Ah, beer. Such a lovely beverage.
Contrary to popular opinion, however, there is more to suds than Bud. The world of beer is much more complex and interesting, and we have a few pros who can help break it down.
Jason Alvey, owner of craft beer store in St. Louis Park, can help you find a delicious new craft beer—particularly one that is off the beaten path.
And Todd Jackson, customer service manager at , can help you get started if you've always wanted to try brewing at home.
If you have any beer-related questions in the next few days, please post them in the comments below. One of the aforementioned gentlemen will get you an answer ASAP.
Cheers!
Update: Jason Schoneman, founder and owner of Steel Toe Brewing, is going to be jumping into the fray on Thursday. Feel free to fire questions his way!
If you are talking about Steel Toe Dissent, we weren't aware it had that distinction yet. It would be very impressive considering how long the beer has been in production. We certainly enjoy the beer!
We did a "tour" of Lift Bridge Brewery in Stillwater. It was fun (hell, free beer is always fun), but the beer is decidedly unremarkable. Brewers need to make something interesting or risk going belly-up.
Yes, many, many craft breweries brew lagers. All beers are either a lager or an ale. Every beer on Earth is either one or the other. Lagers include all kinds of styles like, Pilsners, Dopplebocks, Dunkels, Schwarzbiers, Dortmunders, Bocks, Maibocks, Viennas and all many more. If you are talking about Pilsner style lagers specifically then yes, many brewers here in the U.S. brew them too. They do take more skill. A traditional Pilsner is not easy to brew, it is the mark of a talented brewer of they can brew a good one. So, not every craft brewery takes them on but there are certainly some excellent examples brewed all over the U.S. Cheers!
We've actually already addressed this question, take a look at the top of the thread, it's a complicated issue. We talked about the growth of the industry and I talked about the importance of the quality of the beers. It goes without saying that the brewers have to be able to make their beers stand out from the crowd. Everyone has different tastes. As long as your beers are not full of off flavors and problems there'll be a customer for it. I personally love the Lift Bridge beers. That's the nice thing about craft beer, everyone has different tastes and there's enough variety for every palette.
Overall though, to each their own. Craft brewing and craft beers are just going to get better and more diverse. I have a female friend that hopes that somebody comes up with a "sex on the beach" beer, I however do not.
To me this style brings the things I love from stouts and porters and hops them like an IPA. Perfection!! thanks guys great forum!!
My wife and I did a tour of the brewery a while back. Great tour and a great bunch of people. We had just started homebrewing so it was good to see a brewery on a larger scale and how it all comes together. For anybody interested in learning more about craft brews and developing your tastes, tour the local breweries! It's always a good time and you get to taste and maybe even bring home some local beer. Speaking of..my Steel Toe growlers are empty and it's Friday.
Use the build you own six pack options and commit to drinking in moderation to really learn the styles and flavors. Drinking too many of a good thing is fun sometimes, but it really only teaches you that you should have drank more water before bed. Check out some beer dinners (www.mnbeer.com is great resource on those) for great pairings. Also, http://www.midwestsupplies.com/tasting-beer-mosher.html is a great read for learning to use your palette.