Rochester breweries roll out the barrels for citywide craft beer week

John Molseed, Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.
·3 min read

May 11—ROCHESTER — The highest rated craft beer from the state of Minnesota? Check. The first (and so far, only)

Great American Beer Festival medal winning beer brewed in Rochester

? Also check.

Experience Rochester is holding

Rochester Craft Beer Week May 15-21

. The beers mentioned above and more will be a part of the week of beer releases, events and music celebrating Rochester's craft beer industry.

The five breweries in the city of Rochester will each mark the week with their own events and beer releases.

Toward the end of the week on Saturday, Forager Brewery is releasing its latest batch of Nillerzzzzz, a stout aged on five types of vanilla beans. The five z's stand for one of each of the varieties. Nillerzzzzz has the

highest average rating of any beer in Minnesota, according to BeerAdvocate.com

. People can get a preview taste at a ticketed dinner Friday evening.

Here's how the craft breweries in Rochester are marking Craft Beer week:

Forager will have live music starting at 7 p.m., Tuesday, May 16 through Sunday, May 21 ending with a jazz jam night Sunday.

At 5:30 p.m., Friday, May 19, the brewery will host a Nillerzzzzz beer dinner. The ticketed, five-course meal will feature cuisine inspired by the five growing regions of the vanilla used in this year's Nillerzzzzz.

At 10 a.m., Saturday, May 20, there will be a barrel-aged beer release. Forager's annual Nillerzzzzz barrel-aged bottle release party features live music, food, artwork, and even more barrel-aged beer on tap.

All craft beer week, $10 in pours comes with a commemorative 2023 American Craft Beer Week 2023 pint glass. Other specials continue through the week including half off growler fill Tuesday, May 16; 7 p.m., Wednesday, May 17, general trivia; and 7 p.m., Friday, May 19, live music by RavensFire.

Little Thistle Brewing Co. has three beer releases planned the for Rochester Craft Beer Week. The brewery received a bronze medal for its

Schwarzenlager black lager at the Great American Beer Festival in 2021

. Other events at the brewery include:

* Monday, May 15 — a traditional German kolsch beer release.

* Tuesday, May 16 — Rochester Pride beer release.

* Thursday, May 18 — craft beer tasting event.

* Friday, May 19 — a no-filter hefeweizen beer release.

LTS is marking Rochester Craft Beer Week with a small-batch release beer each day the entire week.

You can pick your winner rock-paper-scissors style to start the week. On Monday, May 15, Cabernet Barrel Aged Rock golden sour beer will be released. On Tuesday, May 16 LTS will release its Cabernet Barrel Aged Paper red sour beer. Then Wednesday, May 17, LTS will complete the theme with its Bourbon Barrel Aged Scissors dark sour beer release.

The rest of the week shapes up with the following:

* Thursday, May 18, Blackberry Scissors dark sour beer release.

* Friday, May 19, Bourbon Barrel aged bock beer release.

* Saturday, May 20, Cherry DeLarge imperial milk stout beer release.

* Sunday, May 21, A pastry hazy IPA beer release.

Thesis Beer Project has become a live music venue in addition to a craft beer destination. Jeremy Jewell and the Codependents play at the weekly music residency night Wednesday. Pucker up Saturday where Thesis visitors will see a quadruple release of new sours there. Here's the schedule at Thesis:

* 8 p.m., Tuesday, May 16 — sour beer release.

* 7 p.m., Wednesday, May 17 — THC seltzer release.

* 8 p.m., Friday, May 19 — live music by Carnage the Executioner.

* Noon, Saturday, May 20 — four sour beers released.