New Brewery Review: OMNI Brewing

A while back, I wrote about the number of breweries in the Twin Cities and wondering how many more the area could support. I still wonder that and I can't really tell if the number opening is slowing down or not. I am starting to see a few more pop up in the suburbs though, which is going to be able to help sustain the push. In the northwest corner of the metro where I live at, the only brewery was Granite City. Not a bad place, but not local and not really part of the boom that we've been seeing.

That changed last week with the opening of OMNI Brewing in Maple Grove. I stopped in during their first week to see what it was like and get a feel for the tap room. The space is really well put together and laid out. Long table and bench seating helps bring about groups getting together and encourage meeting new people. On a Thursday night, there were 15 to 20 people sitting around talking and laughing having a wonderful time.

I got to talk to Zack, the head brewer, and hear about how they got started and hear about his love for beer. It's easy to hear the excitement in his voice as he talks about getting to do a job that he loves.

On tap that night they had their Pilot Pale Ale and the Hopfull IPA. The Pilot was a solid beer coming in just under 5%. For a pale ale, it had a stronger hop flavor than I was expecting but it lets it stand out. The Hopfull IPA was a very smooth drinking IPA at 5.9%. This would be an easy beer to get in trouble with - it goes down very easily and you don't really notice how much of it you've been drinking. I was also able to try samples of their stout and session ale.

Since I've been there, they've released even more beers. With 10 tap lines available, I'm looking forward to what they will be putting out. From what I could tell, Zack is putting together a solid line up of beer. I'm looking forward to once they get going and he's able to experiment a bit more. The IPA especially seems perfect for infusions that will really let them stand out.

Cheers to you Zack and the rest of the OMNI team! I'm looking forward to sharing many good pints with you!

Farewell Milwaukee and the New Century Theatre

What makes good music is a really subjective thing. It’s part of why there is so much music out there – tastes vary greatly. At the core though I think what makes music “great” is how well you can relate to it. Through the lyrics, melodies, chords progressions – how well does the artist create music that relates to you?

Last Friday, I had tickets with some friends to go see Farewell Milwaukee, a local band starting to get some more attention, at the New Century Theatre in Minneapolis. I’ve always enjoyed their music but in that space and the way they were playing that night it was incredible.

If you get the chance to check out the New Century Theatre, you should. It’s a smaller, black box style venue that really puts you right on top of the stage. It’s great for smaller shows and performances and I’m not sure there’s a bad seat in the house. They did a really good job building the place out.

If you get the chance to go see Farewell Milwaukee, jump on it. They have a new album that they announced that they were working on and played some of the songs that will be on it. Each song did a great job telling the story and it is really see to see how much fun those guys have playing and making music together.

Opening was Actual Wolf and Fathom Lane. Actual Wolf was there as a solo act and performed an entertaining set. I would have enjoyed him with a full band to hear some of his other music, but it was still a good set. Fathom Lane was a band I hadn’t heard of before and I really liked their music. It almost had a Decemberists style sound to it.

The takeaway though: Go check out music at the New Century Theatre and go check out Farewell Milwaukee – those guys should be going places.

When the Saints Go Marching In

A photo  of the "too perfect" outfield and scoreboard

Yesterday closed out the regular season for the St. Paul Saints, the independent professional baseball team here in the Twin Cities, at their new stadium, CHS Field. It was a record setting year: highest attendance (404,528), best record (74-26), and numerous individual records broken throughout the year. You couldn’t ask for a better season.

It was an incredible year in an amazing new ballpark. One that I will admit I was a little hesitant about. And after our first time in the stadium on “test drive your seat” day, I was even more worried. Let me explain.

Mudonna taking in a few pitches from our section on
opening night.

At the end of last season, we were talking with one of the Usher-tainers, Brain Kelly, about the move to the new stadium. He asked how we felt about leaving Midway and heading to the yet-to-be-named new stadium. I admitted that I was worried. Midway had a hominess about it; it was comfortable. It was run down for sure; falling apart, leaking, not able to keep up. It needed to be replaced. 

But a brand-new, never been used stadium…. what would that be like? Would the team still have fun? Would the antics exist just the same? Brian said that making sure people understood that the team would still be the same, goofy group they always were was going to be one of the hardest and most important jobs for the usher-tainers moving forward. He was right.

When we were at the new stadium for the first time, the building was perfect. The “new” smell was on everything, the walls all perfect and smooth, no rolling hills in the outfield, no chips in the cement, not even banged into drywall in the press box. It was immaculate. And absolutely not the Saints. I walked out of there still buying our 9 game mini pack and still excited for baseball, but it seemed thing things would be different.

Wow was I wrong.

Brian and the rest of the usher-tainers showed from day one that Fun was still meant to be had at the ball park. They did an amazing job of runn

ing around, keeping people excited, engaging kids, bringing old promos from Midway and inventing to new ones for CHS Field. It was everything that baseball should be and so much more. And in the middle of all the craziness, the team just kept on winning.

A panorama from above 3rd base, June 7 2015.
Our dog was at this game. Because this team is awesome.

One of the best things about CHS Field this year though was the people in the stands. In the 12 regular season games we went to, we were always surrounded by wonderful people. Jeff and EJ that had the seats to our right always had great stories to tell and EJ was always up for photobombing the high schoolers around us. The Senior Master Sergeant (USAF, ret.), whose name I never got, always had a different member of his family with him. His grandkids were great and loved taking in their first ball games.

Lounging in Center Field wait for fireworks to start
on Fan Appreciation Night

Now, I’m looking forward to the playoffs. For those few more days of summer. For that last chance to ignore what the calendar says and enjoy time outdoors, with my friends, at a baseball game. A championship, if the Saints win one, would be the perfect cap for an amazing year. But the season already was a massive success. Not just because of what the team did on the field though, but because of what they did off of it.

Because they kept their word.

Because Fun is, and always will be, Good.