Minneapolis Breweries Day by Day #4: Rock Bottom Wicked Elf

Day #4 of Minneapolis Breweries Day by Day. It's freezing out. It's below freezing. It's in the teens below zero! Arrrgggh! I want to spend as little time as I can outside. And so the plan today is to leave a little early, jump off the bus on Hennepin and 9th Street, have a beer here, just to say I did it, and get back on track to get to work. It's Friday, December 29, and I'm stepping into Rock Bottom Brewing at 800 Lasalle Avenue. That's the street address, I'm going in the Hennepin Entrance.

So, I'm looking over the wide range of beers and it's easy to decide what I'll order, the biggest, Belgian-est beer they got.

Rock Bottom Wicked Elf Belgian Strong Dark Ale. 8.1% ABV. 35 IBU.

Here are the notes I took: "Rich & malty, fruity, warming, slightly vinous, lightly tannin-y" (yes, that's a word." That was good enough. It was satisfactory, but not especially special. Not a bad beer, and I could drink it.

If you don't have time to make it over to Fulton, Inbound, or Modist, if you just happen to be there, if you're hanging out with people who aren't that picky. by all means have a beer here. They ain't bad. And they ain't great. It's up to you.

As for me, I'll probably pass this place by for the most part. And that's 5 down, 27 to go.

Brewed in the tradition of a Biere de Noel, our amber-colored, Belgian-inspired strong ale is smooth and warming for the holidays.

Minnesota Breweries One by One #99: Rock Bottom Brewery, Minneapolis

My view of the Rock Bottom signage from the bike rack.

There were some people who questioned my decision to include the Rock Bottom location on Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis on my list of breweries to visit for this quest. It is part of a national chain, so it can't be considered a Minnesota brewery, they argued. And I answered that it is a brewery and it is in Minnesota. It wasn't the first brewpub in the state, or the Twin Cities, but it does pre-date both Great Waters and Town Hall. It was an incubator for brewing talent over the years, and still has a role to play.

My first time at Rock Bottom was in 2000, before a show at the State Theater. Or, maybe it was the Orpheum. I'm going to say State. And it was "Mr. Show Live", and I was there with Katie and Garrett, I'm pretty sure. The other thing I remember was the saison, though I don't recall it's name. Looking on BeerAdvocate, I can't see any that resembles that name so vaguely recalled through the fog of time. I remember liking it quite a bit, and being impressed that a saison, not then a well-known style, was being brewed at a chain brewpub with dozens of locations throughout the states.

It was a few years before I met the man behind the beer, Todd Haug. I stopped in more and more to try his wares, often taking them home in growler form to review. During that quick peek at BeerAdvocate, I was surprised to see that I'd reviewed 54 Rock Bottom beers on that website from 2004 to 2009, only 15 of them listed among the 450 "current" beers, the other 39 hanging out with the 707 "archived" beers. But, back then in the early 2000's, there wasn't that much going on. We had Town Hall, BarleyJohn's, Great Waters in St. Paul, which I occasionally biked or bussed to, and everything else was out in the 'burbs and beyond. It was 10 years before taprooms and this incredible proliferation of brewing that we enjoy now.

Check out fresh-faced young Todd Haug
in this 19-year old newspaper piece, long
before his look went all Heavy Metal
Gandalf. 

In 2005, Todd was stolen away to get Surly up and going, but I didn't stop going to RB, for it had been put in the very capable hands of Bryon Tonnis. Bryon kept the beers brewing there until he and Colin Mullen and their wives hatched their plan to start Bent Paddle in Duluth. After a while, there seemed to be less and less reason to pop into Rock Bottom, especially with the new breweries opening and all the taproom action.

