Lakes & Legends Happy New Beer! Hazy IPA • Photo via Lakes & Legends Brewing Company

Lakes & Legends Happy New Beer! Hazy IPA • Photo via Lakes & Legends Brewing Company

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. 

Cheers to the New Year whether you’re imbibing one of the new beers listed below, breaking something out of the cellar, or planning for a dry January to come.

Pro Tip: If you’re planning to throw a virtual NYE party with your friends, check out Beer Dabbler’s Crowler Crate Beer-Personality Pairing Guide for advice on how to divvy up the Crowlers with your buddies.

Most of the state now has a thick blanket of snow that brightens those previously pitch-black nights. The beer menus reflect the landscape with flavor profiles ranging from winter warmers with herbs and spruce tips, to brighter seasonal experiences like fruits, peppermint, and candy-inspired concoctions—even some glitter and, of course, lots and lots of hops.

This week’s Freshies offers a snapshot of what you might pick up in stores now, but also a glimpse at the coming year, including a couple of intriguing tripels from New Glarus and Left Hand.

 

 

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

BlackStack Trust Fall • Photo via BlackStack Brewing
Hoch Colorado Blue Spruce Dry Cider • Graphic via Hoch Orchard
Lake Monster Gill's Grand Cru • Photo via Lake Monster Brewing
Lupulin Never Surrender Cream Ale • Photo via Lupulin Brewing
Wild Mind Rented Luxury • Photo via Wild Mind Ales

BlackStack Trust Fall – A 6.6% ABV bottle release collaboration with Barrel Theory, this is a nectarine golden sour aged in bourbon barrels that was two-and-a-half years in the making.

Hoch Orchard Colorado Blue Spruce – A new, limited hard cider made with organic apples and blue spruce from the orchard. It’s “tart with some underlying citrus tones, a light spruce nose, and bright finish. It will give you a nice aroma and taste reminiscent of gin,” says Jackie Hoch of Hoch Orchard. Available in Western Wisconsin and southeastern Minnesota.

Lake Monster Gill’s Grand Cru – A limited release for Test Batch Tuesday this week, this dark Belgian-style ale offers a hint of vanilla flavor and pours at 10.0% ABV, 12 IBU. It’s well-suited for winter patio sipping and is also sold in take-home Crowlers.

Lupulin Never Surrender – A 4.8% ABV cream ale brewed in remembrance of Wes Blakeslee, who died of ALS in 2003. A portion of the proceeds and donations will go to the Black Woods Blizzard Tour snowmobile ride, which Blakeslee supported and which raises money and awareness for ALS. Available in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and South Dakota.

Wild Mind Ales Rented Luxury – “A hazy IPA brewed with Nelson Sauvin, Strata, and Centennial. Some of our favorite hops come together to create a pillowy IPA with notes of apricot, passion fruit, dankness, and the slightest touch of floral lemon,” says the brewery.

New beers available this week

10K Brewing

  • German Pils – A crisp German-inspired Pilsner that pours at 5% ABV.

608 Brewing

  • Grandma’s House: Sugar Plum Fairy Cookies – This is a 6% ABV pastry ale with plum, granola, almond, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Available on draft and in 4-packs on Dec. 31 at 3 pm at the brewery.
  • Perma Püft – This is a 7.2% ABV hot cocoa stout with marshmallow, cacao nibs, hot cocoa mix, and vanilla.
  • Jolly Shocker Pops: Peach Rings – Candy sour.

Arbeiter Brewing

  • Nacht Rider – A new 4.9% ABV schwarzbier from Minneapolis’ newest brewery. Available at the brewery and in Beer Dabbler’s Holiday Crowler Crate.

BlackStack Brewing

  • Tinseltown – A West Coast-style IPA made with Simcoe, Nugget, and Mosaic Cryo hops over a Pils base. 7.0% ABV.
  • Trust Fall – Top Flight selection.

Dangerous Man Brewing Company   

  • Hazelnut Mocha Double Stout – In the brewery’s words: “This double stout was conditioned on freshly roasted coffee beans from Dogwood Coffee, vanilla beans, roasted hazelnuts, and cacao nibs.” 8.4% ABV, 58 IBU.

Hoch Orchard

  • Colorado Blue Spruce – Top Flight selection.

Jack Pine Brewery

  • Dead On Dill – A dill pickle cream ale.

 

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Junkyard Brewing Co.   

