Archive: Author: sandbox_atpnzs

Guess what Thom’s favorite color is!

Our distributor here in Minnesota has picked up two pallets of kegs just this past Monday – Woot!  That means that Burning Brothers will be available on tap in select locations in very short order.  The first two varieties going out to retail accounts are Pyro and Roasted.  We will post locations that have our beer on tap on our website as well as Twitter and Facebook as soon as we know.

Ask the Brewer

So, who makes your beer?

While there are several people at Burning Brothers who brew the beer, the behind the scenes work is done by Co-Founder Thom Foss, pictured above.  In order to give you, our loyal followers, a little insight into what makes him tick, we did a short interview with him.

What do you do at Burning Brothers?
I do all of the behind the scenes stuff, i.e. office work, that makes the brewery happen.  There is a lot of regulatory and financial paperwork that has to be dealt with.  However, I still make time to do things on the brewfloor too.

What’s the best part of your job?
Getting to have a beer, or two, in the middle of the day!  Actually, what I like most is being able to create something of value, something tangible that actually adds to other people’s lives.

What’s the worst part of your job?
Feeling that the brewery has become my whole life.  In some ways I worry that I am letting down my family and friends, as I do very little with them right now.

What’s your favorite Burning Brothers Beer?
Roasted Coffee – I have close to the same passion for coffee as for beer, so this combines that, and they are two great tastes that go great together!

What is your favorite other beer?
Triple Karmeliet, it is hands down one of the best beers I have ever had in my life.

Pirates or Ninjas?
Ninjas!  When asked why, he said if you need to ask, you don’t understand…

If you could add one thing to the brewery/taproom, what would it be?
A patio – it would make our regulars happy!

Taproom Tidings

The taproom has its regular hours all weekend, with growler fills available all of the days we are open. Highlights include:

• Thirsty Thursdays is 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)
• Food on Fridays (FoF) brings us Crazy Puppy, gluten-free fair food – delicious!
• Our featured cupcake from Groundswell is their Espresso Turtle. Chocolate espresso cake with chocolate mousse, whipped cream, toasted pecans and an espresso caramel sauce.
• Tap selection includes Pyro APA, Roasted Coffee Ale, Fused Orange Blossom Honey, Parched Lime Shandy and our ever popular Blackstrap IPA. Growler and grumbler fills on everything.

Final Thoughts

On Saturday, September 26th, we will be participating in Spirits on the River.  This event is a beer, wine, and food sampling event featuring 80+ beers from fifteen breweries, five wineries and five food vendors. There will also be root beer, live music and a raffle including a 2015. We hope to see you there!

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

Cheers!

Barrel aged beers, mmm tasty!

Bacon… Beer… Music… what more could you ask for?! This Saturday (9/12), we’ll be at Target Field in downtown Minneapolis for the Bacon and Beer Classic. As attendees walk through the stadium they will get a taste of history through the hundreds of craft brew samples and mouth-watering bacon-inspired tastes local restaurants cook up. Music will get people dancing and interactive games will bring out their inner kid!

Ask the Brewer

I always thought fresh beer was best, why would I want to drink aged beer?

While getting fresh beer is important, certain beers actually age quite well and can be barrel, cask, or bottle aged to enhance their flavors. Fresh beer matters because certain flavors fade or degrade over time. According to the Beer Advocate website, hop flavors in lower alcohol beers (i.e., Pale Ales, IPAs and Black Ales) are typically better fresh. Also, coffee flavors can diminish quickly, so many coffee beers are better when enjoyed fresh.

The primary advantage of aging is that it lets alcohol or “boozy” notes mellow out over time. High ABV beers such as Imperial Stouts, Barley Wines, Old Ales and some Belgian Ales are usually good choices for aging. As a general rule, if a beer has an ABV higher than 10%, it is potentially a good candidate for aging.  If you are interested in cellaring your own beer, you can pick up several bottles, trying one early on and seeing what you think, setting aside the others to drink over time and taking notes to track your impressions.

