Archive: Month: December 2015

A very Happy New Year to everyone!

The new year is upon us and we hope that everyone has had a wonderful holiday season filled with laughter and time with friends and family. From all of us at Burning Brothers, we’d like to raise a glass and say CHEERS… Here’s to another year of delicious beer!

Taproom Tidings

This weekend we are open Thursday (4-8pm) and Saturday (2-10pm), but closed on Friday for the holiday and Sunday for our staff party. On Saturday we are pleased to welcome back the Tatanka Truck, featuring traditional Native American Foods.

• Tap selection includes Pyro APA, Roasted Coffee Ale, Fused Orange Blossom Honey, Cranberry Shandy and Raj-Agni IPA

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

Cheers!

A mug shot of the perpetrator

We wanted to take a moment to put on our serious faces, and wish everyone who reads this a very happy holiday season. Whether what you celebrate in the winter has already occurred, or is coming up, we hope that you spent it surrounded by loved ones, and that you find peace and prosperity in the coming year!

Our first pallets of Roasted were picked up by our Minnesota and Wisconsin distributors this past Wednesday. Help us get the word out as to where they are located by Tweeting/Facebooking #IGotRoasted when you find someplace carrying them. Thanks!

Ask the Brewer tells a story

Editor’s Note: While not exactly what happened, this is based on true events that happened soon after opening the brewery.

Twas the night before brewing, and all through the pub
The fermenters were empty, not even some trub
The hoses were hung by the kettles with care
In hopes of a brew day beyond all compare

Us owners were settled all snug at our desks
Creating the lists of tomorrow’s fun tasks
We’d listed the filtering, and the cleaning too
Refilling the tanks, there was so much to do

When out on the brew floor there arose such a clatter
We sprang from our desks to see what was the matter
Away to the door we flew like a flash
Throwing it open to a resounding crash

The light of the thermostats so faintly did glow
They barely did light the objects below
When what to our wondering eyes should appear
But a family of squirrels, showing no fear

With a little grey mother, so lively and quick
Catching them all would be quite the trick
More rapid than eagles the babies they ran
And we whistled, and shouted, and called them by name

“Out, Fuzzy! Out, Furry! Out, Trespass and Stealin!
Go, Graytail! Go Scabby! Go Piddles and Thievin!
On top of the coolers! On top of the wall!
Oh Get out! Get out! Get out you all!”

Like leaves that before the wild hurricane fly
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky
So up to the rooftop the squirrels they flew
Carting a four-pack of beer, and a growler too

And then in a twinkling, we heard on the roof
The chewing and gnawing of each little tooth
They’ve stolen our beer, they’re opening it now
They got into the brewery, we need to figure out how

They are dressed all in fur, from their head to their tail
With a gray fuzzy back and a stomach that’s pale
They didn’t look like thieves, before they stole our beer
Their future as criminals is becoming quite clear

Their eyes – yes, they twinkled!  Their smiles, so sneery
And now their squirrel breath, it will be quite beery
If we could find their way in, block them out
We could protect the Ale, the Porter, and Stout

The rung of a ladder held tight in one hand
In the rafters we looked where a squirrel might stand
We could trap them in boots which are quite smelly
That would teach those thieves, so much beer in their belly

They are chubby and plump, yet audacious and small
We laughed when we saw it, the hole in the wall
A spark in our eyes, some steel wool and cement
We could block out squirrels with effort well spent

We spoke not a word, but went straight to our work
We filled the hole completely, then turned with a jerk
And laying the ladder beside the trench drain
We went outside yelling “Now try that, again!”

They sprang to their feet, dropping beer cans as they would
Staggering slightly from drinking as fast as they could
Yet we heard them exclaim, as they ran across the roof
“Your beer is delicious, though slightly high in proof!”

Taproom Tidings

This weekend we are open Wednesday, but closed on Thursday and Friday for the holidays. On Saturday we are excited to be joined for the first time by Man Cave Craft Meats. If you love craft beer, you’ll love craft meats!

• Tap selection includes Pyro APA, Roasted Coffee Ale, Fused Orange Blossom Honey, Cranberry Shandy and Raj-Agni IPA
• Gingerbread Custard Cupcake from Groundswell, gingerbread with pumpkin custard and spiced whipped cream

Final Thoughts

Just a quick note about our holiday hours, especially for those who want to have beer available for getting together with friends and family.

