Archive: Month: September 2016

End of the day, worn out brewers drinking a well deserved beer!

While we are firm believers that a beer a day keeps the doctor away (is that a beer for you or for the doctor?), we also acknowledge that there are many people out there who need a reason to drink a beer.

Ask the Brewer

Is there a September beer holiday?

September has one of the most straight forward beer drinking holidays out there.  September 28th is National Drink Beer Day (remember, nothing is stopping you from enthusiastically celebrating it after the fact!).  While the origins of this holiday are unclear, what you do on the day itself is quite apparent.  In order to properly observe it, you can gather a group of friends for a tasting at your home or local establishment, or you can just enjoy your favorite pint on your own.

As you sip your delicious brew, you can think back on the long history of beer, from early human civilizations onward, and its influence in our development.  You can also ponder the fact that there is even one brewery in existence that has been producing beer for over 1,500 years!  The Weihenstephan brewery, located in the Bavarian region of Germany, has been brewing beer continuously since 1040.  Today, the company exports fourteen different styles to locations all over the world.

So, join us (albeit, a bit after the fact) on #DrinkBeerDay.  PROST!

Taproom Tidings

Tap selection for the weekend includes Pyro American Pale Ale, Roasted Coffee Ale, Fused Orange Blossom Honey Ale, Parched Lime Shandy, Raj-Agni India Pale Ale and Raspberry Infused Pyro.

Food options for the weekend include Soup Coupe on Friday (9/30), offering a hearty variety of soups, stews and chilis, and then Wholesoul will join us on Saturday (10/1) with their unique take on “soul food”.

Final Thoughts

Events for this weekend include:

• On Friday afternoon, our beer will be one of the featured taps at the Kellogg Craft Beer Overlook; this is the final weekend for this outdoor beer garden running in downtown St. Paul that overlooks the river and features live music, food and delivous beverages
• Also on Friday (9/30) we will be at Roseville’s POUR for Parks to help raise money for new and existing parks within Roseville
• On Saturday afternoon (10/1) we will be in Walker for the Harvest Moon Festival which features beer and wine tasting, live music, a medallion hunt and the spectacular fall colors of Northern MN

Also around the corner is our third beer pairing dinner with Signature Cafe.  Happening October 9th, this meal will feature a variety of Burning Brothers Beer paired with gluten-free courses.  Contact the restaurant directly for reservations.

On a final note, the more observant drinkers out there may have noticed that both the IPA and the Lime Shandy are packaged in shrink sleeved cans.  That means we slide the can into a sleeve and shrink it prior to filling and sealing it.  If you are the one responsible for sleeving the cans (i.e., Dane and Thom), and aren’t paying close attention, you can sleeve them upside down.  In honor of Dane, who not only had the most upside down cans go through, but is also a self-proclaimed dyslexic, we have created the game “Dyslexic Dane”.  If you find one of these cans in your 4-pack, signed by Dane, bring it in to the taproom and exchange it for a free pint.

As always, if you have questions, drop us a note via Email, Facebook or Twitter.

Cheers!

Early depiction of beer production (ca 2600 BC)

As many people know, beer (or beer-like beverages) date back to the earliest days of agriculture.  In fact, some beer enthusiasts believe that the shift from hunter/gatherer to agricultural societies was brought about by the desire to create beer.  While it’s all well and good to happen across the stray patch of ancient grain, and then put it in water and let wild yeasts do their thing, think about how much of it you could have if there was a steady grain supply!  In fact, it is quite tempting to assert that early writing systems developed due to the need to keep track of beer.  But if you are going to track it, you need to name it…

Ask the Brewer

How did beer come to be called beer?

This is actually a question with no definitive answer, though there are several theories as to where the word beer comes from.  When we look back at some of the earliest known beer production (with the ancient Sumerians), there were multiple names for beverages fermented from grain, including “sikaru”, “dida”, or “ebir”.

