Minneapolis Breweries Day by Day #9: Clockwerks Brewing / Minnesota Breweries One by One #92 w/ Cyr Strong

I woke up bright and early this afternoon with clarity of vision and alertness of mind, one thought bursting forth to send me in a fruitful direction: I must adhere to that acronym of the engineers at Lockheed in the 1960's. Keep It Simple, Stupid.

You see, when I launched this project, I had a few untold rules. First, I must write them in order. Second, I have to finish the Minnesota Breweries One by One report if I hadn't done that already. There are 11 un-written-up brewery reports for the city of Minneapolis, out of the 32. I had to correct that before I put them into this project. So, I bumped them around in the order if I hadn't written them up. That changed when last week, once again, I hadn't given myself enough time and was on the way to The Freehouse, thinking of the seven block walk from Washington Avenue and how freaking cold it was, and it dawned on me: Clockwerks is only blocks from the light rail station, go there!

But, I haven't written them up! But, who cares! Combine them! But, but, but? I'd get things done a lot faster if I wasn't always fighting the voices in my head. (Which is something I stole from the draft of the report that I started last July. Good. Got that out of my system.)

Boho Rye Pilsner from Feb. 2017.

I will do it all. Maybe I will combine them. Even cut and paste. But I don't need to tell you that. Keep It Simple, Stupid. It was the third stop of four on Sunday, October 16, 2016. The place was in transition before a grand opening several weeks away. Elements of their "steampunk" theme seemed to be strewn about, and the beer wasn't bad, but wasn't particularly inspired, either. Tried the Alt and the ESB. The session beer angle is one that will excite very few, but everyone has to go with their passions in this business.

And I will skip entirely the bit about the tap handles. A year and some later, they're over that. Not worth noting now. I figured it was best to give this place time to find themselves before passing judgement.

Skip ahead to trying them out a few months later, February, 2017. The beers seemed to be in a better place. I had the Baltic Porter was quite keen on it. It turns out that the owners had hired a brewer, and that was my friend Dan Banks, who had previously helmed the brewing operations at Day Block. The Boho Rye Pilsner was quite nice, as well. I definitely needed to keep these guys in rotation and continue to monitor their progress.

At this point, I'll again adhere to the principles of KISS and share with you the notes on the growler of Cyr Strong Belgian Strong Golden Ale that Dan gave me at my birthday party last June, and complete omit the hand-wringing over publishing comments or criticisms, or lack thereof, when addressing a beer brewed by a friend. And given to you. For your birthday. Gonna skip that. Not waste your time. KISS.

9.2% ABV. Clear, dark amber coloring, solid ivory head slims down to a tight ring.

In the nose: The Belgian thing is going right off the bat: sweet, fruity, funky, yeast and malt characteristics at swim in this aroma. It's the oddness that I love in the Belgian-style beers. Wild, weird, and wonderful.

In the mouth: Rich malty sweetness grips the palate, meshed with an instant warmth. Pepper-y heat spices up the tongue a tad. Flavors grows and grows. Medium-bodied, light malty finish. It's a good one.

You can't get that one at the taproom now, that was from last summer. They'll bring it back, I'm sure.

(Looking at Untappd, it seems that I took the empty growler and filled it up with their Kolsch, but never took notes, just drank it down, which is quite unlike me. I normally write up every beer I have at home. Took a pic, though. Must have been a thirsty night.)

Another thing I'll cut out: the notes on the samples that salesmen dropped off and Dan filled for me.
I took notes on all of them. Alt. Oktoberfest. Boho Rye. I like them all, they tasted like they should taste. And that crisp, slightly spicy, bread-y Boho Rye found it's way on the tap lines at Acadia for a while, and will probably return.

And we can cut directly to Friday, January 5, stepping into Clockworks to check them off this list, and make it to work on time. Lonny's behind the bar and they have the 1st Anniversary Baltic Porter on tap. It's exactly what I want. 9.4% ABV. Cocoa and toffee, dark fruit, espresso, rich malt, and yet smooth and tasty. Just where I want a Baltic Porter to be, and so satisfying. Most definitely my

Baltic Porter 2018. 

favorite Clockwerks beer to date.

I felt that I had enough time for a second, so
I moved on to a Black Pearl. Foreign Export Stout, another favorite style. Smooth and substantial, that's how my notes read. 6.9% ABV, 44 IBU. Another nice one.

It's also one of their guest brews, a recipe provided by a home brewer. This is something they've done from the start, dedicating one of their taps to a home-brew recipe brought in by a friend, family member, home-brew enthusiast, what-have-you. Remember,  Broken Clock is the collective in NE without a taproom and Clockwerks is the steam-punk-theme downtown brewery with the home-brew recipe beer rotating on tap. That's how you tell the two "clock" breweries apart. Now, how you tell Inbound, Indeed, and Insight apart, that I can't help you with.

I like this place. It's a nice spot, you can play pool, games, there are events, DJs, art shows, charcuterie, cheese, Heggie's pizza, and some good beer. You don't have to go there with a monocle or gears in your top hat, but I bet they'd like it if you did. Go check them out.

As for me, it's 9 down, 22 to go.

There's Dan minding the bar.

Hop Blast Wonder. Hey, they do IPAs!

Baltic Porter 2017.

100% ClockWerks tap handles, accept no substitutes.