It’s Oktoberfest Season! Wait, it’s Oktoberfest season?

OMNI Oktoberfest is one of many Märzens and Festbiers hitting the market this week • Photo via OMNI 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. 

Europe has long influenced beer-making in the USA. And with Oktoberfest season upon us, that mark has rarely been more obvious. This week sees litres of new Märzens and festbiers beers pouring across the state, but also Belgian singles, witbiers, hefeweizen, and French yeast-based saisons.

The rich tradition of classic recipes continues. Of course, there’s also plenty of experimentation from watermelon gose, strawberry rhubarb pastry ale to now staple American styles like barrel-aged stouts and hazy IPAs.

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

Bent Paddle Altbear Altbier – “Malt forward, medium sweet, with lots of toasty Munich malt, ending with a nice minerality on the finish,” the brewery says of this taproom offering.

Boom Island Tonka Weiss – A Minnetonka-made German-style hefeweizen with notes of banana, bubblegum, and clove.

Broken Clock Happy Hour Red Ale – “A malt-focused, lightly hopped beer with toasty malt character and a subtle yet present fruitiness,” the brewery says.

Oliphant Smoked Wheat Erryday – A smoked wheat ale with pineapple, chipotle peppers, and lactose. 7% ABV.

Summit  Oktoberfest – Available now, in both 6- and 12-packs, Summit’s unchanged Märzen-style lager is back. Expect toffee and caramel notes with a crisp twist courtesy of the European hops.

New beers available this week

608 Brewing Company

• Betaburst – A 6% hazy IPA with peach and tangerine notes with a slightly lower summer-friendly ABV.

The La Crosse, WI brewery celebrates its third anniversary all weekend long with nine special releases.

Available today on tap and sold in 4-packs:

• 608 Premium Lager – A 5% Helles-style lager.
• Cheetawesome Cherry Lime Koolatron 608 Premium Lager A “drink mix sour” at 7% ABV with lemonade stand vibes, the brewery says.
• Imperial Strawberry Rhubarb Coconut Crisp – This pastry sour was made with strawberry, rhubarb, coconut, cinnamon, and vanilla. 7% ABV.
• Rype: Pina Colada – A fruited sour ale with coconut, pineapple, lime zest, and notes of a certain cocktail. 5.5% ABV.
• War Materials: Strata – A West Coast-style double IPA using a classic malt bill for the style with more modern hops for notes of burnt orange peel and apricot marmalade with dank undertones, the brewery says. 8.5% ABV.

Available on draft and in limited 500-milliliter bottles beginning at 11 am on Saturday:

• BA Coconuts Rule Everything Around Me – A barrel-aged imperial stout with coconut and vanilla beans — both of which were doubled from the previous batch. 13.2% ABV.
• BA Nebulous Void – The brewery’s flagship barrel-aged imperial stout. 13.5% ABV.
• Lick: Bananas Foster – A barrel-aged imperial stout with banana, cinnamon, and vanilla beans. 13.4% ABV.
• Lick: Neapolitan – With flavors like the ice cream, this barrel-aged imperial stout, 13.4% ABV, was made with extra strawberry, cocoa nibs, and vanilla beans.

608 Brewing bottles release for its anniversary party • Photo via 608 Brewing

Alloy Brewing Company

• Passion Fruit, Orange, and Guava Earthshake IPA 608 Premium Lager A fruited milkshake-style IPA. 9.0% ABV, 40 IBU.

Back Channel Brewing Company

• Zubaz New England Double IPA – “We teamed up with one of the most iconic brands of the ’90s, Zubaz, to celebrate the dynamic duo who helped popularize the brand with their persona in the weight room & the ring,” says the brewery. At Noon on Saturday, Zubaz New England Double IPA (7.50%) will be available on tap and Crowlers at the taproom.

BeerClub Brewing

• Single Speed – A Belgian-style Single with slightly spicy and slightly fruity flavors, including apricot. 5.5% ABV.

Bemidji Brewing

• Oktoberfest – A bready and herbal autumn lager.

Bent Paddle Brewing Co.

