding to the spectacular fuchsia color you will see from this beer,” the brewery says. Bottles go on sale today. 7.1% ABV.
  • Sticky Puddles Triple Berry – A 9% ABV, 7 IBU fruited imperial sour with raspberry, blackberry, strawberry, cinnamon, and vanilla.

Modist Brewing Co.

  • Hex Code – Hex Code is a pineapple coconut marshmallow lager—and more. The beer itself was brewed with Pilsner malt, milk sugar, marshmallows, pineapple, coconut, and vanilla, but its packaging is a local first in that it comes with entry into an NFT raffle (via QR code), orchestrated by REM5, who previously collaborated with Modist on HAPTIC IPA.

Oliphant Brewing

  • Ennui’d Strata – A 7.5% ABV IPA brewed with Strata hops.
  • Kumquat Anutart – A 5% ABV fruited sour ale (with kumquat).

OMNI Brewing Co.

  • Oh, Sweet Irony – A New England-style IPA made with a blend of Ekuanot, Mosaic, and Citra hops. 6.2% ABV.

PawPrint Brewery

  • Black Lab – A limited release that tapped earlier this month, this 8.5% ABV, 53 IBU porter was aged in a George Dickel/Cabernet barrel for 6 months.

Pryes Brewing Co.

  • Blood Orange Miraculum – On tap for a vampire-themed party this Saturday, alongside three candy-infused casks on tap: Peanut Butter Cup Blonde, Caramel Apple Blonde, Candy Corn Blonde.

Rustech Brewing

  • Spicy Witch – A pumpkin chai latte cream ale at 5.3% ABV, 14 IBU on tap in limited supply for Spooktoberfest at the brewery.
  • Taffy Works – A caramel apple cream ale at 5.3% ABV, 14 IBU on tap in limited supply for Spooktoberfest at the brewery.

Shakopee Brewhall

  • Hard Headed Dreamer – “Notes of chocolate and coffee balanced with a hint of bitterness and a smooth finish makes this perfect cold weather session beer,” the brewery says of this new dark lager. Also served with a shot of cold press coffee.
  • Off-Road Trolley – A bright-in-flavor, hazy-in-complexion session IPA with peach, citrus, and tropical fruit flavors, followed by a clear, dry finish.
  • German Chocolate Cake – Tapped yesterday, this imperial stout has coconut, chocolate, vanilla, lactose, and coffee with coconut at the start and finish.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

  • Celebration Fresh Hop IPA – Top Flight selection.

Stacked Deck Brewing Co.

The downtown Saint Paul brewery is shutting down at the end of the month. While that is bad news for beer fans, the good news is they are tapping several big beers for a final sendoff this Saturday:

  • Going Dark – It would be hard to find a more fitting name. This is a bourbon barrel-aged beer that was carbonated this week in time for the last hurrah.
  • Hall of the Feathered Serpents – A double IPA that tapped earlier in the month.
  • Haze Grenade – A triple IPA and taproom exclusive (onsite Crowler sales too), the brewery explains: “Dry-hopped with a whole ton of Mosaic, Mosaic Incognito and Mosaic Cryo will be on tap and in crowlers TOMORROW! This is a taproom exclusive and won’t be available in stores so make sure to swing on down tomorrow and Saturday to enjoy some while you can!”

Steel Toe Brewing

  • Douglas – A 6.8% ABV black ale, back for the colder months.
  • Hop Tread 10 – A new 8.4% ABV double IPA with experimental hops.

Tin Whiskers Brewing Company

  • Sea Salt Caramel Nut Goodie Porter    – Nut Goodie Porter porter with a touch of sea salt and caramel.
  • Single Phase NEIPA – “A New England IPA brewed with pale malt, flaked oats, white wheat, flaked barley, and 100% Citra hops. Three dry hops give this IPA big flavors of tangerine, pineapple, and orange zest,” the brewery says.

Toppling Goliath Brewing Co.   

  • Xhops Crimson – On tap at the Iowa brewery, this new double IPA offers ripe berry, bright citrus, and sweet tropical fruit flavors.

Town Hall Brewery

Celebrating anniversary week and year 24, Town Hall tapped several special, limited releases available throughout the past week (plus their own barrel-aged maple syrup bottles):

  • Anniversary Ale – A 6.9% ABV autumn IPA with US and UK-grown ingredients. Tapped on Tuesday.
  • Blackberry Gold Beer – A strong Belgian blonde ale with fresh blackberries, aged in bourbon barrels and finished with fresh lemon. Tapped on Tuesday. 10% ABV.
  • Six Hour Tour – This strong milk stout is aged in bourbon barrels and finished on real coconut. 9.1% ABV.

Urban Growler Brewing Company

  • Bubble Daze IPA – A 6.5% ABV, 42 IBU IPA with fruity notes and a dry, champagne-like finish.
  • El Diablo Hot Pepper Ale – A very hot 5.4% ABV beer in the Hayloft series.
  • Growling Mule – A hard seltzer cocktail featuring ginger beer and fresh lime juice.
  • Scary Spice Jalapeno Ale – Another pepper ale at 5.4% ABV, described in comparison to El Diablo as “Less hot, but still hot.”

Wabasha Brewing Company   

  • Creamsicle
  • Vanilla Porter

Wild Mind Ales

  • Close But No Cigar – An effervescent, tangy and smoky Polish-style Grodziskie at 3.5% ABV.
  • Guiding Light – A red lager, or German-style rotbier, which “features a medium body and toasty malt character” with herbal aromatics. 5.0% ABV.
  • Two Outta Three Ain’t Rad – A new hazy IPA that is light in body with big citrus and tropical fruit flavors. 6.5% ABV. Tapping at 2 pm today.

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