But on Sunday, October 30, I decided it was time to check them off the list, and I biked downtown and parked my steed at the rack in front of the brewery, on Hennepin Avenue between 8th and 9th street.  (800 Lasalle Plaza, to be exact.)Walked in, looked around the packed place and re-thought my agenda. There was some kind of big game going on, which required all the staff to wear football jerseys, and most inside were affixing their attention to the dozens of televisions. Numerous groups of middle aged women were waiting to be seated, which was explained by the Rick Springfield/Bryan Adams concert next door at the State Theater. There wasn't a single seat to be found at the bar.

So I did the natural thing and got back on the bike, heading to Modist Brewing, not too many blocks away, and enjoyed a few of their original offerings. A few hours later, I returned to Rock Bottom and found that the place had pretty much cleared out, and I could easily find a stool. The bartender, clad in Packers attire, was friendly and attentive, the food was just as edible as it's ever been, and the beer's alright. Larry Skellenger is the brewer these days, and I saw the man and his mighty mustache attending to the tanks while I sat and drank his beers. I didn't take notes on this visit, but
if memory serves me well, the first was Fuzzy Butt Imperial Peach IPA, described thusly on the website: "American-style Imperial IPA is golden with fruit and peach notes.  Refreshing IPA is enhance with honey, that’s crisp and explodes with spiciness, peach and hop flavor. ABV 9% IBU 105."

It had the peach, it had the hops, it was a good beer, and I could drink it. Next up I went with the Grand Slam Sour, and this is was the website tells us: "Grand Slam Sour Ale, Crisp and tart – hints of grapefruit, berries and other fruits. ABV 6.0% IBU 50." I found it satisfactory, if not particularly inspiring. I avoided the mainstream beers there, the flagships, since I've had them before or many beers like them. I know they're making perfectly competent beers here, and now and then some interesting stuff, as well. I also know that no one is going to flip out over the sour ale they had at Rock Bottom, and that Indeed and Fair State and others will get noticed for their output in that category.

The beer geeks will continue to neglect this spot and it won't matter at all. As long as there are football games to play on all those TVs and performances next door and across the street, as long as there are people working in offices nearby and skyways to take them here, someone's going to be
drinking these beers. Someone will, probably not me so much. Too many other great breweries to keep up with these days, run by independent minds, without a corporate yoke around them.

Biking to Beer, Part 3: Up And Down The Avenue

Hey, everybody. It's been a while since the last installment of this project of mine to visit and re-visit all the local breweries by bike, (see part one here, and part two here)people have started to notice and wonder if I gave up. No, what I did was suspend it for the month of April, that tease of a month. Can't decide whether the weather should be nice or not. That's it, I'm blaming it on the weather. And I'm paring down the ambition. The previously published intention to take on "3 or 4" at once in a particular day, while having a couple of beers at each, will have to be scaled back. I can't have eight beers in a day and still write up a good post.

I have still done plenty of biking to beer in the interim, like the Friday night I went to Steel Toe in St. Louis Park (the second time ever for me, for reasons still not explained), following it with a trip to Sisyphus. And last Sunday, when Jason, Brandon, and I did Surly, Republic Seven Corners (because Town Hall was closed for cleaning), Boom Island, and Fair State (my second visit there). Did not take notes, nor take many pictures, so it doesn't qualify. The project will resume soon.

But, I have two entries to publish from the past, and here's one of them...

Along comes Wednesday, March 25, third day of my project, and I found myself in the same situation as the Wednesday before, doing internet stuff at the East Lake Library, which closes at 5 pm. Last Wednesday, I took off from there and put in my visit to brewery #1, Harriet, two blocks away. This time, the first stop was Day Block Brewing on Washington Avenue, and this was the plot: from Lake Street and 28th Avenue to 27th, all the way past Franklin straight through to Riverside, Riverside to Cedar, Cedar to Washington, down to 10th Avenue.

A Wednesday at 5:20, it was a little slow, but that was soon to change. I glanced at the chalkboard and found something new, which is part of this process, after all. Belgian-style Triple IPA. Right up my alley. All the spice and sweetness and the Belgian yeast goodness of a triple, plus all the extra hops you want. Best of both worlds. Loved it. My favorite Day Block beer yet? Possibly.

