rochester

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Forager Brewery
 
Great place for beer and food; thanks to having a full restaurant sharing space with the craft brewery. They have been around for a couple years and have an excellent reputation as one of the better places in the Rochester area for beer. (per the Uber driver). They are a great example of a true craft brewery. They have many special brews and are frequently serving new beers.  In fact, they continually rotate in new beers. Two of the beers on their printed menu had run out, luckily they have new beers already on tap. They frequently have release parties for their specialty aged brews. They have an extra storage area where the barrel age new specialty beers.  
 
Beers available today:
  • Sherpa’s Survival Kit - Coffee Cocoa Double Stout
  • Twisted Zweig – Double Hopped Imperial Berliner Weisse
  • Twisted Zweig - Blue Fruit
  • Bear and Buffalo Double IPA
  • Starry Eyed Blonde
  • Preserved Lemon Gose
 
Location:  1005 6th Street NW, Rochester
 
Update: June’17
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Forager Brewery
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Forager Bar
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​Grand Rounds Brew Pub

Found a nice brewery in downtown Rochester a few blocks from the Mayo Clinic. They are relatively new, being open since the spring of 2015. Along with a wide selection of their own beer they have a full menu for lunch and dinner. On tap were about 10 of their own beers and a guest brew. The Brewery' logo is half a hop and half a brain, fitting for the Mayo Clinic area.

Beer Enjoyed:
  • Han Grubier - Berliner Weisse
  • Do Wrong Rye Pale Ale
  • Beer J - IPA
  • Oui - Rye Saison (Fabulous!)
  • Easy A Minnesota Blonde
 
Beer Flight from 2016 visit:
  • Freedom Scotch Ale, Mosaic IPA, Hops Bollocks, 1866 Commerce Wheat, Minnesota Kolsch,  and Hawaii 507 Coconut Stout

Location:  4 3rd Street SW

Updated: Jun '17 
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Grand Rounds Brew Pub
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Hawaii 507 Coconut Stout
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Kinney Creek Brewery

Large interior which supports busy nights, however, on the night I went, there were a maximum of 4 people there. No outdoor seating here. The bartender was very knowledgeable and friendly and .the  other customers were very friendly and we had a lot of laughs. TV scrolls through beer trivia which I found very interesting. We also played a game called Hammerschlagen (German for Hammer Striking), where you basically take drive nails into a tree stump with a heavy hammer. If nothing else, it a good gauge of how much you've been drinking. It actually was a lot of fun.

Location:  1016 7th Street NW

Updated: Jun '16​
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Kinney Creek
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LTS Brewing

LTS Brewing (Life's Too Short) opened at the end of 2015. This place was quite busy, inside and outside on the patio, which was quite a contrast from Kinney Creek. Bartenders were very friendly with a lot of knowledge about their beer. Nice cross section of beer choices, common styles but good.

Location:  2001 32nd Avenue NW

Updated: Jun '16
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LTS Brewing