who distributes tonka beer and does it reach to sw mn like worthington,,mn windom etc.

Hi Aaron, Yes. There is plenty of room for growth here in the Twin Cities market. This is just the beginning (my business depends on it!). You bring up a good point though, quality of beer is paramount! The beer lovers here are becoming very sophisticated. Off flavors in your beer are simply not going to fly anymore. Unfortunately we see problems in beers quite often, yes, even with some local breweries. More so however with the seemingly endless stream of little out state breweries that are coming to MN. Little breweries from all over that you've never heard of before. Sales reps bring them in for us to try almost every day. Some beer distributors seem to be signing on as many breweries as possible regardless of quality (and other liquor stores seem happy to stock them too!). We refuse to stock a large percentage of them as they are full of nasty off flavors. The problem is if somebody decides they want to try craft beer for the first time and they try something that tastes like pool chemicals or drain pipe, chances are they are not going to try any more. They might be turned off craft beer forever. Continued...

In a perfect world, Homebrewers would follow up each keg with a flush/cleaning. In my world, its once in a while. For me, it really depends on my frequency or flow of beer I am running through. I know that it is just me and my friends/family (freeloaders) drinking my beer. If I am paying for a beer though, I want to taste the beer, not whatever is in the lines. Hopefully, we get a distributor on here to speak to the commercial side of things.

That Olvalde news is great to hear. I love his Ode To A Russian Shipwright. He seems to take his time before a release. I appreciate a new brewer that starts out slow to ensure quality. I also appreciate that he has switched to homebrewer-friendly flip-top bottles. It's a nice nod to the community.

Thank you, Todd. Do you have an opinion on which of the newer breweries in the Twin Cities are on the right track (good beer, good plan (keeping up with demand) and marketing) so far?

Alvey would be better suited to know who is keeping up with demand, but I like anybody who takes their time. Steel Toe seems to be keeping a good grasp on it. The new North East tap rooms will be interesting to follow.

Thank you for your response, Jason. Do you have any recommendations for the home brewer that would like to take the next step into being professionally trained?

Travis, only if they brew on site at the Minneapolis location. You can only sell growlers at the location the beer is brewed.

Great. Thanks again. Getting volunteer work at a local brewery seems to be a more difficult task than just asking. The list of volunteers seems pretty long at most of the breweries around town. Do you know if the smaller breweries have professional brewers, or just hobbyists with a varying degrees of experience? (Excelsior Brewing Co., Big Wood Brewery, Fulton, Harriet, etc...) It doesn't look like listing the brewer's education is standard practice on the brewery websites. In my experience from attending beer festivals and talking with brewery staff, it sounds like many lack professional training, but their desire, funding and maybe most importantly, marketing, are making them the buzz in the industry. Are they just getting lucky with the beers they are distributing and/or bringing to these festivals? Can the professionally trained brewer tell the difference between the beers coming out of breweries with or without true Brewmasters?

If it's hot, I don't want anything too heavy. Corona tastes good and goes down easy. A lime wedge gives it a nice fun summer flavor.
A slice of lemon with a wheat beer or lime with a summer beer is as fruity as a beer should be. However, I don't want lemon juice or lime juice (or raspberry, cherry, etc.) IN my beer. After the beer is poured, a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime can be good though.
If it's warm out, but not too hot, I like St. Pauli Girl.

Hi Kris, I don't have a "Go to" summer brew. There are simply too many beers to pick one and drink it all the time. Almost every time I have a beer it's something different. I do however have favorite styles of beer. I enjoy Saisons, German Hefe's, Golden ales, Kolsch and classic Pilsners in the summer. As for fruit, I don't put a slice in anything but that's just me. A slice of fruit will overpower all the subtle fruit flavors already in the beer. It can certainly taste pretty good though. You know the coolest thing about beer? It doesn't come with the elitism that some other things do. Beer is all about having fun and good times. It shouldn't be a competition. If you like slices of fruit in your beer then more power to you. Nothing wrong with that. Cheers!

I forgot to answer the part about Oktoberfests, sorry. They are typically available the same kind of time frame that other seasonals are around for, the problem is they get released waaaaaay before October. This year we're going to see Summit Oktoberfest at the end of July. Yup, July. So When October actually gets here most of the Oktoberfest beers are already sold out and the Winter seasonals are starting to appear.

