Archive: Month: June 2015

Legendary Beer for a Minnesota Legend!

June 28th is Paul Bunyan Day and while we know that it doesn’t fall on the weekend, it was too good a holiday to pass up! Paul Bunyan is “credited” with creating the Mississippi River as well as the Land of 10,000 Lakes. His era was also the first heyday of craft brewing in Minnesota, which we talk about in today’s “Ask a Brewer”.

But before we get to that, we’d like to remind everyone that on Friday, June 26th we will be participating in the Beer Dabbler at Twin Cities Pride. Held in Loring Park from 5:30 to 9:30pm, over 30 breweries and food trucks are paired with each other for a brew and food extravaganza. We are being paired with Cool Jerk, so prepare yourself for gluten-free deliciousness in both hands! There will also be live music, a silent disco (not-so-live music), and many other fun activities.

Also for consideration in your weekend plans is the Blues & Brews celebration at the Nicollet Island Pavilion on Sunday, June 28th from 4 to 7pm. We’ll be participating in this event which includes live music (guessing there might be some Blues), craft beers (hence the Brews), and a ton of tasty appetizers paired with different beers. All proceeds benefit Canvas Health.

Regardless of where your weekend plans take you, we hope that you find some time to relax and enjoy a tasty beverage (like beer) with friends. Sláinte!

Ask the Brewer

Does Minnesota have more breweries now than it did prior to Prohibition?
(i.e., Do you think we are reaching a bubble in the craft beer industry?)

Minnesota has a long and varied beer history with our first brewery opening in 1849 close to the current site of the Science Museum. The brewer was a Bavarian native named Yoerg and he produced a lager and a bock from recipes he brought from back home.

As we headed into the 1870’s, the population had increased as well as the railroads beginning to push into the area and this drove the demand for more beer (music to this brewers ears). As of 1875, there were over 120 breweries in Minnesota before a slow but accelerating decline in those numbers leading up to Prohibition in 1919. A few breweries managed to keep their doors open by switching to making sodas or near beer, and were therefore in a good spot to begin production of alcoholic beers when Prohibition was repealed in 1933.

The second surge in brewery numbers occurred shortly thereafter with just over two dozen breweries calling Minnesota home in the late 1930s. This didn’t last though as by 1970 we were down to just 4 breweries in the state (and that is how it stayed until 1985… Bonus points if you can name the 4 breweries…).

Fast forward to the end of 2014 and you find that there were over 70 breweries operating in Minnesota and licensing officials predict over 110 by the end of 2015!

While some people may speculate that the craft beer bubble is close to bursting, think about how many breweries there once were and then think about how much the population has grown since those glory days. These brewers think there is still plenty of room for more delicious craft beer!

Taproom Tidings

A huge thank you to our taproom guests for their patience as the most recent batch of Roasted Coffee Ale finished up. We are happy to say that it is ready and will be back on tap for this weekend!

Furthermore, in celebration of Sunday growler sales starting on July 5th, we will be offering a free pint with each growler sold on that day! Mark you calendars folks (and maybe have some hair of the dog that bit ya the night before).

This weekends taproom highlights include:

• Thirsty Thursdays – $1 off pints and $2 off growler fills
• Food on Fridays (FoF) brings us Moondog and his gluten-free selection of German-style bratwursts and dawgs
• Our featured cupcake from Groundswell is their Lavender Black Bottom Cheesecake and is available all weekend (while supplies last… no seriously, you all ate them by Friday last week….)
• Tap selection for the weekend includes Pyro APA, Roasted Coffee Ale, Orange Blossom Honey Infused Pyro, Lime Shandy and our Blackstrap IPA. Growler and grumbler fills on everything.

Our errands, unfortunately, take us across I-94. With the Snelling Ave. bridge being the most direct route, we can tell you from personal experience, that the bridge is still out. {insert long string of expletives here} With that being said, note that the Snelling Ave. bridge crossing Interstate 94 is STILL closed. This means that access to the brewery from the I94/Snelling ramps is difficult to non-existent, depending on which direction you are coming from. We recommend using the Cretin/Vandalia exit for the interim.

Questions? Drop us a note via Email, Facebook, Cipher, Twitter or Google+.

Cheers!

Two fine fathers feeling frisky!

First off, we’d like to take a moment to wish a great big Happy Fathers Day to all of the fathers out there. No, seriously. Go pour yourself a pint right now, you deserve it!

We know that the support and encouragement that ours have provided has made a huge difference in our lives. That being said, the BBB Taproom will be closed this Sunday, Fathers Day, so that we can take some well deserved time with our families, and celebrate our own fatherhood.

Sill looking for a gift idea for you pop? Want to ensure your place as the favorite child? Skip the tie and get dad a Burning Brothers Gift Pack which includes 2 BBB pint glasses and a growler full of you favorite taproom selection. Still can’t decide? We also have gift cards available.

