#Inthenews

Jan 29, 2020
1 min

Sillky, tropical IPA from BlackStack and Modist is cure for winter blues

Certified Pre-Owned from BlackStack Brewing What do you do when two of your favorite Twin Cities breweries team up and make a beer together? Get there, fast, to give it a try! This double-dry-hopped IPA is a collaboration with Modist Brewing, where both breweries worked together to make a special oat milk in the Minneapolis brewery’s mash filter, and then they each brewed a beer with it. BlackStack’s is dry hopped with Azacca, Strata, Sabro and Galaxy hops, all of which have

Dec 26, 2019
1 min

Our picks: best cocktails of 2019

The folks at the Pioneer Press selected BlackStack’s Casual Friday as one of the best cocktails of the year. Read the full story here. The review of Casual Friday is below. The crazy kids at BlackStack got a couple of foeder (giant barrel) fermenters this year, and wow, are they putting them to good use. The first beer to come out of them, a heavily fruited Berliner, has some oaky qualities, but not an overwhelming amount. The barrel aging also takes a little of the sweetness

Oct 21, 2019
2 min

BlackStack Brewing Begins a New Craft

Back in 2017, the Johnson family opened their doors to the BlackStack Brewery. This year they expanded their company and began to brew True Stone coffee. Additionally, they are also starting to reach out to students. The company is trying to get the word out that college students are more than welcome to come and enjoy a cup of coffee or hang out. The brewery offers an assortment of games and is planning on including discounts for their new demographic. “Besides the great cof

Sep 16, 2019
1 min

Review of BlackStack Brewing

I’m fortunate enough to work in an area where a craft brewery is no more than ten minutes away. Many are even closer. Even though we’re spoiled for choice, we usually end up at the brewery or bar that’s closest to the office. However, when a new brewery opens we generally jump at the chance to visit before we settle back into our old ways. On a particular winter afternoon I was thirsty for some natural light, and made the suggestion to my coworkers that we venture a couple of

Sep 3, 2019
1 min

St. Paul’s Blackstack Brewing may be your new favorite… coffee shop?

With industrial environs warmed by an eclectic array of seating, towering plants, a wall of board games and floor-to-ceiling windows, St. Paul’s Blackstack Brewing was knee-deep in coffee shop territory well before they quietly started opening early to serving coffee to bleary-eyed patrons. The espresso machine’s arrival merely sealed the deal. As of the third week of August, the brewery began pulling double-duty as a full-on coffee shop seven days a week. Now they’re open st

Aug 29, 2019
1 min

Coffee, pastries, and sandwiches now at BlackStack

BlackStack Brewing is now an all-day operation. The brewery has added coffee and pastries for early mornings and sandwiches and salads from Nelson’s Cheese and Deli for the lunch crowd. The sun-filled expansive taproom feels like a great place to have some coffee and get some work done, especially when they’re serving True Stone coffee and Patisserie 46 baked goods. There’s a full espresso program, and there are specialty coffee drinks that include bitters and other funky ing

Aug 28, 2019
1 min

Meet the Australian beer nut who flew 21 hours for Minnesota beer

It’s 9,047 miles from Cabramatta, New South Wales, to Minnesota. The trip took Warwick Tyler 21 travel hours. The airline lost his bag. He didn’t sleep for 50 hours, but when he arrived from Australia, Tyler found his beer nirvana. Since 2017, Tyler has been a member of the Minnesota-based Facebook group Beer People—an exacting society of nearly 16,000 local beer fans that’s become notorious in the craft scene. Before joining, his only knowledge of Minnesota came from a chara

Aug 20, 2019
1 min

Local Suds: 5 Minnesota beers to drink in August

The following excerpt is from this City Pages article. BlackStack/Lua Pocket Tees IPA, 7% ABV, n/a IBU We started with a collaboration, so we’ll end with one, too. BlackStack teamed up with Des Moines’ Lua Brewing for Pocket Tees, an easygoing IPA brewed with the brand-goddamn-new hop variety Sabro. Haven’t heard of Lua? That’s because they haven’t opened yet, but Forager lead brewer Zack Dunbar is taking up brewing duties, and the BlackStack crew is sending him off right. Th

Jul 12, 2019
1 min

The intimate story behind BlackStack Brewing’s ephemeral Soul Lao’d IPA

There is no beer more polarizing than the India Pale Ale. While loyal hopheads swear by the IPA, others keep a safe distance from that week-old tangerine peel funk parading as a beverage. Jokes aside, regardless of which camp you find yourself in, there’s no denying that IPAs dominate. You’d be hard-pressed to find a taproom without a couple on the menu absolutely anywhere in the country. Not only are IPAs hopelessly ubiquitous and an easy fallback for the uninitiated, they’

Jul 2, 2019
1 min

Bob Was There: From Town Hall to BlackStack, Bob DuVernois’ career spans Minnesota’s craft beer hist

Ask any old-school brewer how their fire was lit and the answer will almost always be, “I started homebrewing…” This holds true for Bob DuVernois, craft beer aficionado and head brewer at BlackStack Brewing. His spark came in 1979 when he tasted a dark beer made by a friend’s father. Not a fan of the macro lagers that monopolized the market at the time, this taste opened his mind. For the first time, he recognized beer as a beverage he might want to drink. Later that year, th