• Altbear Altbier – Top Flight selection.
• Lollygagger
• Paddle Break Blonde – A summer exclusive sold in the Adventure Pack sampler.

Birch’s On The Lake

• Key Lime Pie Sour
• Oktoberfest

BlackStack Brewing

• T-Shirt Cannon – A collaboration with Twin City Tees, this is a big New England-style triple IPA. “We got carried away with Idaho 7 Cryo, Michigan Chinook, Mosaic, and El Dorado in fired-out-of-a-cannon quantities,” the brewery says. 10.4% ABV.

Blue Wolf Brewing Co.

• My Oh Mai Maibock – A 6.1% ABV bready and malt-forward Maibock lager.

Bobbing Bobber Brewing Company

• Murky Waters – An orange cream sour ale.

Boom Island Brewing Company

• Seedless – On tap and in cans too, this is a watermelon gose made with real watermelon, Himalayan sea salt, and coriander.

Bricksworth Beer

• Kinda Clever – A Beligna-style witbier at 5.5% ABV, the brewpub says: “Extremely fluffy head with a kiss of spice, courtesy of Valencia orange peels and a wee bit of coriander.”

Broken Clock Brewing Cooperative

• Crop Circles – An American wheat beer with a sweet, crisp flavor and low bitterness. 4.7% ABV. The brewery is hosting the charitable Pup Fest on Saturday.
• Happy Hour Red Ale – Top Flight selection.

Drekker Brewing

• Bomb Plop – A new fruited hard seltzer inspired by the frozen treat with a comparable name: flavors of blueberry, raspberry, cherry, and lime abound.
• Sticky Digits – A s’mores porter with cacao nibs, Golden Grahams cereal, graham crackers, toasted marshmallows, brown sugar, lactose, and vanilla. 6.5% ABV.
• Braaaaaaaains! – A smoothie-style beer made with raspberry, sea salt, lactose, and vanilla. 6.5% ABV.
• Everybody Love Everybody – A collaboration with The Brewing Projekt, this “rainbow sherbet sour,” is brewed with lemon, lime, orange, cherry, raspberry, guava, marshmallows, lactose, vanilla beans, and, of course, rainbow sherbet. 7.6% ABV.

Dual Citizen Brewing Company

• Elbow Bender– A Kolsch-style ale at 5% ABV, 17 IBU.

Eastlake Craft Brewery

• Kirby Pucker Beet Gose Infused With Ginger Ale – Like a ginger ale with 4.5% ABV.

Fair State Brewing Cooperative

• 25th and Harrison – Unlike many of its modern, high gravity ultra-sweet peers, this chocolate stout is an easy-drinking 5.8% that finishes smooth,” the brewery says. Foeder-aged which imparts extra tannin notes.
• Callista Pils – A crispy Czech-style Pilsner with tropical and stone fruit on the nose and a slight grassy/spicy kick, the brewery days. 4.9% ABV.

Founders Brewing Co.

• Oktoberfest – A copper-hued Märzen-style lager with rich, malt-forward flavors.

Great Lakes Brewing Co.

• Oktoberfest – A Marzen-style lager.

Junkyard Brewing Co.   

• Losing Clarity Gaining Substance – A fruited sour with tart and sweet flavors of raspberry, blackberry, and banana. 5.6% ABV.
• Vince Vega – A Citra-hopped New England-style double IPA with juicy orange, white peach, pear, candied orange peel, and stone fruit flavors. 8.2% ABV.

Lakes & Legends Brewing Company

• The Wanderer: Groves Edition – The latest recipe in this IPA series combines Lemondrop, Motueka, Sorachi Ace hops, and lemon peel for citrus-forward flavors.

Lakes & Legends The Wanderer Hazy IPA • Photo via Lakes & Legends Brewing Company

Lupulin Brewing Company

• Oktoberfest – In stores now, this Märzenbier offers rich, toasty, and sweet flavors with a clean lager finish. 5.7% ABV, 30 IBU. Available at liquor stores now but not available from Lupulin until its Oktoberfest party on Sept. 18.

Modist Brewing Co.

