Maple, Cranberry, and Fresh Hops crank Fall Beer Flavors to 11

Castle Danger Maple Märzen • Photo via Castle Danger Brewery

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. 

The hops are being harvested and tossed straight in the boil and, just like the leaves, the taps are changing colors. There’s a lot to choose from: porters and Pilsners to pumpkin and peanut butter, and so much more.

Of course, that’s in addition to the now-staple sour and hazy styles, the oncoming fall spice flavors, and a growing presence of big body beers—even a Wintry Mix on the horizon. 

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

Able Seedhouse Peanut Butter Porter – Just tapped yesterday, this is a robust porter with roasted chocolate notes, with extra peanut butter and graham cracker added to the pot.

Castle Danger Solstice Saison – A new light and fruity saison with holiday spice, sold as part of the Wintry Mix 12-can sampler pack.

Mankato Cross-Czech Pils – Cross-Czech Pils is a smooth, easy-drinking brew made with traditional ingredients and a modern deke: we have included traditional grain and yeast paired with popular modern hops,” Mankato says. Named to celebrate Mankato (the city) hosting Hockey Day MN on Jan. 22, 2022.

Unmapped Broken Bat IPA – Brewed with fresh hops from Dan Gladden’s farm, this IPA taps at 4pm on Saturday, with the former Twins’ outfielder onsite and signing autographs.

Venn Community Hops IPA – A 6.5% ABV fresh hop IPA made with locally grown hops from Community Hops garden.

New beers available this week

608 Brewing Company

• Baby Dream – One of three new Dream releases: a milkshake IPA with strawberry puree, blood orange, and milk sugar. 6.8% ABV.
• Mr. Dream – This milkshake IPA was made with blood orange and milk sugar. 6.6% ABV.
• Mrs. Dream – A 6.8% ABV milkshake-style IPA with strawberry puree and milk sugar.

Able Seedhouse + Brewery

• Peanut Butter Porter – Top Flight selection.
• Oktoberfest – A traditionally-styled festbier, described as having “a balanced, floral hop profile and a deep bready characteristic” by Able.

Arbeiter Brewing

• Haunted Haze – A juicy hazy IPA brewed with a Citra, Mosaic, and Cascade hop combo. 6.8% ABV.
• Sucker Punch IPL Series w/ Nectaron Hops – A hopped up lager with notes of honey, peachy, and citrus, the brewery says. 6.4% ABV.
• Gestalt Alt – “Altbiers are a deep copper color, biscuity, slightly sweet, and also have assertive hop character in them,” the brewery says. 5.0% ABV.

Badger Hill Brewing Company

• Baguette Eater Saison – A crisp and effervescent saison.
• Honey Badger – A seasonal IPA.

Castle Danger Brewery

• Maple Märzen – Castle Danger’s annual Oktoberfest lager is malt-forward and made with local syrup. It’s described as balanced and slightly sweet. Available at the brewery and select bars and restaurants.
• Solstice Saison – Top Flight selection.
• Turn Up the Good – This new double IPA is on tap at the brewery now and is also sold in the Wintry Mix sampler pack.

Dangerous Man Brewing Company

• Paloma Hard Seltzer – A cocktail-inspired hard seltzer made with grapefruit, lime, guava, and a hint of sage. 6% ABV, gluten-free.

Disgruntled Brewing

• Late to the Fest – A festbier-style lager.
• Oracle – A dry-hopped saison: “Kohatu, Rakau, and Taiheke hops bring you intense flavors of fresh orchard & floral notes,” the brewery says. 4.8% ABV.
• Pie Eyed: Aronia Berry Pie

Duluth Cider

• Cran-Orange Sour –A heavily fruited semi-sweet cider at 5.9% ABV.

Eastlake Craft Brewery

• Got Dang! – A juicy double IPA made with kveik yeast and featuring notes of pineapple, mango, cannabis, and passion fruit. “It’s a strikingly delicious solar flare, bursting with soft citrus flavor at 10% ABV,” Eastlake says. On draft and sold in 4-packs of 16-ounce cans.
• Kirby Pucker #26: Acai Peach Gose – Sold only in liquor stores, this sour ale features açaí berry and peach puree.

Fair State Brewing Cooperative

• Brave Noise – A multi-brewery beer brewed to promote inclusivity, Fair State’s version is a hazy pale ale with resinous tropical fruit flavors. Half of Crowler sales will be donated to Seward Longfellow Restorative Justice.
• East of the Andes – Available on at Cellar Saturday at the brewery, this is an imperial stout aged on amburana wood from Brazil, which gives notes of cinnamon and rum with a lighter body than many beers in the style.

