Apple orchards are beginning to bloom and that can only mean one thing: cider season is here. Starting Friday, May 5, Number 12 Cider House’s taproom, located at Deer Lake Orchard in Buffalo, will be open for business on the weekends. Started by four couples, one of which owns Deer Lake Orchard, Number 12 is the maker … [ Read more]
What We’re Drinking: May 2017
April 24, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Welcome back to What We’re Drinking, wherein The Growler editorial staff look back on a recent remarkable beverage. What are you drinking, Growler Nation? Let us know on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Olvalde Farm and Brewing Co. Rollingstoner – John Garland, Senior Editor I love the beer Joe Pond is making in Rollingstone. He uses old-school techniques that make … [ Read more]
Minnesota Cider Guild incorporates, Cider Week planned for June 5–10
April 19, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Local hard cider producers from around the state officially established the Minnesota Cider Guild on April 3rd. “The Minnesota cider industry is very young, with the majority of cider makers launching their businesses within the last four years,” says guild president Gretchen Perbix of Sweetland Orchard. “We have tremendous support among our local consumer audiences, … [ Read more]
What We’re Drinking: April 2017
March 28, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Welcome back to What We’re Drinking, wherein The Growler editorial staff look back on a recent remarkable beverage. What are you drinking, Growler Nation? Let us know on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Milk & Honey Ciders, Heirloom: 2015 Harvest, Brian Kaufenberg, Managing Editor Milk & Honey Ciders delivers layers of robust flavor in their Heirloom: 2015 Harvest. The … [ Read more]
3 holiday cocktail recipes with Bradstreet Neighborhood Craftshouse
December 5, 2016 by Leave a Comment
It’s not exactly a winter wonderland out there yet. These slushy streets, all this gray and gloom. If it’s keeping you from getting in the holiday spirit, here’s an idea: let’s get some holiday spirits in you. Ryan Martinez-Garcia is our man for seasonal cocktails this yuletide. He’s been playing the shakers at Bradstreet Neighborhood Craftshouse, where they serve the … [ Read more]
Trailblazers 2016
November 30, 2016 by Leave a Comment
What’s the value of a brewery’s stance on mining? Why be concerned with obscure English apples? What’s so important about a chicken sandwich at a stadium? Why does it matter if a basketball team weighs in on current events? The answer to all those questions is the same: it makes a difference. There are people … [ Read more]
Trailblazers 2016: Mike and Gretchen Perbix of Sweetland Orchard
November 30, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Minnesota’s cider scene is flourishing. In 2015, cidermakers made 100,000 gallons of cider from 33,333 bushels of Minnesota-grown apples. By 2019, they are projected to make upwards of 400,000 gallons of cider, which would require an additional 100,000 bushels of apples. Though the demand for cider apple varieties is rising, Minnesota apple growers are reluctant … [ Read more]
2016 Kind-Of-A-Big-Deal Readers’ Choice Award Winners
November 29, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Drumroll, please, for it’s time to announce the results of The Growler’s Kind-of-a-Big-Deal Readers’ Choice Awards. These are the restaurants driving a delectable food revolution throughout the state. The beers we happily raise our glasses for. The parks we escape to and explore. The music innovators and venues that make us dance, and the well-crafted … [ Read more]
Minnesota’s guilded age of cider
October 28, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Jim Morrison of Sapsucker Farms could barely keep up with the nearly 1,000 people who attended the Minnesota Cider Guild’s first-ever Cider Fair on Sunday in Jordan. He was surprised by the sheer number of people looking for a sip of his Yellow Belly Hard Cider, but also at how many times he heard someone … [ Read more]
What We’re Drinking: October 2016
September 28, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Welcome back to What We’re Drinking, wherein The Growler editorial staff look back on a recent remarkable beverage. What are you drinking, Growler Nation? Let us know on Twitter,Facebook, and Instagram. Tattersall Distilling Amaro, John Garland, Senior Editor John Keats once called autumn the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. That’s also the feeling I get from my … [ Read more]
What We’re Drinking: September 2016
September 8, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Welcome back to What We’re Drinking, wherein The Growler editorial staff look back on a recent remarkable beverage. What are you drinking, Growler Nation? Let us know on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Pere Mata Cupada No. 15 Cava – John Garland, Senior Editor You may have heard about “grower Champagne,” the small-batch bubbly that’s vinified by the farmers … [ Read more]
Homebrew Recipe: Wyld Cyder
September 1, 2016 by Leave a Comment
This recipe appears in Michael Dawson’s book, “Mashmaker: A Citizen-Brewer’s Guide to Making Great Beer at Home.” Learn more at mashmakerbook.com. There was an apocryphal bad frost centuries ago in Hessen, Germany that wiped out that year’s grape crop. The distraught winemakers turned to apples and they haven’t looked back since. That region is now … [ Read more]
Sociable Cider introduces barrel-aging program
August 15, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Sociable Cider Werks co-owner Jim Watkins is never satisfied. He’s always tinkering with things, whether it’s cooking a steak or sourcing apples for the cider served at the taproom in Northeast Minneapolis. It’s no wonder then that the Sociable team is experimenting with the complex flavors that come from barrel-aging their fermented fruit beverage. The … [ Read more]
Cidermaker Profile: Rob Fisk of Wyndfall Cyder
July 28, 2016 by Leave a Comment
For most people, the word “spitter” evokes the thought of something unpleasant—angry llamas, perhaps, or individuals who require a little extra talking space if you want to stay dry. Not Rob Fisk. For him, the word means something beautiful, something high quality, something on which he’s built his life. Spitters are the colloquial term for … [ Read more]
Sociable Cider Werks to debut caramel apple cider at 2016 Minnesota State Fair
July 18, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Cooking caramel! #MNStateFair #CaramelApple #SociableSummer MNBeer pic.twitter.com/VkQb50Cu3X — Sociable Cider Werks (@SociableCider) August 12, 2016 When Lift Bridge first brewed their Mini Donut Beer for the Minnesota State Fair a few years back, they set off a chain reaction among Minnesota breweries that has since spawned beers like Flat Earth’s S’mores Porter and Excelsior’s Maple … [ Read more]
