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.

While hops can certainly contribute to the holiday flavor experience (orange and pine are both traditional, after all), ‘tis the malt-forward season where a big grain bill sets the tone. We see robust porters, spiced dark ales, and imperial stouts galore on tap and in bomber bottles this week, with extra flavors of pecans, mint and much, much more. Several breweries are celebrating milestones, calendar occasions or just plain celebrating beer with bottle releases and holiday markets.

 

 

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

Elm Creek Canis Minor – This dunkelweizen “[is] filled with aromas of banana, clove, and coriander. It has a malty finish and a hint of bitterness on the backend,” the brewery says.

Forager Directionless and Drifting – A coolship saison fermented in neutral wine barrels with notes of cedar, orange peel, honey, and grapefruit zest. 6% ABV.

Jack Pine Deadfall Russian Imperial Stout – “Opaque and pitch black, The RIS is a big and bold stout with an assertive but smooth, lingering hop bitterness. A slightly sweet and creamy, full bodied beer with distinctive dark chocolate and roast character backed up by notes of dark fruit, caramel, and subtle coffee,” Jack Pine says. 9.4% ABV.

LocAle HibernAle – HibernAle is crafted as a Scottish export-style ale with Scottish pale malt and British specialty malts to give it caramel, biscuit and toasted pecan notes, the brewery says. 6% ABV.

Luce Line Neon Moon – On tap and in bottles, this imperial stout has added smoked, maple-candied pecans for extra holiday flair.

New beers available this week

608 Brewing Company

  • Betaburst: Cashmere + Mosaic – Melon, pineapple, and starfruit flavors set the tone in this 6% ABV hazy IPA sold on draft and in 4-packs.
  • Bourbon Barrel Reindeer Bait – A barrel-aged imperial pastry stout with holiday pretzels, white chocolate, cocoa nibs, marshmallow, and vanilla added. The end result is 12% ABV and is sold in 500-milliliter bottles, beginning Saturday at 12pm.
  • Hype Machine: Mixed Berry – The latest smoothie sour series offering is packed with blackberry, strawberry, raspberry, and marshmallow and, as 608 puts it, is “Full bodied, sweet and loaded with berry goodness.”

608’s Reindeer Bait • Photo via 608 Brewing Company

Alloy Brewing Company

  • Earthshake IPA: Tart Plum & Apricot – A milkshake-style IPA made with plum and apricot. 8.4% ABV, 40 IBU.

Alloy’s Tart Plum and Apricot Earthshake • Photo via Alloy Brewing

Arbeiter Brewing

  • Vienna Lager – On tap now, this lager is described as “like a toasty pilsener,” with a drier body and lighter color than many Vienna-style lagers, but still containing the bitterness and alcohol level. 4.8% ABV, 27 IBU.

Arbeiter also introduced the second installment of the Arbeiter Holiday Crowler 3-Pack, featuring three exclusives only sold in this pack:

  • Chocolate Mint Stout – “Intense chocolate flavor with the perfect touch of candy cane peppermint atop a roasted stout base,” the brewery says. 5.3% ABV, 34 IBU.
  • Mulled Spice Wee Heavy – A traditional wee heavy base infused with traditional mull spices: orange peel, nutmeg, allspice, clove, and cinnamon. 9.9% ABV, 31 IBU.
  • Spruce Sessionista – Colorado blue spruce tips were added to this batch of Sessionista. 4.7% ABV, 23 IBU.

Arbeiter’s Holiday Three-Pack • Photo via Arbeiter Brewing Co.

Bad Weather Brewing Company

Ominous double brown ale is now available in three special variants, sold in a sampler pack:

  • Coffee Ominous
  • Peanut Butter Ominous
  • Vanilla Ominous

Bent Paddle Brewing Co.

  • Breaker – Bright flavors of grapefruit, pine, and tropical fruit define this West Coast-style IPA with a crisp, dry, and bitter finish. 6.8% ABV, 55 IBU. Taproom only.

Clown Shoes Beer

  • 12 Color Rainbow –An anniversary West Coast-style IPA celebrating 12 years of Clown Shoes, 12 Color Rainbow is described as herbal, dank, woodsy, and floral.

