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Ryan Tuenge
Ryan Tuenge is an avid home brewer and craft beer lover who
is not afraid to spend his last $5 on a pint of beer at the local pub.
As a member of the Minnesota Home Brewers Association, Ryan has tried a wide variety of beers and has toured many of the local breweries. He also has a blog about craft beer in Minnesota. He likes to read, write and travel with his wife. Follow him on Twitter @lodgefather.
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Posts about Beer
American Craft Beer Week Northland Edition
Posted by: Ryan Tuenge Updated: May 14, 2013 - 10:38 PM
For those fortunate enough to live up on the beautiful north shore this is the week in which to celebrate your love of craft beer. The Rathskeller (a prohibition style lounge in the basement of Tycoons) is converting all 15 of their taps to Minnesota brews. Two of these will be brand new brews from Bent Paddle Brewing which is set to open this Thursday for the first time and another one will be LSD an offering from Indeed Brewing.
Brewers from the following breweries will be on hand for American Craft Beer Week on Wednesday from 7-9 p.m. at The Rathskeller to show off their best: Black List, Borealis Fermentery, Castle Danger Brewery, Dubrue and Big Wood Brewing from White Bear Lake. This would be a great chance to ask them about the process and get to know those who brew some of your local favorites.
Speaking of Bent Paddle Brewing, they are planning a grand opening on Thursday at 3 p.m. and if you are lucky enough you can get a sneak peek by way of a brewery tour at noon Thursday through Saturday. If you plan to do this, you should sign up on the website before they fill up.
It wouldn’t be Craft Beer Week in Duluth without a trip to Fitger’s Brewhouse for a sampling of the special releases that they have planned. According to Dave Hoops who is the brewmaster at Fitger’s—they will be serving up Blonde on Blonde which is a tribute to Dylan Fest, and Black Solstice which is a Black Pepper Saison.
Make sure to get out there and support the best the northland has to offer.
Cheers!
Minnesota Craft Beer Week
Posted by: Ryan Tuenge Updated: May 13, 2013 - 11:15 AMMinnesota Craft Beer Week starts today and the list of events seems endless. Events such as tonight’s Meet the Brewer (Joe Giambruno from Bad Weather Brewing) at Northbound Smokehouse Brewpub will help connect the community to those who are making our favorite local beers. The event goes from 5-7 p.m. and will feature $3 pours of Bad Weather brews.
There will also be special beer releases such as Size 11 from Steel Toe Brewery at Muddy Waters (one of the best craft beer bars around) on Thursday at 3 p.m. and Town Hall Brewery’s 2013 barrel-aged Wee Heavy which will be released on Wednesday at the brewpub. The Herkimer will be tapping a firkin of their dry hopped Rye PA on Friday and Lift Bridge will be releasing Minnesota Tan fermented with raspberries on Friday as well. Big Jim IPA infused with Cara Cara zest will be released on Friday at Northbound and will feature $3 pints from 5 p.m. until the keg runs out.
Bent Paddle Brewing is set to open their doors on Thursday at 3 p.m. and the grand opening celebration will go through the entire weekend. If you live up in Duluth you will not want to miss this. Another thing you should know is that Town Hall Brewery is going to be featuring Happy Hour pricing all day on Thursday.
For a complete list of the happenings check out the 10,000 Minutes of Minnesota Craft Beer calendar from the Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild.
Cheers!
Northbound Now Selling Growlers
Posted by: Ryan Tuenge Updated: May 5, 2013 - 4:37 PM
On Monday, May 6th Northbound Smokehouse Brewpub will officially begin growler sales. The brewpub expanded their fermentation space back in February to keep up with demand and to allow them to sell their four year-round brews in the popular 64 oz package.
Growlers available on Monday will be Big Jim IPA, Light Rail Pale Ale, Smokehouse Porter, and Honey Wheat. Later this summer their seasonal offerings will also be made available for growler sales. One of the advantages to purchasing a growler is that the beer is always fresh and it is one of the best ways to share local beer.
Growlers make a perfect addition to a backyard fire, grilling, playoff hockey, and for baseball games throughout the summer.
All Pints North Ticket Sale
Posted by: Ryan Tuenge Updated: April 15, 2013 - 7:16 AMToday at noon All Pints North Fest tickets will go on sale. Tickets are going for $30 here and for sober drivers tickets are only $10. The festival date is July 13th from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Bayfront Festival Park in Duluth, MN. What’s really cool is that at 10 a.m. you can grab a ticket two-pack for All Pints North and the Autumn Brew Review which happens in the fall.
The Autumn Brew Review usually sells out in seconds (tickets go on sale in July) so you don’t want to miss this opportunity to scoop both of these tickets up. These tickets are going for $70 and you can find them here. For more info on the event be sure to visit the Minnesota Craft Brewers website found here.
*Please note that ticket prices do not include fees
Cheers!
Badger Hill Releases High Road Everyday Ale
Posted by: Ryan Tuenge Updated: April 14, 2013 - 12:21 AM
Grilling season is near and Badger Hill Brewing is releasing a session beer to celebrate. High Road Everyday Ale doesn’t disappoint sporting two fine New Zealand hops—Wakatu and Galaxy and is backed by a refreshing pilsener malt. What’s really neat is that they used their own MSB yeast (a British strain) which lends a subtle sweetness to this dry-hopped brew. Co-owner and brewer Broc Krekelberg who has been known to take his time concocting the perfect recipe for each of his brews really hit this one out of the park.
The thing about session beers is that they don’t have to be flavorless and this brew proves that point. Too often people assume that session beers are bland and lacking quality ingredients. This is simply untrue, in fact session brews are often said to be some of the hardest to make because it is hard to hide any off flavors whereas with bigger beers you can find way cover some of them up. Session beers are quickly gaining popularity across the country as evidenced by the many that can be found on liquor store shelves or on tap at neighborhood brewpubs.
As of right now you can find this on tap at The Gray House in Uptown and soon to be at many bars across the city. In late April or early May you will find High Road Everyday Ale in bottles at your favorite liquor stores across the metro.
Of course you could always stop in for their $5 tours where you get unlimited samples of High Road or any of their other beers.
Cheers!
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