Craft breweries barrel and cask age beers to create certain flavors in their brews. This aging can bring in aromas and flavors present in the wood itself or from the beverage that was previously in the barrel (think bourbon or whiskey). Oak, for example, can impart floral and coconut from the lactones present in the wood, as well as vanilla from phenolic aldehydes and caramel from the simple sugars. If the barrel held whiskey or bourbon, those notes may also be imparted to the beer.

The world of beer encompasses so many flavors and styles, all we can recommend is that you try what peaks your curiosity, giving both fresh beers and aged beers equal opportunity to please your palate.

Taproom Tidings

The taproom has its regular hours all weekend, with growler fills available all of the days we are open. Highlights include:

• Thirsty Thursdays is 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)
• Food on Fridays (FoF) brings us Rusty Taco, here to fulfill all of your Taco needs!
• Our featured cupcake from Groundswell is their Espresso Turtle. Chocolate espresso cake with chocolate mousse, whipped cream, toasted pecans and an espresso caramel sauce.
• Tap selection includes Pyro APA, Roasted Coffee Ale, Fused Orange Blossom Honey, Parched Lime Shandy and our ever popular Blackstrap IPA. Growler and grumbler fills on everything.

Final Thoughts

Next Thursday, September 17th from 5:30 – 8:00pm, we will be part taking part in the 3rd Annual Sweet Taste of St. Paul at The Great Hall in downtown St. Paul. This event provides a great opportunity to get out and support your local community through the Y’s mission to provide strong youth development within our communities. So grab a date and make some memories in their photo booth, try your luck with one of the many raffles, and dance the night away with the River City Jazz Orchestra!

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

Cheers!

I’m supposed to use which glass?!?

Green Line Beer Crawl

This Saturday, from Noon to 6pm, we will be participating in Rails & Ales. This event features nine breweries along the Green Line where participants get discounts, special beer tappings and a variety of other stuff (not to be vague). Starting at noon, we’ll be setup both behind the brewery (in our loading dock area) as well as in the taproom and have both Tot Boss and Frio Frio serving during the event. Even if you aren’t running the gauntlet (think about 9 breweries in 6 hours….), stop on down and have a pint to celebrate the holiday weekend.

Ask the Brewer

Does it matter what glass I drink my beer from?

First off, we would like to say that anything that holds beer without leaking counts as a good glass! That being said, there are some glasses specifically designed for certain beers. Many of the styles recommended today were developed over time to fulfill certain purposes.

• The lidded German beer stein was created to keep flies out of your beer
• The coachman’s beer glass was created to allow an easy way to enjoy beer while driving a carriage (ah, the good ol’ days)
• Thick glass mugs were developed to help keep beer cold and be more durable in order to withstand the abuse endured in a local pub
• Tall and slender wheat beer (Witbier) glasses allow for yeast sediment to settle at the bottom of the glass, where it doesn’t mix with the rest of the beer as you are drinking it
• Beer snifters are used for higher gravity (higher alcohol content) beers; the wide bowl allows the hand to warm the beer while the narrower top retains the aroma
• Kolsch drinking glasses, sometimes called Stange glasses, are typically designed to be small so that the beer is enjoyed quickly while it is still cold

Our favorite, the Nonic glass, also called an English Pint (what we use at Burning Brothers), is an excellent all-purpose beer glass.  At 20 oz., it can be used for serving just about any beer. It accommodates more beer, maintaining its temperature, and allowing sufficient space for head retention.

Taproom Tidings

The taproom has its regular hours all weekend, with growler fills available all of the days we are open. Highlights include:

• Thirsty Thursdays is 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)
• Food on Fridays (FoF) brings us NEW FOOD TRUCK! Cafe Racer strives to elevate the quality and perception of food trucks by providing a service experience second to none. , serving delicious, healthy, Latin American cuisine. They are a Minnesota based food truck, restaurant and catering company that serves delicious, healthy, Latin American cuisine.
• Our featured cupcake from Groundswell is their Espresso Turtle. Chocolate espresso cake with chocolate mousse, whipped cream, toasted pecans and an espresso caramel sauce.
• Tap selection includes Pyro APA, Roasted Coffee Ale, Fused Orange Blossom Honey, Parched Lime Shandy and our ever popular Blackstrap IPA. Growler and grumbler fills on everything.

