Big Week for Barrel-Aged Beer

Bad Weather announced some J. Carver Distillery barrel-aged beer goodies coming down the pipe • Photo via Bad Weather Brewing

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.

Pumpkin spice may have hit the coffee shops and candle aisles back in August, but most breweries have been biding their time for seasonal weather and all the fixins. The big beers have returned, along with Flizzard blurries. There’s a barrel-aged beer week in Rochester, descending Darkness, and dark-hued bold-flavors coffee beers abound.

While the flight board is a tinge darker these days, it’s as varied as the autumn leaves: black stout, brown ales, pumpkin spice ambers, and hazy yellow. And, yes, there’s some leftover candy (beer) for everybody too.

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

Chanhassen Das Kürbis – A pumpkin spice altbier, tapped for Halloween and still seasonal as we near Turkey Day, this beer offers notes of pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla with a traditional altbier base.

Clutch Shep’s Rye – A pale ale with rich texture, slightly spicy notes, slight citrus, and herbal tones, Clutch says of this new release.

Drekker Oreo Flizzard – A bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout conditioned on vanilla ice cream and Oreos. 500-milliliter bottles went on sale last Friday. 13% ABV.

Fulton MPLS MILD – A light body English-style dark mild ale with toasty and roasty notes. 4.0% ABV at the taproom.

Wild State Cherry Bourbon Barrel Aged Cider – “Our dry cider was patiently aged in Tin Cup Bourbon Barrels for 6 long months, then blended with tart cherry juice for a rich, juicy, and charred oak finish.” the cidery says of this limited release.

New beers available this week

608 Brewing Company

• German Chocolate Cupcake Stout – A collaboration with Cupcake Artistry, this is a big imperial stout with cupcakes, cocoa nibs, vanilla, and coconut. “It’s velvety, rich, thick, sweet but not too sweet, with every ingredient working harmoniously to create a bouquet of flavor that’s basically taking a liquid bite out of the real deal,” the brewery promises, selling the 12.5% ABV stout in 16-ounce cans. On tap at 5 pm Friday evening.

612Brew

• Razor Thin Laser – This newly-tapped double IPA offers a medium body with notes of Moscato wine, stone fruit, and bitter citrus. It carries a soft mouthfeel with a deceivingly mild alcohol taste, 612 forewarns. 10% ABV, 80 IBU.

Alloy Brewing Company

• Ghost Trap Hazy IPA – A Ghostbusters-themed hazy IPA featuring Ariana and Southern Star hops. 5.5% ABV, 31 IBU.

Bad Weather Brewing Company

• Fog of War – Bad Weather’s hazy IPA with Zambra, El Dorado, and Citra hops is back in liquor stores in Crowler form.

Bent Paddle Brewing Co.

• Snowmaker Pale Ale – A robust, dry-hopped pale ale brewed for colder weather. On tap at the brewery now and coming in cans soon.

Boom Island Brewing Company

• Saison d’Hiver – Tapped on Friday, this farmhouse ale features a cranberry, orange peel, and ginger addition.

Chanhassen Brewing Company

• Das Kürbis – Top Flight selection.

Chaotic Good Brewing Company

• Patch Master – A Halloween dunkelweizen made with pie pumpkins and spice.

Clutch Brewing Company

• Shep’s Rye – Top Flight selection.
• Stellar Sour: Pineapple Mango Strawberry – New in the Stellar Sour series.

Copper Trail Brewing Co.

• Hopper Trail – A full-body West Coast-style IPA with a semi-bitter bite, the brewery says. 6.8% ABV, 96 IBU.
• Nuttin’ Better – A brown ale with nutty notes and slight spice and earthy tones from the hop profile. 5.7% ABV, 24 IBU.

Dangerous Man Brewing Company

• Tropsicle IPA – A milkshake-style IPA with pineapple, mango, passion fruit, and tangerine. 7% ABV.

Drekker Brewing

• Freak Parade – A hazy double IPA that returned one week ago, “Freak Parade is brewed with oats and spelt for a soft, pillowy body and hopped with Vic Secret, El Dorado, and Mosaic for some killer peach gummy and melon flavor and aroma,” the brewery says. 8.2% ABV.
• Oreo Flizzard – Top Flight selection.
• PLOP! – The latest PLOP is made with mango, pineapple, guava, and marshmallows. 5.9% ABV.

