Upcoming events:
We’d like to say sorry for canceling the drag show last Saturday. We stand by it being a wise choice though, what with travel conditions around the state. But as you can imagine, it’s easier said than done to herd together a half-dozen or so independent performers for a last-minute reschedule. After going through a few different possible dates and not seeing any of them work, a decision was made to just wash our hands of the spring show, say “c’est la vie” and “that’s how the cookie crumbles sometimes,” and focus instead on the June show. That’s Pride Month, after all, and it’s very uncommon for it to snow that time of year too.
Fortunately, we were still able to have a killer Storyteller Sunday this past weekend (History edition), as well as a great Third Tuesday Trivia! There was some tough competition, what with the all confident answers and lucky guesses being thrown around, but there can only be one victor! Well, one per game. And our winners this week were Quiz Me Like One Of Your French Girls and Pins & Needles, respectively. The odds were ever in your favor, or at least the categories were.
(Honestly, some of the best parts of the night were the people who came up with their answer card, muttering how they didn’t know of any poets when the category was Poetry, only for them to drop off the correct answer. Remember, kids, pay attention in class and you too may be able to pull an answer out of your ass for bar trivia.)
Btw, we want your blood. Or at least the blood mobile does. Memorial Blood Centers will be back here this Saturday, March 22, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. You can schedule your appointment online at www.mbc.org/searchdrives, sponsor code 4858, or contact Trudy at 218-591-3000. The blood you donate will save a life. For that reason, we’re always happy to host the blood bus.
OK, What Is That?
So much of what’s on the menu here at Klockow is some sort of historical throwback, a classic style honed over the centuries. Perhaps they have a home in some storied region of Europe. And what is in the glass is just the current iteration from some long lineage; the contemporary generation that is tied to the past by an immutable culture.
And some other beers are just ones we just made up. Like the Downwind Smoked Chocolate Stout.
“It’s a big ol’ hybrid. So it is a dry English ale yeast, which brings it into the English realm of stouts, but it has a heavy German malt base,” said head brewer and co-owner, Andy Klockow. “The beechwood smoke is a big component in it.”
And on top of that, the whole batch is steeped with a sack of cacao nibs to give it that dry, bitter, dark chocolate flavor as well.
“It’s really, truly American. It’s a melting pot of a beer,” added Andy.
So what’s going on here. Well, for starters, it should be noted that this is a beer that needs little extra description, because the name kinda just explains itself. We Americans are used to just making stuff up and pitching them to the public, and the public responds by saying, “yeah, sounds great! I’ll try anything twice!” While in Europe, there are generations of a known style when it comes to beer (and wine and cheese and meats and etc. etc. etc.). Go to Bamberg, Germany, order a beer, and they’ll give you a rauchbier without a second question. In the states, we’re fully of second questions. There are no local styles here; we simply make other peoples styles and invent our own as well, but the new recipes aren’t tied to anything. Just sounded good, you know.
Which is exactly what the Downwind is. It was one of the first beers on tap when Klockow opened more than seven years ago, and it was immediately a big hit. It gave customers a taste of something big and brash, yet balanced. And it set the stage for many of the other flavor bombs that were to come, including many of the barrel aged beers. In fact, the first barrel aged beer at Klockow as an imperial version of the Downwind, which many know as Double Downwind.
This beer is also on the vanguard of some of the new revelations here at the brewery, namely that more and more of our beer is being sold to-go in cans, whether from the taproom itself or from liquor stores around the state. So when it was released again this past winter, we were all taken a-back when every single can sold out within a month. Beer batches are typically split between cans and kegs with the thought of them lasting about the same amount of time. So we broke from tradition this winter, and brewed it again just to can it!
“There’s some shifts in consumer trends that we’re seeing, where a lot of people are buying beer at liquor stores to go home vs. coming out to an establishment to drink,” said Andy. “It’s good to see some of the beers we make do better in liquor stores than the taproom. And so we have to be able to shift to cater to those needs. It’s all part of our learning and growing in running a small business!”
And we’re damn pleased to see so many people want this brew for their home fridge. Probably didn’t hurt that we got a nice shout out last month as one of the five beers to check in in February on Racket’s Doin’ Beers.
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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.
The Klockow Staff
Beer drops this past week:
Local, etc -
Boulder Taphouse - Grand Rapids
Hotel Rapids - Grand Rapids
Raven Stone - Coleraine
SuperOne Liquor - Grand Rapids
Rocket’s - Cohasset
Pokegama Plaza Liquor - Grand Rapids
Pokegama Lake Store - Grand Rapids
Sammy’s -Grand Rapids
Timberlake Lodge - Grand Rapids
Westworld, etc. -
Vergas Liquor Store - Vergas
Perham Lakeside Golf Course - Perham
Red River Liquor Co. - Akeley
Brew Ale’s & Eats - Perham
Metro area, etc. -
Dabbler Depot - St. Paul
Princeton’s Liquors - Maple Grove
Wine & Roses Liquors - Forest Lake
Ombibulous - Minneapolis