Also, we have teamed up with our friends at Chocolate Celeste to bring you Orange Blossom Honey Bonbons, just in time for Fathers Day. Sixty-four percent (64%) dark chocolate and infused with Burning Brothers OB Infused Pyro APA, they provide another opportunity to treat dad with a new twist on craft beer flavor. Available this Saturday from 10-5pm at Chocolate Celeste, 652 Transfer Road,Saint Paul, MN. (It’s just around the corner from the brewery!)

(The management at Burning Brothers or Chocolate Celeste can not be held responsible for any inter-sibling conflicts caused by your awesome gift giving-ness!)

Lastly, we are thrilled to say Happy Summer, as this Fathers Day is also the first day of summer! Summer is prime beer drinking weather, which brings us to our ask the brewer segment!

Ask the Brewer

What is the best temperature to serve beer at?

As a general rule, beers with lower alcohol content are typically drunk at colder temperatures than beers with higher alcohol content. Not surprisingly, there is a correlation between which beers are most popular during the summer, and the temperature those beers are served at, compared to the beers that are drunk during the fall and winter.

The outline below lists the “ideal” serving temperatures for different styles of beer:

Cold: 40-45 degrees

• Pilsner, Light-bodied Lager, Kolsch, Belgian Wit, Hefeweizen, Berliner Weisse, American Wheat

Cool: 45-50 degrees

• American Pale Ale, Medium-bodied Lagers, India Pale Ale (IPA), Porter, Alt, Irish Stout, Sweet Stout

Cellar Temp: 50-55 degrees

• Sour Ale, Lambic/Gueuze, English Bitter, Strong Ale, Baltic Porter, Bock, Scotch Ale, Belgian Ale, Trappist Ale

Warm: 55-60 degrees

• Imperial Stout, Belgian Quad, Belgian Strong Ale, Barley Wine, Old Ale, Dopplebock, Eisbock

While these guidelines are a good starting point for optimizing the flavor and aromas of these beers don’t get hung up on them. If you find that you prefer a beer at a certain temperature, that is how you should drink it. Don’t be afraid to go against the grain. 😉

Taproom Tidings

The day is getting closer. Staring July 5th, you will be able to buy beer in growlers on Sundays from St. Paul taprooms. Finally, we won’t have to make that run to the border!

This weekends taproom highlights include:

• Thirsty Thursdays – $1 off pints and $2 off growler fills
• Food on Fridays (FoF) brings us Chef T-Bone and his tantalizing selection of pork sausages, bacon and assorted sides.
• Our featured cupcake from Groundswell is their Lavender Black Bottom Cheesecake and is available all weekend (while supplies last)
• Tap selection for the weekend includes Pyro APA, Orange Blossom Honey Infused Pyro, Lime Shandy and our Blackstrap IPA. Growler and grumbler fills on everything
• Taproom is closed on Father’s Day (just in case you missed it above)

Since we live in Minnesota, and Minnesota has road construction, we’ve realized that you’re just going to have to take the long road. Even a one mile trip seems to require a detour of some sort. With that being said, note that the Snelling Ave. bridge crossing Interstate 94 is closed. This means that access to the brewery from the I94/Snelling ramps is difficult to non-existent, depending on which direction you are coming from. We recommend using the Cretin/Vandalia exit for the interim.

Questions? Drop us a note via Email, Facebook, Dead Drop, Twitter or Google+.

Cheers!

Dane auditioning for Dirty Jobs?

We are proud to announce that Burning Brothers has made it into the semifinal round of the 2015 Minnesota Cup. The MN Cup is the largest statewide new venture competition in the country, and we are 1 of the 70 companies selected to compete in this years contest.

In other news, Pyro was reviewed by the fine folks at Trek Tech Blog which includes a core group of regular contributors and a team of testers from around the country who show and tell all about the best and the brightest toys, tech, and trends in the outdoor industry. Beer and the great outdoors go together almost as well as peanut butter and chocolate.

In other other news (yeah, I went there), Burning Brothers will be one of the new Sunday stops for Hoppy Trolley. Based out of NE Minneapolis, Hoppy Trolley travels throughout the Twin Cities, providing a fun, safe and affordable way for craft-beer lovers to get their brew on!

Ask the Brewer

What is the difference between gluten-free and gluten-reduced beer?

Well, that is sort of a loaded question, and for a Celiac, potentially a very important one.

One of the first differences is that “gluten-free” beers are made from exclusively from gluten-free ingredients (i.e., sorghum, millet, rice, buckwheat and so on). “Gluten-reduced” beers are made with traditional ingredients such as barley or wheat (which contain gluten) and are then treated with an enzyme to break down the gluten into smaller proteins. The end goal of using these enzymes is to have the beers test below the 20 parts per million (PPM) threshold for gluten, which is a commonly accepted standard for gluten-free products.

