Falling Knife Tomm’s Classic American Lager

 Falling Knife Tomm’s  Classic American Lager.

4.8 % ABV, Falling Knife Brewing, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Clear, bright yellow, full ivory head, soon slimming.

In the nose: light hops, slightly citric, touch of cereal grain, typical light lager nose, but done well. 

In the mouth: much lemon. Kiss off the hops. Lightness of body, smooth drinkability, utterly pleasant. Wisp of malt. High quality. I get it. It’s what would happen if Hamm’s wasn’t so damned cheaply made and terribly boring. 

Our take on a Classic American Lager, the kind of beer you pound while building a brewery

Falling Knife The Long Highway Cold IPA

 Falling Knife The Long Highway Cold IPA.with HBC 586 and Simcoe hops. 

7.3 % ABV, Fallible Knife Brewing, Minneapolis, MN.

I don’t review Falling Knife’s beers very much these days, for one main reason: my ban on hazies. It seems that it’s all they ever release. Well, now here’s a Cold IPA. Didn’t I ban those once, too. Let’s see if I can remember why. 

Clear, pale golden hue, slim white head.

In the nose; soft and citric. 

In the mouth: light bodied, slight bitterness, appropriate levels of hoppiness, easy-drinking and most assuredly refreshing. Some citrus, some stone fruit. Maybe a little melon? 

I think I remember why I stopped writing about Cold IPAs….there’s not much to say about them. 

Falling Knife Ghost Step Coffee Stout-Turntables, with the Get Down Coffee Co.

Falling Knife Ghost Step  Coffee Stout-Turntables, with Get Down Coffee Co.

5.8% ABV, Falling Knife Brewing, Minneapolis, MN. 

Solid blackness, thick ring of brown foam that collapses quickly. 

In the nose: Fresh, earthy coffee notes waft out of the glass. Earthy, espresso-ish, aromatic. 

In the mouth: Rich and slightly sweet. Full coffee flavors flood the palate. Sweet, chocolatey malt notes mix with the coffee taste. Full body, long malty finish. 

This is a tasty little number. One of the better coffee stouts I've had in a long time. 

Falling Knife All Nighter Imperial Golden Ale

Falling Knife All Nighter Imperial Golden Ale. With Costa Rican Natural  Coffee, Madagascar Vanilla, & Ghananian Cacao Nibs. Collaboration with Earth Rider Brewing. 

7.9 % ABV, Falling Knife Brewing, Minneapolis, MN. 

Coffee, vanilla, & cacao nibs...in a golden ale? At almost 8%? What'll they think of next? 

Clear, golden-toned, slim white head that disappears in a moment. 

In the nose: Coffee and cream comes roaring out of the nose, cacao nipping at it's heels. Vanilla lurks below. 

In the mouth: Tasty little mix going on here. Coffee and cream with a side of cocoa, and a slice of vanilla. Minor hops, medium malt. I'm not usually into golden ales, but when they're as yum a dum dum as this, that's a game changer. Wonderfully done. 

Falling Knife Summer Break Pale Ale

 Falling Knife Summer Break Pale Ale. Galaxy, Citra, Simcoe, & Nelson.

5.9 % ABV, Falling Knife Brewing, Minneapolis, MN.

It’s a week before Labor Day. The mornings are getting chillier, and the leaves are poised to fall. It’s about  that I polish off the fourth can of this summer seasonal before summer is but another memory. 

And why did I pick up this one? Well, I like Pale ales and it was only $12. So tired of the $16+ over-hyped  IPAs. Let’s drink it....

All clouded up, ‘cause clarity isn’t cool. Bright golden hue, slim white head.

In the nose: big citrus, orange and lemon, with a pinch of pineapple.Quite promising.

In the mouth: just a little juicy at the start, turning dry on the palate. Citrus tastes play big, with help from melon and grape. Light-bodied, crisp-ish, and refreshing. Tasty little one, this. I like it.