We will be open on Wednesday, December 23rd, from 4-8pm, then closed both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

We will be open on New Year’s Eve until 8pm, but will be closed on both the 1st (Happy New Year’s!) and the 3rd (for our staff holiday party).

Also, If you are still looking for that perfect gift for your beer loving recipient, give us a call or stop in. We have growler gift sets, shirts, hats and gift cards available in any denomination.

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

Cheers!

The hop fields of Crosby Hop Farm, in Oregon

December 15th marked the second anniversary of our first big brew here at Burning Brothers (whoa, it feels like it was only yesterday), and January 30th marks the two year anniversary of beer leaving the brewery in cans (alright, maybe it was awhile back). It’s been a dazzling ans sometimes dizzying ride, so thanks for living this adventure with us!

Our first pallets of Roasted were picked up by our Minnesota and Wisconsin distributors this past Wednesday. Look (or even ask) for them at your local retailer, as they are available now!

Ask the Brewer

Where do you get your hops from?

The majority of our hops come from Crosby Hop Farm, located in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. Several interesting things of note about Crosby, beyond the sheer size of their operations, are their sustainability, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices and their Salmon Safe certification. We can see the puzzled looks… the “Salmon?” question lingering in your mind… what do hops have to do with Salmon?

The river that flows through the Willamette Valley is home to spawning salmon and Crosby is one of only a handful of Salmon-Safe certified hop farms in the U.S. In addition to maintaining 5% biodiversity on their farmland, they use formulations and safe application strategies from certified crop consultants, protecting their watershed and the creatures that inhabit it. Hence, their Salmon Safe Certification.

Our fresh hops come from Mighty Axe Hops, here in Minnesota. Mighty Axe is still fairly young, at least for the hops industry, as hop vines take many years to mature and produce usable cones. The craft beer explosion here has provided a market for fresh, locally grown hops, which Mighty Axe, and almost 100 other Minnesota hop growers, are stepping up to fill.

Taproom Tidings

This weekend we have the return of the Signature on Wheels crew for Friday night, and on Saturday we will be joined by the new to our taproom Peanuts and Popcorn. We will be open our regular hours, with growler and grumbler fills all of the days we are open.

• Tap selection includes Pyro APA, Roasted Coffee Ale, Fused Orange Blossom Honey, Cranberry Shandy and Raj-Agni IPA
• Thirsty Thursdays $1 off pints and $2 off growlers (No growler or grumbler fills after 8pm, cuz it’s the law!)
• Gingerbread Custard Cupcake from Groundswell, gingerbread with pumpkin custard and spiced whipped cream

Final Thoughts

Just a quick note about our holiday hours, especially for those who want to have beer available for getting together with friends and family.

We will be open on Wednesday, December 23rd, from 4-8pm, then closed both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

We will be open on New Year’s Eve until 8pm, but will be closed on both the 1st (Happy New Year’s!) and the 3rd (for our staff holiday party).

Also, If you are still looking for that perfect gift for your beer loving recipient, give us a call or stop in. We have growler gift sets, shirts, hats and gift cards available in any denomination.

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

Cheers!

Holiday spirit at the taproom, courtesy of our friends at Living Art Gardens

Our first pallets of Roasted cans will leave with our Minnesota and Wisconsin distributors next week. They should be hitting the shelves of liquor stores as well as bars and restaurants shortly thereafter! Thanks for your patience.

Ask the Brewer

Are there any good beer poems out there?

Firing up the intertubes reveals multiple forms of beer poetry; limericks, sonnets, and even haiku. A haiku is a short, 3 line poem, with the first line being 5 syllables, the second being 7, and the third being 5. Haiku is one of the most important forms of traditional Japanese poetry. Here are a few examples, focused of course, on beer:

Morning Beer
Feeling so sheepish
breakfast at a restaurant
I ask “what’s on tap?”

Regret
Into the taproom
Delicious! I drink eight pints
Sorrow comes with dawn

Taproom Tidings

The second weekend of December continues our tradition of food on Friday and Saturday. Moondog will be here both days with their German style brats and dogs.

We are open our regular hours, with growler and grumbler fills available all of the days we are open.

