Spring Break Brews!

Brr! Woke up this morning to a light dusting of snow on my back porch! Not cool. This week, I figured I would do a little reminiscing about the beers I got to enjoy while I was having a relaxing Spring Break in Minnesota :) It was so nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of my everyday life- I managed to read five books, and I started watching a tv series I had been hoping to check out- cult classic Twin Peaks!

 I also made friends with the friendly cat that roams my boyfriend's neighborhood.

The first noteworthy beer I enjoyed was Edmund Fitzgerald, a tasty porter from Great Lakes brewing! The dark coffee taste was not overpowering, and it was an excellent choice to sip on while I enjoyed my first Juicy Lucy in Saint Paul!

My boyfriend and I traveled to Stillwater to visit his cousin, and she picked up some very local beer for me to sample! I tried Hop Dish (a play on words inspired by the traditional Minnesota "Hot Dish"), a wonderfully bitter beer made with seven different kinds of hops! I also enjoyed the Farm Girl Saison, which paired beautifully with our dinner- handmade gnocchi with chicken and steamed green beans! I can't wait to go back to Stillwater to explore more of their quaint downtown area and stop by Lift Bridge's brewery!

And now for some local business... The OG/6 Row Fraise Cassee collab will be hitting shelves within the next couple of weeks! Stop by 6 Row this Wednesday for the official release party- yes, it's April 1st, but I promise I'm not foolin! You can find release party details here!

In other news, the Washington Post has been hosting a US craft beer bracket all month long, and we're down to the final round of voting. Schlafly's Kolsch is facing off against home-state rival Boulevard's Tank 7. As of this writing, the Kolsch is in the lead with about 300 votes, but let's extend that margin!! You can vote at the Washington Post's website. In fact, if you go vote for Schlafly's Kolsch and send me a screencap on Twitter, I'll put your name in a drawing to win a prize pack of craft beer goodies! The bracket winner will be announced Monday, so go vote ASAP!!

Brew Day Bottle Share!

It's true- yesterday, The OG and Six Row finally came together to brew our Fraise Cassee! I'll have a recap of our brew day up later in the week (with photos from both myself and our resident real photographer, Kara!), but I did want to type out a quick recap of the second most important part of the day- bottle share!
The ladies all brought some fabulous beers. We started our Sunday off with New Holland's Blue Sunday, a delicious sour ale. This tart beer was delicious!

Next, we tried The Saint, a yummy cider made with Trappist Yeast! I'm not much of a cider fan, but I loved the balance of tart apples and sweet maple syrup in this cider. I plan to grab a couple of bottles in preparation for some late-spring Sunday brunch. 

I brought a bottle of Blacklist's Rhubarb Wit, which I was fortunate enough to snag while in Duluth for Valentine's Day. This tart, balanced beer was incredibly interesting! I would love to try it again and pair it with a dinner of grilled chicken and veggies (with rhubarb pie for dessert, of course).

We also sampled Blushing Monk, the first non-stout Founders beer to grace my palate. Just beautiful! I would love to try it again paired with some cheesecake. 

Immediately after Blushing Monk, we all sipped on a 2014 bottle of Big Lushious, to taste the opposite end of the raspberry beer spectrum. 

Other sampled beers included Dual Artisanship (fitting for a collab brew day!), Cigar City's Invasion, and the Honey Pear Ale from local(ish) favorites Scratch.

Later this week I'll have a technical brew day post up, as well as a giveaway post!