  • DDH Galactic Falconer – “Loaded with flavors and aromas of citrus and pine, this IPA has double the dose of Galaxy and Falconer’s Flight hops for a sensational hop heavy character with a clean, bitter finish.,” Junkyard says. 6.8% ABV.
  • Flip Flops and Wheelies – A 6.7% ABV New England-style IPA made with Mosaic hops.
  • Snowdogger Lager – A new 5.0% ABV Vienna-style lager sold in 750-milliliter cans. Two dollars from each can benefits the Fargo Moorhead Trailbuilders.
  • Terminal Delight – An imperial sour with strawberry puree. “This time we doubled the flavor,” Junkyard says, comparing its flavor to that of a Jolly Rancher candy. 9.6% ABV.
  • Vince Vega – An 8.1% ABV double New England-style IPA featuring Citra hops. This batch was double dry-hopped a first for this recipe.

Klockow Brewing Company

  • Decima 2020 – Bottles of this Belgian-style Xmas ale with spices and aged in rum barrels debuts earlier this month. The beer was barrels more than 3 years ago, with bottles sold at the Klockow taproom.
  • Guardians of the Beam – A 10% ABV maple bourbon barrel-aged imperial brown ale with wild rice, aged for nearly one year. Sold in 750-milliliter bottles.

La Doña Cervecería 

  • Bruh – “Bruh is a full-bodied old school pale ale. Slightly sweet from the dark crystal malt with an earthy piney bitterness,” the brewery says.

Lake Monster Brewing

  • Gills Grand Cru – Top Flight selection.

Lakes & Legends Brewing Company   

  • Happy New Beer! – A new hazy IPA brewed to toast the new year. “There’s a hop salad of fun going on with Idaho 7, Copper, Grungeist, and Hallertau Blanc delivering notes of fruit punch, fresh-squeezed orange juice, black cherry, and a white grape finish,” the brewery says. 7.0% ABV.

Lift Bridge Brewing Company   

  • Frosted Sugar Cookie Hard Seltzer – A limited holiday seasonal seltzer made with edible glitter.

Little Thistle Brewery

  • Jam Packed – A strawberry sour ale described as “fruity and refreshing.”

LocAle Brewing Company

  • HibernAle – A Scottish Export-style winter beer that pours a deep amber and 5.8% ABV with “notes of brown sugar, biscuits, and a crisp malty finish,” the brewery says.

LTD Brewing Co.

  • Alter Hop #6 – An American IPA with a crisp, pale malt base and dry-hopped with Citra and Idaho 7, LTD explains. 6.0% ABV.
  • Anti-Gravity Machine – “A double dry-hopped New England style double IPA packed with five hop varietals…Simcoe Cryo and Ekuanot Cryo in the whirlpool. Then dry-hopped twice with Citra, Galaxy, and Sabro hops, resulting in a supernova of tropical citrus fruit on the nose followed by an explosion of stone fruit, pineapple, and mango hop juice,” the brewery says. 8.4% ABV.
  • Cranberry Sour – One of two new sours released last week. This uses LTD’s sour base recipe and adds cranberry puree.
  • Emily’s Dream Tequila Sunrise Sour Ale – A tequila barrel-aged sour beer with sweet cherries and blood orange puree.
  • Mixed Berry Cheesecake Sour – Available for Firkin Friday in extremely limited supplies, this sour beer was made with cheesecake mix, blueberry, raspberry, blackberry, strawberry, vanilla, and graham cracker crumble. 4.5% ABV with preorders recommended.
  • Water Dragon – A watermelon and dragonfruit sour with a touch of passionfruit too.

 

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LTS Brewing Company

  • Blackberry Lime – One of three new hard seltzers sold at LTS in Rochester, either individually or in a 3-pack Crowler package.
  • Cranberry Apple – Another new hard seltzer flavor.
  • Moscow Mule – Another new hard seltzer flavor.

Luce Line Brewing Co.

  • Sunrise – A new hazy pale ale.

Lupulin Brewing Company

  • Never Surrender – Top Flight selection.

Modist Brewing Co.

  • Special Reserve Mallow – An oak-aged pastry lager. This time it’s a little… special,” the brewery says. “We upped the ABV, doubled the adjuncts, aged it in oak, wrapped it in gold and silver with diamonds oozing from the eye sockets, and dubbed it Special Reserve.” Available at the brewery and in liquor stores, this imperial lager features milk sugar, marshmallows, and vanilla beans, plus oak notes from conditioning.
  • Stave Robber – Released this week in bottles, via raffle, this limited Barrel Theory collaboration is a barrel-aged imperial stout with pistachio, toasted coconut, and vanilla beans.

