State Fair 2017: Dara's Top 5 Beers!

This year's beer haul is better than ever—but raises a great many questions.

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Remember when all the Minnesota State Fair beers had to be under 3.2% alcohol, and the whole dang place was a watery wasteland? Yeah, I barely remember, too. The rules changed, and the last few years have been nuts for beer nuts. So many beers, so many stunt beers—what does it all mean? 

A few things to put down in ink about 2017: This year had so, so, so many more beers than ever before—new beers, new beer variations, if State Fair beers were tiny and in a bucket, you'd still need a mega bucket to hold them all. The deep existential issues raised by the famous Lift Bridge Mini-Donut beer hang over them all—to gimmick, or not to gimmick? Whether 'tis nobler at the Fair to suffer the slings and arrows of people making fun of you for putting pickles in your beer, or whether 'tis nobler to let them laugh and walk home with all the cash?

Damian McConn, head brewer of Summit, and I had a long existential talk about this revolving around his Lazy Sipper beer, available only in the Summit pavilion. It's a delicious beer, crisp and light and perfect for a hot day in summer, but is also made with Minnesota grown hops and with fresh Minnesota strawberries, and isn't particularly redolent of strawberries. I mean, they're in there, but the beer is golden and you have to really hunt for the scent, and if you do, you can almost just find it, a sort of strawberry hull echo deep in the woods. "I didn't want a lot of color, I didn't want some pink milkshake or shandy," McConn told me. I asked him about the competition, like the foul Red Bull slushie beer, which tastes like baby aspirin mixed with baby formula, carbonated. "That's bad for beer," said McConn. "Even a State Fair beer should have the intrinsic qualities of a beer. We should aspire to something bigger than the almighty dollar. We should always remember we are part of something bigger." 

Oof. So your first act if you want to be a Minnesota State Fair beer pundit should be to go to the Summit booth, get a Lazy Sipper, and decide for yourself: Gimmick, or not to gimmick? Is the Lazy Sipper a great beer, or would it be better if McConn had served it with a strawberry powder rim? 

Your next act as a State Fair beer pundit should be to go on a walking tour to round up the different shandy variations—there's the Shandlot from Bauhaus at the Ballpark Café, which has layers of fresh lemon throughout, the Sun Coasters Summer Shandy from Flat Earth Brewing down at Coasters, which also has apricots in the mix and accompanying dried apricot notes, and finally Lemon Sunshine from Bad Weather at Mancini's, which has a pure lemon zest bite, perhaps erring on the side of lemon-cleanser to some palates. Should we call 2017 the year of the shandy? Which is the best? For me, my favorite is the Bauhaus Shandlot, because of the fresh lemon from top to tail. But if you told me your favorite was the Sun Coaster from Flat Earth I can see how you'd come to that conclusion. It's a well made beer that arranges itself in a different key. The Shandlot is a melody on flute, you could argue, while Sun Coasters is played on a cello. Adding shandy comparisons to your rounds of the rabbit barns and seed art is fun, say I, and once you try them all you can start to debate these issues: Should there be more shandies at the fair, or fewer? 

As to what are my top five beers of the fair, this question feels particularly difficult in 2017, because there aren't just gimmick beers. There are also straight-up beers, like Bent Paddle's KANU, which is bright and sturdy like a canoe, I guess, but seriously delicious, just extra-hopped and lively. Then there are long-lived not-new beers that are merely new to this market, like 3 Floyd's Lazurite IPA, which made its Minnesota debut at the Fair, but should be everywhere in the state by Halloween. It's delightful, it's an arrow of steely and singing hops shot straight into the center of a well balanced beer target. I love it, I can't get enough of it. But is it a State Fair beer?

