Opal

The Tugawar anchor in Beer vs. Wine of the culinary world. This is the beer to lure to wine people to the other side. A citrusy, tropical, sauvignon blanc feel and not too hoppy Farmhouse Ale that goes the  distance. This beer is so well balanced and drinkable, I think it's a benchmark in the style. 

www.firestonebeer.com

Gimme 5 with Todd Haug of Surly Brewing

I'm thinking Gimme 5 will be a once a month thing. September is compliments of master brewer and super shredder Todd Haug. Not only can he write great music, he also has Surly coiled like a snake and ready to strike. "Hell" is coming....

BT: Congrats, you have a new Brewery under construction. Tell us a bit how Surly has grown and how much more "Hell" you'll be able to brew.

TH: Thanks Dave! Can't wait to have one of your bands play there! Eight years in and we've been adding new production equipment and staff every year. In 2014 we are brewing at 42,000 BBLs annual production. With new brewery in addition to existing brewery, which we are keeping,we should be able to produce 65,000 BBLs in 2015. Regarding Hell production we can make 720 BBL batches at the new plant compared to our current 64 BBL (we are brewing about 90 BBLs/week of Hell currently). But,Hell takes longer to produce so until we get more fermenters at Surly MSP next spring we'll be limited to about 360 BBLs/wk of Hell production :-)

BT: Your gateway beer?

TH: Early teenage years-

PBR,MGD

17+...I blame my band mates in Powermad, especially Jeff Litke.

Anchor Liberty Ale

Sheaf Stout

Pete's Wicked Ale-when it had Pete the dog on the label

Summit Great Northern Porter

"Rare" keg of Samuel Adams Boston Lager at my 21st BDay party

BT: Brewing mentor?

Jon Lindberg-former Summit Brewing

Dick Cantwell-Elysian Brewing

BT: Preferred brewing soundtrack?

TH: METAL! GoatWhore, High on Fire, 1349, Amon Amarth, Municipal Waste, Opeth, Bloodbath, Cannibal Corpse, ETC! METAL and some EDM for a change.

BT: What's on deck for new beer styles/collaborations?

TH: EIGHT-Oat-Wine in Rye Whiskey Barrels out this fall

First ever Barrel Aged Darkness, 30K bottles going out end of October kicking it off with 2 big metal shows October 24 & 25th.

SOOO many ideas that I haven't been able to realize since being maxed out! Next year!

But a few.....

Draft only No Hop Saison brewed with Dandelion greens,on tap now

Draft only-Licorice Porter for Uncle Acid and the Dead Beats first show in  MSP, Oct.1st.

1349 Black Ale collab with 1349, Lervig and Surly out in bottles late this fall!

Stone Berlin 2016

More I can't discuss yet.......

ww.surlybrewing.com

Apex Predator

This beer rips, hunt it down. A muscular dry hopped Saison with tons of fruity flavor that will make you stalk bars, bottles shops, your friends house or any other place that carries Off Color Brewing. Mr. Laffler has definitely marked his territory with this one. 

www.offcolorbrewing.come

A Night To End All Dawns

New Jersey bringing it. The big stout game is a rough one and the focus of bigger, bolder and more viscous are the usual chess moves here. The thing is, it's pretty difficult to make one truly stand out amongst the heard and against the warriors. Kane Brewing has done this. This killer beer is released once a year and worth the trip to stand in line or hunt down. The Tony Soprano of stouts in NJ. 

www.kanebrewing.com

Chevalier Bertrand Du Guesclin

Or you can just say Chevy.  The first Foeder conditioned beer from Three Floyd's. There is a ton a flavor going on here. Sour, funky and blueberry goodness, well balanced and refreshing without anything going out of bounds. In the Sour Beer Volleyball Championships, the Floyd's have Gabrielle Reece spike this one down your throat. Be stoked. 

www.3floyds.com

Black Albert

My favorite stout from Belgium. Blacker than black and a 13% flavor steamroller that will as they say...tattoo you from the inside. No light can penetrate this Cthulhu like liquid, no palate can escape the oozing fog like flavors of chocolate, carmel and coffee AND no memory will forget this amazing beer. 

*Black Albert is also 1/4 part of the Voltron "Baller Stout" made for Three Floyd's 15th Anniversary. 

www.struise.com

Gimme 5 with Three Floyd's Chris Boggess

Welcome to the first Gimme 5. Gimme 5, like the rest of the beer related things on this blog, is for fun. 

A little fun fact look, without going full nerd. Ladies and Gents...Three Floyd's head brewer and hair metal flag flyer, Chris Boggess.

BT: Who or what is your earliest brewing influence?

CB: 2 answers - 1. My friends Lee Robberson and Laura Batchelor home brewed in college (mostly Laura, she was a domestic powerhouse, she could do anything by scratch and usually kick it's ass). I used to bum around at their house all the time and drank as much of their beer as possible. 2. My brother Tim bought me a Mr Beer homebrew kit when I was living in Houston. I made some really bad beer with it but realized making beer was cool. I was soon brewing professionally a year or so later. 

BT: What beer changed the game for you?

CB: Anchor's Liberty Ale 

BT: The one place you'd love to see your beer on tap?

CB: I'd like to see our beer(Space Station Middle Finger) on tap in the International Space Station.

BT: IN THE BEGINNING (Motley Crüe ref) What was the biggest hurdle to jump from home brewing to commercial brewing?

CB: The biggest hurdle was getting the job! The differences are so huge it's tough to compare them. 

BT: Preferred band to brew to and do you think it has an influence on the beer?

CB: I used to listen to a lot of Slayer brewing beer in the early days. The speed and intensity works perfectly with doing manual labor. It helps me focus therefore helping me make better beer!

Now it's not just one band or type of music anymore because we have lots of people working in the brewery.