The Mash-Up: An all-woman brewing team conjures up a ‘Witches’ brew’

With well over 100 breweries now pouring their beer in Minnesota, there’s always something new to try. To keep you up-to-date, we present The Mash-Up—our weekly rundown of new beers and seasonal releases in Minnesota from your favorite local and national breweries. Visit growlermag.com every Friday for the latest or sign up for a weekly email.

Early this month, on October 9, a badass group of women from Minnesota’s beer scene gathered around the brew kettle at Fair State Brewing Cooperative to craft a special dark ale. Just in time for Halloween, the fruits of their labor are now available at Fair State’s taproom.

The WitchHunt—a Cascadian dark ale—is a new collaboration beer made with malt “blackened over fires fed by the bodies of the damned,” bittered with Cascade, Amarillo, Simcoe, Tahoma, and “the rage of every witch who has been persecuted by the flame of injustice,” and fermented with “a dry English ale yeast, cursed in the kettle,” says Fair State’s description.

Other new beers this week celebrate homegrown hops (Oswald), Halloween, and fall (Modist and Hayes). While many fall seasonals continue to appear in taprooms and liquor store shelves, winter beers are also making their debut.

Summit Winter Ale is back, as is Dark Fatha by Bent Brewstillery. In addition, there are new and returning stouts from Bell’s, Birch’s on the Lake, Mankato, and more. Elsewhere, small batch beers are coming out from HeadFlyer, Unmapped, and across the state.

New beers available this week (October 23–October 29)

12welve Eyes Brewing

• 2wice IIPA

Back Channel Brewing        

• Bus Driver – A New England–style IPA with a maltier profile, plus fruity and citrusy hops. 6.25% ABV, 58 IBU.

Barrel Theory Beer Company

• Pullover Starter Jacket – An IPA made with El Dorado, Columbus, and Mosaic. On tap as of Thursday. 7.2% ABV.

Beaver Island Brewing Company        

• 212 IPL

Bell’s Brewery

• Abracadabra Stout – A coffee milk stout using all Arabica coffee beans.

Bemidji Brewing

• Table Saison – Released Wednesday as a part of the brewery’s five year anniversary week.
• Honey Golden Sour – Released Thursday at the taproom.
• Single Hop IPA: Citra – Released Friday at the taproom.
• Oud Bruin Kriek – Releasing Saturday, this sour brown made with tart cherries is available at Bemidji’s taproom.

Big Axe Brewery

• Black India Pale Lager – “This unusual recipe brings together three wildly different worlds—the malts of a stout, the hops of an IPA, and the yeast… yes, of an Oktoberfest. The result is is a rich, roasty, chocolatey pour, with a hint of licorice and a smooth bitterness that grasps the tongue at finish. Take your taste buds to a place they haven’t been. Everything you love about an IPA, with the decadent rich soul of a stout,” says the brewery. 7% ABV, 69 IBU.
• Northeast IPA – “Juicy and delicious, this hazilicious IPA is packed with flavor from the loads of hops we added—Mosaic, Simcoe and Citra. Contains just enough bitterness to finish it right,” says the brewery. 7% ABV, 55 IBU.
• Wine Barrel Aged Sour – “A tart pale ale with hints of strawberry and rhubarb on the nose, aged and finished in a Marquette wine barrel to make a delicious medley of sour, barrel and wine notes,” says the brewery. 5.5% ABV, 18 IBU.

Big Wood Brewery

• 3:10 To Belma

Birch’s On The Lake        

• Vanilla Milk Stout Stout – A dry stout with vanilla and sweetened milk sugar. 5.0% ABV.

Blacklist Artisan Ales

• Sugarhouse Pumpkin on Nitro – Available tonight at the brewery’s Harvest Beer Release Party, this is a subtle pumpkin ale brewed with maple syrup from Burgess Family Sugarhouse. 7.3% ABV.
• Crabby Abbey – Available tonight at the brewery’s Harvest Beer Release Party, this is a Belgian abbey ale with the tart bite of crab apples from Kenosha Grove. 7.6% ABV.