Invictus Brewing Company

• Straight From The Pit – A special beer made using malt smoked by Smokey’s Pub n Grill for the bar’s ninth anniversary.

Lake Monster Brewing

• Double Depth Charged – A double dry-hopped double IPA take on the brewery’s juicy IPA.

Lift Bridge Brewing Co.

• Batch 4000 – Lift Bridge celebrates a milestone with a new citrusy double IPA that was double dry-hopped with Strata, Mosaic, and Citra hops for grapefruit and tropical notes. 8.5% ABV.

Lupulin Brewing Company

• House IPA w/ Nelson & Rakau – A 7.5% ABV IPA, on tap now.

Mankato Brewery

• Cross-Czech Pils – Top Flight selection.
• Leaf Raker – A fall seasonal nut brown ale at 6.9% ABV.

Modist Brewing Co.

• Campfire Jeans – An oak foeder-aged Helles lager that debuted last Saturday.

Oliphant Brewing

• Lizardize Mariguanas –An IPA made with Citra, Wakatu, Warrior, and Amarillo hops. 6.6% ABV.
• Nose Hozzle – A Baltic-style porter at 8% ABV.

PawPrint Brewery

• Hound Dog – A brown ale with peanut butter and bananas. Back on tap. 5.5% ABV, 44 IBU.
• Triple Dog Dare – A 9.2% ABV, 31 IBU Belgian-style tripel.

Pryes Brewing Co.

• Star Seer – The latest Cartographer Collection release is a triple dry-hopped hazy IPA made with Minnesota honey to complement the Strata, Cashmere, and Vic Secret-driven flavors.

Rogue Ales & Spirits

• Pineapple Party Punch – An 8.3% ABV hazy imperial IPA with pineapple and coconut.
• Pumpkin Patch Ale – Brewed with real pumpkins. 6.1% ABV and available now.

Shakopee Brewhall

• Loki’s Daughter – A clean and bright, slightly maltier, Munich-style Helles lager. Gluten-reduced.
• Magic Feather – A porter with chocolate notes and the addition of real peanut butter.

Tin Whiskers Brewing Company

• Spicy Salted Nut Roll Ale – On tap today (and in Crowlers too), this year’s candy bar-inspired beer brewed with peanut butter, caramel, and vanilla adds a spice element.

u4ic Brewing, Incorporated

• Oktoberfest – A 6.2% ABV crisp “Helles-style” lager.

Uncommon Loon Brewing Company

• Oktoberfest – A Märzen-style lager, tapped last month.

Under Pressure Brewing Company

• Märzen – A smooth-drinking fall lager. Back on tap.
• Smorang the Old Fashioned – A smoked ale with blood orange. “This brew will make you think you’re drinking a refreshing old fashioned,” the brewery proclaims.

Union 32 Craft House   

• Oktoberfest – An amber-hued malt-forward fall lager.

Union Pizza & Brewing Co.

• Handsome Joe – The blonde ale recently returned on tap.

Unmapped Brewing Co.

• Anutter Peanut Butter Porter – “This beer was brewed with six different malts giving it a complex base that keeps the peanut butter flavor from overpowering the beer,” Unmapped says, with subtle peanut butter and less sweetness. Vegan.
• Broken Bat IPA – Top Flight selection.
• Hazy Traveler: Perry – A hazy IPA featuring Belma and El Dorado hops plus prickly pear puree.

Ursa Minor Brewing

• Oktoberfest
• Dulutherweisse – “Duluth in a can. This blueberry cherry lemon session sour is…tart, light, and refreshing with light citrus notes followed by a punch of cherry with a subtle hint of blueberry in the finish,” the brewery says.

Venn Brewing Company

• Blackberry Saison – “At 5.5% ABV, a classic dry French saison that pairs perfectly with the sweet and slightly tart flavors of luscious blackberries,” the brewery says.
• Community Hops IPA    – Top Flight selection.

Voyageur Brewing Company

• Boreal Double IPA
• Red Sash Irish Red Ale
• Saganator Doppelbock

Wabasha Brewing Company

• Darktoberfest – Released a week ago and sold in limited 750-milliliter bottles.
• Great Pumpkin – A pumpkin cream ale.

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