Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery Buffalo Bock & Barrel-Aged Week 2015

From left to right, 3 of the new barrel-aged beers, Project 3106, Brown Label, and Le Baltique. 

A few weeks back, I went into Town Hall brewery on a Sunday afternoon, the same day that they sold the advance tickets for Barrel-aged Week growlers. Now, 10 a.m. on a Sunday is a time of slumber for me. I'm certainly not going to stand in line as early as 6 a.m., as some did. There were nine beers this year, and, oddly enough, when I inquired that afternoon there were some tickets left of only one beer, the Buffalo Bock. (I bought one, of course.) The more I thought of it, however, it made some sense that this was the one beer that some of the tailgaters skipped. The Buffalo Bock had been released in the past, and if one were spending $15 per pint- and -a -half growler, you're probably not going to want to get all nine. I'd never had a growler of this one before, but looking on BeerAdvocate, I did try it on tap, though didn't take notes.
During that Sunday session, I went online a saw many check-ins on Untapp'd for beers that weren't on tap that day, and asked about it. Those were the beers they were drinking in line, I was informed.



Barrel-aged Week started last week, Monday, February 16, and I paid the pub a visit shortly after  I got off work at Eastlake, finding a spot, but not yet a stool, at the bar, waiting for the tapping. The first beer was the ingenious Manhattan Reserve, a cocktail of beer, barrel and fruit that has been done for several years now. Their strong and fruity Belgian-style Grand Cru is aged in Woodford Reserve barrels, with cherries added to the mix, and the result tastes quite like a Manhattan. I couldn't resist, and didn't have to work in the morning (afternoon, actually), so I had three of them, with a infused Baltic Porter thrown into the mix.

A terrible snapshot of the delicious Manhattan Reserve.

My next night off was Wednesday, so I had some catching up to do. I got there a little later this time, and was able to enjoy the brand new Foolish Angel, a tasty Quadrupel aged in an  Angel's Envy rye barrel, in the company of Cal and Gloria. (I always meet friends at these events, which is half the fun, if not more.) That beer was released Tuesday; the day's new release was Buffalo Bock, which I'll get to soon enough. Knowing I had a growler waiting for me, I believe I had more Foolish Angel, and probably returned to some Manhattan Reserve, still on tap.

Foolish Angel, the Quad in Angel's Envy barrels.

Thursday was the release of the delicious Twisted Trace, which I wrote about here, but I was hard at work. Though about visiting Friday night, an evening when I was done working around 9 pm, but fell out of the mood for traveling across town via bus in this horrible February weather so late at night. The beer that day was Project 3106, a double American brown ale wit kumquats and chocolate in a Buffalo Trace barrel. I was assured that there would be enough beer to last until Sunday, my next full day off. Saturday was the day to be there, with Czar Jack, which was covered in this post,  kicking it off, and three new barrel-aged beauties being released at 3 p.m. I worked at 5, and didn't conceive of the possibility of being able to try a sampler before work, and get there in time, while remaining sober enough to do my job well. Might have worked, but I didn't want to risk it.

Czar Jack in all it's glory.

This past Sunday was my third visit to Town Hall for BAW, and as promised all the beers were still available. I took advantage of the new sampler offering, with six ounces each of Project 3106, which was as distinctive and intriguing as promised, Brown Label, a Belgian Bruin with maple syrup provided by brewer Mike Hoops himself, in a Woodford Reserve barrel, and Le Baltique, a Baltic Porter aged in a French oak red wine barrel. One beer was only consumed as a sample, and that was The Duke of Wallonia, an Imperial Wit aged in a French oak red wine barrel. As much as I dislike the concept of "imperializing" a wit, it was quite tasty, and a worthy experiment. I followed the sampler with a full glass of the trusty Czar Jack, thoroughly enjoyed, as ever.

Now, there's a question I hate: which one was the best? Hard to say, but, really, do I have to crown one the king, when they were all very successful? It's easy to just give the prize to Czar Jack, say that second place is Twisted Trace, but, wait, what about Manhattan Reserve? And does that mean the new ones weren't as good? No, no, no….I hate ranking and comparing, which is why I don't do it. And, hey, what about Buffalo Bock, the weizenbock aged it Buffalo Trace barrels? Now, that's a great question, and I propose that we open a mini-growler and find out all about it….

Buffalo Bock, weizenbock in Buffalo Trace bourbon barrels, enjoyed at home.

Appearance: beautiful burgundy coloring, clear, with no head at all.

Aroma: vanilla, toffee, cherries, oak…bourbon barrel flavors screaming out of this nose. The weizenbock's particular flavors are fairly smothered by the power of the barrel.

Taste: More vanilla and cherry, caramel and toffee, and the sharp twang of alcohol. Just below, the sweet wheat flavors of the weizenbock start to shine. It's a lovely marriage. You never forget for a second that bourbon is involved here, but the base beer is both full-bodied enough to hold it's own against the barrel effects, yet still show off it's own character. I know I said the opposite when speaking of the aroma, but that's just how it went. A delicious beer that sent me to bed peacefully.