Craft beers and breweries have exploded across not only Minnesota, but across the country and seeing as this week is American Craft Beer Week, here are my six favorite Minnesota craft beers!

Seeing as I hail from Wisconsin, where beer and local breweries have ALWAYS been popular, I really enjoy all the incredible craft beers and breweries that have popped up here in Minnesota over the last six or seven years-- including our four here in Rochester.

One of my wife and my favorite things to do is head out and try a new craft beer, whether it's at the brewery itself or at a place that has a great variety of craft beers on tap.

So, to help celebrate American Craft Beer Week, here are my six favorite Minnesota Craft Beers. (Note: My favorites are always changing, but these are some of the beers I'm really liking right now.)

Surly Xtra Citra Pale Ale -- Surly's is the granddaddy of craft beers in Minnesota, and this light beer is "Bursting with Citra hop flavor and tropical, citrusy notes, this sessionable pale ale showcases Surly’s bright side," Surly's website says.

Fair State Brewing Cooperative's IPA --  "Dry, pale, and aroma-forward American IPA brewed with wheat malt and Horizon, Chinook, Crystal, Cascade, Simcoe, and Centennial hops," its site says and it's become a fast favorite of mine.

Fulton Brewery 300 -- "Originally brewed as a one-off in celebration of the 300th batch at our original downtown Minneapolis brewery, this West Coast IPA was so well received we had to make it available year-round," their site says.

Rochester's LTS Brewing Company's Inspriation -- "Our IPA is crafted from a combination of American and New Zealand hops, both in the kettle and in the fermenter, to provide an intense hop flavor and aroma to accompany a pleasant bitterness and strong malt backbone," the site says. I love to head to their tap room off 19th Street and have one of these!

Rochester's Grand Rounds Brewing Company Hop Bollocks Session IPA -- This smooth-drinking IPA has some really great hoppiness to it, while only having an ABV of 5%-- so you can have a couple and not get too loopy!

Decorah, Iowa's Toppling Goliath Brewing Company's Pseudo Sue -- Even though it's not actually based in Minnesota, I still count this craft brewery as a local craft beer. And while I like many of their beers, "This single hop pale ale showcases the Citra hop for a well-balanced beer that is delicate in body with a mild bitterness in the finish. She roars with ferocious aromas of grapefruit, citrus, mango and evergreen. Pseudo Sue’s unique taste is clean and bright with just enough bite," their site says.

Cheers!

Listen to Curt St. John from 6 to 10 a.m. on Quick Country 96.5
and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 103.9 The Doc

 

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