New Glarus Brewing Company

  • Cabin Fever – The honey bock is back to keep Wisconsinites (and border-crossing beer tourists) warm for the winter.
Talking Waters Brewing Company
  • Smile With Your Eyes – “This delightful DIPA brewed with our man Brett from Drastic Measures oozes with passion fruit + candied melon thanks to a new banger hop from down under—NZL 32-2. Citra was also sprinkled in for good + juicy measure. Drink up, mask up, and let’s see those eyes smile,” says the brewery.

Tin Whiskers Brewing Company

  • Oatmeal Cookie Red Ale – A malty red ale brewed to taste like a fresh-baked Oatmeal Cookie. 5% ABV, 28 IBU.
  • Blueberry Cobbler Pastry Sour – Beer + Baked Goods + Blueberries + Biscuit. It’s basically breakfast, in beer form. 4.8% ABV, 12 IBU.
  • Button Masher Mixed Berry Smoothie Sour – Brewed with Raspberries, Strawberries, Boysenberries, Blackberries, Blueberries, and Vanilla,  and named after our expert-level Smash Bros gaming style, this taproom favorite is graduating to cans and will be available in all our territories next month. 4.7% ABV, 10 IBU.
  • Oatmeal Stout – A rich, balanced stout for stout season. 5.8% ABV, 20 IBU.
  • Red Ale – A beer-flavored beer, for beer fans. 5% ABV, 28 IBU.

Venn Brewing Company

  • Cara Cara Orangeberry – An imperial kettle sour infused with Cara Cara oranges and cranberries. 9.0% ABV, 0 IBU.

Waconia Brewing Company

  • Blood Orange Sour – New this week.

Wild Mind Ales

  • Consult the Oracle – Aged in the brewery’s new horizontal lagering foeders, this is an English-style old ale with molasses. “The result is a wave of dark fruit, followed by a touch of burnt sugar and finishes with a warming sensation,” the brewery says. 8.0% ABV and available in Crowlers.
  • Rented Luxury – Top Flight selection.

Beers just announced

Blacklist Brewing Co.   

  • OR Cran – A Belgian-style strong ale with cranberry, this beer will be available in wax-dipped bottles next week, or as soon as it’s fully ready, the brewery says.

Lift Bridge Brewing Company   

  • Silhouette – Preorders are open now for Silhouette barrel-aged imperial stout, which officially becomes available on January 14, 2021. Two new variants will also be available this year:
  • Silhouette Vanilla Bean
  • Silhouette Mission Fig & Orange

 

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Left Hand Brewing Co.

Left Hand Brewing of Colorado shared its brand calendar recently. In 2021 fans can look forward to:

  • Bittersweet Nitro Imperial Coffee Milk Stout – Returning to the market very soon, this milk stout features dark roast coffee with berry notes and pours at 8.9% ABV.
  • Black Forest Nitro – Made with real cherries and chocolate, this beer will be available next fall, with Black Forest cake-like flavors.
  • Found Fortune – An 8.7% ABV DIPA dry-hopped with El Dorado, Galaxy, and Citra hops.
  • Moscow Mule Pale Ale – A 5.5% ABV pale ale with lime and ginger flavors that was previously available in Can Mixed Packs.
  • Key Lime Pie Nitro – A sour ale with lactose, lime, vanilla, and cinamon will be released as part of the Limited Nitro series.
  • S’mores Milk Stout – A new milk stout made with marshmallows and spices, coming next fall.
  • Wook Bait – A new year-round beer with citrus and tropical flavors, coming in summer 2020.
  • St. Vrain Tripel – This Belgian-style golden ale will become a year-round offering in March. Inspired by traditional Belgian recipes, the beer uses Colorado barley and American hops. 9.3% ABV.

New Glarus Brewing Company

  • Dancing Man – A Bavarian wheat ale seasonal release from New Glarus, beginning in January.
  • Triple 5 – The first 2021 release in the Thumbprint series is to be a Belgian-style tripel made with five unique grains and a 9% ABV.

Waconia Brewing Company

  • Honey Double IPA – To be available on January 12 at the brewery in Waconia.
  • Mojito Seltzer – Coming on January 19, a recent newsletter says.
  • Peach Sour – Coming on January 26.

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