The first weekend in March was another great weekend of exploring new places and having new adventures. Friday night after I arrived in St. Cloud we decided to go out for dinner and explore another brewery. Pantown Brewing Company in St. Cloud was the next brewery on the list and Friday night was a good time to try it out. The brewery is named after the automobile manufacturer that almost was. The history of the Pan Motor Company is pretty cool and is worth looking up if you’re into Minnesota history. The brewery was located off the beaten path and had an industrial feel. There was plenty of room to sit and take in the local vibe. They have a large selection of beer and we decided to try a flight of different flavors. We went with a fruit beer, Belgian Dubbel, and a couple of different stouts. The strawberry banana fruit beer was delicious with a flavor that left you thinking of summer. The Belgian Dubbel was a good middle of the road beer that was drinkable and enjoyable. We picked two different stouts with completely different flavors. The first was a cinnamon bun milk stout and the other was a chocolate peanut butter stout. The cinnamon bun flavored one was just like a cinnamon roll in a glass and the other stout was a very sweet peanut butter stout with an extremely rich flavor. After we finished the flight we decided to have a pint and take in the atmosphere. Heidi had the cinnamon bun stout and I had the peanut butter stout before heading home for the night.
Saturday was supposed to be a laid back trip to the cities for dinner with a few of Heidi’s friends. Mother nature had different plans but we still had a good time. We figured we would hit a few breweries on the way to the cities and the first stop was The Nordic Brewing Company in Monticello. At this point we have been to a few breweries and this one was different then most of the ones we have tried so far. The interior was a mix of hunting lodge game room and English sitting room. They also had a full bar and offered food unlike most breweries. We decided to go with a flight that included a key lime flavored sour, imperial stout, honey nut flavored beer and a middle of the road beer. The key lime sour was definitely sour but you could taste the key lime in it. The stout was a great example of a stout with rich flavors. The honey nut was earthy and the last beer had a nice hoppy flavor at its finish. Because we had other stops planned we headed to the next brewery after finishing our flight.
Next was Rustech Brewing that was also located in Monticello. From the moment we walked in we knew that this place was the place to be in Monticello. The taproom was average size but it was packed with people having a good time. The decor matched the name. Rustic but the use of technology was being used everywhere. When we got to the counter the bartender was more than excited to help us pick out beers for our flight. We went with an imperial stout, caramel coffee cream ale, raspberries and habanero wheat beer, and a raspberry & lemon sour. After ordering our flight we squeezed into a standing counter spot for a bit but ended up moving to a table that opened up. At that point we found out what all the excitement was about. Most of the brewery goers were playing a music trivia game that was linked to an app on their phones. The question and standings were displayed on the big TVs in the brewery. We didn’t play but Heidi would have kicked butt with her knowledge of music. We figure we will make plans to head down and play sometime soon. When it came to the beers we were pleasantly surprised. The sour was sour but had a really nice raspberry flavor. The stout was full bodied and very tasty. The winners of the flight were the raspberry and habanero wheat and the caramel coffee cream ale. The raspberry habanero flavored beer was sweet at first and ended with the spice of habanero. Great combination and a very unique flavor. The caramel coffee cream ale was more like a dessert than a beer. It was full of flavor and the caramel and coffee notes really came out. We enjoyed them so much we would have sat for a pint of each but we decided to get a couple crowlers to take with us.
From there we drove to Big lake and Lupulin Brewing. The brewery was large and had a backwoods feel. They do use interesting art for their logos and labels. Lots of skulls and tribal style artwork adorn their posters and labels. We went with a flight of 6 beers and we tried to pick beers that were different then in style and taste. We went with 2 different types of sour beer, a stout, a porter, a Scottish pub ale, and Belgian blonde. All the beers were good and the flavors matched their descriptions very well. Our experience at this brewery was different not because of anything at the brewery but what the weather was doing outside the window. As we tasted the beers in our flight we started to notice that the rain had turned into a freezing rain in the consistency of a Slurpee. After a few communications with Heidi’s friends in the cities and checking on road conditions we decided to head back to St. Cloud instead of continuing to the cities. The normal 30 minute drive from Big Lake to St. Cloud turned to an hour and a half of white knuckle driving for Heidi. Heidi took it slow and easy and we made it home with no issues. Even though things didn’t go as planned we still had an incredible weekend.
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