Beer Snob

​Rare Beer Picnic

July 14th, 2016

By Heather Schuer

Hello, beer lovers! Saturday, July 16th, will be the 2nd annual Rare Beer Picnic hosted by Junkyard Brewing Company and Usher’s House. The picnic’s theme is “Aged, Infused, and Sours.” Breweries from Minnesota and North Dakota will be participating, and food will be served from Usher’s House. There will also be yard games and live music from musician Dustin Ellingson, part of the group Cropdusters.

Michelle Juhnke, part of Junkyard Brewing, shared her…

Read more...


​Mead I say more

July 6th, 2016

For fans of the epic series Game of Thrones, you might say it played a huge part in the resurgence and newfound popularity of mead. Even though the beverage itself hasn’t made an appearance on the show, the popularity of both are on the same trajectory, and it is curious that it hasn’t made an appearance. It would be the most likely beverage to have been quaffed in those ancient times.

It is a performance centuries in the making and it is now taking center stage: call it the Hamilton…

Read more...


​Aegir is a most gracious host

June 29th, 2016

By Steve Listopad

Aegir was a giant in Norse mythology who lived under the ocean in a great hall filled with gold and welcomed his guests with open arms.

In honor of the gentle drowned giant who threw elaborate parties for the gods, Aegir Bryggeri (Brewery) at Flåmsbrygga offers travelers 20 of Norway’s finest brews, delicious food, and lodging when they cross the waters of the Sognefjord and reach shore in Flåm. The brewery was named Norway’s "Brewpub of the Year" three years in a…

Read more...


​Insular: the Upper Peninsula

June 15th, 2016

It is completely different than anywhere else in the U.S.

Ripe with hills and rolling forests, the region borders both Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. There are more miles of snowmobile trails than actual roads in this old mining country. It’s a different style of life and leisure in Upper Michigan, almost like living on an island.

Blackrocks Brewery in Marquette brews Coconut Brown here. And the last place coconuts belong is on the shores of Lake Superior where the average snowfall…

Read more...


​Greater than the sum of their parts

June 8th, 2016

By Ben Rodgers

There is nothing quite like great teamwork. People who work together always accomplish more than a person who works alone.

This time of the year the folks at Sierra Nevada are big into teamwork, the end result of which involves six beers from 31 breweries as part of the 2016 Beer Camp Across America.

Available in 12 packs of bottles, each case of Beer Camp contains six distinct beers, one from each region of the country, made in collaboration with a number of breweries…

Read more...


​Cherry stout and Old Blue Eyes

June 1st, 2016

By Ben Rodgers

ben.rodgers22@gmail.com

Every once in awhile something comes along that makes you drop everything. For most people it’s usually a life-altering event, a job offer, a birth or death in the family, marriage proposal, etc. For me it’s a beer release.

Central Waters Brewing Company Bourbon Barrel Cherry Stout came out in Wisconsin this past week, if you were lucky enough to snag it.

Usually only available at finer bottle shops and in extremely limited quantity, this malted…

Read more...


Simply mellow

May 25th, 2016

By Ben Rodgers

Dorothy’s New World Lager is the flagship brew of the Toppling Goliath Brewing Company, based in Decorah, Iowa. It’s a small town with fewer than 9,000 people calling it home, which is why Toppling Goliath is considered one of this northeast Iowa town’s main attractions.

The other being Luther College, the site of a 1998 Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds live album.

But Matthews doesn’t seem right for this lager, which has been compared to Yuengling. No, an easy…

Read more...


​Local Flavor

May 19th, 2016

American Craft Beer Week is upon us. All week there have been events: new beer releases, infusions of your local favorites and so much more. This is a week to celebrate big, little, new and old breweries around the country, by supporting craft breweries and sharing a pint of your local favorite beer and your all-time favorites with fellow beer connoisseurs.

In 2006 the Brewers Association decided to make American Beer Month into a weeklong event. One week’s worth of national…

Read more...


Worth savoring

May 18th, 2016

By Ben Rodgers

Every bottle from New Glarus is a something special and uniquely Wisconsin.

Maybe you’ve been lucky enough to have enjoyed their flagship, a Spotted Cow. But they also offer a wide variety of everything else from barley wines to brew only available on site.

