Minnesota Breweries One by One #9: South Fork Brewing, Delano

Look at the beers! 

And now on to episode nine of Minnesota Breweries One by One, where I must praise my associate in this venture, Jason. I get by with a lot of help from my friends. When I suggested he join me in this enterprise, he had many suggestions, showing that he'd done his research. He knew where the breweries were, how to lump some of them together logically for a single journey, which ones were open when, which were open at all. One important thing he knew was which breweries existed. I did not know that this next one existed at all. I'd heard of the other one in Delano, MN, and it was high on my list, but this one? Never heard of it. But we're doing them all, and do them we shall.

On our way into South Fork in Delano.

On January 31, those Christmas decorations should
really be put away.

So we went from Buffalo to downtown Delano, population 5,000-some, only slightly less white than Annandale. We approach the building and get a load of the situation. My read on the room is that it used to be a pizza parlor. There is no bar, but a counter, with no stools or chairs, behind which stands the server, who pours your beers, which you then take to your table.  There's no bellying up to a bar, which creates a distance, I feel. And the decor is non-existent, the ambience fairly nothing. Some
Christmas lights and decorations not taken down. A small merchandise nook. A bathroom smaller than a broom closet. Nothing that gave the space any personality.

On tap, eight different beers available in 2 sizes, six of them offered in a flight. J. went with the flight, and I picked a single 10 ounce serving of the Frozen Crow bock. Another beer carried a crow-related name, the kolsch,  called "As the Crow Flies", and I noticed a crow figurine on top of the counter. What's with the crows? I just figured it out, at last. The South Fork of the Crow River, a tributary of the Mississippi, flows past Delano on it's way to join the North Fork and becomes the Crow River  until it merges with the mighty Mississippi. So, that explains the name, too. Well, now I know everything.

I was off my game. Didn't take the picture till the
beers were nearly done. Sorry!

Nerdy Girl Amber, with the remains of the flight
behind it.

The Frozen Crow Bock was fine. An exceptionally adequate bock, I'd drink it again. Classic malty bock nose, solid mahogany hue, smooth and malty mouthfeel. With J's flight, which we shared, we started to have problems. The kolsch and the session IPA both tasted off, slightly sour, and utterly un-enjoyable. Our server, who appeared to also be the proprietor, owner and the brewer, {Edit: It seems that he was the brewer, but not the owner.} stopped by our table to see what we thought, and we told him that those two were not working for us, noting the sour taste. "That's probably from the Amarillo hops we use (in the Session IPA)", he said. No....I don't think that's it. The Sunday Funday Red, the Pilgrim Pumpkin ale (in January?), the Black Cat Belgian-style stout, the Plunger IPA, they were all "okay" and certainly didn't impress. (and you'd think that a 95 IBU IPA would, wouldn't you?) We took our time with the flight, and I went back up to the counter for a 10 ouncer of another one missing from the flight, Nerdy Girl Amber, which I found entirely competent. (Tip of the cap to Joe, and his fondness for that word in the right circumstances.) Bright and fruity, malty, slightly sweet, a treat to drink and fairly sessionable, of course.

In the end, we were left unimpressed by South Fork, which suffers from not just lackluster beers, but an absence of identity. There's nothing tying it together, giving it a soul, a purpose, anything, really. I looked around the room, eager for something to pull my eye in and give me a sense of what this brewery was and why it existed. I was left with my questions unanswered, the empty feeling unfulfilled.

I don't like writing things like this. I want to celebrate every brewery and show off their uniqueness. I want it all to be sunshine and rainbows, unicorns and lollipops. But, there's nothing to really recommend here at all. Can't sugarcoat the experience to save someone's feelings. And it's truly up to the owner to want to give the beers and the space a little something to make it stand out, rather than four walls that have merely competent beers inside. We had only to walk a few blocks to find a different scenario altogether.