Archive: Year: 2015

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!

It’s either a brewery, a car wash or a fire fighting facility. Some days, maybe all 3.

With the uptick in warmer weather, beer sales have picked back up after their typical winter slow-down (apparently we all switch to drinking wine and spirits when it’s cold, go figure). Truth be told, the cases of Pyro have been flying out of the loading dock almost as fast as we can them.

If you are still looking for something to do this weekend, join the Burning Brothers crew (and a few other breweries) at the City Pages Beer Festival in downtown Minneapolis. Beer, live music, beer, food, beer, you get the idea.

Also, as you plan your summer vacations, remember that Burning Brothers is available throughout Minnesota, as well as the surrounding states (i.e, WI, IA, ND, SD, NE). We are still adding locations all over the place, so if in doubt, check the website out!

Ask the Brewer

We often get asked what grains are used for brewing gluten-free beer, since barley, wheat and rye aren’t suitable. There are a number of options available, including sorghum, buckwheat, millet, rice, quinoa, teff, oats, etc. Some of our fellow gluten-free brewers are even going a bit further by using chestnuts and lentils in their beer.

Ultimately the point is that we have options and aren’t limited to just one or two types of grain as there are multitudes available to us. Now, finding “malting” sources for these gluten-free grains is an entirely different story…. 😉

Taproom Tidings

Remember, every Thursday is “Thirsty Thursday” at the Burning Brothers taproom. We discount pints by $1 and growler fills by $2. If you have a busy weekend or are heading out of town (or you just need to start the weekend early…hey, we won’t judge), today is the day to swing by and make sure you have the beer you need to make it through!

Food on Fridays (FoF) brings us Chef T-Bone with Tollefson Family Farms who specializes in farm-fresh food paired with their locally-made sausages and bacon. While we’re here, we’d like to extend some kudos to the Tollefson crew for being featured on Kare11’s “Food Truck Friday” segment. Nice work.

Change of plans for Food on Fridays (FoF). Rusty Taco​ will be
joining us tonight instead of Tollefson Family Farms. We'll see
T-Bone again soon.

Our featured cupcake from Groundswell is a Lavender Black Bottom Cheesecake and is available all weekend (while supplies last). As always, the cupcake and any food served in our taproom is gluten-free.

Tap selection for the weekend includes Pyro APA, Roasted Coffee Ale, Orange Blossom Honey Infused Pyro, Lime Shandy and the last of the Burning Brothers Lager. Growler and grumbler fills on everything but the Lager (it’s almost gone folks).

In case you missed the news, our friends in downtown St. Paul approved Sunday Growler Sales. Woot! The catch, it won’t go into affect until July 5th. So, hang in there folks. Good things come to those who wait.

An important note for those visiting the brewery over the next few months. 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 (i.e., do not go there!).  We recommend using the Cretin/Vandalia exit for the interim.

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

Cheers!

Burning Brothers can not be held responsible for “Grumpy Thom Face”

Baseball and Beer

Tonight the St. Paul Saints play their home opener (at the sparkly new CHS Field) against their North Division rival the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks.  According to the Saint’s website, “The pageantry of opening day will be unlike any in Saints history since their very first home game in 1993.” Sounds like a good time to me. We wanted to give all you baseball fans a heads up that you can now get your Pyro on at CHS Field. Woot!

Here is wishing the Saints a successful inaugural season in their new ballpark!

If you are interested in what their new digs looks like, or how it was constructed, check out the website for all the glorious details.

Taproom Happenings

Remember, all Thursdays at the Burning Brothers taproom are “Thirsty Thursdays”, where we discount pints by $1 and growler fills by $2.  If you have a busy weekend (or maybe that holiday cookout), today is the day to swing by and make sure you have enough beer to get through it!

Food on Fridays (FoF) is happy to be welcoming Rusty Taco back with “tacos, the most important meal of the day”.  As always, any food served in the taproom will be gluten free.  To top off this delicious dinner, ask about the new cupcake flavor freshly baked by Groundswell (available all weekend long).

Tap selection for the weekend includes Pyro, Roasted, OB Honey Infusion, Lime Shandy and… drumroll…. our latest batch of Lager. Growler and grumbler fills on everything!

We’ve got one last round of maintenance on our brewhouse floor this weekend, so unfortunately we will be closed this Sunday, May 24th. After this (well, and maybe Father’s Day), it should be full speed ahead for Sundays. On a side but related note, our sources tell us that Sunday growler sales are on track to begin in St. Paul sometime this July. 🙂

An important note for those visiting the brewery over the next few months. 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, Baseball Signals, Twitter or Google+.

Cheers!

Weekend Update

Happy National Dance like a Chicken Day! Imagine, a whole day dedicated to those who like to do the “Chicken Dance”, preferably to the song written by Werner Thomas. While this song is a favorite of weddings and other celebrations, those opportunities are way too infrequent for the chicken dance aficionado. Therefore, today provides the perfect opportunity to exercise your love of the Chicken Dance… guilt free!