Fair State Brewing Cooperative

• Spirit Foul – A hazy IPA built around the combination of Strata, Citra, and Mosaic hops for juicy, tropical, and dank notes.
• Purple Tooth – “This barrel-aged stout, aged in bourbon barrels previously used to hold red wine, is chocolatey, substantial but not punishing, moderately bitter and roasty,” the brewery says in its latest newsletter. On tap in limited supply.

Firestone Walker Brewing Company   

• Cinnamon Dolce Nitro Stout – The latest seasonal stout from Firestone Walker is infused with cinnamon sticks and vanilla beans for the full winter experience. Sold in 6-packs of 12-ounce cans.

Founders Brewing Co.

• KBS Espresso – Originally released in 2019, KBS Espresso is back as part of the Barrel Series. Take a base of KBS stout, with added dark and roasted coffee tones as complement. 12.0% ABV.
• Scarlet Dawn Autumn IPA

Foxhole Brewhouse

• Coffee Stout – A smooth and sessionable stout with added cold press coffee. 4.9% ABV, 30 IBU.

Fulton Brewery

• Johnny One Time – A SMaSH pale ale with Proximity malt and Galaxy hops for clean, bitter flavors. 5.2% ABV at the taproom.
• MPLS MILD – Top Flight selection.
• Plumdawg Trillionaire – A Berliner Weisse with plum puree, offering both sweet and tart flavors. 5.5% ABV at the taproom.

Great Lakes Brewing Co.

• Christmas Ale – Available in liquor stores now and hitting local taps on the week of November 15.

HeadFlyer Brewing

• Home Improvements – A House That Beer Built collaboration with BSG brewing supplies to benefit Habitat for Humanity, HeadFlyer’s Home Improvements is an oat cream ale with juicy citrus flavors and a smooth body. On tap this Saturday.

Inbound BrewCo

• MN Wild Rice – After taking 2020 off, this porter made with Minnesota-grown wild rice features rich, roasty, and nutty flavors. 8% ABV, 25 IBU. On draft and in select liquor stores.

Insight Brewing

• Fathom Double Oat Stout – This Double Oat Stout was “brewed with loads of flaked and malted oats, nine different malts, and a touch of vanilla. This malty-chocolate double stout has a beautifully layered, dark, rich, creamy flavor that is many fathoms deep,” says the brewery. On tap now, in liquor stores soon. 8.2% ABV

Lakeville Brewing Co.   

• Golden Coffee Ale – A collaboration with Idioma Coffee Roasters (Farmington) and Black Swan Cooperage (Park Rapids): “Colombian coffee leads the way in aroma and flavor, with subtle notes of berry and vanilla. The addition of unrefined organic Colombian sugar, panela, lends a hint of molasses. Finally, the beer was aged on toasted yellow birch provided by Black Swan, which gives the beer additional layers of butterscotch, toffee, and helps fill out the body and mouthfeel.”

Lakes & Legends Brewing Company   

• F.A.F.B. – A Kveik hazy IPA with strong orange flavors and lighter tones of berry and caramel, the brewery says.

Left Hand Brewing Co.

• Black Forest Nitro – Made with real cherries and chocolate, this new nitrogenated beer is out now.

Lift Bridge Brewing Company   

• Fireside Flannel – The toasty brown ale seasonal is back.

Little Thistle Brewing Co.

Five different barrel-aged beers have already been tapped this week, some also available in bottles, with a sixth coming on Saturday:.

• Caledonia #4 – An 11% ABV double barrel-aged wee heavy, aged in Wild Turkey barrels and served draft-only.
• Live, Laugh, Ugg – “Imperial stout aged in Woodford Reserve barrels and then conditioned on pumpkin spices,” the brewery says. 10% ABV, draft-only.
• Maple Barrel Stout – Available on Saturday, this draft-only double stout was aged in a maple barrel and then conditioned on espresso beans and cocoa nibs. 10% ABV.
• Port – Aged in a port barrel and sold both on draft and in bottles, this double chocolate stout offers notes of dark chocolate, cherry, and oak, the brewery says. 11.3% ABV.
• Quad – A Belgian quad-style beer with notes of oak, vanilla, fig, and caramel, aged in a Buffalo Trace barrel. 10% ABV, sold in bottles and on draft.
• Tripel – “Belgian tripel made with local honey and aged in a Madeira white wine barrel,” Little Thistle explains, with white grape and pear-like flavors. 10.5%ABV and sold in bottles and on draft.

Also on tap, but not barrel-aged:

• The Golden Unicorn – Little Thistle’s first nonalcoholic offering is described as “light in color and malt character, and…extremely refreshing.” Draft only.