Hey, here's some info on the Belgian Triple IPA (still on tap: 

Brewed in the style of a Belgian Triple with the finest Pilsner malt in the world, and hopped like an IPA with Czech Republic’s Saaz. This beer is brewed as traditionally as can be here in MN. It has lots of grassy green notes from the hops and a solid semi-sweet malty backbone to carry the 44 pounds of hops.
STATS:10% ABV83 IBUs
From there, I moved on to the ExtraOrdinary Bitter, and I liked that one, too. It certainly was no ordinary ESB. ….Lastly, I took a smaller pour of Frank's Red Ale. It was a red ale, a good beer and you can drink it. Nothing wrong with that. I've tried to reconcile what people don't like about it. I've concluded that they don't like red ales. Well, they're not for everyone, especially if you're expecting too much. The offerings at Day Block change quite a bit, but they don't settle with keeping a cream ale or a light lager on all the time, Franks' is kind of their "go-to" boring beer.

I've been happy with the beers from Day Block, happier than other friends of mine. I'm not certain I understand what their problem is, so I smile and nod and let the conversation turn. I do want to like them more, but I could say that about a lot of stuff.

My visit to Day Block Brewing took a little under two hours, but there was a slight interruption in the plans when I decided to stop in at Big Brain Comics, across the street,  and pick up some graphic novels. Some money spent and four color fantasies acquired, I adjusted my plans just a little. Two of the brewpubs I intended to visit were open late, but the Boom Island Brewing Company Boom Room, what they call their taproom, closes at 9. So, I went north on Washington, which counts down along the avenues, then counts back up again after hitting Hennepin, our major artery. That puts the distance from Day Block to Boom Island at at least 30 city blocks, give or take.

The bartender on duty was the same who's served me each time I've been there (Jim, I believe he is called), if memory serves. I inquired whether it was always so mellow on a Wednesday, and he said yeah, but there was also competition from basketball. No TVs broadcasting sporting events in this drinking establishment, instead a screen over the bar showing slides on a constant loop, sometimes the owners' photos from Belgian trips, sometimes just random pictures of Belgium, and once in a while an old black and white movie.

Artificial light illuminates bombers at the Boom Room.

I find the devotion of the owners, Kevin and ----Welch, to Belgium and it's culture utterly endearing. Their love for it shows everywhere, and that may be why I haven't fully embraced them, oddly enough. With all that affection that they show for Belgian styles, I want the beers to match that  quality. I've been hyper-critical of Boom Island because I want them to equal their own hype, and find that it doesn't always get there. Is good enough good enough?

I looked at the chalkboard and ordered from him the one beer that I knew I'd never had, one called Zarathirstra. I asked him why that name, instead of Zarathustra? "It's a play on words" he told me. Well, duh, I didn't say to him, but my question was really "why that terrible pun?" No matter, the beer was fine despite the name. A cool, clean, hoppy Belgian bitter, which isn't an especially well known style.

I wanted to choose the Saison for my second, for I couldn't recall whether I'd had it before, but it was sold out. So, I chose a Noire, their Belgian Black IPA, a style that doesn't really exist. If it did, though, this would be a fine example.

I enjoyed the cool vibe at the Boom Room, so calm and serene, cool music playing, an oasis of sorts. No noisome televisions blasting sports, no damaging decibels of an over-crowded room bursting with beer-soaked blowhards. I enjoy a convivial atmosphere as much as the next man, but too much shouting and hooting from drunkards and d-bags does my brian in. All these things considered, I'm going to start liking Boom Island a lot more from now on. They definitely deserve my respect and attention.

Back on the bike, it was time to turn tail in the night and venture from North Minneapolis to what we call the North Loop neighborhood and The Free House Brewpub. I've been there twice before, as part of my project to visit all the breweries in the city by bike back in mid-June of last year, and my other project to stop at all of the brewpubs on my birthday, which was a Monday in late June. On the first occasion, I tried the kolsch (keeping the consumption small) and found it satisfactory. The second time, I tried an IPA, enjoyed it, contemplated ordering another and watched as the bartender passed my empty glass without any interest. When that happens, I sometimes think that the server clearly doesn't have any interest in serving me, and I go elsewhere.