Dangerous Man Brewing

• Barrel Aged Imperial Pumpkin Ale – On tap today and released in bottles tomorrow at the taproom, this imperial pumpkin ale was aged in brandy barrels.

Day Block Brewing Company

• Poolboy Session IPA – This aromatic Bands That Brew series beer is described as, “Very light in color with heavy floral notes, citrus, and pine.” It releases on October 26 and will be featured at a release show by Poolboy on October 27. 4.8% ABV, 84 IBU.

Fair State Brewing Cooperative

• The WitchHunt – The women of Fair State teamed up with a crew of women from Minnesota’s beer industry to brew this collaboration Cascadian dark ale, clocking in at 6.66% ABV and 70 IBU.

Forager Brewery

• Autumn Harvest – This imperial spiced amber featured toasted spices and caramelized pumpkin for the season.
• Dad Bod – “Bourbon and rye barrel fermented imperial scotch ale brewed in collaboration with Steve Finney, former head brewer at another Rochester brewpub. Brewed by dads for dads,” says Forager.
• Twisted Twig – Using organic Minnesota-grown Todd plums, this Berliner weisse sour pours at 6.7% ABV.
• Yuppie Hippie Hops – A New England–style IPA with lactose sugar, three grains, and three hop varieties.

HeadFlyer Brewing

• Space Tres – The latest in the brewery’s Small Batch: Beyond the Door series is made with Galaxy, Mosaic, and Citra hops.

Lake Monster Brewing

• Vanilla Bourbon Chocolate Imperial Milk Stout – To be on tap for the Monster Bash Halloween Music Fest on Saturday October 28.

LTD Brewing        

• Fall Fever – A light and citrusy pale ale. 4.8% ABV. Out now.

Lupine Brewing Company

• Caramel Toffee Porter

Mankato Brewery

• Coffee Grinder         – Organ Grinder Amber Ale with cold brewed coffee from Beans Coffee Company. In limited six-packs and draft.

Oliphant Brewing        

• Ima Crighty Pooster – A new milkshake IPA on the market. 5.5% ABV.

Pryes Brewing Company

• Blood Orange Miraculum – This special version of Miraculum IPA is going on tap at Pryes on October 28 at 3pm.

Summit Brewing Company

• Unchained 26: Westie 7th – A Belgian-style named for Summit’s home neighborhood. “Featuring flavors and aromas of dark fruit, dark caramel, and rum, Westie 7th is brewed with complex, specialty malts from around the world, subtle noble-style hops, and Belgian candi syrup,” the brewery says. It will premiere in the Beer Hall on October 26 and hits stores in 12-ounce cans later this month. 7.5% ABV, 25 IBU.

Surly Brewing Company

• Cooper – With coffee and cherries, this was a Beer Hall only release on October 25.
• Darkness – Darkness hit the Surly Beer Hall in a special format for Cask Tuesday on October 25.

Three Twenty Brewing        

• Cubicle Fugitive IPA – 6.8%, 65 IBU.

Unmapped Brewing Company

• Excommunicator Be Damned

Waldmann Brewery and Wurstery        

• Dunkel Lager – Waldmann’s 1857 flagship beer aims to match a historic Dunkel recipe. This beer is described as “full bodied” with dark brewers malts and spicy hops. 5.2% ABV.

Wild Mind Artisan Ales

• Sour Bean

Seasonal or rotating returns

Bad Weather Brewing Company

• Ominous – Bad Weather’s fall release, a double brown ale, returns soon.

Badger Hill Brewing Company        

• Foundation – The Shakopee-brewed stout returns to stores in cans soon.

Bald Man Brewing

• Dark Side of the Moon – This Eagan-made porter will be available in cans by the end of the month.

Bell’s Brewery

• Roundhouse India Red Ale – Back for a limited time is this India red ale first brewed in 2009. “Substantial amounts of late-kettle hop additions and dry-hopping yields a heady blend of fruity aromas of pineapple, peach and citrus,” says the brewery. Available in six-packs of 12-ounce cans.