Falling Knife Matriarch Brooklyn Biscotti Pastry Stout

Falling Knife Matriarch Brooklyn Biscotti Pastry Stout. With orange, vanilla & fresh baked New York biscotti.

5% ABV, Falling Knife Brewing, Minneapolis, MN. 

And here we have what just may be the only beer named in honor of a Supreme Court justice. I could be wrong. Brewed in collaboration with Witch Hunt, a local gender equity focused beer organization. I think maybe RBG liked a snack of biscotti and oranges, I guess? And now here it is in beer form.

Solid blackness, utter opacity, slim brown head.

In the nose: big orange notes, mixed with baked bread. And, hey, vanilla. Nice.

In the mouth: Well-tempered sweetness hits first. Citrus splash on the palate. Warm, toasted malt takes the stage next. Just enough hops for balance. Medium bodied. Excellent drinkability. Some cocoa comes thorough. Not too sweet, not too strong. Hey, I’m liking it.

Brooklyn Biscotti Pastry Stout with Orange, Vanilla & Fresh Baked New York Biscotti

Falling Knife Circle Pit S'mores Pastry Stout

Falling Knife Circle Pit S'mores Pastry Stout.
10.2 % ABV. Falling Knife Brewery, Minneapolis, MN.

This beer has two strikes against it before I start drinking: 1. It calls itself a "pastry stout", an appellation I despise, and 2. it employs marshmallows. Well, if you're making a "s'mores stout", you kind of have to. So, I plunked down $18 and now I'm going to drink it.

Utter darkness, complete opaque, slim ring of tannish brown foam on top. Looking great.

In the nose: Massive malt, deep chocolate, and...graham cracker? I believe it is. Can you smell the marshmallow? Don't know if you can. Looming alcohol.

In the mouth: Big malt, huge mouthfeel, bombastic texture. Outsized sweetness, immense cocoa presence. Am I really tasting the graham cracker and the marshmallow? Is that possible?

But, damned if it doesn't taste like a s'more, if it had a lot of booze in it and was liquid. Is a S'more really a "pastry", though? Do we need to keep using that idiotic term? Can't we lay it to rest?

I think I'm in the minority on that one, even though I'm right.

It's a hell of a beer, though. But I'm looking forward to stouts from these guys are that less gimmicky.


S’mores Pastry Stout with chocolate, marshmallow, and graham cracker

Falling Knife Freischütz Northern German Pilsner

Falling Knife Freischütz Northern German Pilsner.
5.3 % ABV. 30 IBU.
Falling Knife Brewing, Minneapolis, MN.

The first cans from Falling Knife came out, one of which I'd already tried in the crowler (Verbal Tip), so I went with the pilsner. Each can in the four-pack has a different illustration that can be removed and used as a sticker. Isn't that cool.
Some people are positively freaking out about it. And me, running out of places to stick stickers. After all the crowlers, (also stickers), that I went through recently, I just don't need more stickers.

And yet, it feels wrong to throw them out.

Clear, bright golden, big white head, slowly succumbing.

In the nose: Slightly malty/grainy, lightly floral, some small sweetness.

In the mouth: Brief bitterness hits the tongue on first arrival, then it all goes down smooth. Light-bodied, lean and clean. Quite refreshing. Crisp, classic, with a lingering bitter hop finish. Me, I like it. I'll have another one, sure.

It's a untraditional German pilsner, and that's fine by me. I can enjoy a hoppy one. But not this German professor customer of mine. He saw a tap handle with the words "hoppy pilsner" and laughed. "Hoppy and pilsner? They don't go together!" Well, we always have Hell for him.

Falling Knife. Atlantean Belgian Strong Golden Ale (part six of Minneapolis Breweries 2020)

On the 30th of June, while quietly observing my birthday with a couple of friends, I suggested to Ed that we go to Falling Knife Brewing in NE Minneapolis. He hadn't been there, either, so off we went. I made a call to find out if it was necessary to make reservations for a couple of seats at the bar, and I was assured that we did not need to.

