Beer and Breweries
Bayfield’s Adventure Club marks a year of brewing
Wisconsin’s northernmost brewery kept a bit of a low profile in its first year. Adventure Club Brewing owner Matthew Gerdts said his small-batch operation has been “Bayfield’s best-kept secret,” but the news is slowly getting out. (more…)
Hoops Brewing wins gold, Earth Rider two silvers at GABF
Duluth’s Hoops Brewing won its first Great American Beer Festival medal at the 2020 awards ceremony held Oct. 16. Hoops’ 325 Pineapple Chili was awarded the gold medal in the Chili Beer category. It’s the fourth year in a row that a Duluth or Superior brewery has won a gold medal at the festival.
Earth Rider Brewery in Superior took home two silver medals this year — Royal Bohemian Pilsner in the Kellerbier or Zwickelbier category and North Tower Stout in the Oatmeal Stout category. (more…)
Lake Superior Brewing gets new owners, will move to Lakeside
Seth and Sarah Maxim have purchased Lake Superior Brewing Company and plan to move operations into the former Xcel Xercise fitness center at 5423 E. Superior St. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)
An iconic craft brewery, the first of its kind in Minnesota, has been sold and new owners plan to move operations from Duluth’s Lincoln Park neighborhood to Lakeside. (more…)
Convivial Memories of an Epicurean Hedonist Con Mucho Gusto
My whole life was organized around going out for drinks. The party’s over.
The Duluth art and music scene seems preserved in amber. I can see it in my mind’s eye from every angle, but I can’t touch it.
Has the virus infected time?
I was days away from participating in a group art show in Duluth Coffee Company and its Roasteria taproom. The Facebook event page was hours from launching. All the art is on the walls. I left a hammer there I was going to go back for, just before the stay-at-home orders unfolded. It’s probably right where I left it, timelessly suspended as if let go by an astronaut in orbit.
The Embassy art-church had just opened, promising untold events, unseen sights, and unheard sounds. It reached as if for the hand of God in the Sistine Chapel — a frozen gesture. (more…)
Guide to Duluth-area Craft Alcohol During the Pandemic
Ursa Minor Brewing has offered curbside beer and pizza pickup via a drive-by canopy since April 8.
Small businesses have been struggling to stay afloat during the COVID-19 outbreak. Local craft beer, cider and spirits purveyors are finding ways to persist by distributing products through a variety of takeout, curbside pickup and delivery options. (more…)
Ursa Minor offers Duluth’s first non-alcoholic craft beer
Ben Hugus with Ursa Minor’s new NA beer – Photo by Lissa Maki
Ursa Minor Brewing quietly became the first Duluth-area craft brewery to offer a non-alcoholic beer option back in December. The brewery’s Constellation Cream Ale, is now available sans intoxicants. (more…)
New Year Greetings from Fitger’s Brewing Co.
From the Jan. 1, 1910 issue of the Duluth Evening Herald.
Duluth Coffee Pale Ale wins GABF gold medal
Earth Rider Brewery was awarded a gold medal at the 2019 Great American Beer Festival, the world’s largest commercial beer competition. The Superior brewery was recognized in the Coffee Beer category for its Duluth Coffee Pale Ale, a mildly hopped pale crafted using single-farm sourced beans roasted by Duluth Coffee Company.
Ursa Minor Brewing of Duluth also brought home a medal. Its Thistle Dew won the bronze medal in the Scottish-Style Ale category. (more…)
Selective Focus: Beer Porn
Instagram loves a nice sexy photo of a beer can on the beach, a bottle glistening in the sun on a handsome patio, a plastic growler propped just right on a canoe. Here are a few recent ones. (more…)
Taps are flowing at Rapids Brewing in Grand Rapids
Executive Chef Erik Halverson, General Manager Bill Martinetto and Head Brewer Darin Jensen are ready to spread beard and beer culture in Grand Rapids.
The newest brewery on Minnesota’s Iron Range has begun serving up suds. Rapids Brewing Company opened Aug. 2 for its first “Summer Sneak Peak Weekend,” with limited beer and food options. General Manager Bill Marinetto said he expects the business to be open seven days a week before the end of the month, and his target is next weekend. (more…)
Perfect Duluth Day NE IPA
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen had a toothpaste. The World Wrestling Federation had ice cream bars. Now Perfect Duluth Day has a beer. (more…)
Earth Rider expansion will nearly double brewing capacity
Earth Rider Brewery is located at 1617 N. Third St. in the working waterfront of Superior, Wis.
