MA #4: NORDEAST!

What: Grain Belt Nordeast Release

Where: Whitey’s World Famous Saloon

When: 7pm Wednesday April 7th

Alas, spring has sprung. The snow has melted. Grass is growing. Stupid Canadian geese are stupidly migrating their stupid way back to the stupid north.

As the Earth begins it annual renewal, so too does a local brewery bring about its own renewal in the form of August Schell Brewing Company’s newest addition to the Grain Belt line, Nordeast. Giving a nod to the predominantly Polish neighborhood that gave birth to the Grain Belt family, Nordeast will be released on Wednesday the 7th, only in NE Minneapolis. You’ll find it at Surdyk’s liquor store and at NE bars and restaurants on the 7th. Wider distribution begins on the 8th.

Grain Belt has been a household name in Minnesota for quite some time. Their history and presence in Minnesota deserves more than I have time to give in this post, but I’ll cover some of the essentials for you. The Minneapolis Brewing Company first created the signature brand in 1893, referring to milling prowess of the Midwest in its name. The current Grain Belt logo featuring a red diamond overlaying a bottle cap premiered in 1938, with the gaining popularity of bottling beers. Not long after, the famous Grain Belt neon sign was erected on Nicollet Island.

Following prohibition and World War II, consumer tastes led the great shift of beer production to the macro-lagers that dominate the market today. In response to demands for a smoother, less intense lager, Grain Belt Premium was released in 1947. Minneapolis Brewing Co became Grain Belt Breweries in 1967, after acquiring several other regional brands of beer. At it’s peak, Grain Belt Breweries was the 18th largest brewer in the United States.

Then came the era of the moving brand. By 1975, the popularity of national brands forced Grain Belt to sell, and by ’76 the new owner closed the brewery’s doors. Brewing of the Grain Belt label moved to G Heileman Brewing Company, and took a back seat to its signature line, Old Style. Heileman fell on hard times in the ’80s and sold the brand to the Minnesota Brewing Company. Premium’s popularity found a resurgence, but that didn’t keep MBC from going bankrupt. Brewing finally moved to its current home of August Schell Brewing Co in 2002.

If we forgive Premium light, Nordeast will be the first new beer with the Grain Belt name in over 50 years. It’s promoted as an “American amber lager,” whatever that means. Presumably, it will have a darker malt bill, leading to a heavier body, and–gasp–a note of hops. If you’ve ever had a Premo, the mention of hops flavor you’ve made is to the lack thereof. And because it is a beer, it will also feature “smooth taste with an excellent drinkability,” because that is an incredibly specific, yet rare quality in the beer world</sarcasm>.

Since we’re all just a bunch of conformists, it might as well be time for Minneapoholics to renew our efforts as well, to bring friends together over good food and drink. To do so, the forth (of hopefully many) Minnepoholics Anonymous support group will be held at Whitey’s World Famous Saloon, at 7:00 pm, Wednesday, April 7th.

Stub and Herb’s: A Preview

Did I call Nye’s a staple fo the Minneapolis drinking scene? By comparison, then, Sturbs would be the stapler–nay–the alligator clip of the U of M drinking scene.

(Note: The Library is probably more representative of the campus drinking scene, but you have to worry about catching douchebagitis while drinking your .25¢ miller lites and eating your $2.50 cheeseburgers. Symptoms of douchbagitis include primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of popped collars)

Shrouded in the odd shaped shadows of the McNamara Alumni Center, surrounded by the masses of mediocre chain restaurants, at the heart of stadium village lies Stub and Herb’s, a pacemaker, keeping the neighborhood from flatlining. Underneath its ho-hum brick exterior you’ll find one of the best beer bars in the city, challenged by only a few in the state. Sturb’s excels at every characteristic that makes a bar worthwhile. Let’s break them down one by one:

Nye’s Polonaise Room: Preview

In writing this, I am venturing down an uncharted trail. My plan is that for every bar this group visits, we learn a bit of history–the stories, the myths, the legends which make each a venue worth visiting. Since this is the first article of its kind, it will be an experiment of sorts.

We start our alcoholic and gastronomic journey with an understated bar, a throwback bar, the bar your grandparents probably drank at, and–assuming it remains in business for another 50 years–the bar you grandchildren will drink at. We start our journey at a quintessential Minneapolis bar, Nye’s Polonaise Room.

What makes Nye’s so endearing?

When in the Course of Human Events,

… it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the alcoholic bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of satiety, the separate and equal station to which the Imbibing of Alcohol and of Food’s Consumption entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of fellow imbibers requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.