May 29, 2019
1 min

The 40 best beers in Minnesota

17. BlackStack Local 755 Hopheads chase BlackStack’s trucks around town like lawyers chasing ambulances, trying to score the latest Drake-inspired haze drop, but the St. Paul brewery has never surpassed the velvety appeal of its flagship Local 755. Likely the most utilitarian NE IPA in the Twin Cities, it invites drinkers in with a bouquet of citrus aromas, and keeps them sipping with its provocatively soft body. This fragrant slurry of Citra, Amarillo, and Azacca hops goes d

May 12, 2019
1 min

Pint Report: Dear Mama IPA-a witch hunt collaboration with BlackStack Brewing

Witch Hunt Minneapolis is a phenomenal group of females on a mission to celebrate and promote underrepresented individuals in craft brewing. Recently, they teamed up with BlackStack Brewing in Saint Paul to create a fantastic IPA called Dear Mama. The release party took place on Wednesday, May 8th and I was happy to try the beer and meet some of the dynamic people behind the beer and movement. First and foremost, I have to say that there are many reasons why I love craft beer

May 6, 2019
2 min

BlackStack brings in a familiar face to head new mixed-culture beer program

BlackStack Brewing, which opened in 2017 in Midway, is starting up its own mixed-culture beer program. At the helm: an established sour brewer Mat Waddell, the former head brewer and co-owner of Wild Mind Artisan Ales. After selling his interest in Wild Mind and announcing his departure from the company at the start of 2019, Waddell felt he needed to step away from brewing for a while. He started a job as a senior application engineer at 3M in January but couldn’t stay away f

Apr 9, 2019
1 min

Get this spicy, citrusy collaboration beer at BlackStack before it’s gone

Soul Lao’d by BlackStack Brewing: Done right, I have a serious thing for spicy beers. This ultra-flavorful IPA combines lemongrass, hand-picked lime leaves and just the right amount of chilis, and I liked it so much I had a few. Brewed in collaboration with Soul Lao, a food truck that parks at the brewery often, it’s just the sort of creative, exciting beer I’ve come to expect from BlackStack. It’s taproom only, so get there and get it while it’s still around. International B

Nov 27, 2018
1 min

Dry-hopped cream ale at BlackStack features rare hop variety

Kush Nettie’s dry-hopped cream ale from BlackStack Brewing: Every time I visit BlackStack, I discover a new kind of hops. Australian Ella hops, which are related to the very trendy, tropical Galaxy hops, are showcased in this beer, which uses the brewery’s smooth cream ale as a base. The result is dank, floral and slightly spicy, but with a lighter body than your typical IPA. It’s a really fun beer that is worth the trip to the brewery’s sprawling Prior Avenue taproom. Read t

May 30, 2018
1 min

Famed Science Museum hoodie spawns ‘Thunder Lizard’ IPA from BlackStack

The story of Thunder Lizard IPA from BlackStack Brewing starts with a hoodie. The Science Museum of Minnesota recently made a lot of money — about half a million dollars — selling the hoodie after it appeared in the hit Netflix series “Stranger Things.” The museum was looking for a special way to thank all the folks who supported it by buying the hoodie, a retro-looking purple sweatshirt featuring the skeleton of a brontosaurus with the moniker “Thunder Lizard” and the Scienc

Mar 8, 2018
1 min

4 questions: A flight with BlackStack Brewing

After months (OK years) of planning and delays, BlackStack Brewing opened at 755 Prior Ave. N in St. Paul in mid-March and I got to sample BlackStack’s New England IPA Local 757. It’s a family-run business that started out brewing the beers they really love, and that aren’t too high in alcohol – so you can have more than one. BlackStack started with four beers on tap – and all those delays really helped head brewer Bob DuVernois perfect and rework the beer recipes. It also a

Feb 28, 2018
2 min

New England IPA finds its niche

The New England IPA, a take on the traditional IPA, is influencing the beer world. The beer world — like most other popular markets — is prone to fads. New styles come along that break some long-held norm. They garner attention and gather a small but ardent following who go to great lengths to seek them out. Word spreads until every beer fan clamors for them, every brewer makes them and every writer sings their praises. Sometimes they gain traction and stick around. Other ti

Sep 6, 2017
1 min

4 reasons Black Stack is worth a trip

BlackStack Brewery has embraced the popular Northeast IPA style. But BlackStack is more than that. It has been a popular joint since opening back in March. However, there is much more to BlackStack than just producing its own solid version of craft beer’s trendiest style. If you’re heading north for the State Fair or Renaissance Festival, it’s well worth a trip to check out BlackStack. Here are four reasons why. 1. The Local series BlackStack’s Local series of beers are New

Aug 15, 2017
1 min

BlackStack Brewing’s saison is unusual, in a good way

Ends Meet from BlackStack Brewing: BlackStack has been open just a few months, but the cavernous St. Paul brewery is putting out some really solid, really interesting beers. On a recent visit, we really enjoyed the brewery’s unusual take on the ubiquitous saison. Theirs is a little dark, a little edgy, a little spicy and a lot drinkable. There’s a little caramelly sweetness from darker grains, and the spice flavor comes from the yeast. There are no special additions, no crazy