Biking the Beers of Minneapolis, Part Two.2: Stabbing Northward

Biking the Brewpubs and Taprooms of Minneapolis, the Adventure Continues!

A break and we're back. When we last left this tale, I was at Dangerous Man Brewing Company, having a Scottish Ale, when along came Tim Olson, of Tallgrass Brewing, with his co-worker Jake. Saturday was the St. Paul Summer Beer Fest, and there were many brewery representatives in town. Tim was kind enough to buy me the pint, and I almost had another, but stuck to the plan, and had one and was done. While briefly on facebook (I was going online periodically and updating my adventure, to the virtual cheers of my fb friends), my sister Lynn sent a message asking where I was headed next. I suspect she was concerned of my safety after eight or nine beers, while on bike. She was going to Indeed with her husband (who is, co-incidentally, actually my brother-in-law! small world), and guess what? So were Tim and Jake. Okay, next up, go from 13th to 15th, then a right turn and all the way to Monroe Street, and there we are...

Brewery #9: Indeed Brewing Company, 711 15th Avenue NE.

Around this time, my note-taking had ceased completely. I can't recall when I left Dangerous Man or when I arrived at Indeed, but I'm going to guess 7:30? I also have to confess that while the directions given above are correct and true, I did not actually follow them. I went into this without taking a map, or printing out Google Maps, or doing anything beyond writing down addresses in my notebook. I've biked to Indeed many times, and I've travelled from Indeed to Dangerous Man on foot, and always found my way there. But I did get lost, as I often do, and once again the Bitter Nib continues it's tradition of being the blog that tells you how I live, rather than demonstrating how one should wisely live. It's just how it is around here.

Eventually I found my way, much more than a mile away, and longer than the six minutes it should have taken. Remember, people: don't be like me! (Except when you should, of course.) And I pulled into the bike rack, and there were my pals Dave and Mikayla on the patio, and so were Tim and Jake, and inside, at a booth, there was sister Lynn, and brother in law Pete. I chose for my beer #9 at brewery #9 the LSD Ale, and you can read my thoughts on that here.

It seemed a little quiet for a Friday night at Indeed when I first rolled in, but after 8 o'clock, boom, along came the crowd. Just in time for me to make my next move. Could I do both 612 Brew, and Sociable Cider Werks (despite it's name, actually a brewery), before going to Harriet to complete 12 breweries in one day (skipping the 13th Minneapolis brewery as of this minute, which is but one among a national chain, the downtown Rock Bottom)? Should I? Would I?

At Indeed's taproom, clockwise from left: Tim, Jake, and, in the foreground, my glass of LSD.

The decision was made when it started to look like rain, at last. I made two snap decisions: 1. skip 612 Brew, and 2. accept sister Lynn's offer to toss my bike in her car and take it to ...

Brewery #10: Sociable Cider Werks, 1500 Filmore St. NE.

This was my second visit to Sociable and I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. They're making beers, and with the wort from that beer, they're crating an ale/cider hybrid called "graff", so rare and unknown that it doesn't have a Wikipedia entry? How is this possible when this is actually a fictional invention of Stephen King? Don't these wiki's and pedias talk to each other?

I ordered a beer, something called Crystal Smash, a "Single malt/single hop" beer, while sis and bro-in-law had one of the tart ciders. I remain a non-cider lover, a lover of non-ciders, i.e, not a lover of ciders. Will it ever happen? Pigs have flown, yet they still cannot fly.

At Sociable Cider Werks, clockwise from left, my glass of Crystal Smash, brother-in-law Pete, big sister Lynn.

I said hello to friends in attendance, kept up the routine of frequently remembering the rule of IBU, and with my ale and their ciders tossed down our respective gullets, we travelled eastward, through Dinkytown and the University of Minnesota, across the big river, back into SouthEast Minneapolis, and to our final brewery taproom, a place regular readers should be well familiar with, ...

Brewery #11: Harriet Brewing Company, 3036 Minnehaha Avenue.

Walking into Harriet's taproom, I was informed that a cover charge in effect. They've been so kind to me there on so many occasions, I didn't mind paying it, for myself and my kin. Why the cover? Willie Murphy, local blues/rock legend was in the house.

Front and center, my pint of West-Side Belgian-style IPA, beer #11 at brewery #11, with Willie Murphy, vocals and guitar, directly behind.

 He was actually doing a cover of Lou Donaldson's "Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky From Now On." I tried to find it on vinyl to play during the break, but I only have that one on CD. Did have some other funky jazz, and the musicians came over to the turntable to thank me for spinning some Shirley Scott.

the only picture not taken by me, this was shot by sister Lynn, laying down some grooves at Harriet Taproom.

Beer #11 was a pint of West Side Belgian-style India Pale Ale. Beer #12 was a pint of Divine Oculust Belgian-style Strong Golden Ale, and Beer #13 was Juhla Bru, the Finnish-style Sahti, which I was amazed that they still had on.

So?
Did I do it, did I make it to every Minneapolis brewery (brewpub/taproom) in one day? No, I skipped two, for time, and, well, I just didn't feel like it. Did I make it all the way by bike? No, when rain was on the way, I took the easy way out and made the longest leg of the journey ( 4.7 miles from NE to Harriet) by car.

Could you do it? Keep in mind that I only felt a buzz by my 13th glass. In fact, I was okay enough to actually go grocery shopping after leaving Harriet ...which I totally don't remember! Just kidding, I do have vague recollections of that midnight shopping spree, but I don't know why I felt the need for so many bags of Cheetos...Also, keep in mind, that this is me, and everyone's mileage varies. And so, I posit that if I had started this journey earlier (the first stop on the voyage, Herkimer, actually opens at 10 am), I could have spanned 13 pints at 13 stops. Further, I could have chosen smaller pours at some of those visits, but, since I never remembered to ask for them, I got a pint each time. Additionally, a little more food might have helped a bit (I only ate at Northbound, Freehouse, and a food truck at Indeed). Also, for the other stops skipped, they would be easy to include in the same itinerary from this trip. Rock Bottom is only about six blocks away from Fulton, and 612 is only a couple off from Indeed.

Theoretically doable, I hereby establish. But I won't try again. I awoke the next...afternoon...without a hangover, bereft of sickness, but very, very tired. Good thing that I didn't have to work until 5 in the afternoon. Did I ever sleep in. It was a fun day, to be sure. If I try anything similar, and I will, it will be more compartmentalized. On my next day off, Monday, all the brewpubs are open. Hey, why not hit the six of them, but the other way, from Freehouse to Herkimer? My next next day off is a Friday, when all the taprooms are open, I could do Fulton to NE, then that nearly 5 mile stretch (I've done it before, many times) to Harriet. Watch this space. More fun awaits!