Dual Citizen Brewing Company

  • Gopher Long – A rye pale lager brewed with Czech Pilsner malt, acidulated rye malt, biscuit rye, triticale, and hopped with Magnum and Hallertau Mittlefruh. 5% ABV.
  • Kind of Pink – A pink-hued fruited sour with blackberry and pineapple in fermentation, and dehydrated lemon in the brewing process. 5.3% ABV.

Elm Creek Brewing Co.

  • Canis Minor – Top Flight selection
  • Hyper Vigilance – Sabro and Citra hops set the tone in this New England-style IPA at 6.5% ABV with orange pith, coconut, and citrus flavors and notes of orange, mango, and passion fruit.

Fair State Brewing Cooperative

The Holiday Stout Explosion on Thursday unveiled the following lineup:

  • Coconut Rum Barrel-Aged Tacos Stuffed With Lobsters – A stout with coconut, caramelized cacao nibs, and vanilla beans, aged in rum barrels to finish it off. A collaboration with Bottle Logic.
  • FSB 2021 – “Our 2021 iteration of this barrel-aged stout features a copious amount of vanilla from our friends at Vanilla Bean Kings. It’s impressively un-boozy for a 13.5% stout. The dessert vibes are strong with this one—it’s like a shot of Irish cream with a Charleston Chew chaser,” the brewery says in its latest newsletter.
  • Supermassive Black Hole Tsunami – A unique mixed fermentation whiskey barrel-aged porter with grapes, herbs, and citrus zest made in collaboration with Dashfire Distilling.
  • You Can Have The Crown – A throwback imperial stout without adjuncts or barrel-aging.

Fair State’s Supermassive Black Hole Tsunami • Photo via Fair State Brewing Cooperative

Firestone Walker Brewing Company

  • Kookie Monster – The latest Propagator release is a chocolate chip cookie-inspired double milk stout with vanilla beans, cocoa nibs, and brown sugar at 8% ABV. 

Forager Brewery

Three bottled beers go on sale at 10am this morning:

  • A Deeper Understanding – A 12.5% ABV imperial stout aged in bourbon barrels with vanilla for flavors of chocolate, marshmallows, cherry, spice and more.
  • Close For Comfort – A barrel-aged pastry wine aged on coconut, pecans, and vanilla. 13% ABV.
  • Directionless and Drifting – Top Flight selection

Hop & Barrel Brewing Spring Valley

  • Hazy Valley 2.0 Released next week or 2 A hazy IPA and recipe tweak from the first batch (on tap upon opening the brewery), this take features a heavy dose of Cashmere hops in boil, then dry-hopped with Galaxy, Mosaic, and more Cashmere.

Invictus Brewing Co.

  • Horror of the Shade Imperial Stout – Chocolate and coffee flavors set the tone in this smooth-bodied imperial ale that pours at 8.1% ABV, 60 IBU.

Jack Pine Brewery

  • Deadfall Russian Imperial Stout – Top Flight selection

Junkyard Brewing Co.

  • Super Slush – “The fresh tropical splashes of guava paired with the exotic tartness of passionfruit, stirred in with the creamy, rich blend of vanilla and lactose creates the perfect combination of sweet and sour,” Junkyard says. 5.9% ABV.

Klockow Brewing Company

  • Magic Roundabout – A bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout with vanilla. 

Lakeside Tavern & Brewery

  • Burly Bean Coffee Stout –Back on tap since the start of the month.

Little Thistle Brewery

  • Contented Trails Rice Lager – Part of the Collaboration series, which involves Little Thistle staff in the brew process, this light and citrusy lager is “spritzy” and crystal clear” with “wonderful lemon and citrus notes,” the brewery says. 4.5% ABV, 21 IBU.
  • Legend American Coffee Lager – A new coffee lager is on tap, this offering bready malt notes with a coffee compliment.

LocAle Brewing Company

  • Distant Dawn – A robust porter with chocolate flavors. 6.8% ABV.
  • HibernAle – Top Flight seleection

LTS Brewing Company

  • Barrel-Aged DeLarge – An imperial milk stout blended with a dark sour base and aged on raspberries. 11.3% ABV, 57 IBU.

