Oktoberfest reaches critical mass–But there’s plenty of oddball beers too!

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. Top Flight beers are not necessarily available for purchase at Dabbler Depot–call for availability. 

Badger Hill Brewing Company Banana Stand Hefeweizen – A German-style hefeweizen with notes of clove and banana. On tap now, including at the brewery’s Shacktoberfest Party this weekend.

Fair State Brewing Cooperative Union Lager – A lager collaboration with Schell’s, to note both breweries’ unionized workforces, delivering crisp flavors of both malt and hops. 5.3% ABV and available on draft and in 6-packs.

Junkyard Brewing Co. Slaps! – “We brewed this fruited sour with buckets of strawberry and fresh rhubarb, plus a bit of plum and hibiscus,” Junkyard says, making it reminiscent of a strawberry rhubarb pie. 7.2% ABV.

Keepsake Cidery River Valley Reserve 2021 Medium Pét-Nat – Also in bottles now, “This cider is a blend of apples from two orchards in two river valleys. As a keeved cider, the sweetness in the cider is from a naturally-arrested fermentation. Black tea and smoke mix with earthy tropical fruit and plums for a medium-bodied cider.”

Oliphant Brewing Meat Tubes of Antiquity – A beer where the name does not give away the style, this is an imperial stout that spent 10 months in 45th Parallel Spirits bourbon barrels.

New beers available this week across Minnesota

22 Northmen Brewing Company

• Ricky Martin – A 6.8% ABV West Coast-style IPA.

Alloy Brewing Company

• Caramel Apple Pie ‘What Happened?!’ Bourbon Cream Ale – The latest What Happened?! Series bourbon cream ale comes with an apple pie twist. Caramel, apple, vanilla, and cinnamon come together for an 8.7% ABV, 11 IBU imperial cream ale.
• My Precious – A hazy IPA made with Mandarina Bavaria and Pacifica hops. 5.3% ABV, 34 IBU.

Badger Hill Brewing Company

• Banana Stand Hefeweizen – Top Flight selection

Bemidji Brewing

• DDH Nectaron – A limited taproom release, this is Nectaron IPA, kicked up a notch. “Our classic IPA dry hopped at twice the usual rate,” the brewery explains. “Nectaron hops, a new variety from New Zealand, lend notes of overripe fruit and orange creamsicle.” 6.5% ABV, 50 IBU.

Brau Brothers Brewing Co.

• Wild Mike’s RyePA – 6.5 % ABV, 69 IBU.

Brewing Projekt

• Wisktoberfest 2022

Eastlake Craft Brewery

• Kirby Pucker #34 – A sour ale, previously on at the Minnesota State Fair, now available at Eastlake. This beer is a “lemon briny treat,” the Midtown Global Market-located brewery says.
• Passionfruit High & Dry – A new flavor of Eastlake’s THC-infused hard seltzer is available. 5mg.

Elm Creek Brewing Co.

• Full Nelson – A New England-style IPA brewed in collaboration with Heavy Rotation, tapped on Monday.

Fair State Brewing Cooperative

• Union Lager – Top Flight selection

Goat Ridge Brewing Co.

• Unfazed Hazy IPA – “Hazy and light. Sweet fruit, pineapple and soft spice hop flavors and aromas,” Goat Ridge says. 6.1% ABV, 31 IBU.

Hacienda Beer Co.

• Don’t Go Changing – A 6.0% ABV German-style festbier, tapping at the Wisconsin brewery on Saturday.

Heavy Rotation Brewing Co.

• Final Finals – The Kölsch-style ale is back at the brewery.
• Lean Into It – The New England-style IPA is back on tap.

Island City Brewing

• Peer Pressure – The hard seltzer is pouring in two new flavors: Mojito (back after hiatus) and Raspberry Vanilla.

Jack Pine Brewery

• Citra, Meet Nelson We’re all for trying new things, so we introduced one of our favorite hops, Citra, to the tropical hop from New Zealand, Nelson Sauvin, explains Jack Pine. A 7.5% ABV juicy IPA.
• Wildberry Cucumber Vengeance! Jalapeno Cream Ale – A 4.6% ABV sweet and spicy cream ale with a unique flavor pairing.

Junkyard Brewing Co.

• Junktoberfest – Amber in color and featuring a toasty malt sweetness, Junkyard’s 5.5% ABV fall seasonal lager is back.
• Pulpasaurus – Available in 4-packs.
• Slaps! – Top Flight selection
• The Bonnie Situation – This New England-style haze-bomb is packed with juicy peach and white grape juice flavors plus hints of pine and resin, Junkyard says.

