Junkyard King Size Imperial Peanut Stout / Minnesota Breweries One by One #58

I had a beer the other day that I want to tell you about. But first, let's go back in time, back to last July, when Jason and I both visited the Junkyard Brewery in Moorhead for the first time. I'll be doing a few of these 2-fers, the notes of a brewery I saw last year as part of my year-long tour of taprooms, with a review of a beer I've had from them recently. And I've been waiting too long for this one. Don't ask why it's taken so long, there really is no good reason. I live in eternal shame.

We had to go to 236 miles to Moorhead, college town, seat of Clay County, largest burg in NorthWest MN, population 42, 000. (Only 88% of them non-Hispanic whites.) We'd heard so many good things about the Junkyard Brewery, and they'd been around for about 3 years already. It was high time we checked them out for ourselves. If only they weren't so far away! A nearly 4-hour drive up highway 94, through typical Minnesota stretches of nothing. We left late in the morning in on Wednesday, July 27, in order to drive through all that endless expanse, get to our hotel room, unpack our bikes, and pedal a couple miles north to 1416 First Avenue N. shortly after the taproom had opened. Our plans included biking through the neighboring city of Fargo, North Dakota after leaving Junkyard and seeing three of it's four breweries. So, we had to soak up as much of Junkyard as we could in a limited time.

The atmosphere is cozy, warm, unpretentious. We found seats at the bar, and I took it all in. Immediately, I got a feeling like the late, lamented Harriet Brewing taproom: artsy, fun, a bit ramshackle, and utterly unpretentious. An artsy/hippie feel permeating what seemed like a converted garage. Replicas of the logo art of their various beers through the years decorated the walls, and the usual signs of a taproom had their place in the space: there's the little stage for the music, free popcorn over there, board games over here, merchandise and apparel over yonder. The room was already filled with locals populating the wooden benches, just after opening. I felt like we could really relax here.


Looking up at the chalkboard, we see a wide range of beers: cream ale, pale, session, coconut dark ale, peanut butter stout, imperial stout, and double

IPA. A lot to choose from, and we followed what is often a familiar pattern. Jason does a flight if he's at a brewery for the first time, and I just go with my gut, and pick full pours (or small ones, to stretch out the sampling.) We sample from each of ours, and usually get a chance to try everything that way. I had Hop Habit pale ale, and found it hop-forward, of course, with notes of tropical fruit and pine, smooth and delicious. Right up my alley. Next up, Peanut Butter Bandit, which I recently took further notes on, now that crowlers are available near us here in the Cities. I was impressed to say the least.

From there, I moved to a Green Ghost double IPA, bright, floral, fruity, piney and resinous. Another that hit me right where I lived. Next up, Big Kahuna coconut dark ale, and it delivered big, big flavors. I finished up with Coal Miner's Daughter Russian Imperial Stout, 10.2% ABV, roasty, chocolate-y, with plenty of hoppiness, ending dryly.

Jason enjoyed his flight of Scrounger Cream Ale, Loral Session Ale, Peanut Butter Bandit, and Coal Miner's Daughter. Or did he have Green Ghost? Hop Habit? It's not in my notes, and it's hard to remember after seventeen months. And my nephew Pat enjoyed his, whatever it was. No matter. In the end, we were highly impressed with Junkyard's output that day. The service was friendly and welcoming, the mood was convivial, it was a wonderful afternoon. All the beers were exceptional and exceeded expectations.




















There was one thing wrong with this visit to Junkyard and that's that I couldn't take any home with me. At this point in time, crowlers were only filled and sold on Fridays and Saturdays, which didn't help us out on a Wednesday afternoon. My brewery visits would have been much different if I weren't a weekend bartender and didn't try to see these places on my days off, Thursdays and Sundays (I took time off on a Wednesday just for this trip), so my bank balance doesn't take a hit. Thinking back, I wished I'd thought of writing to the owners and managers about my visit, perhaps asking if they could
fill a few for me for review. Going four hours out of your way to try some beers is no small thing.

My nephew Patrick Wagner, second son of my
sister Jean, matriculating at Moorhead, joined
us for a beer. He was the second of her three
children to meet me at a brewery last year, and
she joined us herself at the year's final brewery.

I wished that we could have returned the next day, but they didn't open until 4 pm, and our plan was to hit three breweries on our way back down. There was no way we could hang out in Moorhead until Junkyard opened, then see those three. Well, if we didn't mind coming home after midnight, but that wasn't going to work. All in all, seeing seven breweries in two days
wasn't a small accomplishment.


































Well, now the crowlers are available at local stores, and
the Junkyard beers are just a little trip away. Hallelujah.

Here's one of the best of them:

Junkyard King Size. Imperial Peanut Stout. 12.6 Percent Alc/Vol. Junkyard Brewing, Moorhead, MN.
"The perfect combination of peanut butter, chocolate, and indescribable deliciousness."

One of my favorite resources these days is Untappd, for the information about beers, if not for the user reviews. Untapped tells me that Junkyard Brewery has made 209 beers, and that I've had, what, 12 of them? No, checked in 12 times, three times for Peanut Butter Bandit, once at the taproom last year, and two crowlers since. This would be my second time with King Size, having gotten a taste of it from someone else's crowler last December. My point is, I've got a lot of catching up to do.

To the eye: Absolute blackness, complete opacity, rich brown head, softly drifting down.

In the nose: This one bursts out it's flavors. Peanuts, peanut butter, and all the chocolate comes streaming out.

In the mouth: Whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Big, thick, rich, intense. Incredible. Huge in the peanut butter flavor, immense in the chocolate quotient, and just flat out amazing in the scope of it's imperial stout-ness. Big load of bitterness matches the terrific torrent of sweet. It's a wonderful blend. Very over the top, and doing it's best to knock me out.

I found one crowler of this and when I see another I'm starting my collection. I don't normally give a care about peanut butter beers, and I think it's a trend that should fade soon just as pumpkin beers have. But, this! This....oh, this. Just the right earthy, just enough sweet, and plenty of dark, rich, and delicious. Bittersweet, fantastically full-flavored, and impressive in every way.

Wow, wow, wow what a beer.

Wait, did I use the word delicious yet. If I haven't, I should. Yep. It sure is. Wow, wow....wait, that I know I said.