Falling Knife gets it's name from a concept that I'd never heard of, that "The falling knife has no handle" meaning that if one wished to catch it in mid-flight, it is very difficult to grab it by the handle and one risks cuts or missing digits. The prudent among us would allow the knife to fall to the ground  and pick it up later. So, they're saying that they are taking risks, damn the cost. I think. Dismembered thumbs are all over their branding and iconography.

They opened up in late 2019, and I never made it out there, but certainly heard the accolades from friends. Their location is the old NorthGate space, 783 Harding St. NE #100, which I'd been to at least a couple of times. I'd always thought that if any can make it at that spot, they must have a product that can succeed outside their taproom, or have the goods inside to drive people in. Something, alas, that NorthGate did not.

What I was hearing about their beers suggested to me that they were working out a beer program that would make them the Barrel Theory of Minneapolis. Hazy IPAs, pastry stouts, fruited sours, and little else. Everything that gets the beer geeks going. Or maybe more?

Because they are so far from the bus lines, I skipped them during the winter months. Didn't want to walk from the bus during the cold times. And when the weather got better, well, that's when we couldn't go nowhere, and no one could open. Breweries needed to find new ways to sell their stuff, and Falling Knife started selling their crowlers at liquor stores. That's how I managed to get the four beers that have since appeared here in the Nib. It was way past time to see the taproom and try them there.

One commonality in all the taprooms I've
seen recently: no coasters. I think to
myself, why not just use them one time?
Well, I'm not paying for them, am I?

So, we pulled up and found a couple stools at the bar, there were only about six, all spaced out. One of the owners that I know, Dan Herman, was manning the bar, mask and gloves on. Hand sanitizer was never far away. There were people on the patio, and a handful of tables inside, one in the back and two near the exist, a larger group socializing between two tables of four. Only one other patron was seated at the bar. I closed my eyes to imagine what it was like in regular times, the noise, the crowds, the excitement and jubilation.

Ed, meanwhile, reminisced about old times in that space, wished aloud that it was decorated like in the previous incarnation, with football scarves hanging from the ceiling, and British-themed memorabilia all over. Why would they have that, I asked of Ed, when that does not fit the current theme of the new place? It's pretty damned hard keeping a British ale-only theme going when that's not going be the thing to get butts in the seats, not in that neighborhood, anyway. I kid, there, for it's not really a neighborhood, and not really walking distance from one.

Shaky Hands

As for the current decor, low-key is the style. Where there are paintings hung, they are minimal in design. Where once was a crazy cacophony of crap by the left of the bar now stands an array of t-shirts. Beyond the main room, an inoperative jukebox, for we can't communally touch things anymore, and the same goes for the trio of pinball machines in the back. Ah, what noise they might make now!

One additional note on their COVID-19 response. On their table tent detailing rules, it is strongly stated that masks are to be worn at all times, except when eating or drinking. "That means even between sips and bites" they say. I have not seen anyone else even suggest such a thing, and I can't imagine anyone complying.

Elan Vital

On with the beer! For my first pick, I went with a big one, a Belgian Strong Golden Ale called Atlantean. I don't usually go with big ones right off the bat, but something moved me. I brought a crowler and the notes are below. Second up, a small pour of Shaky Hands, an Imperial Stout with espresso and vanilla beans. Yum a dum, dum. There was one I wish I could have brought home with me. Another time, perhaps. Finally, a pint of Elan Vital, a smooth hazy pale ale brewed with Cashmere and Ekuanot hops that hit all the right buttons. Citrusy and refreshing.

Well, I'm sold. My only problem is the pricing. $7 and $8 pints aren't for me. But I let that slide for the quality. They're making good beer out here, I just might not be going out of my way for it.

Okay, now with the final crowler from my purchase that evening.

Atlantean Belgian Strong Golden Ale.
9.99% ABV.
Falling Knife Brewing, Minneapolis, MN.

Clear, bold golden hue, slim white head.

