Junkyard Maximum Potential Bock-style Lager • Photo via Junkyard Brewing

Junkyard Maximum Potential Bock-style Lager • Photo via Junkyard Brewing

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. 

Spring is almost bock back. After several sweet, sticky, and sometimes salty stouts for Valentine’s Day, the pastry push has slowed down with several crushable lagers hitting draft lines from Moorhead to Minneapolis, Robbinsdale to Duluth, and beyond. From light lagers to refreshing Pils and malt-tinged Viennas, the beers (and the days) are getting lighter.

 

 

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

Bemidji Spring IPA – “This year we are exploring new techniques that push the limits of hop saturation and fruit flavors. A dense hop bill consisting of Idaho 7, Nelson Sauvin, and El Dorado work in synergy alongside an expressive yeast to create bright citrus flavors of candied orange and lemon. This hazy IPA is backed by an ultra-light pillowy grist that showcases the complexity of this intense hop profile,” the brewery explains.

Fair State Lórien Pils – A light, crisp Pilsner with notes of lemongrass, green tea, and geosmin, the brewery says. 4.7% ABV and brewed in collaboration with Single Hill Brewing Company.

Hoops No. 1867 – A German-style Vienna lager with slight fruit notes balanced by light malt and a dry finish, the brewery says.

Insight Focal Points – A Baltic porter collaboration with neighbors to the north Falling Knife, this 7.8% ABV malt-forward beer had added cherries and vanilla and is on tap and also sold in 4-packs.

Nouvelle Petite Quad – Released in bottles, this is a Belgian-style dark strong ale fermented on Organic Petite Syrah grape must. “The grape’s profile of blueberry, chocolate, plums, and pepper with high tannins and acidity make it the perfect cellaring companion to the notes of fig, dried cherry, ripe stone fruit, and dark chocolate in this rich and complex Belgian,” the brewery says. 10.6% ABV.

New beers available this week

Soapy Joe's Car Wash

608 Brewing Company

  • Alphaburst – A hazy triple IPA with flavors of candied orange peel, melon, and a firm bitterness, the brewery says. Made with Strata, El Dorado, Amarillo, and Citra hops. 9.5% ABV.

Alloy Brewing Company

  • Pil$ To Pay – A refreshing German-style Pilsner with sweet malt flavor. 4.9% ABV, 31 IBU.

Arbeiter Brewing

  • Acid Factory Plum – A new 4.3% ABV plum sour ale.
  • Bee Sting – A honey cream ale at 6.2% ABV.

Bemidji Brewing

  • Cold IPA – The brewery is hosting a ticketed event on Saturday to premiere this upcoming beer.
  • Spring IPA – Top Flight selection.

BlackStack Brewing

  • Final Fantasy – An 8.0% ABV double IPA made with Citra and Simcoe Cryo hops, plus Phantasm, described by BlackStack as “a shiny new product made out of Sauvignon Blanc grapes skins from New Zealand. The aroma precursors found in Phantasm, referred to as Thiols, help us free even more pungent aromas from the hops we’re using.”

Boom Island Brewing Company

  • Rosa Raspberry Chocolate Belgian Strong Ale – Tapped for Valentine’s Day.

Bricksworth Beer

  • Citra & NZ Cascade Pale Ale – “Quite the little sipper showcasing some extremely pungent Citra with rather zippy New Zealand Grown Cascade, also known as Taiheke,” the Burnsville brewpub says. 5.5% ABV.

Dangerous Man Brewing Company

  • California Dreamin’ – A bitter and earthy West Coast-style IPA with Maris Otter and Munich hops, in addition to Centennial, Simcoe, and Cashmere hops. 7.9% ABV.
  • The King of Coconuts – On tap and sold in limited bottles now: “An imperial stout brewed with coconut sugar, activated charcoal, honey and coconuts,” the brewery explains. And then “aged in Old Fitzgerald 7 Year Bourbon barrels and conditioned on additional coconut.”

Drekker Brewing

  • Braaaaaaaains! – Passion fruit, plus orange, plus guava, plus sea salt, lactose, and vanilla. 7.2% ABV.
  • Struggle Bus – A “breakfast sour” made with orange, brown sugar, vanilla, coconut, cinnamon, and maple syrup. Back for the first time since 2019. 6.4% ABV.

Fair State Brewing Cooperative

  • Heckin’ Chonker – “A luxurious blend of multiple barrel-aged stouts with vanilla beans and a hint of fresh stout added for vibrancy,” says Fair State. Available now. The brewery will be sampling the 2020 vintage for its Cellar Saturday pour tomorrow.
  • Lórien Pils – Top Flight selection.

Firestone Walker Brewing Company

  • Hopnosis – A new, double dry-hopped West Coast-style IPA with mango, passion fruit, white grape, and lychee flavors. 6.7% ABV.

Garphish Brewing Company

  • Blood Orange Cream Ale
  • Long Lake
  • Salty Admiral – A candy-inspired 9% ABV imperial stout with rich, salty, and sweet flavors.

Goat Ridge Brewing Co.

  • Nordic Raw Ale – Tapped last weekend.
  • S’mores⁣ Krampus – A winter beer available in bottles.

Hayes’ Public House   

  • Imperial Bananas Foster Pastry Stout – This big beer features a big dose of banana chips, as well as chocolate rum cordials, cinnamon, and vanilla. 9.6% ABV.

HeadFlyer Brewing

  • Hey Baby, Hey Baby – A 4.5% ABV kettle sour with strawberry up front, complemented by guava and lime.