While the Snelling Ave. bridge is OPEN and usable, it is one of the main routes for the MN State Fair, so take that into consideration as you make your weekend plans!

Also, while we aren’t normally open on Mondays, we wanted to make sure to let you know that taproom is closed on Labor Day. Prost!

Final Thoughts

Just in case you missed last weeks newsletter, here is where you can find us at the Great Minnesota Get Together (i.e., the MN State Fair):

• Ball Park Cafe (East side of Underwood St between Dan Patch & Carnes Ave)
• Cafe Caribe (South side of Carnes Ave between Liggett & Nelson streets)
• Giggles’ Campfire Grill (Southeast corner of Lee Ave & Cooper St at The North Woods)
• LuLu’s Public House (West End Market, south of the Schilling Ampitheater)
• O’Gara’s (Just inside the main gate on Snelling Ave)

Cheers!

Burning Brothers… Now with tap handles!!!

Pyro at the MN State Fair

We’ve had a number of inquiries as to where we will be at the Great Minnesota Get Together (i.e., the MN State Fair). So, hot off the press from our distributor, here’s the list:

• Ball Park Cafe (East side of Underwood St between Dan Patch & Carnes Ave)
• Cafe Caribe (South side of Carnes Ave between Liggett & Nelson streets)
• Giggles’ Campfire Grill (Southeast corner of Lee Ave & Cooper St at The North Woods)
• LuLu’s Public House (West End Market, south of the Schilling Ampitheater)
• O’Gara’s (Just inside the main gate on Snelling Ave)

Ask the Brewer

Why do some breweries can their beer, while others use bottles?

Like anything in life, there are pros and cons to both forms of packaging. Brewers must consider costs, packaging availability, consumer perceptions and a litany of other factors. One of key elements though is how the packaging treats the beer contained within. Making sure that the beer has the taste the brewer intended is a critical factor when considering packaging.

For example, you’re unlikely to find many craft beers in clear bottles. Why? The volatile oils in hops that give different beers their distinctive flavors change with exposure to light. Too much light exposure can potentially produce some really off notes, thereby causing the beer to taste differently than the brewer intended. Most beer bottles are green or brown for a reason, as they help to reduce that exposure to light.

Cans, like kegs, completely eliminate the light exposure issue, which is great for the beer inside. Unfortunately, cans are typically a more expensive proposition for a fledgling brewery. The machinery for filling and seaming cans costs significantly more than the equivalent bottle filler and capper. Cans themselves are almost always variety specific (i.e. printed on the can) vs. bottles which can easily switch between labels. Then, when you consider that the can suppliers require order minimums of 75,000 or more, it requires a significant outlay of cash versus bottles which can be ordered in smaller quantities.

As you can see, it’s not a simple choice. (Like many things in the beer industry!)

Taproom Tidings

As the photo at the top or our newsletter shows, our new tap handles have arrived!  We are very excited to show them off, and are almost ready to have our beer available on draft at select locations starting in September. We will announce locations offering Burning Brothers on draft as soon as we have them – in the meantime, stop by the taproom to check out our spiffy new handles.

The taproom has its regular hours all weekend, with growler fills available all of the days we are open. Highlights include:

• Thirsty Thursdays is 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)
• Food on Fridays (FoF) brings us Moondog, slinging their German-style bratwursts & dogs here and throughout the Twin Cities.
• Our featured cupcake from Groundswell is their Espresso Turtle. Chocolate espresso cake with chocolate mousse, whipped cream, toasted pecans and an espresso caramel sauce.
• Tap selection includes Pyro APA, Roasted Coffee Ale, Fused Orange Blossom Honey, Parched Lime Shandy and our ever popular Blackstrap IPA. Growler and grumbler fills on everything.

While the Snelling Ave. bridge is OPEN and usable, it is one of the main routes in for the MN State Fair, so take that into account as you make your weekend plans!