In regards to Jason's reply, that makes me sad about the oktoberfests coming out early. Same thing for summer beers, there's a natural shift for me that happens with the weather patterns. Something about a heavy Oktoberfest lager and a hot summer day don't always mix. Although Surlyfest went down pretty well last year at their event at it was about 95 degrees that day!

Hi Marc, (this will be in two parts as there is a word limit on these things, sorry!)
We have the biggest selection of single bottles in MN. We have grown this selection over the years because our customers love it. Almost every single person who walks in our store puts together a mixed six pack from our wall of singles. It is astonishingly popular. The key to a successful mix six pack selection is variety and freshness. If you stock your mixed six pack section with boring beers or beers that you are trying to get rid of nobody will be interested. Yes, we charge a slightly higher margin for the ability to buy singles, people seem happy to pay it and we do give a discount for 6 or more at a time. People love, love, LOVE the ability to try different beers rather than committing to a full sixer of something you they may not like. The turnover of beer on the mix shelf at our store is truly staggering. Almost the entire section turns over every weekend. That's thousand of individual bottles. Every weekend. continued somewhere....

continuation from below. Sorry for the confusion, it's just the way this forum is set up:
Convincing other stores to do this is something else entirely. It's very labor intensive to keep the singles section stocked. Most liquor stores just don't care enough to put the work into it. Municipal liquor stores are not run by passionate beer lovers who own their own businesses, municipal liquor stores are run by the city. I know the Richfield managers do what they can to promote and stock craft beer, they work very hard at it and are great guys, but I suspect they don't have a whole lot of say in it. As for other stores, yes, I know a lot of the managers. The owners tend to not like us much because we have differing philosophies. We want to be open on Sundays for example. Almost every liquor store in the Twin Cities is against us on this issue.....

The best thing you can do, is test the mill prior to milling the whole batch. We (and almost everyone else) should have adjustable mills.
If you are here, we want you to have control. Sometimes when I am crushing my own grainy goodness, I forget to check the setting as well. Then, I run it through again. Different grains are different thicknesses. A two-row base malt might need a different setting than crystal 50-60.
Another thing to get those consistent results, buy a mill. It can save you money by buying grains in bulk.
I do not believe that stores are setting the gap to sell more grains, but I guess it could happen. We had a social media complaint once that was pretty serious, about our mills. It turned out to be true, that the user was getting a bad crush, because of worn rollers. We replaced them and things were good.

Hi Chris,
It's all down to the bottling manufacturers. 12 oz bottles are the most popular size therefor they are cheaper. If you are a start up brewery cost differences like this are very important. As for returnable bottles I'm sure it also comes down to labor and cost of washing. It's cheaper to buy new ones and recycle the old ones.

Michael, try these:
http://www.cucapa.com/ing/pages/cucapa.php
Cheers!

Hi John! Keep Burnsville Patch in the loop about the beer-taking events at Ernie's. I know people are interested in what you guys have planned.

Mich Golden?!

*True* Minnesotans will only drink beer brewed in (or claimed to be brewed in) Minnesota, regardless of how well it is made and declare anything from out-of-state to be inferior (though only in the company of other *true* Minnesotans).

Here, here, Warden. For cheap beer, I enjoy Grain Belt and Grain Belt Nordeast.

Im a homebrewer, and would never try to make a Bud or Miller clone. However I will go to my nieghbors house and trade one of my beers for a Grain Belt Priemium.

Marc, in response to: Do you guys ever see the IPA and IIPA movement losing ground?
No. IPA's will always be popular. What you will see is more and more people getting into craft beer by starting with IPAs, drinking almost nothing else for a couple of years and then realizing that there are many, many more styles of beer out there to enjoy. We see that happening in our store every day. As the general craft beer customer base expands other less popular styles will increase in popularity too. IPA's I suspect will always be the most popular style though. As for sours and brett beers, yes, they are becoming more popular. I think it's a matter of brewers looking for more creative ways to brew as well as people being more open to trying unusual beers like these. I suspect that our sense of what is "normal" for a craft brewery will change over the next few years. Soon, it will be somewhat common for small craft brewers to be experimenting with wild yeasts, bacteria and barrels. We'll see many, many more of them in the coming years and even breweries dedicated to nothing but that kind of thing. Funkworks for example in CO. I personally like many lacto and brett beers. Do I have a favorite? No. I don't have a favorite song either, I like lots of music :)

Have fun with that, Todd! And usually, questions come in for a day or two, then kind of die down. So we'll see what we get tomorrow.