Here's another existential question for you: Is the Ordinary Mary a beer? For this LuLu's Public House had Insight brew a beer that is as close to Everclear as a beer can get—it's high alcohol, uncarbonated, neutral. LuLu's blends this potion with their own Bloody Mary mix and garnish. I have to say I don't think this is a beer at all! It's a Bloody Mary. The Surly Gose Blanche, a kettle sour with serious zip and elegance, has been available at their tap-room, but never has been out in the world before, and it is a glass of some serious delicious, and you should get one at the Ball Park Cafe. But is it a new State Fair beer? For 2017 picking the best new beers feels not like picking between apples and oranges, but between apples and kangaroos. How do we do this again? See, it's not easy to be a State Fair beer pundit! Or is it?

I have decided to make some rules. I'm only judging beers that are only and purely new, not tasted elsewhere, not available elsewhere before. Is that fair? I don't know, if you don't like my rules make your own rules, we're in uncharted territory here. As for distinguishing between these apples and kangaroos, I can only rely on my gut feelings. These are the new 2017 State Fair beers I would spend my money on, again. 

1. Shandlot, Bauhaus

After living with it for a while, my favorite shandy at the Fair remains Bauhaus' Shandlot, which is so pretty and melodiously lemony. If you have real beer interest I do think you ought to try all three of the shandies on offer at the Fair this year, so get the Flat Earth Sun Coasters and Bad Weather Lemon Sunshine, too. (Ballpark Cafe) 

2. Bent Brewstillery Hungarian 24K Cherry Wheat Ale 

For a couple of years a winner of the State Fair homebrew ribbons gets to make a big batch of beer for the Fair with brewmaster and homebrew judge Kristin England from Bent Brewstillery. This year the 2016 homebrewer wasn't available, so England put together a team of former homebrew medalists and they all collaborated to develop this very cherry beer. Here's what I like about it: Good cherry flavor, a fascinating burnt-butter note that lingers, but all built into an elegant ship with no straggly bits hanging off the sides. "I always give them the option, you can be as involved as you want to be," England told me. "This year they said they want it to look cool, and of course taste good." Twenty-four thousand American grown Hungarian cherries and a little Madagascar vanilla later, here we are. It's delicious, but it's also such a nice bit of the true spirit of the Fair, literally bringing people together from all walks of life. (Ballpark Cafe)

3. Barley John's Dill Pickle American Style Ale

Barley John's was one of the very first brewpubs in Minnesota, and they've got beer know-how to burn. You really see this in the Dill Pickle Beer at Giggles', which they brewed with fresh dill horseradish and pickling spices. You'd think any beer would be destroyed by that, but the essence of the brown ale inside just holds the center, and the pickle notes end up being a fun background for pickle lovers. Of which I am one. I love how smart and well made this beer is, and if you can't appreciate the technical virtuosity I feel bad for you, son, because I had 99 beers and this pickle beer won. (Giggles’ Campfire Grill)

4. Bent Paddle KANU

You know what you want after trying a couple stunt beers? A pure beer. I love how bright, aromatic, and fleet-footed this flagship beer from Bent Paddle became when they turbo charged it with Mosaic hops for the Fair. How do I feel about breweries taking a standard beer of theirs and then tweaking it for the Fair? I feel good about it. (Ball Park Cafe)

5. East Lake Kirby Pucker

East Lake took their sour beer, which they've been known to make with everything from matcha to beets, and infused it with cherry wood-grilled peaches. The resulting beer is nicely tart, well balanced, and has just enough peach fragrance to be distinct. (Ball Park Cafe) 

There! I judged them! But I'm not entirely happy with this list even though I wrote it and stand behind it, mainly because the crazy beers are so extraordinary that your fatigued palate and overloaded nervous system tend to go that direction. When I think about spending my money on these beers on repeat visits, I tend to want to purchase the hard-to-find, but not State Fair exclusive beers, like the Surly Gose Blanche and the 3 Floyds Lazurite. Do you have thoughts about how to judge these State Fair beers better? Post them in the comments, because if current trends continue we should have three times as many new State Fair beers this time next year. Till then, happy Fair, everyone!