Fall Back to Classics—Ambers, Browns, and ESBs

Each week, the Beer Dabbler team highlights five of the most tantalizing new beers available around the great state of Minnesota that we’re most excited to try. Check out these Top Flights at Dabbler Depot–call for stock availability. 

Bent Paddle Christmas Cookie Cream Ale – Inspired by traditional Scandanavian Christmas cookies, notes of vanilla, almond, and cardamom make this a great choice for your upcoming holiday party.

Drekker Creeper’s Pet Sour Cider – An exciting collaboration between Drekker Brewing Company and Wild Terra Cider, this cider smoothie sour offers notes of apple, mango, and guava. 6.0% ABV.

Einstok Icelandic Toasted Porter & Winter Ale – Einstok has two new arrivals to the Twin Cities this week. Their Toasted Porter has clear notes of espresso and dark chocolate, while the Winter Ale offers a sharp taste of whisky and pine.

Insight Demo Tape Hazy IPA – Another exciting collaboration. This time between Insight and Fair State Brewing Cooperative, this IPA was brewed with Phantasm powder and YCH 303 Trial Blend hops.

Firestone Walker Brewing Company Mocha Dolce – “Tastes like your favorite latte,” proclaims Firestone. Strong flavors of rich coffee, cocoa nibs, and vanilla beans. 6.0% ABV, 35 IBU.

New beers available this week across Minnesota

608 Brewing Company

Two special bottles will be available on Black Friday at 608 in La Crosse:

• Black Label Nebulous Void  – “We set aside our two favorite barrels to blend together to create our Black Label line of Nebulous Void,” the brewery explains of this special, blended 13.6% ABV bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout. Sold in 500-milliliter bottles.
• Bourbon Barrel German Chocolate Cake – Vanilla beans, cocoa nibs, toasted coconut, and toasted pecan were added to this Heaven Hill bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout. 13% ABV. Sold in 500-milliliter bottles.

Badger Hill Brewing Company

• Appreciable Mental Strain Imperial IPA – Available on Black Friday, Nov. 25.
• Long Dark Imperial Stout – Available on Monday, Nov. 21.
• Madness is the Method – Belgian-style Quad, available on Monday, Nov. 21.
• Peace Out – A double IPA brewed to honor Badger Hill’s first employee, who is moving to a new job. It’s a hop-heavy, Phantasm thiol powder-boosted 9% ABV double IPA with flavors of passion fruit, mango, and apple. On tap Saturday.

Bemidji Brewing

• Double Porter – A 10.0% ABV, 24 IBU upscaled porter with rich, decadent notes of coffee, cocoa, and subtle raisin with a warming finish.

Boomtown Brewery

• Fresh Harvest IPA

Brew d’État

The brewery has unveiled two Thanksgiving-themed varieties of Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube imperial sour ale:

• Blueberry Pie – Brewed with 36 pounds of blueberries per barrel, plus “a hint” of spices, the brewery explains. 8.0% ABV.
• Cranberry Sauce – This recipe was made with 27 pounds of cranberries per barrel, plus orange zest and spices. 8.0% ABV.

Dangerous Man Brewing Company

• Black Almond Rum Barrel-aged Imperial Stout – Bottles went on sale one week ago of this smooth, yet 13% ABV, stout with robust roast flavors, smooth spice, and additions of toasted almonds, dark chocolate, cacao nibs, and vanilla beans.
• Blueberry Maple Double Stout Barrel-aged and available today, both on draft and in 750-milliliter bottles.
• French Silk Double Stout
• Home Improvement – “Brewed with local malted grains and hopped with Citra Cryo, Triumph and Trident hops. This beer drinks exceptionally smooth and fluffy. Bursting with juicy flavors of orange, grapefruit, and tropical fruits and finishes with a dash of pine. $1 from every beer sold will be donated to Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity,” the brewery says.

