The Muddy Pig

After doing a tour of Flat Earth Brewing Co. last weekend, my buddies and I headed to one of the better St. Paul beer bars, The Muddy Pig, to enjoy some eats and drinks. I’d been here before and knew this place had a great tap and bottle selection (that apparently their website lists roughly half of), but wow, I must have forgotten the extent of the strange brews available to try. Very impressed.

Since we’d already had a few earlier at the brewery and since I was driving, I didn’t go too crazy. Here’s what I had:

Founders Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale/Wee-Heavy: This 8.5% ABV brew gets an A- on BeerAdvocate.com and I can definitely see why. It had that familiar silky smooth profile of an 80/- export if you’d take a shot of Scotch and drop it in the glass. A bit sweeter in taste to go along with the higher alcohol level. I’m a fan of Scotch in general, so that probably is one of the reasons this beer has overpowered my current attraction to Belgian yeast-fermented brews to become my current favorite beer. I have to try more Scotch ales. This was likely my first.

Surly Mild: I remember trying this seasonal while on one of my tours of their brewery last year and recall it was probably the least favorite Surly brew I’ve tried besides their Hell lager (not much a fan of that style). I think this is the only mild I’ve ever tried, but what I got from it was a lot of roast flavor without much malty body to back it up. Low hops but any that are in this brew have an easy time shining through without much malt to cover them up. This 4% ABV beer was a good, interesting beer to end the night with for driving purposes but I can’t see myself ordering this, and if it’s truly indicative of the style, any milds too often.

Notice the 2009 Surly Darkness poster in the background?

I know by buddies ordered some IPAs and a Celebration Winter Ale of some sort, but I can’t remember exactly what. So, cheers!

Oh, p.s. – anyone have any Scotch ale recs? I need to try more of that style.