Lemons, Limes, and Mexican-style Lagers are the Flavors of the Week

Waconia Cerveza Del Lago • Photo via Waconia 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. 

From lemons and limes to Mexican-style lagers, it’s crushable, low cal, and low alcohol beer season. Sure, there are still a few heavy, imperial and lip-warming beers on tap, but more and more lineups are getting lighter and bubblier to correspond with sunnier days.

Summit has a brand new addition to the Crusher Kölsch-style lineup, Mexican lagers tapped far and wide across the state this week for Cinco de Mayo, and lemon-forward shandies are here and south of the border (in Iowa).

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

Eastlake Craft Brewery Got Dang! – A limited double dry-hopped double IPA that’s also infused with vanilla.

Fair State Foamers Lime – “Foamers Lime is essentially Crankin’ Foamers, our real-deal corn lager, slightly modified to reduce hop aroma, and with a substantial addition of real lime puree. It’s lightly tart, crisp, and citrusy, with a super fresh lime aroma that really pops and smells like, well, actual limes,” the brewery says in its weekly newsletter. 4.5% ABV.

Goat Ridge Notion Potion Sour – “Notion Potion is a kettle-soured Berliner weisse with pink guava and tangerine. This refreshing sour hits the spot at 3.7%,” the brewery says.⁣

Ineffable Effing Limited – Made in collaboration with LTD, “We all decided that we wanted to brew a white stout using a similar grain base as our New England IPA (without the hops) and age it with some of our favorite dessert ingredients: caramel coffee beans, cacao nibs, vanilla beans, and marshmallows. The result is a harmonic balance of these four flavors all at once.” 6.4% ABV.

Summit Cabin Crusher Kölsch-Style Ale with Lemon – A Kölsch-style ale with refreshing lemon, this returns for 2021 in the new Crusher Soulmates combo pack, featuring six 12-ounce cans of Lemon Cabin Crusher, and six cans of the brand new tangerine variant.

New beers available this week

Alloy Brewing Company

• Drink Me – A hazy IPA made with Southern Passion and Meridian hops that pours a more sessionable 5.4% ABV, 31 IBU.

Angry Inch Brewing

• Love Potion 208 – Inspired by the mint julep cocktail and on tap for Derby season.

Clown Shoes Beer

• Pineapple Space Cake – A limited, fruited take on Space Cake flagship double IPA.

Dogfish Head Brewery

• Lemon Question – A non-alcoholic wheat brew with real lemon puree, blueberry juice, acai berries, monk fruit, sea salt, and Hopsteiner Polyphenol-Rich Hop Pellets.

Duluth Cider

• Tequila Barrel-Aged Margarita Cider – Served only on Tuesdays (to pair with Oasis Del Norte Taco Truck) on draft, this barrel-aged cider comes garnished with a salt rim and lime wedge.

Eastlake Craft Brewery

• Got Dang! – Top Flight selection.

Fair State Brewing Cooperative

• Foamers Lime – Top Flight selection.

FINNEGANS Brew Co.

• Trails End Pale Ale – Available in the taproom, this beer is a West Coast–style pale ale. “A slight orange and copper color with notes of sweet malt and a bitter hop bite. The aroma is pineapple, pine, and grapefruit,” FINNEGANS says.

FINNEGANS Kicked to the Herb • Photo via FINNEGANS Brew Co.

Forager Brewery

• Jalisco Especial – A 5% ABV Mexican-style lager now on tap.

Forbidden Barrel Brewing Co.

• Sheri’s Lemon Shandy

Garphish Brewing Company   

• Stalker Lake IPA – Back on tap as of last week.

Goat Ridge Brewing Co.

• Lone Triumph Hop Lager – “A light, crisp and easy-drinking lager,” Goat Ridge says, with bright notes of orange and peach from its hop profile. 5.4% ABV.
• Notion Potion Sour – Top Flight selection.⁣

Gravity Storm Brewing Cooperative   

• Lawyers, Guns, & Money – A Russian imperial stout aged on oak spirals that were soaked in bourbon. 12% ABV.

Great Lakes Brewing Co.

• Lake Erie Monster Imperial IPA – A special series release available in 16-ounce cans.

Hayes’ Public House   

• Branwen’s Broken Heart – Black currant ale.
• Dullahan Coffee Porter – Porter infused with cold press coffee. 6.5% ABV.
• Fliodhais Irish Cream Milk Stout – An annual collaboration with Dubh Linn Irish Brew Pub (Duluth) that utilizes an Irish stout base then infused with both milk sugar and Irish cream. 7% ABV, 25 IBU.