Keepsake Cidery

• River Valley Reserve 2020 Dry Café – A new vintage is available in bottles, with the cidery describing it with: “Notes of tropical fruit and farmhouse character on the nose. Flavor profiles of leather, smoke, and black tea tannins together with a pleasant stone fruit acidity.”
• River Valley Reserve 2021 Medium Pét-Nat – Top Flight selection
• Sunset Dry 2020 Pét-Nat – An unfiltered, unpasteurized and spontaneously fermented cider aged on black currants, aronia berries, and Frontenac and Marquette grapes.

Kinney Creek Brewery

• Miss Agatha – A Belgian -style summer ale with banana notes and mild bitterness.
• Yellow Jacket

Klockow Brewing

• Münchkin – The featured beer at Saturday’s Oktoberfest celebration. Also sold in 4-packs.

Lake Monster Brewing

• Oktoberfest – On tap at the brewery now, this fall transition beer is “built on a foundation of German Vienna malt,” Lake Monster says.

Lakeville Brewing Co.

• 5% Pale Ale Please! – “Light copper color, loaded with Minnesota-grown Chinook and Centennial hops from Civil Sass, with a proper firmly bitter finish this American Pale Ale was inspired by and named for a simple request,” the brewpub says of it’s 5% ABV pale.
• Lakeville Gold Festbier – A 6.2% ABV German-inspired festbier.
• Palisade Peach Pale Ale – A fruit-forward but not overly sweet IPA fruited with Colorado-grown peaches. 6.3% ABV.

Lift Bridge Brewing Co.

• Key Lime Pie – On tap in Stillwater and New Richmond while supplies last.
• Mini Donut – The state fair is over, but there is still Mini Donut available at Lift Bridge’s taprooms.
• Pumpkin Pie Beer – The latest collaboration with Cub is a light-body amber ale with added pumpkin puree and pie flavors. 4% ABV.

Lupulin Brewing Company

It’s party at both Lupulin locations (Big Lake and Sioux Falls), with the following beers available:

• Apfelstrudel – Festbier infusion
• FallsFes – A Sioux Falls exclusive available on Saturday, this beer is “sessionable like a Festbier but with the body and maltiness of a Marzen.”
• Festbier – A 5.9% ABV German-style festbier lager.
• Oaked Märzen – As the name suggests, this 5.7% ABV German-style lager was aged on oak.
• Oktoberfest Märzen
• Rumtoberfest
• Two Nutz – The brown ale made with a malt bill of Pale 2-Row, Crystal T50, Crystal Dark, Chocolate, Simpsons Golden Naked Oats tapped earlier this week and is also available in 16-ounce cans for the first time.

Oliphant Brewing

It’s the eight anniversary at Oliphant, with two new bottled imperial stouts available (below), plus additional limited barrel-aged releases available onsite.

• Meat Tubes of Antiquity – Top Flight selection
• Sealed VHS Copy Of The Kindness Trap – A 45th Parallel bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout cold conditioned on coffee.

Pryes Brewing Co.

• PryesFest – A smooth and toasty Marzen-style lager, and the namesake beer for PryesFest this Friday-Sunday at the brewery.
• This Side Down – A pineapple upside cake of a beer, this is a tropical smoothie sour with orange, cinnamon, and cherry.

Spiral Brewery

• Foxtoberfest

Urban Growler Brewing Company

• Pilsner – A single decocted German-style Pilsner that pours at 5.6% ABV, 32 IBU. Available now.

Waconia Brewing Company

• Apple Crisp Ale 

Whit Wort Brewing

The new brewery in Gibbon is celebrating its grand opening this Saturday with the following new pours:

• Citrus Paradis IPA – 7.14% ABV
• Honey Pot – 6.7% ABV and featuring local honey.
• Ocktoberfest – 6.2% ABV
• Rapple Dapple – A 5.5% ABV raspberry and apple beer.

Wild Mind Ales

• Obscura – A foeder-aged sour ale with blackberry, plums, sea salt, and buckwheat honey. 
• Sunken Cathedral – “Sunken Cathedral is a smoothie-style sour ale with blackberry, lime and marshmallow. A decadent and tart treat in liquid form,” the brewery says.
• Trans-Atlantic Balloonish – A smoothie-style sour ale made with mango, guava, and marshmallow. Sold in 4-packs at select liquors.
• WLD WTR Infusions – A lightly carbonated hemp-derived THC drink with a light fruit cocktail flavor of pineapple, orange, and cherry. Released in a small batch, this has already sold out, with more to come, the brewery says. 5mg.

Wooden Hill Brewing Co.

• Plant Z – A juicy IPA made with Ekuanot and Zappa hops which impart tropical and zesty flavors. 6.2% ABV. The brewery is celebrating Oktoberfest this Saturday from 12-5pm.

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