Final Thoughts

If you are in the neighborhood for a beer, you should also check out the Midway Murals project. This project was the Knight Arts Challenge winner for 2014, and features 4 different murals along Snelling Ave, each done by a different artist and their team of volunteers. This art installation is celebrating the unveiling of the murals this Saturday, August 29th, with an event at Hamline Park on the corner of Thomas and Snelling, from noon until 6pm. Stop in for a beer with us, and then visit this inspiring neighborhood project!

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

Cheers!

<Insert your own caption here… No, really!>

Ask the Brewer

Where does India Pale Ale get it’s name from?

There are a few theories, but the most popular stems from the 19th century when India was still a British colony. In order to keep the troops stationed there content, English brewers created an extra hoppy, high alcohol pale ale specifically designed to weather the months-long journey with no refrigeration. The soldiers loved it, and upon returning home, continued to ask for it. Hence, the IPA became it’s own style.

Since then, especially in America, IPA’s have become the signature style for many craft beer drinkers. Recent statistics from the Brewers Association show that current IPA sales account for more than 25% of craft beer sales, up from just 8% in 2008.

Taproom Tidings

The taproom has its regular hours, with growler fills available all of the days we are open. Highlights include:

• Thirsty Thursdays is your chance for $1 off pints and $2 off growler fills
• Food on Fridays (FoF) brings us Hot Indian Foods who’s mission is to add spice to peoples’ lives. Are you down with brown?
• Our featured cupcake from Groundswell is their Espresso Turtle. Chocolate espresso cake with chocolate mousse, whipped cream, toasted pecans and an espresso caramel sauce.
• Tap selection includes Pyro APA, Roasted Coffee Ale, Fused Orange Blossom Honey, Parched Lime Shandy and our ever popular Blackstrap IPA. Growler and grumbler fills on everything.

In case you missed the news last week, the Snelling Ave. bridge is OPEN! Just in time for the Great MN Get Together. Woot!

Final Thoughts

This Saturday, August 22nd, we will be hosting a fundraiser for Twin Cities R.O.C.K. (Raising Our Celiac Kids), a non-profit group that provides information and support for families whose children have Celiac disease. The event is from 1-4pm at the Burning Brothers taproom and we’ll be donating $1 to the cause for each pint sold. So come out, bring the family, and support a good cause.

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

Cheers!

Canning beer… everyone has their own way of coping.

Ask the Brewer

Why the heck is half a gallon of beer called a growler?

Back in the late 1800’s, beer was often carried home from local brewers in a small, galvanized pail with a lid. Rumor has it that the term “growler” comes from the sound that the CO2 made escaping through the lid of the pail, as the beer sloshed in time to the steps of the person walking home with it. During the 1930s, young people would carry buckets of beer to workers on their lunch breaks, and home to their parents for dinner, and that practice brought the term “rushing the growler” into use. By the 1950s, waxed cardboard containers were used, switching over to plastic in the 60’s. Soon after that, the use of growlers died out.

The renaissance for growlers came about in 1989 when Charlie Otto and his father wanted to offer their local customers beer in “to go” containers, yet were not in a position to begin bottling their brew. Charlie’s father remembered “growlers” from his youth, so they updated that packaging, started silk-screening their logo onto the bottles and the modern day growler was born.

Taproom Tidings

The taproom has its regular hours, with growler fills available all of the days we are open. Highlights include:

• Thirsty Thursdays is your chance for $1 off pints and $2 off growler fills
• Food on Fridays (FoF) brings us Rusty Taco, with their perfect pairing of taco(ee) goodness to go with your favorite beer
• Our featured cupcake from Groundswell is their Espresso Turtle. Chocolate espresso cake with chocolate mousse, whipped cream, toasted pecans and an espresso caramel sauce.
• Tap selection includes Pyro APA, Roasted Coffee Ale, Fused Orange Blossom Honey, Parched Lime Shandy and our ever popular Blackstrap IPA. Growler and grumbler fills on everything.

This would typically be the spot where we wax eloquently about the Snelling Ave. bridge STILL being closed. But wait! Rumor has it that our favorite exit off of I-94 will once again be usable no later than midnight this Friday. A whole week ahead of schedule!