Moving forward in time, the Ancient Egyptian’s word for beer was “zytum”, and later when brewing was passed on to the Greeks, their word was “zythos”.  The Greeks, however, favored wine over beer, as did the Romans who followed them.  The Romans word for beer was “cerevisia”, which is Latin, and has a direct link to the modern word for beer in Spanish or Portugese which is “cerveza”.  The latin verb for drink, however, is “bibere“, which gets us closer to “beer”.

There is a possibility that “bibere” was borrowed in the 6th century by German monks, and from there went on to become the Old English word “beor“, Old Frisian “biar”, Middle Dutch “bier”, Old High German “bior” and German “Bier“.

Another suggestion is that it comes from Proto-Germanic “beuwo” for barley.  This theory also holds some merit, as the English word “Ale” is derived from the Germanic word “ol”, both of which refer to fermented grain beverages.

Regardless of the history, from our perspective, a beer by any other name is still just as delicious.

Taproom Tidings

We are pleased to say that our Roasted Coffee Ale is back in the regular rotation for this weekend.  In addition, we are going to continue forward with our Grapefruit IPA as everyone seems to be digging it.

On Friday (9/16) we will have Patacones joining us with their authentic Colombian Street Food, and on Saturday (9/17) Soup Coupe will be here with their tasty lettuce wraps and hearty soup selection, just the thing for when night-time temperatures are dipping into the 50s.

Final Thoughts

On Saturday, September 17th, we will be at two different beer events, The Autumn Brew Review in Minnesota and the Great Lakes Brew Fest in Wisconsin.  ABR is happening at the historic Grain Belt Brewing Complex in Northeast Minneapolis, and celebrates the fine art of craft brewing.  GLBF is at the Racine Zoo in Wisconsin, and benefits the Kilties Drum and Bugle Corps.

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On a final note, our beer will be one of the featured taps the next three Fridays at the the Kellogg Craft Beer Overlook.  This outdoor beer garden will be running three consecutive Fridays in downtown St. Paul, from 3PM to 7PM, and will have live music, food, and delicious beverages, all overlooking the river.

As always, if you have questions, drop us a note via Email, Facebook or Twitter.

Cheers!

Beer Philosophy!

A lot of people feel that if you have your own small business, you’re living the dream, and if that small business is a brewery, your life is golden.  Never ones to quash other people’s enthusiasm for the industry, we downplay the challenges, and highlight the successes, which brings us to our…

Ask the Brewer

Owning a brewery must be totally awesome, right?

While owning a brewery is totally awesome, it is also, at times, really hard.  At the end of the day, though, the positives far outweigh any negatives and in truth, there isn’t anything else that we would choose to do.

On a good day, there are no equipment malfunctions or breakdowns, everything runs smoothly, and beer is brewed, fermented, filtered and packaged without a hitch.  On a challenging day, all bets are off, and it’s time to improvise.

What gets us through those challenging times is our attitude, our belief that what we are doing matters, that it makes life more enjoyable for others, especially those who haven’t been able to drink beer in the past due to gluten intolerance or Celiac disease.  Our interactions with those people, at beer festivals and in the taproom, and the e-mails and Facebook posts thanking us for what we do, keep us going on the hard days, knowing that a good day is right around the corner.

Taproom Tidings

We are sad to report that the batch of Roasted Coffee Ale that was supposed to be ready this week did not agree with our schedule, so the taproom will be out for this weekend.  However, rather than get upset and let it bring us down, we decided to improvise.  That means this Friday (9/9) we will be bringing back the Grapefruit IPA that was our special beer for Rails & Ales. If you missed it, now is your chance to get in on the citrusy, hoppy goodness.

So, tap selection for this weekend includes Pyro APA, Fused OB Honey Ale, Parched Lime Shandy, Raj-Agni India Pale Ale, Rasperry infused Pyro and Grapefruit infused IPA.

