Sunken Ship Brewing, Princeton MN

Minnesota's newest brewery is also the closest brewery to our house! Sunken Ship Brewing will open on Saturday, July 30. They held a soft opening last night, and it was worth the wait.

They're located at 32273 124th Street, just off the Rum River Road exit on Highway 169, in a renovated boat repair shop. Hence the nautical theme, and as an added bonus, the brewery's floor was already sloped and drained properly.

There's a big patio out front and another smaller one in back, along with a fenced-in dog park for your pups. Well-behaved dogs are also welcome inside.

The interior is essentially two big rooms: the bar and the brewery.

The brewing equipment is from Craft Kettle Brewing Equipment in New Orleans.

And of course, the beer. Princeton native and Minnesota beer veteran Bobby Blasey plans to have all sixteen taps flowing soon. As of yesterday, there were three actual beers, two grocery beers, and a couple of seltzers.

I started with the Uncharted Odyssey. As billed, it was a crisp, clean light beer. Damn tasty and refreshing.

Next up was the Aran Sweater Stout. Lots of chocolate malt, and a herbal, almost minty hop flavor. Definitely worth having another.

Finally, the Graceful Insanity Hazy IPA. Intensely citrusy, but without the annoying slick mouthfeel that so many hazys have, I enjoyed this one too.

Paris enjoyed the Ships Bounty Sour, saying it had more strawberry character than raspberry. It was kinda thick, and so didn't have the bone-dry scrape-off-your-tooth-enamel tartness.

Sunken Ship's grand opening runs from 11am-11pm, Saturday, July 30. Live music begins at noon and runs for the duration. Two food trucks will be on hand, and the first 100 attendees get to spin the wheel for prizes.

See you there!

New Jersey Continues To Be The Armpit of America

I couldn't do better than Breweries in Pennsylvania's headline for this article. If you need a reminder of just how odious New Jersey is, read on.

The passing of this ruling means New Jersey breweries are now limited to the following:

• Hosting only 25 on-site activities per year (Events such as trivia, live music, etc.)

• Host only 52 private parties per year

• Attend only 12 off premises events per year

In addition to the above, this ruling also prohibits breweries from the following:

• Selling coffee on site

• Collaborating/ coordinating with food vendors/trucks

• Selling food or operating a restaurant

• Selling specialty cocktails using malt alcohol

• Offering a free drink to any guest

• Offer Happy Hour pricing

And get this: during the height of COVID, New Jersey allowed breweries to offer free beer to customers to incentivize them to get the vaccine. Now, fourteen months later, it's illegal.

It's obvious that the restaurant lobby has put enough money into the New Jersey State Legislature to buy punitive measures for their competition. It's disgusting that that's allowed to happen, and it could happen to breweries near you as well.

Read the whole story at Breweries in Pennsylvania