If you are coming this Thursday or Friday, access to the brewery from the I-94/Snelling ramps is difficult to non-existent, depending on which direction you are coming from. We recommend using the Cretin/Vandalia exit. Starting Saturday, you should be able to take the more direct route from the Snelling Ave. exit. Cheers to that!

Final Thoughts

The 7th annual Summer Beer Dabbler kicks off this Saturday from 5-9pm at the St. Paul Saints new home of CHS Field. We’ll be there along with over 100 other craft breweries sampling beer, enjoying live music and just generally having a good time. Join us for one final hurrah to the summer beer season.

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

Cheers!

Dane – the guy who creates all those delicious beer recipes, posing with the Golden Firkin!

Golden Firkin

We are thrilled to have won Best in Show at the 2015 Border Battle in Somerset Wisconsin this past weekend! Yes, you heard that correctly. BEST IN SHOW! WOOT! The Golden Firkin (our lovely trophy) is proudly on display in the taproom.

Water Quality Month

August is National Water Quality Month, and nothing is more important to good beer than good water! Since beer is over 90% water, the quality of the water drastically affects the quality of the beer.  When you look at the areas that have a large number of breweries, you will find that they also have plentiful, high quality sources of water. So raise and pint and say a toast to water, buz you ain’t gonna have good beer without it. Cheers!

Ask the Brewer

So, who makes your beer?

While there are several people at Burning Brothers who brew the beer, the recipes are created by our (sometimes) illustrious Co-Founder Dane Breimhorst, pictured above.  In order to give you, our loyal followers, a little insight into what makes him tick, we did a short interview with him:

What do you do at Burning Brothers?
As little as possible (with a big grin)!  Seriously though, recipe development, running the brew floor and getting injured on a regular basis (at which point there was a cataloging of the most recent injuries).

What’s the best part of your job?
The reaction from gluten-free people when they try the beer for the first time – it’s very gratifying!

What’s the worst part of your job?
Being torn between the brewery and my family.  The brewery is a huge time commitment, and it pulls me away from my family.  I used to want to go and do things like disc golf or hanging out with friends. Now, with the hours we put in here, when I am done, I just want to go home and hang out with my kids, and see my wife for more than 5 minutes.

What’s your favorite Burning Brothers Beer?
It changes, right now it’s the Blackstrap IPA.

What is your favorite other beer?
Triple Karmeliet… (insert heavy sigh) This was before the Celiac diagnosis of course.

Pirates or Ninjas?
Ninja Pirates, Arghhh – shhhh! (This was said with a laugh)

If you could add one thing to the brewery/taproom, what would it be?
Nitro taps (said with a glint in his eyes).  They would allow us to put Stouts and similar styles on tap with that a wonderful mouth feel.

Taproom Tidings

The taproom has its regular hours, with growler fills available all of the days we are open. Highlights include:

• Thirsty Thursdays is your chance for $1 off pints and $2 off growler fills
• Food on Fridays (FoF) brings us Crazy Puppy with their gluten-free fair food that you DON’T have to die for – because it is all gluten-free!
• Our featured cupcake from Groundswell is their Espresso Turtle, delectable!
• Tap selection includes Pyro APA, Roasted Coffee Ale, Fused Orange Blossom Honey, Parched Lime Shandy and our ever popular Blackstrap IPA. Growler and grumbler fills on everything.

The Snelling Ave. bridge crossing Interstate 94 is STILL closed. Someday…it will re-open… maybe. We are beginning to lose hope.

This means that access to the brewery from the I-94/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.

MN Cup Video

Our MN Cup Video is done and submitted, a huge thank you to Adam, who edited all of the video clips to put together something that really reflects who we are.  Follow this link to take a look!

Final Thoughts

This weekend has the Brew at the Zoo event to tempt people into heading out and having a good time with fellow conservationists and beer enthusiasts.  This is drinking beer for a good cause!  Happening on Friday, the 7th of August, we hope you will join us!

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

Cheers!

A clean brewery is a happy brewery!