Bent Brewstillery

• Barrel-Aged Dark Fatha – The barrel-aged version of Bent Brewstillery’s American imperial stout returns on October 28. This year’s version is 12.0% ABV, 57 IBU and will pour on nitro in the taproom. Bottles are also available on release day.

Copper Trail Brewing

• Midwest Midnight – A milk chocolate stout to be released tonight at the brewery’s Boos & Brews Halloween event.

Cosmos Brewing

• Muttnik Porter – The “puppy chow porter” from Hugo’s production brewery. “Victory malt brings biscuit character, a large lactose addition mocks powdered sugar and roasted peanuts provide peanut butter flavor.” 6.5% ABV, 18 IBU.

Day Block Brewing Company

• Oatmeal Stout – A nutty hint of oatmeal with notes of earthy, floral characteristics. Oatmeal Stout is served on nitro to enhance a chewy yet silky mouthfeel. Tones of chocolate and roast spread throughout the body pairing perfectly with the earthy notes of Willamette hops. 5.4% ABV, 29 IBU.

Drekker Brewing

• Milk Maiden – This chocolate milk stout returns to taps and in cans soon. It is “brewed with lactose sugar for a smooth, creamy body then conditioned on an insane amount of cacao nibs that give it a rich, natural dark chocolate flavor,” says the brewery.

Hayes’ Public House

• Báirín Breac – The annual Halloween Celtic Dark Ale returns to Hayes’ on Saturday, October 28.

Modist Brewing Co.

• Lord Humungus – Another October 28 release, this unique Imperial Rye Stout is made from over 53 percent malted rye, chocolate rye, and caramel rye. Says Modist: “Lord Humungus 2017 is 11.8% ABV, thicker than 40 weight motor oil, darker than a tire fire, and dominated by flavors of caramelized rye and dark chocolate. Very limited quantity available.”

Oswald Brewing Company

• High Strung Fresh Hop IPA – A fresh hop beer using hops grown in Lake Crystal, Minnesota.

Summit Brewing Company

• Winter Ale – It’s back for another winter. Available in The Penalty Box sampler pack.

Surly Brewing Company

• Abrasive – This double IPA is back, “with an unreasonable amount of Citra hops and an unconventional addition of malted oats to balance the bitterness,” says the brewery. Available in cans and on draft starting next week.

Beers just announced

612Brew

• Oak Aged Unrated – A rye IPA hopped with a blend of our American hops and aged white oak. Available in bottles on November 3 at the taproom.
• We Are Trees – A dark saison brewed with Pilsen, spelt, rye, a blend of specialty dark malts, and aged on white oak. Available in bottles on November 3 at the taproom.

Bell’s Brewery        

• 30th Anniversary Cherry Stout – Coming next May, this beer commemorates Bell’s Cherry Stout’s debut back in 1988.
• Christmas Ale – Coming in November, Bell’s annual Christmas Ale is remade as a Scotch Ale. “This new version of Christmas Ale is rich and malty with notes of caramel and a warm finish. Christmas Ale clocks in at 7.5% ABV and is best enjoyed with friends and family,” the brewery says.
• Hath No Fury – One of three beers in a new Hell Hath (No Fury) series for 2018. This Belgian-inspired dark ale comes out next September.
• Road To Hell – The first beer of the Hell Hath (No Fury) series, out in July 2018.
• Sparkleberry Ale – Since its debut at Kalamazoo Pride in 2013, this has been a Michigan favorite. Now, the Belgian-style Tripel with raspberries comes to 4-pack, 16-ounce cans next June.
• Sympathy for the Devil – Release number three of the Hell Hath series comes in November 2018. Stay tuned.

Bent Brewstillery

• ÜBER LÜPIN – After a couple year hiatus, this Schwarz IPA is making a comeback on November 24. “Rich dark malt and toasted bread crumbs. Pungent spicy, piney and floral hops,” says the brewery-distillery. 8.3% ABV, 83 IBU.

