Thursday, November 7, 2013

Minnesota, Land of Ten Thousand Beers... Or is it 4?

I was reading an article on Vita.mn that had "Beer Experts" pick a MN 6 pack of fame. I have a bone to pick with these "Beer Experts."
 
Every week there seems to be another list like this. The silly part is that they are all the same! Sometimes I wonder if these "experts" are going to the same bars and beer stores in MN that I am.
 
MN has so many great craft breweries and beers. We have such an awesome diversity of beers. MN as a state is at the forefront of the craft beer movement, but yet these types of lists never change.
 
We have a Surly beer, check! We have a Summit beer, check! We have a Schells beer, check! Throw on Grainbelt for the hipsters, Check! And throw on maybe one lesser known MN beer to make it seem like we have cred, Check!
 
I LOVE beer! Heck, even more I LOVE MN beer! I drink a fair amount of it weekly.... let's just call it blog research...He-he!... But I haven't had a Surly or Summit in a long time. I tried Schell's Star of the North and Goose Town, but other than that haven't had Schell's in forever.
 
Grainbelt? Uhhh.... couldn't tell you the last time I had one of those... Probably a night when I had already had a few good beers at a friends house and maybe accidentally grabbed the wrong bottle out of the fridge or something.
 
I do want to be clear, I am not trying to bash any of the breweries, or their beers, on these types of lists. More what I am doing is questioning why these "Beer Experts" can't get off a kick that started many years ago, and for most of us ended years ago too. 
 
Surly and Summit are not the only game in town anymore. They haven't been for a while now. By only making readers aware (again and again and again and again) of these few beers the "Beer Experts" are selling our craft beer scene short. It takes something that is really awesome about our area and makes it seem so small, dull, and old.
 
So, I am going to make a pledge. This weekend I am going to drink nothing but MN beers. I am going to open my eyes to some new MN beers and I am NOT going to drink a Surly, a Summit, a Schell's, or a Grainbelt... although I wasn't going to be hitting up that last one anyways.... All I want to know is, who's coming with me, man?
 
 
(Here is the article if you want to take a look:  http://www.vita.mn/best-of/230914481.html)