Minnesota Cup Video

A huge thank you to all of our customers who sent in video clips for our MN Cup submission. We are in the process of getting the video edited and formatted, and will be thrilled to share it on our website and through social media once it is finished.

Ask the Brewer

What do brewers have nightmares about?

Well, to be honest, that could be a rather long list. Beer kettles boiling over, tanks overflowing, valves not being closed when they should be, employees getting doused in boiling caustic, equipment failing at a crucial moment – you get the idea. For true nightmare caliber occurrences though, I think that mold tops the list.

While we can’t go into species and genus of mold, we can tell you that any mold or fungus is every brewers worst enemy (and best friend). Breweries are, by their very nature, wet and humid locations, with an abundance of organic matter, which are prime growing conditions for mold. Cleaning must be thorough and frequent, with regular dis-assembly of hoses and clamps, filtration units, tasting ports, and tap systems. Why this incessant need for cleaning? Even a small growth of mold can infect a beer, causing off flavors and the need to dump full fermenters, which no brewery wants to do.

Luckily for modern day breweries, we have a host of mold prevention measures at our disposal, both in equipment and in cleaners. The prevalence of stainless steel in the brewing industry is for much more than good looks. Stainless steel provides a surface that is easy to clean, and free of pores that can provide places for bacterial or mold growth to start. Stainless steel also holds up well to the temperature fluctuations, liquids and cleaners of the brewing industry. Cleaners consist of acids, caustics and sanitizers, with fresh water rinses as needed.

So here’s to clean breweries and delicious beer!  Cheers!

Taproom Tidings

The taproom has its regular hours, with growler fills available all of the days we are open (including SUNDAYS)!

This weekends taproom highlights include:

• Thirsty Thursdays is your chance for $1 off pints and $2 off growler fills
• Food on Fridays (FoF) brings us Chef T-Bone with Tollefson Family Pork Farm who specializes in made from scratch, farm fresh offerings, customized to your particular palette
• Our featured cupcake from Groundswell is their Espresso Turtle, new this week!
• Tap selection for the weekend includes Pyro APA, Roasted Coffee Ale, Fused Orange Blossom Honey and our Parched Lime Shandy. On Friday we will tap our latest batch of our ever popular Blackstrap IPA. Growler and grumbler fills on everything.

Believe it or not, the Snelling Ave. bridge crossing Interstate 94 is STILL closed. One begins to wonder whether they realize the state fair is only weeks away. This means that access to the brewery from the I-94/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.

Final Thoughts

If you love the North Shore and beer, this weekend is for you! We will be in Duluth for All Pints North. Join us by the bay to meet the brewers and enjoy unlimited craft beer samples, local food vendors, beer-centered activities and educational components, live music and much more!

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

Cheers!

Mmmmmm… Wort. Delicious!

Burning Brothers on Tap?!

We are happy to announce that we are close to making kegged beer available to retailers. Tap handles have been designed and are in the production process and we have the kegs themselves queued up for sending the beer out in.

If everything proceeds as planned (which we know is often not the case, but hey, we can still dream!), we will start sending kegs out the last week of August. Check our website and social media to find out where our beer is on tap once that happens. If you want your favorite restaurant, bar or other watering hole to have our beer on tap, ask them. Customer requests can often be much more effective than our phone calls at getting beer into a specific location!

Ask the Brewer

What the heck is wort?

When on a brewery tour, you may hear the word “wort” (sometimes pronounced “wert”) being tossed around.  Wort (very different than warts) is the liquid that leaves the brew kettle prior to yeast being added. It is basically water mixed with malted grains, extracts, additional sugars or flavorings and the initial addition of hops. The sugars extracted during the brewing process are what feed the yeast and get converted into alcohol.

Experienced brewers can often tell what flavor characteristics a beer will have just by the smell of the wort. Tasting it can provide further confirmation that the beer is headed in the intended flavor direction. The wort is often maltier in smell, with a MUCH sweeter taste and thicker body due to all of the suspended solids. However, good wort produces good beer, and we all love a good beer!

Taproom Tidings

The taproom is back to regular hours, with growler fills available all of the days we are open (including SUNDAYS)!