Hoops Brewing

• No. 2021 Emily’s Extra IPA – On tap now in celebration of Homegrown Music fest in Duluth.
• No. 3925 Abbey Ale – “A malty robust Belgian style ale with delicious fruit notes and a tummy warming finish,” the brewery says.

Imminent Brewing   

• Batch 185e hefeweizen – A small experimental batch traditional-style hefeweizen with banana and clove flavors that tapped last Friday. 5.1% ABV, 19 IBU.
• Motor Pool Pilsner – A crisp, clean, and dry Pilsner, the brewery says.

Ineffable Brewing Co.   

• Effing Limited – Top Flight selection.

Invictus Brewing Co.

• Hazy Crazy IPAzy – A 6.2% ABV, 60 IBU hazy IPA.

Kinney Creek Brewery

• Controlled Burn – Fresh peppers and sweet chocolate flavors and on tap this week.

Lake Monster Brewing

• Smooth Sailing – A pilot batch imperial Maibock, “It has a robust pilsner-malt sweetness and a smooth-sailing clean finish,” Lake Monster says.

Lakes & Legends Brewing Company

• Things We Don’t Say IPA – Brewed in collaboration with Eagle Park Brewing Company for mental health awareness, this American IPA is on tap now.

Lakeville Brewing Company

• Maibock – Maibock is brewed to welcome the coming of spring, and what a welcome spring this is! This light copper-colored German lager has a pleasant floral hop and malty-sweet aroma, followed by a full-bodied malt-forward flavor, and a crisp dry finish that begs for another gulp. 5.8% ABV.
• Swagger Wagon NEIPA – This hazy slammer is made with only a single variety of hop, BRU-1, which delivers a delicious grapefruity and fresh pineapple-laden pint. Careful, this one goes down easy! 5.8% ABV.
• Berry Nice – Spring has sprung and summer isn’t too far away! Get all the fruits in my beer! A blend of strawberry, sweet dark cherry, and a little blueberry work together to give this wheat beer its enticing aroma and full flavor. 5.4% ABV.
• Tres Equis Mexican Lager – An annual spring seasonal that is always a crowd-pleaser. 5.9% ABV.

Lakeville Swagger Wagon NEIPA • Photo via Lakeville Brewing Co.

Lift Bridge Brewing Company

• The Bomb – A hard seltzer with blue raspberry, cherry, and lime. 120 calories per can.

Modist Brewing Co.

• Fang & Bone – On tap this Saturday and in liquor stores next week, “It’s our New Zealand-style Pilsner aged in our oak foeders then hopped and dry-hopped with New Zealand Wakatu and Nelson Sauvin.”
• Hypersolid – After a slightly delayed release, this New England-style IPA with a blend of Citra, Strata, Columbus Cryo, and Mosaic Cryo hops in on tap now and in liquor stores next week. 6% ABV.

OMNI Brewing Co.

• Festbier – A 5% ABV German-style festbier for patio season.
• Things We Don’t Say IPA – Part of a multi-brewery collaboration using the same base American IPA recipe to raise funds and awareness for mental health causes.

Pryes Brewing Co.

• Miraculumn – Not a new beer, but a new can size for Pryes’ flagship IPA, which is now also available in 12-packs of 12-ounce cans.

Rush River Brewing

• Phase 3 – The latest in the Phase hazy IPA series is made with Hallertau Blanc, Mandarina Bavaria and Hüll Melon hops and pours at 7.1% ABV.

Schell’s Brewery

• Maibock – A 6.3% ABV Limited Batch release.

Stacked Deck Brewing

• Attack of the… Cherry Pie – A 6.5% ABV fruited sour ale made with cherries, brown sugar, graham crackers, and vanilla.
• Double Guava Astronaut Sauce – A sour ale made with a heavy dose of guava, on tap and in Crowlers now, and in liquor stores next week, the brewery says.
• Dungeon Masters Guide – An tap now and sold in 4-packs/16-ounce cans, this is an 8.0% ABV double IPA made with Citra, Mosaic, and Strata hops.
• (A Crowler Boys Mystery) The Secret of the Citra Smugglers – An 8.5% ABV double IPA showcasing Citra hops. On tap, in Crowlers, and also sold in 4-packs/16-ounce cans.

