There’s a new German in town
(Movie narrator voiceover) … In a world of hazy IPA’s comes a new force of freedom to destroy the myths of what craft beer has become in the dawn of the new era of beer drinking people….or something.
But really, what the hell happened to beer? Remember traditional styles of beer before you had to google what barrel aged OMG milkshake meant? Well fear not, because tradition is back!
Arbeiter Brewing Company is the newest brewery in South Minneapolis to emerge after years of obstacles, a worldwide pandemic and the civil unrest in Minneapolis which happened literally right next door to the brewery itself.
Northern Brewer veterans Juno Choi, Garth Blomberg, and Josh Voeltz along with Town Hall Brewery brewer Aaron Herman have finally opened the doors to their brewery and the beers are flying off the taps.
Ok Well the brewery actually opened up in early January but being still in a lockdown mindset, I didn’t actually stop over there until last week to check the place out .…but I did buy crowlers of their beers on the first day of availability in December over at Elevated Beer Wine & Spirits and at Stinson Wine, Beer & Spirits.
So opening up a German style brewery in 2021, what were they thinking? They were thinking exactly what we needed actually. It may come as a shock to you but the number of people looking for traditional style of beer far out numbers the amount of people looking for barrel aged lactose milkshake whatever’s…its true.
Sure people’s tastes are changing, but there will still always be a desire for the originals. Don’t worry though because Arbeiter Brewery is a fan of IPA’s and other craft classics.
So what can I say about the brewery? It’s great!
The brewery is located in the former Harriet Brewery space and the Arbeiter crew have transformed it into a slick, wide open taproom with fresh air flowing in from the garage doors on both sides and even have arranged an upper deck seating area! If that’s not enough for you, there is even an outdoor patio for the ever changing Minnesota weather.
So what’s the beer like? They’re great!
I like to think of myself as a German beer “seasoned veteran”…notice I didn’t say expert haha. Back in my early beer drinking days I started out only drinking European beer, mainly cuz I’m a snob….zing but with that and the 8-9…10? times of going to Germany, that has given me an experience of what the beers are like there and believe me, they are not all the same!
Each region is famous for their styles and even the pilsners have contrasting flavors throughout the country.
Arbeiter’s “Haha Pils” is very close to a Northern Germany Hamburg style beer in the vein of Hansa or do I even dare say Krombacher?
The flagship “Arbeiter Bier” is pretty much perfection in a can…or glass or however you get it. For some reason untappd lists it as a Kölsch style beer but at the brewery they classify it as a German Blonde Ale which I was blown away to find out because I’m not normally a fan of blonde beer (for some reason) but this version of…..whatever it is, is great!
Other beers I tried was the Hefeweizen and I can truly say this is a beer that the hazy and traditional fans will enjoy together. It has just enough haze, just enough wheat, just enough clove and just enough banana to make it go down smooth.
The collaboration beer “Crispi IPA” that they have done with Schell’s is another home run. If there is anyway this could be a regular beer in the lineup, Id buy a 12 pack of it and I don’t like drinking that much of the same thing in a row. This beer reminds me of another Norther German classic, Jever. It has just enough bite to make you take another sip without killing your pallet and still wanting more.
Most German’s would say Jever is “very hoppy” but if you are a craft beer drinker you would think its more bitter than hoppy…or at least I think that anyways haha.
Up next is “Nacht Rider”, yes even a beer David Hasselhoff would approve of. I’m always afraid of drinking Schwarzbiers for some reason but after I have one, I say to myself “why don’t I drink more of these?” This dark lager is easily drinkable in the summer, even with the scorching temps we have had for the last month. It has just enough malt and roasted balance to it where it would not dry out your pallet.
So should you visit the brewery? Well of course you should. Right now you can get crowlers of various Arbeiter beers in select liquor stores around the Twin Cities or you can just stop by the brewery itself and get a wider selection of what they have on tap.
Arbeiter Brewing Company is located at 3038 Minnehaha Avenue in Minneapolis’ Longfellow Neighborhood.
P.S. Thanks to Liz and Garth for the samples and conversation!