This weekends taproom highlights include:

• Thirsty Thursdays is your chance for $1 off pints and $2 off growler fills
• Food on Fridays (FoF) brings us Rusty Taco  and their fine selection of taco(ee) goodness
• Our featured cupcake from Groundswell is their Lavender Black Bottom Cheesecake
• Tap selection for the weekend includes Pyro APA, Roasted Coffee Ale, Fused Orange Blossom Honey and our Parched Lime Shandy. Growler and grumbler fills on everything.

We have become very suspicious of what is actually happening on the south side of I-94.  Dale street is now closed at University, and Fairview is down to one lane going under I-94. What are they trying to keep from those of us on the north side?

That being said, note that the Snelling Ave. bridge crossing Interstate 94 is STILL closed. This means that access to the brewery from the I-94/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, Cryptic Clues, Twitter or Google+.

Cheers!

Relaxed planking as an anti-boredom tactic!

Stave off boredom?!

July is National Anti-Boredom month, and we here at Burning Brothers are experts on how not to be bored (I mean, it’s not like the beer makes itself… well, kind of, but you get what we mean). That being said, we can recommend all kinds of anti-boredom activities. You know like cooking out and having some beer… or going fishing and having some beer… visiting some friend in your local taproom and having some beer… I think you get the idea.

If you are feeling ambitious in your drive to fight-off boredom (and we know you are), you could make us a video clip of you saying something spiffy about our beer and send it to us! As most of you may know, we are semi-finalists in this year’s MN Cup, and as part of the next round in the competition, we need to build a 60 second video. Since we couldn’t sell beer without you, we are hoping you will help us demonstrate how we are an innovative company that touches the lives of our customers.

Email your testimonials (file or downloadable link) to info@burnbrosbrew.com by next Monday, July 13th. We will be putting together a montage of the submitted materials, so please just be yourself and tell us how you feel! Also, big thanks to those of you who have already submitted videos!

Ask the Brewer

How exactly does beer filtering work and why do brewers do it?

The main purpose behind filtration is to help provide microbiological stability as well as the brilliant clarity beer consumers expect. You see, mature beer (i.e., beer that has completed fermentation) still contains some yeast and haze particles which can allow further biological changes in beer. By filtering these elements out, we can improve shelf stability as well as the overall appearance of the finished beer.

The first beer filter was presented at a brewing exhibition in Munich in 1880 by German developer Lorenz Adelbert Enzinger. Bless those Germans and their love for beer! Beer filtering technology has continued to evolve since then and presents modern brewers with a variety of means to clarify their beer.

Their are a variety of methods used today in filtering (enough to make your eyes bleed), but here at Burning Brothers we use a diatomaceous earth (DE) system. Without going all beer geek on you, it basically makes use of powdery substances such as DE, perlite and/or cellulose to form a filter “cake” on top of a screened surface. We then take our batch of fermented beer and push it under pressure through the filter cake.

Once filtered, we carbonate the beer in the bright tank and then send it on it’s way to your pint glass!

Taproom Tidings

The taproom is back to regular hours, with growler fills available all of the days we are open (including SUNDAYS)!

This weekends taproom highlights include:

• Thirsty Thursdays is your chance for $1 off pints and $2 off growler fills
• Food on Fridays (FoF) brings us Crazy Puppy and their oh-so delicious fair food
• Our featured cupcake from Groundswell is their Lavender Black Bottom Cheesecake
• Tap selection for the weekend includes Pyro APA, Roasted Coffee Ale, Orange Blossom Honey Infused Pyro, Parched Lime Shandy and our Blackstrap IPA. Growler and grumbler fills on everything. UPDATE: Blackstrap IPA will be gone for the next couple weeks.

After much consideration, we have decided that road construction is better than potholes the size of craters. Therefore, 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.

Final Thoughts

Want to get out of town? Want to go to a beer festival? How about both at the same time? The Hopped Up Caribou festival in Lutsen, MN is a weekend long celebration of beer and features multiple breweries from throughout Minnesota along with live music. Come join us in the North woods!

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

Cheers!