Earth Rider Brewery

• Casket Quarry – Available today, this is a West Coast-style IPA inspired by a trip to hop country in the Pacific Northwest. “Cascade, Chinook, and Centennial’s floral and citrus flavors and aromas are showcased on light-handed malt sweetness and biscuit that has just enough dryness and bitterness to balance beautifully,” the brewery says. On tap now and to be sold in a mixed 12-pack in distribution come springtime.
• Cedar Sour Red 2022 – Available on Wednesday, Nov. 23, this mixed fermentation sour ale was aged in a French oak barrel and is a Flanders-style red with tart notes of cherry, stone fruit, leather, and cedar. Available on draft and sold in 375-milliliter bottles at the Cedar Lounge Taproom (including in a 3-pack with multiple vintages).
• Whiskey Barrel Aged Imperial Stout – Available on Nov. 25, this imperial stout is aged in a Vikre Distillery Sugarbush Whiskey barrel and infused with raspberries, with the final product offering notes of bourbon, maple, coconut, roasted malt, caramel, chocolate, and vanilla. On draft and sold in 12-ounce bottles onsite, in limited supply.
• Whiskey Barrel Aged Imperial Stout with Raspberries – A Black Friday companion to Whiskey Barrel Aged Imperial Stout (above), this limited offering was infused with raspberries. On draft and sold in 12-ounce stubby bottles.

Elm Creek Brewing Co.

• Indistinct Chatter – A 4.8% ABV brown ale.
• Overanalytic – A 5.2% ABV amber ale.
• Still Night – A milk stout with added blueberry, cocoa, and vanilla with a smooth texture and 8.0% ABV.
• Unwinding Subconscious – A double dry-hopped double New England-style IPA made with Mosaic, Strata, and Zappa hops. 8.5% ABV.

Fair State Brewing Cooperative

• Holidoinks – Available on Wednesday, Nov. 23, “Fair State is releasing Holidoinks – a celebratory, more robust version of Big Doinks that incorporates some additional malt character and hop varieties,” the brewery explains. “This 6.5% brew contains classic notes of pine, resin, citrus, and a hint of dank, with enough bitterness to cut through the dessert course.”
• Speculative Inference – A unique pale ale fermented with thiol yeast along with added brettanomyces claussenii, then dry-hopped with Strata. 5.2% ABV.

Fulton Brewing

• Sparkling THC-Water – Sold in glass bottles with 4.20mg of THC per serving. Non-alcoholic, and both gluten and sugar-free. Available in both blood orange and lime flavors.

Goose Island Brewery

This year’s lineup of the seminal bourbon barrel-aged stout is available on Black Friday, Nov. 25:

• Bourbon County 30th Anniversary Reserve Stout –Aged in a Small Batch collection of Jim Beam barrels, this offering has notes of dark chocolate, vanilla, cherry, and almond.
• Bourbon County Biscotti Stout – Goose Island says flavors of anise, marzipan, cocoa, and buttered toffee are found in this stout.
• Bourbon County Coffee Stout – A coffee stout collaboration with Intelligensia coffee roasters of Chicago, the first coffee stout in the series since 2017.
• Bourbon County Proprietor’s Stout – This version is influenced by the jungle bird cocktail with added banana, coconut, lime, and pineapple.
• Bourbon County Sir Isaac’s Stout – Inspired by fig cookies and graham crackers, Sir Isaac’s flavor profile includes notes of dried fruit, honey, molasses, and citrus, according to Goose Island.
• Bourbon County Stout – Aged and blended from bourbon barrels from Heaven Hill, Four Roses, Wild Turkey, and Buffalo Trace. The brewery says to expect notes of vanilla, dark chocolate, toffee, molasses, almond, and dried fruit in this 14.4%-ABV imperial stout.
• Bourbon County Two-Year Barleywine Reserve – “This Reserve offers us a rare opportunity to highlight the distinct characteristics of our rich Barleywine aged in 14-year, 16-year, and 17-year-old barrels of an amazing bourbon pedigree,” Goose Island says, with flavors of toffee, cherry, vanilla, fig, and almond.

Hacienda Beer Co.

• Everything Eventually – A hazy pale ale with Citra hops. 5.9% ABV. Available on Saturday.

Hop & Barrel Brewing Company Hudson

• Belgian Quad    – Available on Sunday, Nov. 27 for Small Brewery Sunday.

Lake Monster Brewing

• Raspberry Sour – “Based on a traditional German Berliner Weiss, our Raspberry Sour adds layers of raspberry flavor for a perfect blend of sweet, fruity, and tart,” Lake Monster says. Available at the brewery.

Lakes & Legends Brewing Company

• Barrel Aged Imperial Stout: Raspberry – The next special infusion for the Stout Szn celebration taps on Friday, Nov. 25.

