Pub 819
Whiskey – Beer – Burgers

One of Rob’s former co-workers recommended that we give Pub 819 in Hopkins a try sometime. It’s not a direction we normally go; but it was a perfect stop after our last trip to pick up another wine kit at Midwest Supplies in St. Louis Park.

We had no doubt that Mark knows us well enough to know this is an establishment that we might enjoy. Regardless, I had to check out the menu online. There is an extensive on-tap beer list that includes the following categories:

• From Our Neighbors (craft beers from throughout the U.S.)
• From Our Own Backyard (Minnesota craft beers)
• Macros (the polite way of saying “the mass-produced crap”)

They have a beer list online; but it is not 100% up-to-date. In fact, when we arrived, I saw a particular tap handle that helped me make an immediate decision!

I remembered loving this beer back in Temecula a couple of years back! After ordering it, I looked up my blog post on it, only to find that it has 13% alcohol. Whoops! The bartender served it the wrong glass. Imagine being served wine {which is around 13% ABV or so} in a pint glass like this and then only being charged $7.50… Actually, $6.50 because it was Happy Hour!

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As you might expect per their tagline noted above, they have quite the selection of whiskeys, too. Some varieties are even exclusive to Pub 819.

• Bourbon (traditional, high rye and wheated varieties) – distilled from corn
• Irish Whiskey (blended, single malt, single grain and single pot still) – malted and unmalted barley, single pot still unique to Ireland
• Rye Whiskey – use of fermented rye and aged in charred oak barrels.
• Scotch Whisky (single malt and blended) – aged in oak barrels for at least three years in Scotland
• Canadian Whisky – usually a combination of a lighter whisky and a more highly flavored whisky
• Novelty and International Whiskeys – the rest

Pub 819 offers several whiskey flights, so you can decide which you like best. They even carried our favorite from Ireland – Tyrconnel Single Malt.

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One thing you won’t find on the website, is a list of their cocktails. So I took some photos for your perusing pleasure:

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We each ordered our own dinner, with the thought of splitting them.

I love me a good blue cheese burger and the melty stuff inside this Lucy {aka cheese-stuffed burger} would make any other blue cheese lover swoon. You just aren’t going to get that blue cheese in every bite. The Jameson glaze was a little sweet for me. Rob actually thought it was one of the specialty ketchups they had brought us for the fries.

I think the favorite of our two sandwiches, though, was mine:

I loved the genius addition of brisket to this grilled cheese sandwich! What’s not to love? My only complaint about this sandwich is that they could have buttered the bread a little more and seared it to the edges. Only a small portion of that sammie is actually grilled.

Pub 819 was worth parking a few blocks away and walking through the construction. {We know of better parking spots now!} It just might be where we go back the next time we need to make a wine supply run!

What interesting or unique ingredients do you like to add to your grilled cheese sandwiches?

Cheers~
Carrie