Lupulin Brewing Company

• Corporate Harvest Spice Drink – A whiskey barrel-aged brown ale with oat milk, vanilla, and spices. 8.5% ABV.
• Hero – A double IPA designed by the late Jonathan Zierdt, brother of co-owner Jeff Zierdt, a portion of proceeds from this 8.18% ABV, 66 IBU hazy IPA benefit the JZ Cancer Fund. Hero cards at the brewery are available for extra donations.
• Periodical Musings v.1 – A new Scribbled Lines mixed-culture farmhouse ale with cranberry and blueberry. 7.1% ABV.
• Tuxedo Bird – On tap at the brewery now, this is a triple IPA at 11% ABV, 100 IBU.
• Vampire Cereal CPB – CPB porter gets an infusion of a certain breakfast cereal in this taproom-only batch. 5.25% ABV.

Milwaukee Brewing Co.   

• Barleywine – A new barleywine, aged in bourbon barrels and sold in 12-ounce cans.

Oliphant Brewing

• Rusket Red – A 5% ABV red lager, back on tap now.

Pryes Brewing Co.

• 2021 Barrel Aged Lost Moon – “This rich concoction rested in the dark recesses of bourbon barrels for many months, emerging with complex layers of espresso, cocoa, vanilla, and caramel,” available this Saturday on tap and in limited bottles.

Shakopee Brewhall

• Freudian Slip – Tapped yesterday, this is an amber in color Vienna lager with a slightly sweet experience.

Stone Brewing   

Stone’s 12 Days of IPAs mixed pack is out now nationwide. Featuring a mix of regular recipes, new IPAs, and out-of-retirement appearances, the pack includes Stone IPA, Delicious IPA, Tangerine Express, Scorpion Bowl, ///Fear.Movie.Lions, Ruination Double IPA 2.0 Sans Filtre, Hazy IPA, Cloud Gazer, Neverending Haze IPA, and the following:

• Stone Grapefruit Slam IPA – A bitter and zesty grapefruit IPA at 8% ABV, out of retirement for the season.
• Stone Hazy IPA – A brand new 6.7% juice bomb.
• Stone Japanese Green Tea IPA – A 10.1% ABV IPA with green tea.
• Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Black IPA – “Stone’s most requested archive beer of all time,” the brewery says. 8.7% ABV.

Surly Brewing Company

• Abrasive – The 9.2% ABV Warrior and Citra hopped double IPA is back. Sold in 4-packs, it offers bitter and tropical along with a double IPA higher alcohol content.
• Castles in the Sky – A hazy IPA exclusive in the Mixed Messaged pack (along with Furious, Galaxy Gate, and Grindcore).
• Darkness – As Surly puts it: “Our massive Russian imperial stout contains waves of chocolate, coffee, cherry, raisin, and toffee, plus a non-traditional dose of aromatic hops.” 12% ABV.
• Galaxy Gate – A double dry-hopped pale ale, exclusive to the Mixed Messages variety pack.
• Grindcore – The espresso milk stout returns, sold in the Mixed Messaged variety pack, out now.
• Serpents in the Garden – Sweet and sour flavors compete in this new imperial kettle sour with strawberry, black currants, lactose, and vanilla.
• Yummi Bear – A West Coast-inspired IPA with citrusy hop flavors and a dry finish.

Thousand Lakes Brewing

• Swamp Buck Imperial Stout – “It’s that time of year when the Swamp Buck ventures out. This 12% monster is big and jet black with bold, intense flavors including coffee, chocolate, and booze-soaked fruits like cherry and raisin. As it warms, more sweetness starts to come through lending to caramel and toffee flavors as well,” says the brewery.

Utepils Brewing

• Minnator – A malt-forward doppelbock with toasty flavors, sold in the Hy Vee Winter Variety Pack alongside Loonar Eclipse, Alt 1848, and Pils, and on tap at the brewery.
• Wabasha Brewing Company
• Red Velvet Stout – A limited released stout, tapped last weekend.

Waconia Brewing Company

• Norwegian Pale Ale

Wild Mind Ales

• Arctic Beats – A crisp cold IPA with notes of pine, herbs, and citrus. On tap as of 2 pm on Friday. 6.5% ABV.
• WLD WTR – A new line of hard seltzers will besold at restaurants and retailers in the Twin Cities, and nationally in the coming weeks.  The first flavor to arrive will be Cranberry Lime Pomegranate.

Wild State Cider

• Cherry Bourbon Barrel Aged – Top Flight selection.

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