Krista Cuallar

It isn't often that my jaw literally drops, but it did when I glanced at the handsomely presented beer menu above the bar at Tilia a couple weeks ago. As a resident, I've often grumbled about Southwest Minneapolis's lack of a good beer bar (or at least a restaurant with some warm corner lighting, a handful of stools, a giant hunk of wood that begs to be cozied up to—oh yeah, and great beer). Thanks to this welcome new addition to Linden Hills, the grumbling has been replaced by a grin.

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In a move that may ruffle some feathers, Stub & Herb's has announced that they are choosing to abandon many of their popular out-of-state beers, and instead shift to a hardcore focus on local brews. News broke from the horse's mouth on the message boards over at beeradvocate.com:

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For all the exciting news recently on the Minnesota beer front, there's arguably just as many cool things going down in the land of cheese to our east. While the state's beer history is impressive (and includes a little company you may have heard of called Miller), the real action is what's being brewed in the nooks and crannies.

Here are three under-the-radar, just-over-the-border breweries that, if you haven't tried already, you should. (And for those of you already screaming "But what about New Glarus? Lakefront? O'so?": The breweries I've chosen are ones readily available in our fair cities.)

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Bend, Oregon's Deschutes Brewery has slowly been making its way east, and this week its beers finally arrived in the Twin Cities--its first Midwest market (take that, Chicago). And when the brewery arrived, it arrived: Not only did it bring a crew of brewers, publicists, and other Deschutes evangelists, it brought Woody, their giant faux beer barrel on wheels, complete with disco ball (believe it or not, it's not as cheesy as it sounds).

Deschutes Marketing Manager Jason Randles has been enjoying his trip so far, noting the similarities between Portland and Minneapolis, especially when it comes to their similar beer and bike culture. "Minneapolis is a little more punk rock, though. But maybe that's just because I went to the Triple Rock."

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Michelle Gayer of the Salty Tart knows how to make a mean cupcake. Thanks to a little help from Twin Cities' own Surly Brewing Company, she knows how to make a Furious one, too.

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We all know that beer labels are important: Without 'em, it would be hard to know what we're drinking or where it came from—let alone ABV, freshness dates, or, if we live in Michigan, how much money we should expect to get back for returning the bottle. (Answer: Two-fifths of a game of Ms. Pac-Man.)

But what does a label really say about a beer? Pretty much everything, according to Minneapolis graphic designer and business strategist Doug Powell, who curates the design and entrepreneurship blog Merge.

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Photo by 3Neus

Draft Magazine recently named the 150 Best Beer Bars in America, and three from Minnesota made the cut: Two in St. Paul and one in Minneapolis. Any Minnesota beer fans worth their malt should be able to name the two east of the Mississippi (hint: they're named after an unkempt farm animal and a gleeful dwarf). But surprisingly, only one bar in all of Minneapolis made the cut: The Blue Nile.

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