Lakeville Brewing Co.   

• Close Proximity – An amber lager, “Close to an Oktoberfest, close to an Irish Red, and made with Proximity malts from Colorado,” the brewpub says. Expected malt-forward roast flavors and mild hop bitterness. 6.8% ABV.
• Peko Porter – A Baltic-style porter with toffee, caramel, and raisin flavors and a medium body. 8% ABV.
• Test Acre Bourbon BA Barleywine – “This English style barleywine was brewed in collaboration with our friends at RockFilter Distillery in Spring Grove MN. We added their homegrown organic corn and oats to our grain bill, heaped in a healthy amount of maple syrup, and laid this portion of the batch to rest in their small batch bourbon barrels. Layers of caramel and raisin, with hints of vanilla and bourbon, lead the way,” the brewpub says. 10.5% ABV.

Lupulin Brewing Company

• Scherbee Lager – A 4.8% ABV export amber lager.

North 20 Brewing Co.

• Harvest Moon  –A newly tapped blood orange IPA. 6.6% ABV.

Northbound Smokehouse & Brewpub

• Rye Fieri IPA – A collaboration with La Doña Cervecería, this IPA was tapped last week.

Oliphant Brewing

• Xuul – Doppelbock, 8% ABV.

Pantown Brewing Company

• Holly Brew 2 – A sugar plum sour, tapped for Holly Ball 2 on Wed. November 16.

Rogue Ales & Spirits

• Santa’s Private Reserve – This year’s holiday beer is a collaboration with Oregon truffle makers Honey Mama: a stout with tangerine, tahini, and chocolate. 6.5% ABV, 19 IBU.

Saint Paul Brewing

• Dreamline – A cherry cheesecake-infused porter tapped on Tuesday.
• Trees – This hazelnut-infused porter will tap on Tuesday, Nov. 22, just before Thanksgiving.

Sisyphus Brewing

• The Spice Must Flow – A fall seasonal pumpkin spiced ale, tapped in October.

Snarky Loon Brewing Co.   

• Nak’d Bear – “Hit with roasted and chocolaty malt and sweetness, this stout has plenty of oats and lactose to make a sweet treat for these cooler months. This is a light and easy drinking ale from the nitro tap that gives off that creamy and velvety mouthfeel expected of a stout,” the brewery explains.

Sociable Cider Werks

• Rusty Chain

Spiral Brewery

• Mind The Gap – Tapped on Nov. 5, Spiral’s first beer, an ESB, is back – this time in support of women in brewing.
• Mind The Gap NA – A non-alcoholic version of the ESB is available as well.
• Mrs. Hjermstad – A malty, sweet, and crisp dark lager named after the matriarch of the Hastings Brewing Company.
• Pumpkin Dark Lager – Tapped before Halloween and 5.6% ABV.

StormKing Barbecue and Brewpub   

• Pomme de Greg – A collaboration with Number 12 Cider, this is a Belgian-style dark strong ale at 12% ABV.  “Think raisin bread meets apple pie. Not too sweet with a dry finish,” the brewery says.

Sunken Ship Brewing Co.

• Revolving Constellations – A 6.7% ABV hazy IPA with white grape, sweet fruit, and citrus flavors from a combination of Southern Hemisphere hop varieties.
• The Old Crown – Bready, toasty, and caramelly flavors from the malt compliment earthy, woody, and fruity notes from the hops, the brewery says of this 4.6% ABV ESB/pub ale.

Surly Brewing Co.   

• Feastbier – Sold only in the Surly Thanksgiving Feast Meal Kit, this limited beer is amber in color with dark fruit, cocoa, vanilla, and honey-like flavors, packed with a meal to-go.

Urban Growler Brewing Company

• Imperial Snowplow Brown – At 7.5% ABV, 35 IBU, Urban Growler describes Snowplow as malty, and toasty, with a hint of honey.

Utepils Brewing

• Minnator – A newly available doppelbock with malt-forward toast and biscuit notes.

Venn Brewing Company   

• Solid Generic Hazy IPA

Wooden Hill Brewing Co.

Pixie Catcher – The cran-raspberry sour is back, just in time for Thanksgiving. Pouring at 4.5% ABV it’s made with cranberry, raspberry, and lactose and offers sweet and tart flavors.

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