In the nose: Soft, sweet, bubblegummy. A little floral, a little fruity. Some citrus, a lot of stone. Nice.

In the mouth: Sweetness, fruit and Belgian funkiness take over the palate from the start. It's a light-ish body, but not one to take for granted. Alcohol hangs high in this, and the Belgian yeast/malt sweetness doesn't go down a notch.

I enjoyed this, though it doesn't quite achieve any resemblance to an authentic Belgian ale. Reminds me of Harriet's much-missed Divine Oculust, not a bad comparison. I'd definitely have another, if offered one.

Belgian Golden Strong with peppery and fruity esters

Falling Knife L-Bombs DDH Hazy DIPA

Falling Knife L-Bombs DDH Hazy DIPA. With Denali, Mosaic and Sabro Hops.
8% ABV. Falling Knife Brewing, Minneapolis, MN.

Clouded (of course), bright golden, large and long-lasting ivory head on top. Looking good.

In the nose: It's a kaleidoscope of aromatics, each hop in the profile expressing something special. Starts off a citrus bomb, then along come berries, the lens shifts again and pineapple pops in. Glorious.

In the mouth: Crisp and lively. Juicy, and bitter, fruity and dank. Just a little bit sweet and creamy.
Alcohol reveals itself rather early in this. I don't mind that, it's fine if you know you're in for it.
Ends on a snappy dry not, until next you left glass to lip.

I know I rag on the hazy stuff a lot, but when they're good, they're good.


DDH Hazy DIPA dripping with tropical flavors from Denali, Citra cryo, Mosaic and Sabro hops

Falling Knife Frequency Waves Hazy IPA

I bought this on 6.30. Wrote these notes on 7/7 (I think). Held on to it for awhile, because I wasn't sure about posting about a bad beer. This happens once in a while. This is the only way that I've tried this beer, from this growler bought at the brewery, that in no way reflects how the beer is supposed to be. Who knows how this happened.

Falling Knife Frequency Waves Hazy IPA (part four of Minneapolis Breweries 2020).
6.7 % ABV.

Brewed with pilsner malt, spelt and wheat.

Thoroughly hazed, with an undeniably strange hue, a dull peach? Fuzzy amber? Smokey gold? I'm at a loss. Slim white head atop. (Looking at other peoples' entries on Untappd, I'm not seeing a similar color. Strange.)

In the nose: Small sweetness, slight fruit. some hops. Huh.

In the mouth: Starts off juicy, hoppy, smooth. Moderate dose of bitterness drops on the palate. Medium-bodied, easy-drinking. There's something weird and a little smokey in the flavor and texture.  Little bit of spice. Is it from the spelt? Not sure.

Bitterness grows, before fading, and citrusy hop flavors emerge.

I feel like I've got a different beer from others, somehow. Not sure why that is. Very bizarre. This is my least favorite Falling Knife so far, but I'm sure it's just a bump in the road, and my next one will be fine.

NE IPA with featuring Spelt grain and a generous dose of El Dorado, Simcoe and Taiheke hops

Falling Knife Hidden Temple Hazy IPA

Falling Knife Hidden Temple Hazy IPA. Azacca and El Dorado NE IPA.
7.3 % ABV. Falling Knife Brewing, Minneapolis, MN.

Super hazy, bright-ish orange, large ivory head.

In the nose: Citrus notes, following by traces of tropical.

In the mouth: Starts off slightly bitter, all come grapefruit, orange, lemon, and their pals, ending with tropical touches, the sweeter stuff. Medium bodied, with a whole lotta haze. Yeast aplenty. Pineapple begins to take control, splash of guava on the side. Moderate bitterness. Just a little bit juicy.

Quite an enjoyable version of this style.

Falling Knife Key Club Key Lime Kolsch

Falling Knife Key Club Key Lime Kolsch.
5.3 % ABV. Falling Knife Brewing, Minneapolis, MN.

Clear, bright yellow, slim white head.