Birch’s On the Lake

• Black IPA – The West Side Brewers Collective are releasing another collaboration beer. While each brewery is brewing a different beer, all eight will feature an experimental hop called HBC 438 and will be released at Tonka Brew Fest on November 4.

ENKI Brewing

• Northeast IPA – ENKI’s offering in the new West Side Brewers Collective collaboration, features an experimental hop called HBC 438 and will be released at Tonka Brew Fest on November 4.

Excelsior Brewing Company

• Sour IPA – Excelsior’s offering in the new West Side Brewers Collective collaboration, features an experimental hop called HBC 438 and will be released at Tonka Brew Fest on November 4.

Indeed Brewing Company        

• Cab Franc Wood-Aged Sour Ale – This one of a kind beer is a double barrel-aged sour red ale created by Indeed in collaboration with Gamling & McDuck’s Cab Franc wine barrels from Napa Valley, California.”The Cab Franc-inspired ale began in the Wooden Soul barrel room as a barrel-aged red ale base, before being transferred to Gamling & McDuck’s Cab Franc barrels and refermented on 75 pounds per barrel of Cab Franc grapes from Pickberry Vineyards. The collaboration is a blood red ruby color with floral notes of berries and cherry,” Indeed says. Out on November 20.

Lupine Brewing

• California Common – Lupine’s offering in the new West Side Brewers Collective collaboration, features an experimental hop called HBC 438 and will be released at Tonka Brew Fest on November 4.

Lupulin Brewing Company

• Belgian Dubbel – This Belgian dubbel debuts at the Veteran’s Day Pig & Beer Part at the brewery.

Mankato Brewery        

• Mythic Mint Stout – With roasted coffee and chocolate malt, this seasonal stout returns in early November. 5.6% ABV, 38 IBU.

Schram Vineyards Winery & Brewery

• Saison – Schram’s offering in the new West Side Brewers Collective collaboration, features an experimental hop called HBC 438 and will be released at Tonka Brew Fest on November 4.

Surly Brewing Company

This month’s Cellar Raid at Surly Beer Hall on October 30 is Halloween-themed with DJs, costumes, pumpkin carving, aerial performers, and the premiere of BOB, our long boil strong lager. For sale on Monday will be:

• 1349 Black Ale
• 2016 BA Darkness
• 2008 – 2016 Darkness
• Four
• Five
• SYX
• SeVIIn
• Eight
• Nein
• Ten
• 2014 Pentagram
• 2010, 2011, 2012 Smoke

Cask Tuesday at the Beer Hall on Tuesday, October 31.

• Dumpster Fire – Smoked IPA with an intense smoke aroma followed by noticeable heat from the addition of Puya chilies.

Talking Waters Brewing Company

• Pineapple Express – Coming to taps soon.

Unmapped Brewing Company

• White IPA – Unmapped’s offering in the new West Side Brewers Collective collaboration, features an experimental hop called HBC 438 and will be released at Tonka Brew Fest on November 4.

Wabasha Brewing Company        

• Bourbon Barrel Cave Stout – “This one has been aging for one year in a Bourbon Barrel from 45th Parallel. We will only be releasing it in 750-milliliter bottles and it is a limited release. Better grab one before they are gone!” says the brewery. Bottles go on sale on November 2.

Waconia Brewing Company

• Red Rye Pale Ale – Waconia’s offering in the new West Side Brewers Collective collaboration, features an experimental hop called HBC 438 and will be released at Tonka Brew Fest on November 4.

Wayzata Brew Works

• Hoppy Hefe – Wayzata’s offering in the new West Side Brewers Collective collaboration, features an experimental hop called HBC 438 and will be released at Tonka Brew Fest on November 4.

Did we miss a beer release or announcement? Email us at [email protected] to let us know about new beers from this week and beyond. Or let us know what new beer you’re enjoying by using #TheMashUp on Twitter and Instagram.