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.