In the nose: bold, assertive lime notes overcome anything else that would be apparent in an everyday kolsch. (Which, otherwise, would be playing it nice and delicate, anyway.)

In the mouth: Little bit of malt deliciousness at first, little to no hop bitterness, and then that splash of lime. Not as obtrusive on the palate as in the nose. Slight sweetness, just enough of the fruit and the citrus, and tart as you want. Slightly salty. Light bodied, smooth drinking, and absolutely smothered in lime.

I'm a critical type, and I draw the line here and there. I'm also protective of certain styles. Kolsch is one of them. This one is much limier than I like. There really shouldn't be hardly any lime in it.
All in all, I'd just rather kolsches be kolsches.
Aside from that, this is a nice beer. Good limey kolsch and you can drink it.

Refreshing Kolsch-Style Beer With A Hint of Lime.

Falling Knife Supermood Fruited Sour Ale

Falling Knife Supermood Fruited Sour Ale.
5.5 % ABV. Falling Knife Brewing, Minneapolis, MN.

And here we have the second Falling Knife crowler that I picked up at Hum's last week. I'll be busting out of quarantine for more beer shopping tomorrow, and am wondering whether I should look for more of these, or call them and order delivery. One thing I know for sure is that when all this is over, I am overdue for a visit to their taproom. Hell, everyone's taproom. The past month has felt like forever.

Lightly hazed, bright golden/orange hue, slim, white, soon-gone head.

In the nose: Tartness begins it, and then it comes the fruit. Peach, mango, guava, maybe? Apricot?

In the mouth: Intense sourness right off the bat, with a delectable blend of fruit washing in from behind. Juicy stuff. Medium bodied, long sour/fruity finish. Refreshing. Big citrus and tropical fruit flavors. I like it. Keep 'em coming.

Refreshingly Tart Sour with Peach, Mango and Blood Orange

Falling Knife Verbal Tip NE IPA

Falling Knife Verbal Tip NE IPA.
Citra & Mosaic, 7.3 % ABV.
Falling Knife Brewing, Minneapolis, MN.

And now we have my first review of one of the newer breweries in Minneapolis, Falling Knife of NorthEast, occupying the former site of NorthGate, having opened to great acclaim late last fall.
I have not been there yet for several reasons. I had not contacted friends with cars to bring me out there, and I did not wish to travel there solo during the winter because it is too far to walk in the cold from the nearest bus stop. I've been to the location on bike in the past, though, but it only became bike weather recently, during this time of COVID-19 quarantine, when one may not stay and enjoy one's time at a taproom, only take beers to go.

And you know what happened? They, like many breweries, began a delivery service, so that one needn't leave one's house to receive their beers. But, you know what else happened? Before I got around to doing any ordering, they started selling their crowlers to liquor stores. One of those is not far from me, and a store I haven't visited in at least 20 years, and boy does it look nice. Better than it did in the 90's, ( when I shopped there frequently) that's for sure. And because shopping for beer is an "essential trip", I hopped on a #6, walked from Hennepin and Franklin to 22th & Lyndale, mere blocks from where I lived in my twenties, bought some Falling Knife beers at Hum's Liquor, (among others, of course) and took a #4 back home to drink them.

So, here is the first crowler I will review from Minneapolis' first brewery named for and themed after digital dismemberment:

Thoroughly hazed, bright golden hued, large and lasting ivory head. Looking great.

In the nose: Lazily citrusy, lightly floral, slowly and surely opening up and spreading it's Citra and Mosaic wings, getting lovelier by the minute.

In the mouth: We're getting the juice, the haze and the hops altogether here. Nicely bitter, joyfully spicy, and flush with citrusy goodness. Light bodied, smooth, easy finish. Medium bitterness, fully flavored, expertly drinkable. I like this one.

But, if you're any follower of this blogging activity of mine, you may know that the "hazy" style of IPA is not my favorite style. I'm eagerly anticipating trying some of their other India Pale Ales that may not be of the hazy variety.