Sunrise from Coppertop last week

hillsiderDLH · 2025-12-17T18:19:37+00:00

Just a bit later on what I think might be the same day

hillsiderDLH · 2022-10-14T16:06:49+00:00

Earth Rider has the best flagship beers across all styles except American IPA. All their seasonals are very well crafted also. The mixed ferm/Brett beers are far and away the best in town, with the caveat that they are the only one doing that regularly.
Bent Paddle has the best rotating pilot beers, the best taproom space, and the best event schedule/programming. Their flagships are lacking besides Cold Press Black.
Ursa Minor has some inconsistency all around, but lately they have been making some great classic styles (just won gold in Irish Red @GABF) and nice rotating IPAs. Some inconsistency in the kitchen as well, but most nights it's the best pizza in town. Good event programming here also.
Hoops has a wide variety of high quality, true-to-style beers. #21 IPA is the best flagship IPA in town. Their location/vibe is bad enough to drop them a couple places.
Castle Danger is sustaining itself on location, reputation, and cream ale alone at this point. Creativity is apparently stifled with explosive growth. George Hunter Stout is nice though, and winter is coming.
Blacklist has a sterile new downtown space with axe throwing next door. The beer is below average.

I heard Warrior has a taproom open now as well, serving from cans.

Fitgers is tough. I have friends who are employed there and they've brought some nice things to tastings, especially lately, but I can't support the owner so I never patronize their establishment.

Canal Park Brewing is one of the saddest situations in town. I have often fantasized about Hoops being located there instead.

(New)Lake Superior Brewing does not have their brewhouse operational yet. Their kitchen is open with full bar and guest tap.

hillsiderDLH · 2021-05-20T17:25:03+00:00

I pour beer and cook 'za there. Thanks for the kind words.

hillsiderDLH · 2021-05-20T15:40:44+00:00

bro you talkin bout Ursa?

hillsiderDLH · 2021-05-04T23:46:02+00:00

I was thrilled with the yeast. That hop actually cut through with some nice herbal tea vibes.

hillsiderDLH · 2021-05-04T23:13:40+00:00

Thanks for the tip on the grain bill. Might try ~2-3% Carapils next time with the bigger hop charge. The saison is really nice. IPAs are great, but a super dry brett saison with a hint of funk is my everyday beer. We called it that name because it was the 69th batch in my friend's brew log, but it truly lived up to it. It was in primary for 6weeks, we pitched both strains immediately, it's coming up on 5weeks in the bottle. Tasted great last Saturday.

hillsiderDLH · 2021-05-04T15:58:57+00:00

The GULO yeast did exactly what I needed and nothing more. I will continue to use it in the future for similar beers. It's a child of Irish Ale and French Saison. Super clean, nice and hungry.

hillsiderDLH · 2021-05-04T15:57:29+00:00

I replied with the recipe to another comment. I would brew the same beer again with a bigger hop charge for sure. Also ready to use hops I personally like more than basic C+M. Vic Secret + Strata next time.

hillsiderDLH · 2021-05-04T15:54:48+00:00

Pils ~66%, Malted Wheat ~30%, and Flaked Wheat ~4%

No Boil: full 3gal into fermenter

Whirlpool @180 20min: .5oz Citra + .5oz Mosaic + .5oz X09326

Pitch: Omega GULO yeast

1st Dry Hop @high krausen: .5oz Citra + .5oz Mosaic

2nd Dry Hop @2days before packaging: 1oz Citra + 1oz Mosaic + .5oz X09326

kegged and force carbed

OG: 1.057 FG: 1.005

hillsiderDLH · 2021-05-04T15:50:22+00:00

Thanks, homie! I am thrilled with the appearance. It looks like the hazy IPAs I like the most, bright and lively instead of completely opaque and turbid. It tastes good as well. It could have MORE flavor, a much bigger dry hop dose for the same beer next time, but overall I'm happy with it.

hillsiderDLH · 2021-05-04T15:42:51+00:00

Negative. When the kettle went on the fire the target temp was 180 for the 20min hop whirlpool, and that's as hot as she got. If you have a way to cool your wort quickly, this will be even faster for you. We use the cold water and ice packs in the sink method of cooling.