Apple Ale seems to be somewhere in between. It’s part of the Thumbprint series and is only available in four-packs. This brown ale is made from apples fresh from Door County and is a little harder to find than…

Read more...


​Old Tankard Ale: A Step Back In Time

May 11th, 2016

By Ben Rodgers

Brewed from a 1937 recipe, American-style Old Tankard is a complete opposite of the red, white and blue flagship.

Back in its heyday, Old Tankard was the second-best selling beer from Pabst for about three decades. Although it’s hard to turn down the classic Blue Ribbon, Old Tankard offers a vintage taste that should be more refined than the flagship.

Just a few hours south of the old Pabst brewery in Milwaukee is Chicago, a blues town through and through. One of the…

Read more...


Tracker Pixel for Entry StCloud Tracker Pixel for Entry Blackbird Tracker Pixel for Entry EmpireAUG2021 Tracker Pixel for Entry Marigold Tracker Pixel for Entry MidwestRoadTripAdventures Tracker Pixel for Entry Hjemkomst

Recently in:

Alicia Underlee Nelsonalicia@hpr1.com A midnight wedding ceremony at the Clay County Courthouse in Moorhead on August 1, 2013 was more than a romantic gesture. Eighteen couples made history on that day by exchanging vows in the…

By Michael M. Millermichael.miller@ndsu.edu On March 11, 2024, we celebrated the 121st birthday of bandleader Lawrence Welk. He was born March 11, 1903 in a sod house near Strasburg, North Dakota, and died on May 17,1992. The…

Saturday, May 117 p.m., gates at 5 p.m.Outdoors at Fargo Brewing Company610 University Dr. N, FargoWisconsin’s finest export, The Violent Femmes, started out in Milwaukee in 1981 as an acoustic punk band, and they’ve been…

Is this a repeating pattern?By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comThere’s a quote circulating around the world wide web, misattributed to Sinclair Lewis: "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a…

by Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comAccording to my great-grandfather many years ago, my French ancestors migrated from Normandy to Quebec to Manitoba to Wisconsin to Minnesota over the spread of more than two centuries, finally…

By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.com Holiday wine shopping shouldn’t have to be complicated. But unfortunately it can cause unneeded anxiety due to an overabundance of choices. Don’t fret my friends, we once again have you covered…

By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.com In this land of hotdish and ham, the knoephla soup of German-Russian heritage seems to reign supreme. In my opinion though, the French have the superior soup. With a cheesy top layer, toasted baguette…

By John Showalterjohn.d.showalter@gmail.com It is not unheard of for bands to go on hiatus. However, as the old saying goes, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” That is why when a local group like STILL comes back to…

Now playing at the Fargo Theatre.By Greg Carlson gregcarlson1@gmail.comPalme d’Or recipient “Anatomy of a Fall” is now enjoying an award-season victory tour, recently picking up Golden Globe wins for both screenplay and…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com There’s no exaggeration when we say that this year’s Plains Art Gala is going to be out of this world, with a sci-fi theme inspired by a painting housed in the Plains Art Museum’s permanent…

By John Showalterjohn.d.showalter@gmail.comHigh Plains Reader had the opportunity to interview two mysterious new game show hosts named Milt and Bradley Barker about an upcoming event they will be putting on at Brewhalla. What…

By Annie Prafckeannieprafcke@gmail.com AUSTIN, Texas – As a Chinese-American, connecting to my culture through food is essential, and no dish brings me back to my mother’s kitchen quite like hotdish. Yes, you heard me right –…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comNew Jamestown Brewery Serves up Local FlavorThere’s something delicious brewing out here on the prairie and it just so happens to be the newest brewery west of the Red River and east of the…

By John Showalter  john.d.showalter@gmail.comThey sell fentanyl test strips and kits to harm-reduction organizations and…

JANUARY 19, 1967– MARCH 8, 2023 Brittney Leigh Goodman, 56, of Fargo, N.D., passed away unexpectedly at her home on March 8, 2023. Brittney was born January 19, 1967, to Ruth Wilson Pollock and Donald Ray Goodman, in Hardinsburg,…

Dismissing the value of small towns for the future of our nation is a mistakeBy Bill Oberlanderarcandburn@gmail.comAccording to U.S. Census projections, by the middle of this century, roughly 90% of the total population will live…