This brings us to the second difference between gluten-free and gluten-reduced beers, the labeling.  While gluten-reduced beers do fall under the 20 PPM threshold for gluten, the Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) have ruled that alcoholic beverages made from gluten containing ingredients cannot claim to be gluten-free. They can, however, market themselves as gluten-reduced. Check out this article for more details.

The third, and potentially biggest differentiation between the way the two beers are crafted comes into play for Celiacs who have a very high sensitivity to gluten. For them, gluten-reduced beers can still cause a reaction. There is currently some pretty hefty debate in the scientific community over how much gluten is removed by the enzyme process. The crux of the issue revolves around the fact that the most commonly used test for detecting gluten may not work properly in fermented beverages. This makes it hard to “prove” how much gluten has been removed/reduced.

Taproom Tidings

First off, remember that starting July 5th, you will be able to buy beer to-go from St. Paul taprooms on Sundays.

Secondly, your taproom highlights include:

• Thirsty Thursdays – $1 off pints and $2 off growler fills
• Food on Fridays (FoF) brings us Rusty Taco! Our brewers have found that nothing compliments the heat of Mexican food quite like a delicious IPA (and low and behold, we happen to have an IPA… go figure)!
• Our featured cupcake from Groundswell is their Lavender Black Bottom Cheesecake and is available all weekend (while supplies last)
• Tap selection for the weekend includes Pyro APA, Orange Blossom Honey Infused Pyro, Lime Shandy and our Blackstrap IPA. Growler and grumbler fills on everything.

What we’ve realized from living in Minnesota during road construction is that really, you can’t get there, from here.  Doesn’t matter where there is, or here is, you just can’t get there. With that being said, note that the Snelling Ave. bridge crossing Interstate 94 is closed. This means that access to the brewery from the I94/Snelling ramps is difficult to non-existent, depending on which direction you are coming from. We recommend using the Cretin/Vandalia exit for the interim.

Questions? Drop us a note via Email, Facebook, Dowsing Rod, Twitter or Google+.

Cheers!

Beer goggles can alter people’s perception… of you…. 

Friday, June 5th is National Donut Day!! Not to let an opportunity to celebrate pass us by, we are thrilled to have Crazy Puppy Gourmet Workshop joining us on Friday, and they will be serving, amongst other things, donuts!!

Donuts not your thing? (It’s alright, we understand… well, sort of…) How about beer festivals? Yes, as in multiple. Saturday, June 6th, you can choose between the St. Paul Summer Beer Fest and the Maple Lake Brewfest. We’ll be pouring at both, so come on out, have a beer and enjoy good company.

On a different (non-donut) note, Burning Brothers is proud to be supporting (as well as being a part of) “Thinking and Drinking”. This craft brewery focused card game is designed to foster great conversation over great beer, as well as a lot of laughter! Check out their Kickstarter campaign for all the gory details.

Ask the Brewer

IBUs are one of the standards often used to describe beer. The acronym stands for International Bitterness Unit and is a measure of how “bitter” a beer is. From a technical standpoint, what is being measured are the alpha acids from the hops and how much bitterness each hop variety is contributing to the beer.

Every style of beer has it’s own particular range of expected IBUs. For example, Pilsners often land around 10 IBUs, while English Pale Ales range from 25 to 35, Stouts around 40 and India Pale Ales from 45 to over 100. Check out this article if you are interested in learning more.

Taproom Tidings

Recent media attention includes our being part of MN Monthly’s Taproom Guide as well as Dane talking with the fine folks down at WCCO about Sunday Growler sales. Mark your calendars folks. Starting July 5th, you will be able to buy beer to-go from St. Paul taprooms on Sundays.

Our weekend taproom rundown includes the usual suspects:

• Thirsty Thursdays is your chance for $1 off pints and $2 off growler fills
• Food on Fridays (FoF) brings us Crazy Puppy Gourmet Workshop who will be serving their gluten-free fair food. Food options include (but not limited to) crazy pups (mini-brats in cornmeal batter), spicy cheese curds and (of course) DONUTS! Did we say Happy National Donut Day yet?!?
• Our featured cupcake from Groundswell is their Lavender Black Bottom Cheesecake and is available all weekend (while supplies last)
• Tap selection for the weekend includes Pyro APA, Roasted Coffee Ale, Orange Blossom Honey Infused Pyro, Lime Shandy and the latest batch of our Blackstrap IPA. It should be noted, we are down to our last keg of Roasted Coffee Ale, so get here while the getting is good. Growler and grumbler fills on everything. UPDATE: Roasted is gone for the next couple of weeks.

There really are only two seasons in Minnesota. Road construction and road construction is coming. UGH! Note that the Snelling Ave. bridge crossing Interstate 94 is closed. This means that access to the brewery from the I94/Snelling ramps is difficult to non-existent, depending on which direction you are coming from. We recommend using the Cretin/Vandalia exit for the interim.

Questions? Drop us a note via Email, Facebook, Tasseography, Twitter or Google+.

Cheers!