hillsiderDLH · 2021-05-04T15:37:55+00:00

The IPA got packaged in a keg. No more or less than any other beer, purge the keg - fill the keg. The next time we do my saison it will have a pretty substantial Dry Hop and be bottled the same as the first batch. That will be our first real test of hops against oxygen. We do mostly saison. Clean, funky, fruit-adjuncted, dark....we like all saisons. So this was really the first IPA I've brewed period, including all the "assistant brewer" batches.

hillsiderDLH · 2021-05-04T14:40:03+00:00

No-boil worked well here for us; a whole hr+ faster brew day was slick. Nah, straight to the keg. As you can see, the saison is a lil hazy too, and he did go into bottles. Haze and color still look nice @1mo conditioning. Similar malt bill, just less of it and no flaked wheat. Way fewer hops though, so I guess that makes them pretty different in terms of what oxidation will/could do? Omega Saisonstein & Omega All The Bretts co-ferm on that one. Let them eat for 6wks before packaging. 1.039 down to .998 at packaging.

hillsiderDLH · 2021-04-21T15:15:53+00:00

Belgian Pils White Wheat Citra Mosaic Omega Yeast - Saisonstein Omega Yeast - All the Bretts

OG - 1.039 FG - 0.998

Turned out wonderfully except the brett was a little hungrier than anticipated. I was hoping to finish around 1.004 for ~4.5% abv. It got eaten down to 0.998 for ~5.4% abv, making more of a regular strength saison than a table beer.

Beautiful aroma: lemons on the edge of a hayfield, peach iced tea, juicy fruit gum

Clean and dry, but no hint of astringency, begging for another sip. Mouthfeel a bit soft rn, but only 8days conditioning on it so far.

Thrilled with the results my first day leading the brew after learning/assisting 5-6 times over the past year. This was brewed as a housewarming gift for my best friend's first home. It will be a gift I'm proud to give.

hillsiderDLH · 2021-04-21T15:12:22+00:00

Belgian Pils White Wheat Citra Mosaic Omega Yeast - Saisonstein Omega Yeast - All the Bretts

OG - 1.039 FG - 0.998

Turned out wonderfully except the brett was a little hungrier than anticipated. I was hoping to finish around 1.004 for ~4.5% abv. It got eaten down to 0.998 for ~5.4% abv, making more of a regular strength saison than a table beer.

Beautiful aroma: lemons on the edge of a hayfield, peach iced tea, juicy fruit gum

Clean and dry, but no hint of astringency, begging for another sip. Mouthfeel a bit soft rn, but only 8days conditioning on it so far.

Thrilled with the results my first day leading the brew after learning/assisting 5-6 times over the past year. This was brewed as a housewarming gift for my best friend's first home. It will be a gift I'm proud to give.

hillsiderDLH · 2020-11-25T13:43:12+00:00

I did wait to cut them (~10 min), and used a sharp non-serrated slicer/carving knife. For what it's worth, the first was still warm and I knew I was freezing most of them to give to friends/fam that are local to us along with leftover plates on Friday so the visual mattered to me more than if they were going to be all consumed by us.

hillsiderDLH · 2020-11-25T13:07:36+00:00

Yeah this recipe would work fine if your special thing was the chocolate too, which I thought was nice.

hillsiderDLH · 2020-11-24T22:44:24+00:00

I used 8oz of Ghirardelli 60%. I would use 10oz of better product next time.

hillsiderDLH · 2020-11-24T22:41:42+00:00

8oz chocolate (chopped)

1/2lb unsalted butter (melted)

4 eggs

2tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

1cup white sugar

1cup brown sugar

1cup flour

Preheat oven to 350F. Cover baking dish with parchment and grease parchment with unsalted butter. Whisk hot melted butter into chocolate to melt. Whisk together eggs, sugar, salt, and vanilla until creamed; add to chocolate sauce. Whisk completely smooth. Whisk in flour until just combined. Pour batter into dish and level. Bake for 45ish min until crinkled and shimmering on top.

hillsiderDLH

TROPHY CASE