• Green Greens – A New England-style IPA double dry–hopped with Sabro, Galaxy, and Simcoe Cryo. On tap this Saturday and in stores beginning next Tuesday.
• Half Believing Time – A fruited Berliner Weisse made with wheat malt, apricot, orange, cherry, coconut, almonds, milk sugar, and vanilla. On tap Saturday and in liquor stores next week.

Oliphant Brewing

• Lumberjack Baes – A hazy IPA made with Citra, Mosaic, and Amarillo hops, in collaboration with Lolo/Proper/Lolito restaurants.  6.9% ABV.
• Sangy Squishy – A 5% ABV sour ale with peanut butter and banana, plus marshmallow, cherries, and cacao nibs.
• Smoked Wheat Erryday – Top Flight selection.

OMNI Brewing Co.

• Oktoberfest – Now on tap at the brewery and also sold in 4-packs at liquor stores.
• sota Sippin’ – An Arnold Palmer-style ale brewed for the annual sota clothing-sponsored party in St. Louis Park this Saturday.

Steel Toe Brewing

• Hoptread 9 – “We know you love hops, so right on the heels of Hoptread 8, is Hoptread 9 – an IPA with a wonderful gold color. It is a hop-forward beer with aromas of pine, pear, and berries from Chinook, Ekuanot and Azacca hops and has a bready malt character that is complemented by medium-high bitterness. 6.9% ABV. Available on tap only (for now). $6.50/pint,” says the brewery.

Summit Brewing Company

• Oktoberfest – Top Flight selection.

Surly Brewing Company

• Invisible Rays – A tropical IPA with pineapple and guava-like flavors derived from Talus and Lotus hops. 6.8% ABV. Contains lactose.

Tilion Brewing Company

• Bohemian Redsody – A Bohemian-style red lager.

Tin Whiskers Brewing Company

• Dark Cherry Dragon Fruit Lemon Sour – Tapped last week.
• Funken Fest – Made with traditional German ingredients, this Marzen-style lager is crisp, yet malty, the brewery says.

Toppling Goliath Brewing Co.   

• Mornin’ Delight – Bottle sales begin on Friday for this imperial stout with strong maple syrup and coffee flavors.

Venn Brewing Company

• Citra Citra Citra Hops! – A Citra-hopped West Coast-style IPA that pours at 6.8% ABV, 50 IBU.

Waconia Brewing Company

• Sherman House Shandy – On tap, today, as a brewery exclusive named for the Waconia landmark, this late summer shandy offers a tart lemon sweetness from its blend of blonde ale and lemonade. 3.1% ABV, 13 IBU.

Wild Mind Ales

• Gold String Fiddle – A dry-hopped rustic saison, this herbal and classic-style saison offers notes of wildflower and citrus in part from the use of Ella ops post-fermentation.

Wooden Hill Brewing Company

• Captain Chunk – At 6.4% ABV, this milkshake-style IPA adds strawberry, banana, and vanilla to its core IPA recipe.
• Experimental 586 – “A single-hop IPA showcasing the new experimental HBC 586 variety, which boasts a large medley of sweet tropical fruit aromas,” the brewery says. 6.7% ABV.

Wooden Ship Brewing Co

• Blueberry-Honey Saison – A French-style saison with wildflower honey and blueberry puree. 5.9% ABV.
• Grapefruit-Cardamom Saison – This French-style saison was brewed with added cardamom and grapefruit. 5.0% ABV.
• Jungle Stuff Pt. 1 – “This beer began as our hazy ipa, but then quickly got an upgrade as we dry-hopped with Mosaic, Cashmere, and Nelson Sauvin, and then added loads of tangerine, guava, and mango purees to create a tropical haze bomb,” the Minneapolis brewery says. 5.8% ABV.
• Mango Cream Ale– A cream ale with added mango for a sweet note. 5.3% ABV.
• Tart Saison – At 4.4% ABV, “This beer was fermented with a co-pitch of sour and French saison yeasts. Heavy amounts of black peppercorn and Hallertau Blanc hops give it an interesting combination of spice and white wine notes,” the brewery says. A collaboration with Venn.

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