Hello all, and welcome to the debut blog post by your favorite neighborhood beer broker, Klockow Brewing Co.! Klock Talk (or the Klog, if you wanna be like that) will be a weekly newsletter where you can find information on new brews, where such beer can be found outside of the brewery, upcoming events, and even a bit about the people that make this place what it is!
This is a honey of a week to start the blog because we got new beer and a huge event happening! And they happen to be related to each other. The second annual Erste Mai Punk Music festival is happening all day on Saturday, April 27. There’s no cover, but simply ask a $15 donation, all of which will go to the bands! The taproom is gonna get rocked by the likes of Modern Day Wasteland, Smalltown Sindrome, Southpaw, Loss Leader, Battery Eyes, and headlined by Underground til Sundown.
Speaking of the headliner, the guys from Underground til Sundown actually worked with our head brewer, Andy Klockow, to make a special release beer just for the occasion. Tornadogenesis Pub Ale (pronounced Tornado Genesis) is an easy drinking British-style ale, a sessionable brew made to hoist along with a crew of your mates while you drink to the good ol’ days. In other words, it’s the perfect beer to drink at a day-long music festival.
And since it is all day, folks are going to have to eat. Fortunately, we’re also seeing the seasonal return of The Singing Chihuahua Taco Truck this Saturday, as well as the fine folks at Borealis Creamery for your dessert!
If this isn’t enough music for you, be sure to come back on Sunday for our last-Sunday-of-the-month open mic, hosted by Ditty Wish! Definitely show up if Erste Mai inspired you to do some performing yourself.
This weekend will be the culmination of a busy April here at Klockow Brewing. Aside from the usual Sunday-Funday events each week, we kicked off the month with the return of Porters & Poetry for National Poetry Month, followed by the Books & Brews book fair the next week. It was a blast working with our friends at Wildflower Bookshop, and everyone who came that day seemed to agree!
Then the next week was our first ever 48 Hour Band Contest, which busted all expectations. This was our version of an event that has a history in the Minneapolis music scene, and organized with the help of McKeon Roberts and Kai Stenlund, both of whom had formerly competed in the cities. Our contestants showed up on Thursday evening, where they threw their names in a hat and were randomly assigned to each other, making four freshly-minted bands that had only two days to come up with a 10 minute set. And they didn’t disappoint. The taproom was packed and each band brought their A-game, playing everything from folk to metal to country to punk. Taking top prize was The Mockups, comprised of Angie Erickson, Avrielle Schneider, and Zach Nichols.
This week has already seen the Grand Rapids Farmer’s Market spring fundraiser, which we’re happy to announce has surpassed their goal! Money raised will help with all the work-a-day stuff that helps the organization stay in the business of bringing farm fresh goods to the community. Be sure to check them out each Wednesday and Saturday morning all summer long!
Thanks for checking out our humble little brewery! As long as you keep coming by, we’ll do our part by making the best damn beer possible and serving it in our always inviting atmosphere. Next week we’ll be getting to know a member of the staff in our segment “We Barley Know You, But We Hop to Change That. It’s the Yeast We Can Do.”
The Klockow Staff
Beer drops this past week:
Westworld -
Continental Divide Brew Pub - New York Mills
1894 - Perham
Local, etc. -
Smoke on the Water - Coleraine
Sammy's - Grand Rapids
Eagles - Grand Rapids
Boulder Taphouse - Grand Rapids
Super One Liquor - Grand Rapids
Pokegama Plaza Liquor - Grand Rapids
Bear Ridge Pizza - Coleraine
Red Eye - Swan River
S&S Bottle Shop - Deer River
MJ's Resort - Pengilly
Great Outdoors Bottle Shop - Pengilly
Timberwolf Inn - Marcell
Shoeshoe Liquor - Marcell
Antler Store - Bigfork
Range -
Marge's Liquor - Eveleth
Super One Liquor - Virginia
Super One Liquor - Hibbing
Super One Foods - Virginia (Shrubbery)
Ely -
Insula
Mike's Drive-In Liquor
Ely Liquor
Misc -
Revelation Ale Works - Hallock (Dukka Water)