In late July, I’m always looking for beers that manage to capture the feeling of hopping in the shower after biking for so long your sweat has mixed with your sunscreen and dried into a salty film on your skin; or the pleasantly full and sluggish feeling that comes from filling your stomach with a solid quart of onion dip at a friend’s party; or the feeling of sitting out on a deck or patio swatting yourself in a never-ending war against an unbeatable army of blood-sucking insects; etc. You know: summer vibes.
This month’s beers all evoke “summer vibes” in one way or another, so if you want to get the most out of what’s left of your summer, I recommend you pick them up ASAP.
Portage Brewing Co. and Thesis Brewing: When Paths Cross
S’more inspired dark lager / 6.2% ABV / 30 IBU
S’more vibes are a consistent target for malty summer beers, and this collaboration between Portage and Thesis really hits the mark. It’s a limited release, so availability may be rough for this one, but if you spot it (and like malty lagers), grab that shit immediately. There’s a lot going on—chocolate, roasted barley, and smoked malt, with a hint of vanilla. The flavor has more of the vanilla, along with sweet malt that finishes lightly roasty and slightly smokey. The “barista girlfriend experience,” if you will. This is a late night by a fire captured in a can in the best way possible. Someday I will run out of praise to heap on Portage (and especially their lager game). Today is not that day.
Junkyard Brewing Co.: Digicamo
New England IPA / 6.4% ABV / ?? IBU
I made it over a year of writing this column without covering a Junkyard beer. This is a grave oversight, and for that I am deeply sorry to all of you. I've let you down. I should have done better. Junkyard’s hazy IPAs are consistently good, and their packaging is always delightfully playful (regular readers will know I unabashedly judge a beer by its label). Digicamo is mostly tropical fruit and citrus on the nose, with some dank chinook vibes more apparent on the palate. It balances both very well, with a light sweetness and a bit of grassy bite on the back end. The complexity is a nice change of pace from some of the more one-note hazies you can find.
Pryes Brewing: Glamorama
West Coast IPA / 7.1% ABV / 55 IBU
Pryes knows their IPAs. Miraculum (included in my May roundup of the best year-round beers in Minnesota) is one of my favorite Minnesota IPAs. So imagine my excitement when the folks at Pryes asked if I’d be up for trying their new IPA “Glamorama.” Outside of sounding like a pretty good drag name, Glamorama has a nice citrus-rindy bitterness, with a light citrus aroma. It’s just about the best and most balanced West Coast IPA I’ve had in a while, and honestly makes me excited about West Coast IPAs again. Needless to say, the four-pack Pryes provided disappeared almost immediately. Sadly, it wasn’t on the shelves the next time I went to the liquor store, so I had to wait a bit to pick up another four pack. In the meantime, Reverie (my favorite vegan place in Minneapolis) had it on tap. I have to say, drinking one of these on their deck unlocked a whole extra layer of enjoyment. I strongly recommend giving it (and Reverie’s deck) a try this summer.
Brau Brothers Brewing Co.: Bancreagie
Peated Scotch ale / 7.8 ABV / 20 IBU
The other day, I wandered into South Lyndale Liquors having finally cleared all the “back stock” in my beer fridge to find a few extra breweries represented on the shelves. Brau Brothers was one of them. I’m always a sucker for a Scotch ale, so of course Bancreagie went straight into my cart. As far as Scotch ales go, Bancreagie is relatively mild—not overly boozy or overly malty. Instead, they’ve used peat (and cherry smoked malt) to give it a finish that’s more whisky-like than you often get from a Scotch ale. I quite like it, and it’s definitely a much better choice to pair with a hot dog or a burger at a backyard cookout than that bottle of Lagavulin you impulse bought because Ron Swanson Nick Offerman said you should.
Brühaven Craft Co.: Prog Rock
New England IPA / 6.5% ABV / ?? IBU
When Lakes & Legends closed, I wasn’t particularly sad about it. The beer was fine, but I’d never quite “gelled” with their whole vibe. I’d pop in around pride, marvel at the sheer size of the Loring Park space and what it must cost, enjoy a beer or two, and that’d be it for another year. Perhaps you had to be straight to get the full experience. I don’t know. I suppose I never will.
However, I do know that Brühaven is just about the best thing I could have imagined taking Lakes & Legends’ place. I still marvel at the size of the space, and worry that it will make it difficult for this new brewery to be successful. However, I’ve now been to Brühaven twice in the last month, beating my yearly record for Lakes & Legends by 100%. I love Brühaven’s Brunswick black lager, which I considered covering here, but I think Prog Rock is an arguably better beer. However, let it be known you should try both.
I first had Prog Rock with a friend who, as it so happens, is really into prog rock. I’m not sure she or I really saw the connection between the tropical and stone fruit vibes of the beer and its namesake, but then I’ve never really understood prog rock all that well either. Regardless, it’s Peart-y nice (sorry, had to).