High Pines Brewing

  • Shouting Into A Storm Hazy IPA – A hazy IPA with pineapple and tropical fruit flavors.
  • Worth The Struggle Cherry Chocolate Stout – “Once the aroma of this beer hits your nose, you’ll believe you are opening a fresh box of chocolates,” the brewery says, adding, “You’ll realize that the box of chocolates is actually a fresh box of chocolate-covered cherries.”

Hoops Brewing

  • No. 1867 – Top Flight selection.

Ineffable Brewing Co.

  • The Doppelscotch – Released in early February, this collaboration with Boathouse Brothers merges Scotch ale character (and yeast) with doppelbock notes, the brewery says. 7.1% ABV.

Insight Brewing

  • Focal Points – Top Flight selection.
  • Thin Ice – A 5.3% ABV kettle sour with raspberry, blackberry, and vanilla. Tapped in early February.

Invictus Brewing Company

  • Tyrannosaurus-Press – A pastry stout made with 100 pounds of T-Rex cookies, then infused with cold press coffee.

Island City Brewing Co.

  • Pilot Batch #61 – A limited India pale lager made with Citra, Chinook, and Warrior hops. 9.7% in ABV with a smooth, dry finish, the brewery says.
  • Undertow – A bigger version of Devil’s Cave oatmeal milk stout, with smooth chocolate flavors and 9.5% ABV.

Jack Pine Brewery

  • Black Bear Oatmeal Stout – A dark stout with rich, roasty coffee flavors and a soft body from the oat addition. 5.6% ABV.
  • Chocolate Covered Cherry Seltzer
  • Raspberry Vanilla Stout – A sweet and fruited stout tapped just in time for Valentine’s Day. 5.3% ABV.
  • Working Overtime – “While the majority of us were out of office on holiday vacation, the yeast in this brew took no breaks,” the brewery says of this 8.1% ABV double American IPA featuring Citra, Mosaic, and HBC-586 hops.

Junkyard Brewing Co.   

  • Berry Season – A sour ale made with blueberries and marshmallow fluff. “Just think of a homemade blueberry pie with a dollop of whip cream on top,” Junkyard says. 7.4% ABV.
  • Hatchet Jack – “This was our first beer ever brewed on our homemade brewing system back in the day,” the brewery says of this limited release.
  • Maximum Potential – A bock-style lager with nutty bread notes, honey graham cracker, and an amber hue. 6.4% ABV.
  • Tripping on Blackberry – A blackberry-based sour ale with cherry. On tap and in 16-ounce cans too.
  • Werewolves at Luncheon

Leinenkugel’s   

  • Summer Shandy – Sometimes the bold north goes straight from winter to summer.

Lupulin Brewing Company

  • West Coast IPA – 6% ABV, 77 IBU.

Nouvelle Brewing

  • Helles Drink A Beer – A light in color Helles-style lager with “a touch of grainy sweetness” the brewery says. 4.8% ABV.
  • Mashed Potato Fingerprints – Nelson Sauvin, Citra, Cryo Amarillo, and Cryo Azacca hops combine for notes of gooseberry, passion fruit, and papaya in this 6.6% ABV silky smooth New England-style IPA.
  • Nouvelle Kids On The Block – A 4.6% ABV hoppy lager brewed in collaboration with soon to open Heavy Rotation Brewing, offering notes of peach, pineapple, tropical fruits, and bready malt.
  • Nuvi Light – “Crisp and clean American light lager made with domestic pilsner and 2-row pale malt with an American-sized helping of corn,” the brewery says of this 3.8% ABV light American lager.
  • Petite Quad – Top Flight selection.
  • Pils – “House Pilsner brewed with a single malt and single hop with citrus, herbal, and floral flavors with a firm bitterness,” the brewery says of this 4.8% ABV German-style lager.
  • Staff Meal – A German-style amber lager with toasted and caramel malts for notes of toasted bread, sweet malt, and a medium body. 5% ABV.
  • Unlimited Breadsticks – A cold IPA with dank and tropical flavors that include passion fruit, guava, orange blossom, and pine, the brewery says. 7.5% ABV.

Oliphant Brewing

  • Ingrained IPA – Columbus, Chinook, and Mosaic team up in this 6% ABV Midwestern IPA, while Oliphant teamed up with Trollhaugen ski resort and Interior Plain Project to make it for the Lord of the Ropes snowboard event on Feb. 25.

Rogue Ales & Spirits

  • Gumberoo – A new West Coast-style IPA with pine hops and tropical fruit flavors. “The finish is a nice blend of malts, fruit, and pine with a lingering bitterness,” Rogue says. 6.8% ABV, 66 IBU and sold in 6-packs of 12-ounce cans.

Southern Tier Brewing Company

2XIPA is getting its own double IPA-themed variety pack, as Southern Tier has three brand new DIPAs coming soon in the 2X Factor IPA Mixed Pack:

  • 2XCITRUS – A double IPA fruited with orange and grapefruit. 8.2% ABV.
  • 2XHAZE – A hazy double IPA with juicy and tropical flavors. 8.2% ABV.

2XPERIMENTAL – A West Coast-style dank IPA made with experimental hops from Hop

  • Breeding Company. 8.2% ABV.

Surly Brewing Co.

  • Two Too Much – A hazy double IPA that advertises a release on 2-2-22, but it appears to have hit stores a little earlier.

Toppling Goliath Brewing Co.   

  • Zeelander – “Nelson Sauvin hops from New Zealand create this delightfully earthy, floral, and crisp grapefruit-flavored IPA with aromas of citrus and mandarin oranges,” the brewery says.

Utepils Brewing Co.

  • Springbok – An almost-spring seasonal heller bock.

Venn Brewing Company

  • Opulessence: Sexxxy Delicious – A 12% ABV imperial stout with chocolate and raspberry.

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