What does National Dance like a Chicken Day have to do with beer you ask? Nothing, really. But maybe we’ll help you win that next game of Trivial Pursuit or that argument with that one relative (yeah, we know the one). Enough ramblings though, onto beer!

Remember, all Thursdays at the Burning Brothers taproom are Thirsty Thursdays, where we discount pints by $1 and growler fills by $2.  If you have a busy weekend, today is the day to swing by and make sure you have enough beer to get through it!

Food on Fridays (FoF) is happy to be welcoming Moondog Fancy Meats back with their all natural brawts and hot dogs.  What goes better with a pint of beer than a good brawt?  Not much in this brewer’s book!

Tap selection for the weekend includes Pyro, Roasted, OB Honey Infusion and Lime Shandy. The lager has moved forward in the process from fermentation to carbonating. ETA should be next weekend.

An important note for those visiting the brewery over the next few months. 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, Rude Hand Gestures, Twitter or Google+.

Cheers!

Weekend Update

Dane demonstrates what it’s really like to get your beer goggles on…

Here we are, the Friday before Mother’s Day, and we want to take a moment to put on our serious hats. We would like to extend a big thank you to all of the mothers out there. The ones who work long hours bringing money home for their families, the ones who stay at home working just as many long hours in support of their families, and the ones who somehow manage to do both.  Thank you for all you do, we couldn’t do it without you! In honor of Mother’s Day, and so our staff can be with their families, the BBB taproom will be closed this Sunday.

Now, enough sentiment, onto beer!

Tonight we’ll be pouring samples at the Hanover Spring Wine & Craft Beer Expo from 7-9:30pm. If your in the area, make sure to stop in as they always put on a great event.

Food on Fridays (FoF) is happy to be welcoming Crazy Puppy Gourmet Workshop back to the Burning Brothers taproom with their delicious selection of “Fair Foods”.  Tonight’s special features gluten-free beer battered onion rings (I wonder where they could have gotten gluten-free beer from…), as well as the usual suspects of corndogs, cheese curds, etc.

Speaking of usual suspects, we will have Pyro on tap as well as Roasted, our coffee strong ale. We also have our Orange Blossom Honey Infusion, and of course, our summer beer, the Lime Shandy. Those of you who have been in recently know that we have another batch of Lager in the works, but unfortunately it is taking longer to mature than we had hoped. Give us another week or two and it will be back on tap.

In other news, as the weather has warmed up, and beer season has begun, we are busier brewing than ever!  We are literally sending beer out the doors as fast as we put it into cans. If you want to see a brewery in action (i.e., brewing, canning, dancing, crying, etc.), stopping by the taproom closer to 4pm on a Thursday or Friday will more likely than not give you that opportunity.

Questions? Drop us a note via Email, Facebook, Rude Hand Gestures, Twitter or Google+.

Sláinte!

It’s a gray day which means it’s a good night for drinking. We’ll be serving our indescribable Buckwheat Ale & chef T-bone of Tollefson’s Family pork farm will be serving his tasty(aka describable) sausages & salsa.

Come down early & see the canning line in action!

It’s already after 3pm on Friday, so I’ll spare you my usual rhetoric and get straight to the point.

Thanks to everyone who came to the events last weekend. It was tiring and exhilarating all at once and we couldn’t have done any of it without you. Big hugs to those of you who brought a non-perishable food donation as we were able to raise over 160 pounds of food for Keystone Community Services. You are all awesome!

Food on Friday (FoF) features our friends from Rusty Taco who will be slinging their taco goodness from 6-8pm.

Brewer’s choice starts off with our Premium Lager (until you kill the keg) and then finishes with our Blackstrap IPA. Also note that our Lime Shandy is back for the summer and pairs nicely with the warmer weather.

Cheers!

1 Year Party Update

<80’s music track>
TONIGHT, TONIGHT, TONIGHT…
</80’s music track>

Tonight is the night folks. It’s been one year since we opened the taproom and it’s been non-stop adventure ever since. Tonight’s party is our way of saying thanks to all of you for being there and supporting us.

Party starts at 4pm and we’ll have both the taproom AND the loading dock open and serving beer.

Hot Indian Foods will be rolling in and serving up their delectable offerings. “Are you down with brown?”

Beer specials all night:
– $3 Pyro APA
– $4 Roasted Coffee
– $4 Fused
– $4 Brewer’s Choice
– $2 pint of your choice with a non-perishable food donation (limit 1 per person)

Door prize drawings will include Brewer for a Day, Beer for a Year, Private Brewery Tour and Gift Certificates.

Fun, Frivolity, Good Times and More!

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

See you tonight!!
Burning Brothers