Happy Thirsty Thursday!

Let’s just start off by saying, that the only reason we made it to Northgate Brewing in Nordeast Minneapolis was because of a Groupon Living Social voucher. I knew that Rob had had a Northgate beer in the past, specifically at the Uptown Cafeteria; and he wasn’t all that impressed. But it had been a while – a few years, maybe? Libertine has since moved in to the space that Uptown Cafeteria once housed.

I bought the voucher because of what it included: a tasting of four half-pints of their beers, as well as two flagons. What the hell is a flagon, you ask? I was wondering the same thing! It’s essentially a mini-growler, holding about 750ml/25 oz of beer {the amount in a bottle of wine}, as opposed to a growler’s 64-oz fill-up.

Isn’t it cute?!

Northgate’s taproom is pretty small; but we loved the vibe. Not unlike Insight Brewing, you’ll find a focus on British-style beers here. I only took one photo – of our half-pints. Boy, do I wish more restaurants and breweries served beer by the half-pint! 

Our favorite: Maggie’s Leap Sweet Stout

Oh dear lord is that sweet stout tasty! I hadn’t had anything like that in a long, long time. A sweet stout gets its name because lactose is usually added to the brew to add body and a touch of sweetness. What made this sweet stout even more creamy is that they served it on nitro.

This also meant that we couldn’t fill a flagon with the Maggie’s Sweet Stout. 😦 Nitro beers won’t keep in a growler. Instead, we filled our flagons with the Stronghold Robust Porter. It’s made with cold press from Up Coffee Roasters. You can really taste the coffee!

To be quite honest, the other two were not memorable. In fact, we weren’t very fond of them and left them behind. With each of us having had only one half-pint, it was time for us to find another brewery… You’ll have to wait until next week to find out which one!

It looks like the Maggie’s Leap Sweet Stout is a seasonal beer. However, at the time of this writing, it’s still on Northgate Breweing’s “On Tap” menu online. I recommend you get there for a taste. I’d go back just for that beer! A deck of cards and a sweet stout? Sounds like my kind of afternoon in a taproom.

Have you had a sweet stout?

Cheers~
Carrie