So, here it is around 9:15 on a Wednesday, and the bar is active while the restaurant is kind of dead. Many libations are being enjoyed, wine, cocktails, and the occasional beer. Once again, the hapless staff were outfitted in those deplorable uniforms, denim shirts, bow ties and suspenders. I glanced through the beer list and found that they had four beers labeled 1 through 4 and four more in various random numerations going as high as 21. I don't remember what number went with which, but I chose the Double IPA, and I liked it. The West Coast IPA, however, was not impressive, and lacked the necessary luster.

I have a friend who said that he felt that he was the least attractive person there when he paid the Free House a visit. They're not that pretty, those patrons of the Free House, but they do dress a little nicer.

I left Free State unsatisfied. So there's a local brewing company that I have no interest in, so what. Hey, maybe there's another we can scratch of the list and not return to? So he thinks as he gets back on the bike and go from Washington Avenue to Hennepin and then westward to 9th Avenue and the Rock Bottom Brewing Company, part of a national chain, and part of Minneapolis' brewing scene since 1993.

I worked a block away from this place for many years, and never stopped in, though the reason is no mystery if you read part one of this series. I didn't see the appeal in such a place. How could I trust that their beer was any good? Why would I take the chance? Just get a six-pack of Summit to take home, catch a movie on cable, and enjoy. That was me in the 1990's.

It wasn't until the early 2000's that I finally went in, either before or after a show at the next door Orpheum Theater. I think it was "Mr. Show Live." This was back when Todd Haug was head brewer. The beer I had then was a saison, and I was impressed. When Todd left in 2005 to start Surly, it went to the able hands of Brion Tonnis, who departed the place to found Bent Paddle in Duluth. There have been several changes of hands since, and I've heard rumors that things have gotten more corporate lately. My last visit was on that birthday tour last summer, and I stopped into RB for the first time in a while, to find a tasty Belgian IPA on tap. Maybe things weren't so bad?

I walked in, and found that the signage that once advertised and announced locally themed brews particular to this location were gone, replaced by strictly Rock Bottom related branding, with no tie-in to this particular geography or iconographic elements. I scanned the chalkboard for something interesting.  I completely forgot what it was, but it was dark, that's all that I remember. I feel very embarrassed that I've forgotten,  but the beer itself, whatever it was, was okay, nothing special. (I'm going to guess that it was a "black IPA", but that's all I can do. I made a later visit to check and the beer name was wiped from the chalkboard.) After a bit, my co-worker Chad came in, and joined me. He's a regular here, it seems, and knew the bartender well. I joined him in another beer, and this time the Baltic Porter came in a Mug Club glass. I think I actually am a Mug Club member, but I lost my card long ago, and I don't know anyone who works there anymore. The beer was rote, by the numbers, along the dotted lines. If I lived a few blocks away, like Chad, I'd stop in for a beer and make friends with the staff, but I don't really think there's any point in having any allegiance with this brewery. When you look around and think about the breweries that we have, how original their outlook is, how singular their visions can be, and compare it to a chain, there's no question.

The brewpubs are the breweries open more often, more days and with longer hours. Why did I visit them on a Wednesday, instead of a Sunday, when many of the taprooms aren't open? The weather factors, mostly. It's still too chilly to spend much time and effort getting around. In a few weeks, we'll be over that. I've done 10 Minneapolis breweries in 3 days over a week, several beers at each. That's only a dozen left to go for the city of Minneapolis, but I also intend to stitch out to the suburbs, and St. Paul, too.

........................

A few days later, I ventured to visit a brewery in St. Paul for the first time, then biked to NorthEast to re-visit a brewery there, my second time. That coming soon, and then we begin again.