A Superior brewery will dramatically increase beer production and expand its public event facilities amidst the city’s working waterfront.
Earth Rider Brewery founder Tim Nelson said last week the business will almost double brewing capacity with the installation of new cellaring tanks in July. The company also plans a Cedar Lounge tap room addition and a bigger outdoor entertainment area uniting its campus across a vacated street. (more…)
Thirsty Pagan transitions to new location; grand opening June 8
Photo by Lissa Maki
Thirsty Pagan Brewing entered its 14th year of business on May 1. There was no fanfare, simply because owner Steve Knauss was so busy he forgot. Knauss and his staff have been working around the clock to ready the brewpub’s new spot at 1615 Winter St. for opening. (more…)
Duluth-area beer production nearly tripled from 2014 to 2018
A bevy of craft breweries and brewpubs have found the Arrowhead region of northeastern Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin to be fertile ground for growth. Five years ago, area craft breweries produced almost 20,000 barrels of beer. By 2018 that number nearly tripled to roughly 57,000 barrels. (more…)
Irish people try Bent Paddle beer
In the segment above, three pairs of Irish people sample four Minnesota craft beers and offer their opinions. One Duluth beer landed in the mix, Bent Paddle‘s 14° ESB. The beer that won a gold medal at the 2017 Great American Beer Festival elicits opinions from the Irish panel ranging from “It’s like a mouth full of pennies” to “It’s grand.” (more…)
The Hopper Shuttle: Catering to Craft Beverage Fans
A new complimentary shuttle service will provide a link between Duluth’s craft beverage purveyors. Starting Feb. 8 the Hopper, a 15-passenger van, will run between Canal Park, Lincoln Park and Downtown every Friday and Saturday night. (more…)
Hoops Brewing’s Dave Hoops profiled in The Growler
Craft-beer pioneer Dave Hoops, owner of Hoops Brewing in Duluth, shares his views on finding a niche, avoiding trends and “promoting the Minnesota brand” in the latest issue of craft-beer lifestyle magazine The Growler.
Bent Paddle nabs Great American Beer Festival gold again
Bent Paddle Brewing won its second Great American Beer Festival gold medal this weekend in Denver, Colo. The Duluth brewery’s saison took the top honor in the Classic Saison category. (more…)
Ursa Minor Brewing opening Sept. 26
Ben Hugus, Mark Hugus and Andrew Scrignoli – Photo by Lissa Maki
Duluth’s Lincoln Park Craft District will gain a third brewery by the month’s end. Ursa Minor Brewing, a five-barrel brewery that will also serve wood-fired pizzas, has announced it’s opening Sept. 26. (more…)
Thirsty Pagan Brewing moving to Soo Line Depot
The Superior Telegram reports Thirsty Pagan Brewing will move to the Soo Line Depot at 1615 Winter St. in January.
“The move marks a step into the brick-and-mortar phase — owning a building instead of leasing,” the story notes. “The depot also offers more private seating options for meetings, events and parties, although the total number of seats will remain roughly the same. … Groups already meet regularly at Thirsty Pagan, but the current configuration isn’t ideal for privacy. At about 7,500 square feet, the depot will provide more space to spread into.”
Selective Focus: Duluth and Northern Minnesota Film Photographers
Photo courtesy of Kip Praslowicz
There’s a show currently hanging at Blacklist, photography all shot on film by area photographers. The pieces come from members of the Duluth and Northern Minnesota Film Photographers, a group that meets monthly to discuss the process, challenges and variations of shooting on film. The evening will be both a reception for the show and one of the monthly meet-ups.
(more…)
Thirsty Pagan hires new brewer
Kathleen Culhane – Photo by Lissa Maki
Thirsty Pagan Brewing in Superior welcomes a new brewer this week. Kathleen Culhane is relocating from the Twin Cities to the Twin Ports for the gig. Her official start date is June 25. (more…)
Brewing or Brewery? A Guide to Proper Beer Nouns in Duluth
With all the breweries popping up in Duluth and surrounding communities, it’s hard to keep the names straight. In casual conversation, no one really cares if you say “Earth Rider Brewery” or “Earth Rider Brewing,” but if you are one of the last copy editors in town who still has a job, for example, you might consider it important to distinguish which brew-suffix goes with each entity. (more…)