I went back to Town Hall again yesterday for Markie's b-day.

For my first beer I tried the Dortmunder, which proved too biscuity. Apparently the Dortmunder is its own beer style ("these pale golden lagers exhibit a classic clean character with notes of biscuity malts") so I'll have to add this one to the wax museum of Styles I Don't Like:

Weizenbock
Dortmunder
Oatmeal Stout

Munich Dunkel gets one more chance. I know I don't like the Capital Brewery version, but there's room within that style for something good. In the case of the Dortmunder however, I don't like biscuity beers, so unless they start serving it with a lime (which is what saves Landshark for me) I don't see myself liking this style.

After that I just gave up on Town Hall beers entirely, opting instead for known quantities: a Reissdorf Kölsch (I always mispronounce this as "Reesdorf" instead of "Ricedorf") and an Old Rasputin Imperial Stout. Good, although somewhat wasted as a third beer.

Nevertheless, I'd convinced Nick to try the Old Rasputin on a strong recommendation-by-proxy from Ben, and it's hard to play beer roulette when you know that the person next to you has something mighty delicious. Mine got passed around a fair bit for other people to try.

Labels: Brauerei Heinrich Reissdorf, Dortmunder, Kolsch, North Coast Brewing, Old Rasputin, Reissdorf Kolsch, Russian Imperial Stout, Town Hall

Because they were on sale at Big Top, I picked up another six pack of Big Sky Trout Slayer, an American Pale Wheat Ale that was just as good as I remembered, and a six pack of their seasonal Summer Honey APA.

I've only had one Summer Honey so far, but I think I like that one too; I wish I had a Leinie's Honey Weiss around to compare it with.

I tried to get to Town Hall this week to try their Chocolate Milk Porter, but when Graham and I went there yesterday night it was already gone. I tried their Pursuit of Happiness instead and it was decent, which is saying something for a beer that tastes like blueberries — but as with that Longshot Grape Ale, the blueberry flavor was pretty darn subtle, and I feel like if you're adding weird fruit it should do a bit more.

I also had the Liberty, a red American Pale Wheat Ale that was pretty tasty. After that Pursuit of Happiness, it was nice to have something really flavorful.

I think that the 1800 Old English IPA, Eye of the Storm, and pumpkin ale are still my favorite Town Hall beers (is there a dark beer I'm forgetting?), but our server said that the chocolate might return, so I'm keeping an eye out.

Afterwards we went to Pracna, where I had a tiny little glass of Paulaner Hefe-Weizen. Purists take note: they served it with a slice of lemon. I don't care about the lemon, but I wouldn't go there to drink as often as I do if it weren't so conveniently located.

I also went to Stub and Herb's this week for the first time, with Ben and Nora. Great draft selection, great happy hour, terrible BBQ wings. I had a Flying Dog Woody Creek White (this place had a ton of my standbys) and a Two Brothers Domaine DuPaige French Country Ale

I couldn't pull anything out of the Two Brothers, though I had the nagging sense that it was good on a less perceptible level. ("Like hearing a party two apartments over," is how I put it at the time.) Nora seemed to like it, and I'm guessing her sense of taste is better than mine, but as far as Biere de Garde go, I definitely prefer the Flying Dog Garde Dog.

Labels: APA, Biere de Garde, Big Sky Brewing, Domaine DuPage, Flying Dog Brewery, Liberty, Pracna, Pursuit of Happiness, Stub and Herb's, Summer Honey, Town Hall, Trout Slayer, Two Brothers Brewing

Let's see. So far this week I've had a Bell's Kalamazoo Stout, the roastiness of which was a great complement to the venison roast sandwiches I'll be eating lo unto the end of time, and on Monday I went out to Town Hall with Graham, Markie and special guest Barb.

Graham thoughtfully ordered me a pint of their delicious 1800 Old English IPA. Very cool to see that waiting for me when I showed up, late (as usual when I go to Minneapolis).

For my second and final drink... ooh, that would go well with a drumroll. Anyways, in hindsight I should have tried the new Solstice APA, but instead I got Mango Mama. Usually I'm a big fan of Mango Mama, but I just wasn't feeling it on Monday.

Probably because I've been stuffed up all week. I'm probably the first person to research neti pots just so beer will taste a tiny bit better.

I'm pretty excited for the new Fourth of July beers at Town Hall, by the way. I think I may actually like blueberry beer, which of course wouldn't have the disgusting appearance and texture of actual blueberries.

Yesterday I went to Senor Wong, where I downed cheap tasty Wonton Poppers and $3 pints of Kirin Ichiban until around 8:30 or so. Nora and Ben came over, joined eventually by Jenna.

Labels: 1800, American IPA, American Stout, Bell's Brewing, Japanese Rice Lager, Kalamazoo Stout, Kirin Brewery, Kirin Ichiban, Mango Mama, Senor Wong, Town Hall

Ben and I went on the obligatory pilgrimage to The Four Firkins today.

It was pretty cool (or should I say, "awesome"?) to finally meet Alvey after spending so many hours listening to him and Philip on the What Ale's Thee? podcast. He gave us plenty of beer suggestions... and provided the prices for beers we were curious about. Pricing is still a work-in-progress.

I felt like a kid in a candy store. I got a Unibroue Chambly Noire and a Hitachino Nest XH for special occasions; a mix-pack with Bell's Kalamazoo Stout, Peak Organic, and various Flying Dog brews; a Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere Harvest; and a 6-pack of Sierra Nevada Stout that was in desperate need of a foster home.

Remembering how delicious Colaweizen is, I also picked up some Sierra Nevada Wheat Beer for mixers later. I was taught that there was a difference between a Diesel and a Colaweizen, something about proportions maybe, but the Internet does not seem to have my back on this. The English-language Wikipedia page on mixed beer is an abomination.

Probably I could find a lot of this without going to St. Louis Park (sooo much Sierra Nevada...), but I also could've walked out with a $100 in obscure and hard-to-find beer if I'd really wanted to.

A few bottles of the really good stuff is enough for now; hopefully we'll have some nasty cold weather now that my fridge is full of so much dark heavy stuff.

Afterwards Ben and I went to Town Hall. We both started with an 1800 IPA, a huge hoppy beer made with British hops and malt (it's a "Welsh Coast IPA," if you will... or... well just nevermind) that was really good. Maybe just because we were hungry and had planned a day around beer without having drank any as yet.

My next beer was a framboise from somewhere or other. It was decent but not spectacular. It wasn't cloying (which I gather is the typical complaint with fruit beers) but the taste kind of missed a beat in the middle.

Ben had a West Bank Pub Ale, which I tried. It was waaaaay too biscuity for me and way too biscuity and boring for him.

We met up with Jenna and Barry at Acadia, ditched immediately because of the terrible live music, and went to Matt's Bar, apparent birthplace of the Jucy Lucy. The four of us split a pitcher of Newcastle that I didn't really care for, watched and/or listened to the Twins fail, and went our separate ways.

Labels: 1800, American IPA, English Brown Ale, Fruit Lambic, Matt's Bar, Newcastle Breweries, The Four Firkins, Town Hall, West Bank Pub Ale