• Thirsty Thursdays are your chance for $1 off pints and $2 off growler fills (Remember, St. Paul doesn’t let us fill growlers after 8pm on Thursdays, so get here early)
• Whistler Soda has several new soda flavors, including a a caramelized pineapple and a mango.
• Tantalize your taste buds with a Gingerbread Custard Cupcake from Groundswell. Gingerbread with pumpkin custard and spiced whipped cream.
• Tap selection includes Pyro APA, Roasted Coffee Ale, Fused Orange Blossom Honey, Cranberry Shandy and Raj-Agni IPA.

Final Thoughts

Join us this weekend at the Winter Wine & Craft Beer Expo. Held at the Hanover City Hall on December 11th from 7 to 9PM, it will be an opportunity to sample wine and beer from many different vendors!

Also, If you are still looking for that perfect gift for your beer loving recipient, give us a call or stop in. We have growler gift sets, shirts, hats and gift cards available in any denomination.

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

Cheers!

Cross-section of the seam that holds the lid to the body of a beer can

With both the revamped Pyro and the new Roasted cans here at the brewery, we are gearing up for a week of hard core canning, which brings us to this edition of our Ask the Brewer question!

Ask the Brewer

How does the beer get into sealed cans anyway?

That is a good question. While our canning line is easily visible through the taproom window, and we have definitely had people working it while the taproom is open (do not taunt the brewhouse workers, they scare easily), it can still be hard to see (and understand) exactly what the process is.

One of the things that often surprises people is that the cans get shipped to us as open topped containers. The can body is separate from the lid, and the canning line fills and assembles them, seaming the lid onto the body. The picture above shows the cross section of a properly formed seam.

Canning beer can be broken down into 5 distinct steps that need to be performed properly to get a correctly filled, leak-proof can of beer:

• CO2 filling
• Beer filling
• Lid application
• First seam
• Second seam

Prior to being put on the canning line, each can is rinsed with a mild sanitizing solution to ensure that the beer is going into a clean container. Once placed on the canning line, the cans are moved forward in groups of three to the first operation of filling those cans with CO2. The CO2 is heavier than air, so it stays in the can, providing an oxygen free environment that maintains carbonation and inhibits flavor changes. The second step is filling the cans with beer. Again, the cans are moved forward until they are under the fill nozzles, which drop down into the bottom of each can. Beer flows from the brite tank to each of the three fill nozzles, into the cans and displaces the CO2, so that it is laying between the top of the beer and the rim of the can.

In the third step the canning line pushes the filled cans under the lid dispenser and into the seaming portion of the operations. The lid dispenser puts one lid on each can, trapping the bed of CO2 as well as the beer beneath it. The fourth and fifth steps are the actual sealing of the can, which is called double seaming. Each operation in the double seaming process needs to be precisely timed so that a tight and leak-proof seam is formed. The fourth operation consists of the curled edge of the cover getting interlocked with the flange of the can body. The fifth operation is the rolling and compression of those inter-locked edges. Correctly done, the end result is a hermetically sealed container.

Once filled and seamed, the cans are rinsed, removed from the canning line and snapped into four-pack holders. They are then placed into cases, put on pallets, and stored in our walk-in cooler for pick-up by the distributor.

Taproom Tidings

The first weekend of December continues our tradition of food on Friday and Saturday. Tollefson Family Pork Farms will be here with locally raised pork sausages accompanied by their made from scratch side offerings on both days.

We are open our regular hours, with growler and grumbler fills available all of the days we are open.

• Thirsty Thursdays are your chance for $1 off pints and $2 off growler fills (Remember, St. Paul doesn’t let us fill growlers after 8pm on Thursdays, so get here early)
• Whistler Soda has several new soda flavors, including a a caramelized pineapple and a mango soda.
• Tantalize your taste buds with a Gingerbread Custard Cupcake from Groundswell. Gingerbread with pumpkin custard and spiced whipped cream.
• Tap selection includes Pyro APA, Roasted Coffee Ale, Fused Orange Blossom Honey, Cranberry Shandy and Raj-Agni IPA, with the “brewer’s choice” of a Minnesota Mild also on tap.

Final Thoughts

If you are looking for that perfect gift for your beer loving recipient, give us a call or stop in. We have growler gift sets, shirts, hats and gift cards available in any denomination.

As always, if you have questions, drop us a note via Email, Facebook, North Pole Postal, Twitter or Google+.

Cheers!