Friday Beer Blogging: Great Waters Edition

Two weekends ago, I found myself stuck in St. Paul, Minnesota for a wedding my wife was in. And no, she didn't wise-up and marry someone else; she was doing a reading in her godson's wedding.

So there I was, in St. Paul with not much to do. A couple of days before, and before I was in town, Mrs. TEH attended the rehearsal dinner which was held at a local pub and microbrewery called Great Waters Brewing Company.

She had a great time and told me about the place. Well, it turned out the GWBC was just two blocks from our hotel. So about noon, before the evening wedding, we decided to go over to GWBC, have some lunch, and sample the local brews.

Like many microbreweries, GWBC offers a beer sampler. I ordered one and this is what I got.

They had nine brews on tap that day and I soon had four ounces of each. They brew up to twelve varieties (I think) but only nine were available that day. Each beer sat on a numbered circle on the serving mat and I was provided a descriptive list of what each beer was by number.

I soon was able to pick a few favorites including the Cywren Saison which is described as:

A Belgian farmhouse style ale. Mediterranean spice and a pleasant pungent aroma present in this saison ale. We used dandelion honey, coriander, and sweet orange peel for a unique flavor and aroma. Very complex, dry and refreshing. Don't let its drinkability fool you, though. At 6.8 ABV This beer can sneak up on you.

Tastes great and a great buzz.

Perhaps the best though was the Mr. Smooth Dark Mild. Yum.

Made in the style of century old dark mild’s, with wheat, oats, and barley. Gently hopped with East Kent Goldings. Sturdy blue collar session beer for refreshment after a hard day in the mill.

Man, that stuff was good.

GWBC doesn't sell bottled beer but you can take home "growlers" of their tap beer. Basically, they fill half-gallon jugs from the tap and seal it up. You have to drink your growler beer soon because it won't keep more than a week. The GWBC growlers look like this (when placed on my back deck):

Unfortunately, because the Mr. Smooth Dark Mild is kept at a higher temperature, you can't get it to go, I was told, because it won't keep at all. Too bad. But I did manage to get out of there with a couple of growlers of the Cywren Saison along with two other varieties, all of which have been consumed by now. Sorry.

Have a great weekend! And you've now been told what you need to do if you have a few minutes to spare in St. Paul, MN.