Bauhaus Brew Labs – Lil’ Ben (3.4% ABV)

Proof that winter, even in Minneapolis, can be mild. Lil’ Ben is an English-style mild ale, a traditional and lower alcohol style that delivers roasty malt in a balanced package. Lil’ Ben is just 3.4% ABV and pours a deep mahogany brown in color. With toast and chocolate on the nose, the beer itself follows that impression, adding light chocolate and slight bitterness to a wave of smooth, soft malty bread-like flavors. The beer delivers a lot of flavor in a small package, with tempered sweetness delicately balanced by traditional hops.

Lil’ Ben is sold in the Freezebox mixed pack at liquor stores and is on draft at Bauhaus’ vibrant beer hall in Northeast Minneapolis, along with a selection of American craft, German-inspired recipes, including the non-alcoholic Nah line of beers.

Utepils Brewing Co. – Smokey The Beer (6.1% ABV)

A lightly smoked lager, this light body, 6.1% ABV beer adds a new element to a familiar style. The core lager pours amber in color and highly carbonated, with a sweet, malty base befitting of the season. The addition of smoke gives new depth and soul. Where many malt-forward lagers end on a sweet note, Smokey wisps away at the end, smooth and clean. This is a light smoke element, where the smoke compliments instead of overpowering, leaving drinkers with something simple enough to enjoy at a backyard campfire, but flavorful enough to pair with heavy winter food as well.

It is sold in the Winter Weekender mixed pack at liquor stores and is on draft at the brewery in the Fernweh neighborhood, located near Theodore Wirth Park. Further cementing the winter spirit, Utepils has a partnership with The Loppet Foundation, and they are the official beer sponsor of the 2023 Loppet Winter Festival.

Fair State Brewing Cooperative – Mister Falcon (7.3% ABV)

Winter beers don’t need to be dark. Mister Falcon is a hazy IPA collaboration with Barrel Theory (located in Saint Paul), showcasing three different hop varieties, and brewed with malted oats to give a thick and satisfying heavy, yet fizzy, body. It’s a very aromatic beer that gives off orange juice, melon, tropical fruit and citrus tones. The beer itself is big and flavorful, at 7.3% ABV. Initial flavors include pineapple and tropical fruit, developing into a dank finish with a hint of bitterness. While there is a big dose of the tropics, it’s a fitting winter beer with classic citrus and pine undertones that set the mood.

Fair State is one of few cooperative breweries in the country. Their Northeast taproom offers a local, neighborhood atmosphere with a wide variety of beers available, including lagers, sour ales, IPAs, and stouts. Many restaurants are located near their Central Ave NE base of operations.

Pryes Brewing Co. – Tellement (11.5% ABV)

Mixed culture sours are a labor of love for brewers, often with wine-like, complex flavors that aren’t common in other beer styles. The Idyll Forest program at Pryes specializes in this style, with Tellement described as a “Pinot Noir Wine Hybrid Wild Ale.” This unique recipe pours bright red with a color tone between cranberry and cherry. The bouquet offers notes of cherry, raspberry, and sweet McIntosh apple, plus an earthy, leather element. The flavor is equally complex and sometimes contradictory. First, it hits with tart cherry that grows sweeter toward hibiscus. As it finishes, the previous flavors merge with light citrus and tobacco with a little bit of funk. It goes from tart to slightly sweet to sour, all connected with an earthy musk that maintains that, while wine-like, this is, indeed, a beer.

Supply of Tellement (and all Idyll Forest beers) is limited, with bottles available for purchase at the brewery. Pryes is located along the Mississippi River near downtown and features an in-house pizza kitchen and a feather bowling lane.

The Freehouse – Infinity (10.9%)

Jet black in color and a big 10.9% ABV, Infinity is as dark and bold as the season we’re celebrating. A bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout, it begins boozy and strong, with prominent bourbon notes, a roasty stout base, dark fruit character, and sweet caramel notes. Like most high ABV beers, it mellows as it warms, revealing more chocolate and sweeter flavors to compliment the underlying raisin, date, plum, cherry and subtle oak. Then it finishes with a big, sweet vanilla kiss of bourbon. More silky, chocolatey goodness shines through the more the beer sits and warms. It’s a complex, big beer that showcases the best traits of the style without relying too heavily on any single note. 750-milliliter bottles are available for purchase at the North Loop brewpub.

Operated by Blue Plate Restaurant Company, The Freehouse is a brewpub in central Minneapolis with historic character inside and a winterized patio outside. The have a full in-house kitchen, and many of their beers are available on draft at other Blue Plate-owned establishments, such as Longfellow Grill and The Lowry.

Keep building your flight of winter beer...

With all the styles of beer to try, the winter is no time to hibernate. Additional beers that are perfect for the season include Snownami at Northbound Smokehouse, Town Hall’s Black H20 and Hope & King, Loretta’s at Indeed Brewing, Dangerous Man’s Chocolate Milk Stout and Peanut Butter Porter, Ritual Night at Modist, Pryes’ Peace Offering, Dark Mexican Lager at Venn, or Lakes & Legends’ Drunk Gnome.