Minnesota Craft Beers Win Big at National Competition

I've been saying for a while now that Minnesota is home to some of the best craft beers in the country, and, sure enough, several of them just took home some top honors at a national festival.

Ever since Minnesota changed its law (thanks to Surly Brewing in Minneapolis) back in 2011 that allows craft breweries to sell their beer in their own taprooms, the craft brewing scene has exploded across the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

Here in Rochester, we've got some incredible craft breweries like Forgager, LTS Brewing, Grand Rounds Brew Pub, Kinney Creek Brewing and the new Little Thistle Brewing Company-- and they all make some really good beer.

But don't just take my word for it. At the recent Great American Beer Festival-- the biggest beer festival in the country-- 12 different Minnesota beers from 11 Minnesota breweries came home with either gold, silver or bronze medals. Cool!

BringMeTheNews reports that top honors went to "Bent Paddle Brewing of Duluth for its Saison in the classic Saison category; Summit Brewing of St. Paul for its Keller Pils in the Kellerbier category; Lakes & Legends of Minneapolis for its 'Cool for the Summer' saison with cucumber and mint in the Field Beer category and Steel Toe Brewing of St. Louis Park for its Dissent in the Export Stout category," the story said.

I've been to all of those Minnesota-based breweries and I agree-- they're all good. In fact, we just stopped at Bent Paddle's way-cool new taproom in Duluth over the weekend and loved their wet-hopped IPA. So, cheers to some great Minnesota beers that are not only great here, but are tops in the nation too!

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