Summit Brewing Company

• Cabin Crusher Kölsch-Style Ale with Lemon – Top Flight selection.
• Lake Crusher Tangerine – A new entry into the Crusher Kölsch-style lineup, this fruited variety is sold in the new Crusher Soulmates combo pack. “Sweet orange flavors meld with the zesty, citrus Lemon Drop and Loral hops to create a tangy, juicy brew, Summit says. 4.8% ABV.

Surly Brewing Company

• And the Devil Makes Three – A triple dry-hopped IPA, “And The Devil Makes Three uses El Dorado, Simcoe, and Cascade hops for a bedeviling hit of citrus, stone fruit, and pine flavor, all balanced by an oat-driven malt backbone and massively smooth body,” the brewery says. 10.6% ABV.
• Mansplain Survivors IPA – Brewed on International Women’s Day in March, this new IPA features Citra and Taiheke hops, which impart notes of citrus, grapefruit, and lime.

Tin Whiskers Brewing Company

• Thunder Shock – A blackberry and mango hazy IPA, available at the brewery now.
• White Wine Saison – “Open-top-fermented with Chilean white wine grape must, this saison has crisp notes of banana, coriander, bubblegum, and apricot,” the brewery says.

Toppling Goliath Brewing Company

• Camp ShandyShore – A lemon shandy that taps in Minnesota and other states soon.

Urban Forage Winery & Cider House   

• Herbed Cider – A cider made with anise hyssop, mint, and bee balm from Saint Paul. “The flavor is unlike anything else we’ve made and truly tastes like spring,” the cider house says.

Utepils Brewing

• No. 62 Mexican Lager w/ Lime – Brewed in collaboration with The Freehouse, this new beer tapped on Cinco de Mayo and is available at Utepils now and at all Blue Plate restaurants soon.

Waconia Brewing Company

• Cerveza Del Lago – “Cerveza del Lago (Beer of the Lake) is straw gold in color and unfiltered to showcase the delicate balance of yeast, hops and malts. This corn forward lager is extremely crushable and refreshing! Mt. Hood hops balance the sweet malt backbone and extended aging brings the crisp yeast character forward,” the brewery says. 5.2% ABV, 18 IBU.
• Strawberry Lemonade – A gluten-free, low carb, calorie-conscious beverage at 5.2% ABV, 0 IBU.

Wooden Hill Brewing Company

• Vacation Mode – A tropical milkshake IPA in limited supply, made with passionfruit, guava, mango, lactose, and vanilla, plus a dose of pineapple this time around.

Wooden Hill Vacation Mode • Photo via Wooden Hill Brewing Company

Wooden Ship Brewing Co.

Open, as of today, in the Linden Hills neighborhood of Minneapolis, Wooden Ship plans a rotating lineup, starting with:

• Black Currant Sour
• Cream Ale
• Ginger Wheat
• Golden Ale
• Milk Stout
• Oak and Beechwood Smoked Porter
• Pale Ale
• Saison
• Sai Anything Saison
• Weather Report NEIPA

Beers just announced

Foxhole Brewhouse

• Foxyrita Gose – A margarita-inspired gose with lime zest.

Hayes’ Public House

• Cline’s Fine Malt Liquor with Lemon – Part of the ongoing Working Class Series made in collaboration with Tunes on Tuesday’s Jake Cline, this will be a crisp, clean 7.3% ABV, 25 IBU beer with a hint of lemon, the brewery says.

Kinney Creek Brewery

• Conundrum – An upcoming IPA from Rochester’s elder brewery.

Lake Monster Brewing

• Blood Orange IPA – In the fermenters and coming soon, the brewery announced in a recent newsletter.
• Things We Don’t Say IPA – An American IPA brewed to raise mental health awareness, coming soon. A portion of the proceeds from sales be donated to help support Hope For The Day’s proactive suicide prevention and mental health education programming.

Lupulin Brewing Company

• Adopted Highway – An IPA scheduled for later this month.
• Apricot Blonde – Coming later this month, a recent newsletter announced.
• DDH Fashion Mullet – Lupulin will celebrate its sixth anniversary on May 22. To mark the occasion, the brewery will release a double dry-hopped version of Fashion Mullet IPA, plus new beers in the Scribbled Lines series (still to be named).
• PILS, PLZ – A dry-hopped Pilsner brewed in collaboration with Talking Waters.
• Ryelee’s Amber – A smoked amber ale, expected later this month.
• Super Karate Monkey Death Car – A pastry stout with coconut and banana.
• Vanilla Dreams – To come later this month, is will be an imperial stout aged on oak spirals with vanilla.

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