Hi Mike, we have similar taste is seems. I love the Rochefort 10, it's a gorgeous beer! The beer is a belgian Quadruple. That is a high alcohol, strong dark Belgian. They vary from one brewery to another quite considerably but in general you'll get huge robust flavors of sweet caramel malt and dark fruit. Figs, raisins, plum, toffee, burnt sugar etc. Some ore sweeter than others. These are very complex beers and most will do well in your cellar for many, many years. Others worth trying are: St. Bernardus ABT 12, Chimay Blue, La Trappe Quad, Ommegang Three Philosophers, Gouden Carolus Keizer Blauw. Cheers!

That is kind of a loaded question, like asking somebody what it takes to start fishing. You can go with a cane pole and worm, or you can go with the Bass Boat with all the gadgets. The simple response is that you will need an Equipment Kit, Recipe Kit (Ingredients), Brewing Kettle (Stock Pot), and Bottles. Currently our "starter" equipment kits range from $64.99 to $349.99. I started with a midrange version, and now I am up to a fairly advanced DIY system. I suggest that people to the same, as it is beneficial to learn as you advance. I hope that helps. If you would like to check out our kits, check out this page: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/homebrewing-equipment/equipment-kits/compare-all-kits.html

Malted barley is the source of the sugars which are fermented into beer. From a brewer's point of view, there are basically two kinds of malted grain, those that need to be mashed and those that don't. (Mashing is the hot water soaking process that provides the right conditions for the enzymes to convert the grain starches into fermentable sugars.) The basic light colored malts such as pale ale malt, pilsener malt and malted wheat need to be mashed to convert the starches into fermentable sugars. These malts make up the bulk of the wort's fermentable sugars and are called "Base Malts". Besides the lighter-colored base and toasted malts, there is another group of malts that don't need to be mashed and these are often referred to as "specialty malts". They are used for flavoring and to give the beer it's color. Some of these malts have undergone special heating processes in which the starches are converted to sugars by heat and moisture right inside the hull. As a result, these malts contain more complex sugars, some of which do not ferment, leaving a pleasant caramel-like sweetness.
TL;DR Malts give us the sugars that yeast consume to make alcohol, and they also provide many flavors and the color of the beer.

I think it either has to do with the insane demand for the beer in WI alone, or the ideals that they don't wish to expand and possibly lose some quality control... they are a very family orientated brewery with strong values, and awesome beer. Hudson isn't that far! Check out Moon Man, so tasty. And their Belgian Red. Spotted Cow is classified as a Farmhouse Ale, I don't know that you'll find anything similar... but search in that category.

Hi Jon, Beer distribution is entirely up to the brewery. That is, as a brewery owner you have complete power to choose both how much beer you make and what states you sell it in. Beer is a taxed and regulated product. The state which the beer is sold in has to be able to collect taxes on it. In order to make that happen the brewery has to pay licensing fees for each label to make it legal for any given state it wishes to enter. These fees vary from state to state. So, unless the brewery decides they want to sell their beer in that state and pay all the fees to do so, it is illegal for that beer to be sold in that state. If we take New Glarus for example, it is illegal for any liquor store here in MN to sell those beers even if we drove over the border and bought them ourselves. That's part one of the situation. Part two is to do with quantity. In almost every single situation where you cannot get a certain beer in a certain place it's because the brewery is not producing enough beer to expand into that state. That, is the primary reason. They just aren't making enough beer to make expansion worthwhile into MN. They want to focus on WI. Many people forget that beer, unlike wild yeast, does not grow on trees! You have to brew it. If you want to make more of it you have to have more tanks and people. These things cost money. Breweries can only expand at a rate that is within their budget. So, one day New Glarus might consider expanding into MN but it's totally up to them.

As a locally brewed substitute you should try Lift Bridge Farm Girl. (I actually think it's a little better than Spotted Cow...) It's a different beer but it's fair enough to say that if you like Spotted Cow you'll probably really enjoy this one. And, you'll be supporting a local business!