Luce Line Brewing Co.

  • Neon Moon – Top Flight selection

Lupulin Brewing Company

  • Doppelbock – A malt-forward doppelbock with a smooth caramel finish, now in 16-ounce cans for the first time. 8% ABV, 25 IBU.
  • Operation CoHoperation: Drekker Brewing – A double dry-hopped triple IPA at 10% ABV, this concoction uses oats, spelt, and triticale with a hop blast of passion fruit, pineapple, strawberry, and raspberry-like flavors.
  • Polarnattens Paradis – A 10% ABV coffee imperial stout.
  • Wiener Maize – A Vienna-style lager with corn at 5% ABV, 18 IBU.

Modist Brewing Co.

  • Imalready Sour – An ameretto-style sour made in collaboration with chef Ian Gray, it’s a sour ale conditioned on Italian Amaretti di Saronno cookies, almonds, lemon juice, and brown sugar. On tap beginning this Saturday. 7.5% ABV.
  • Playing Dead – Aged n Four Roses and Eagle Rare barrels, then conditioned on vanilla beans. Bottles go on sale on Saturday at 9am (online) and the beer taps at 12pm. 13.5% ABV (contains lactose). 

Modist’s Playing Dead • Photo via Modist Brewing Company

OMNI Brewing Co.

Hibernation Party, taking place at the brewery this weekend, is a feast of big winter beers, featuring 13 limited releases, some in bombers, some in Crowlers, and all on tap.

  • 2018 Bourbon Leon
  • 2019 Bourbon Leon
  • 2020 Super Scotch
  • 2021 BA Omnipotent
  • 2021 Super Scotch
  • Barrel-aged Superior Siege Weapon
  • Barrel-aged Theo
  • Chocolate Strawberry Vanilla Leon
  • Double barrel-aged Super Scotch
  • Gin barrel-aged It’s Good to Be King
  • Salted Caramel Super Scotch
  • Trail Mix
  • Unite!

PawPrint Brewery

  • Bearded Bear – Brewed for PawPrint’s second anniversary, this barrel-aged cream ale spent close to a year in bourbon barrels. 11% ABV.
  • The Kong – A peanut butter porter made with Girl Scout cookies. 6.5% ABV, 50 IBU.

Pryes Brewing Co.

Pryes celebrates winter solstice with The Long Night party this weekend, which includes several limited and vintage dark beers, plus a new sour ale.

  • 2017 Barleywine – 8-ounce pours throughout the day
  • 2018 Lost Moon – 8-ounce pours
  • 2019 BA Lost Moon: Salted Caramel – 8-ounce pours
  • 2019 BA Lost Moon – 8-ounce pours
  • 202 BA Lost Moon – 8-ounce bottle pours
  • 2020 Brewers Reserve Lost Moon – 8-ounce pours
  • 2021 Lost Moon – 8-ounce pours
  • Idyll Forest Foret de Cerise – A Balaton cherry wild sour
  • Idyll Forest Champs de Framboise – A raspberry wild sour
  • Barrel Carving – A barrel-aged imperial pumpkin ale
  • Royal Peach – A first taste of the latest in Pryes’ Royal Sour seres.

Pryes Royal Peach • Photo via Pryes Brewing Co.

Venn Brewing Company

Venn is celebrating its fourth anniversary with four new beers (which can be purchased in a special flight on Saturday):

  • Coconut-Infused Lunarising – On tap beginning Saturday.
  • Cosmosis Quad Berry – On tap beginning Saturday.
  • Dry-Hopped Hibiscus Cream Ale – On tap today.
  • Passion Fruit Northodox – A fruited hazy IPA, tapped on Thursday.

Wild Mind Ales

  • Pathways Emerge – This 6.3% ABV new beer offers tangerine, yuzu, prickly pear, and cannabis-like flavors with a soft body, the brewery says.

Wild State Cider

The cidery recently debuted a “Holiday Flight Four Pack” offering:

  • Grapefruit Cardamom – 6.3% ABV
  • Punch Bowl – 6.1%.
  • Rhubarb Ginger Fizz – 6.4%
  • Spruce Tip Juniper with Black Currant – 6.6%.

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