Food options for the weekend will include Tatanka Truck on Friday (9/9) with their traditional Native American Foods and Crazy Puppy on Saturday (9/10) with their gluten-free fair food.  Our cupcake from Groundswell, is a Lavender Black Bottom Cheesecake – chocolate cake topped with a lavender infused cheesecake and whipped cream with chocolate chunks.

Final Thoughts

On Saturday, September 10th, we will be at two different beer events, The Prairie Brewfest and the Beer & Bacon cruise.  The Prairie Brewfest supports the Eden Prairie Community Foundation, and their mission to enrich their community.  The Beer & Bacon cruise is your chance to try multiple Burning Brothers beers and sample from a fully gluten-free menu while cruising the Mississippi river on a paddleboat.

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On a final note, our beer will be one of the featured taps this weekend at the River Balcony Prototyping Festival.  This Festival creates a more engaging and vibrant riverfront experience and connects people to the Green Line with temporary installations on the riverfront’s sidewalks, plazas, parks and pathway.

As always, if you have questions, drop us a note via Email, Facebook or Twitter.

Cheers!

Fire-eating at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival!

As summer draws to a close, kids go back to school, the first hints of fall cool the air, and harvest festivals throughout the nation are in full swing.  The MN State Fair is entering it’s final weekend, Oktoberfest begins in 3 weeks, and Renaissance Festivals are occurring across the US.  Near and dear to our own hearts, the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, where Dane and Thom (i.e., the Burning Brothers) performed the majority of their fire eating, is running through the 2nd of October.  As we reminisce, we think back to….

Ask the Brewer… er, Fire-Eater

When did fire-eating actually begin?

The earliest known record of fire-eating is that of a Syrian named Eunus, who lead a slave revolt in 133 B.C.E.  According to The Mystery Chronicles, he got the other slaves to follow him by claiming he had been favored by the gods, and granted supernatural powers.  In order to prove this, he held a hollowed out nut filled with flammable material, with a hole drilled in either end, in his mouth.  Every time he exhaled through it, it would act like a bellows, and flames and sparks would shoot out.

From there, fire-eating, juggling and manipulation has gone from the Royal courts of ancient Greece, to religious ceremonies in India, entertainment during the Renaissance period, sideshow, circus and carnival acts during the early 1900s and finally to the Las Vegas stages and Renaissance Festivals of today.

No matter when it has been performed, it is an art and skill that has been passed on from mentor to apprentice, with a healthy respect for the dangers that come with it.

Taproom Tidings

On this Friday (9/2) we will be joined once again by Wholesoul who specializes in taking soul food to a whole new level.

Our Saturday food truck unfortunately had to cancel, so we would be happy to make suggestions as to gluten-free food that can be brought in (AKA Bring-Your-Own-Gluten-Free-Food BYOGFF).

As a change of pace and in support of our special event on Sunday (9/4), Soup Coupe will be joining us with their awesome line-up of hot and cold soups as well as their delicious selection of lettuce wraps.

Our cupcake from Groundswell, is a Lavender Black Bottom Cheesecake – chocolate cake topped with a lavender infused cheesecake and whipped cream with chocolate chunks.

Final Thoughts

This weekend we are excited to have Save-A-Bull rescue with us on Sunday (9/4) from 2-6pm.  10% of all profits for that day will be donated to this organization in support of their work.  Stop in to have a pint and visit with the puppies they will have on hand!

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Last, but certainly not least, we wanted to plug our friends at Hot Indian Foods who will be serving up Paneer on a Spear at the Midtown Global Market booth at the International Bazaar from Aug 31-Sept 5.  Deep-fried Indian-seasoned paneer cheese coated with a local gluten-free craft beer batter (hmmm, I wonder whose beer that could be?) and served with a tomato garlic chutney.  Sounds like gluten-free nirvana to me.

As always, if you have questions, drop us a note via Email, Facebook or Twitter.

Cheers!