Hi Jim, you are correct. The final step in making NA beer is to take the newly fermented but un-carbonated beer and either boil it to the boiling point of alcohol, or, you can reduce the air pressure so that the alcohol boils out at room temp. Either way the product you end up drinking is still beer. It still contains barley, yeast, hops and water. Just very little alcohol. The price of NA beer is indeed similar to "normal" beer because it has to be brewed in just the same way with all the same ingredients. NA beer is certainly not soda, (as some people have tried to argue with me!) As for flavor, well, that's tough. Most NA beers are based on light lagers. There's not much to choose from. We sell the Paulaner Thomas Brau (German) and that's certainly one of the best ones we've ever tried. If you can have some alcohol you might want to consider session beers. Full flavored low alcohol beers. Surly Bitter Brewer is a good example. It's only 3.7% ABV and has a gorgeous flavor of toasty orange marmalade. Love it! 21st amendment "Bitter American" is another one I like. Check them out if you're not completely alcohol free.

Hi Barry, Saisons were brewed originally for Belgian fieldworkers to consume while they toiled in the sun. Water at the time was full of Cholera, so they drank beer. Back then almost every farmhouse would have had a brewery and they would have used whatever ingredients they had available to them. The original Saisons were very low ABV (around 3% ABV), you could call them some of the original session beers. In fact, a Saison is more of a method than it is actually a style. Most american craft brewers would say a traditional Saison should be dry, spicy, delicately fruity and a little earthy. While this is the most widely accepted description a Saison can really be just about anything. The key is in how it's brewed, that is, a high fermentation temperature that causes the yeast to produce high levels of phenolic acids. This is where we get the spicy notes from in the beer. Many Saisons today, just like the ones brewed hundreds of years ago, have all kinds of actual spices added to them. In general though, they are designed to be dry, spicy and refreshing. So, yes, they are perfect for summer enjoyment.

To answer the second part of your question, I assume when you say "loggers" what you mean is "Lagers"? With that assumption here's your answer:
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!

If you mean Deschutes "Dissident": Lots of people scoring it high on Beer Advocate.com or Rate Beer.

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!

Its all the love that goes into the beer. Dissent is unique in that it isn't over the top roasty and is very well attenuated for a stout so it is not as sweet as some. I think the medium body makes it easy to have several pints and not feel too full. Great malt character including caramel, toffee, molasses, cocoa and espresso keep it very interesting. Glad you enjoy this wonderful beer. We will bring it back in September.

Twilight,
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.

Just a second upvote for the Lift Bridge beers. To me, they are proving that brewing solid beers can make a successful brewery.
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.

Anybody can make a big or boozy or uberhoppy or over-the-top beer and there is a market for those. But don't be too quick to dismiss the skill required to make a nice session beer on a consistent basis, batch-after-batch ... or that there is a serious market for them, pretty much ignored until recently. It's a big pool, everybody in!

St Pete's Sorgham beer is nice. As is Bard's and Sprecher's Shakparo. All solid. Otherwise experiment with Ciders. Cider is not beer, it doesn't have any grain in it at all (which makes it gluten free). The "craft cider" options these days are expanding dramatically. Come check out our cider selection sometime. I think you'll be impressed.

Thank you so much for asking this, and for those who have replied. I have Bard's in the fridge now, but I don't love it. So far Red Bridge is my choice, but I have only tried a few. I will try the St. Pete's, Lakefronts and the ciders. Any other suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

ooops forgot 21st amendment back in black also.....

We do not carry a kit for the black IPA year round. We do offer one up in "MOvember". Keep an eye out for it, it's wicked good. Commercially, Mountain Standard from Odell is another great offering, but it is more like a big brother to the Black IPA.

The Four Firkins is THE spot to learn. They are the Michael Jordans of beer. I will add though, that learning on your own is pretty awesome.
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.

Hi Glenn, I must say I'm very humbled and frankly a little intimidated that you would ask me a question on this forum. How is Grum these days? Are you still a T.V. star? You are always correct, about everything. Especially Cinco products and Thanksgiving movies. Local beer is awesome because we have so many talented brewers. Minnesota beer drinkers are very, very lucky! You're a legend mate, say hello to your Dad for me. Cheers!

Nice to have you, Jason S. I'll ask you a question: Is there one ingredient that you find to be most important in making beer? Put another way: If you had to pick one thing to be of the finest quality, what would it be?

Nice one mate! Good to have you on here!

Thanks Michael and Jason. The most important thing in beer is yeast because yeast make beer. Healthy yeast is the key, although a good recipe and proper brewing techniques don't hurt either.

Hi Jason S!
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.