Blessed Art the Drunkards: St. Paul MN

Back in Minnesota. Since my last post was in Minneapolis, it might be argued that I never left. Well I did, I had to go to Sandusky Ohio, but there was nothing worth talking about. Seriously, there was an Applebees and a Chilies, that's about it.
So I am back in the twin cities and I realized that I have kinda ignored one of the twins, and anyone that's had to deal with twins, it's best not to ignore one. So it was off to St Paul and Great Waters Brewing.

Located in the heart of St. Paul, Great Waters has a bit of legend attached. It occupies an old building that was supposedly built on the old St Paul's Cathedral, and the secret ingredient to all of the beers is holy water from the well. I have to challenge this claim as most of my friends would say that it would be impossible for me to ingest holy water without bursting into flames. It could also be that the amount of rotgut I have ingested acts as a buffer.

It's still the season for holiday beer so I started with the Yuletide. This had a wonderful spicy aroma. I counted cinnamon clove coriander and orange peel. The spices came through in the flavor first, followed by some medium roasted malt and finished just slightly bitter. Nice complex and well balanced beer.
I was glad I got a pint when I did because the keg sputtered out a few minutes later. Sorry, kids, you'll have to wait until next year.

Next was Fire King Cole, billed as a smoked scotch ale. It had a very light malty aroma. The flavor was not quite as subtle. It started off with lots of sweet malt and smoke. It kind of reminded me of hickory BBQ sauce in a strange way. The smoke flavor lingered with a bit of pepper in the back.

It was time to move on to one of the cask aged beers the had available. I went for the Blackwatch Oatmeal Stout. There's nothing like a heavy black stout to complement a cold winter night. I guess it would make sense that a city famous for God-awful winters would create a stout big enough to deal with it. Nice full bodied beer with chocolate and coffee flavors and aromas. Finishes with just a hint of English hops.

Now time for my nomination for most randomly awesome beer name ever, the Timma! And, much like its South Park namesake, a little bit goes a long way. This is a bit of a hop bomb. There is some very light barely detectable caramel sweetness before its torn to shreds be citrus and herbal hops.

Finally I ended with another cask ale, the new Centurian. This is billed as a vintage session beer, though I'm not entirely sure what part is vintage, although it reminds me of a cream ale I brew out of Belgian malt. It a has a warm malt aroma with hints of raisin or date. This beer is brewed with oats and it gives it a lot of body. Flavor is very light consisting of light fruit sweetness and finishes just slightly bitter.

Well that's all from the frigid northlands for now. The next stop is Baltimore MA. In fact I am so behind that I am finishing this post at a bar in that city. Find out which bar next.... Uh... whenever I get around to it. Now don't bother me, I am drinking.
Cheers.

Town Hall Meeting: Minneapolis MN

Happy New Year.  This is, of course, the first post of 2012 and I am starting this year by revisiting Minneapolis.
Last time I was here, stumbled into one of the smaller local breweries that specialized in German style beers.  On this visit I found Town Hall Brewing in Minneapolis.  Definitely less specialized, but seems to be a favorite hang-out among the locals.

Town Hall's original location is in downtown Minneapolis near the University of Minnesota.  On their website the mention that they are doing some expanding at the moment to keep up with demand.  Part of that expansion was the addition of a taproom farther to the South.  That is the location that I stumbled into on a Friday evening.  It was completely filled.  Completely.  I ended up ordering a beer while awkwardly standing at the very edge of the bar waiting for a seat to open up somewhere.
It took a little time and some rather impressive reflexes to finally snag a seat and enjoy the beer I had ordered, the Marsala Mama IPA.  It's Pretty average IPA in my book.  It had a very strong aroma of lemon and grapefruit. The taste was slightly different, it seemed to be much stronger on the pine and herbal flavored hops than the citrus.  There was still a hint of lemongrass, but this one was much more like an English IPA being drier and being loaded down with the bitter herbal hops that stick in the back of the throat.
The food there was pretty typical pub fare, although I ended up with a beer-basted brat that was pretty excellent.  It was the special for the day, so I think it is a 'get it while you can' kind of deal.
I moved on to the Java Porter Those who don't like the taste of coffee in their beer should probably pass this one up all together.  I liked this one for the simple fact that the brewer obviously had a goal in mind and he accomplished it.  The aroma is just like a mocha.  The flavor: pretty much the same.  It was a little sweet for my tastes, but overall it was very smooth and very drinkable.

Finally, I had one of the seasonal beers they had on tap.  Town Hall has four or five regular beers on tap at any given time, and about as many seasonal offerings that they rotate in and out.  Right out of New Years, they still had their holiday seasonals on tap.  I had a bit of their Elves Elixir, a Belgian-style IPA.  This may seem like an inherent contradiction in terms, and it very much is.  Belgian beers an known for their rich, malty character as opposed to the highly bitter, floral flavors of an American IPA.  But I have seen the two styles make sweet love before and produce a love child that, strangely, lives right next door to me.  The Hop God, produced by Nebraska Brewing Company is also a fusion of Belgian and IPA styles and is still one of my favorite beers.  Elves Elixir had a banana-nut and citrus nose.  I picked up a surprising amount of coriander and clove spice in the flavor, along with tropical fruit.  It slowly moved to a bitter, dry finish.  When I first started sipping this beer, I wasn't sure if I liked it or not.  By the end the Elves Elixir proved surprisingly drinkable.  I came to like it quite a bit.

With that, I want to wish everyone a happy 2012.  I'm looking forward to my travel schedule coming up.  If plans hold true, I will find myself in Tennessee next.
Cheers!