Microbrews taste great any time of year. In fact, different varieties suit different seasons: Pilsners and hefeweizens are refreshing in the warm summertime, IPAs and ESBs are perfect during autumn and heavier stouts or porters are perhaps best served when it’s snowy and cold outside.
Year-round throughout North Dakota, groups can find local purveyors of brews they won’t find anywhere else.
At Fargo Brewing Co., the city’s first craft brewer, fun group tours are available and the taproom is open from Tuesday through Saturday.
During tastings here, be sure to toast a Wood Chipper IPA to your favorite characters in the movie Fargo. Also sample the Stone’s Throw Scottish Ale and Sodbuster Porter.
Drekker, meaning “drinking” in Norwegian, is the namesake for Drekker Brewing Co., another Fargo favorite. This popular brewery also offers tours, including a tasting of four half-pints at the tour’s conclusion.
Drekker’s taproom and brewery are also available for group events of varying sizes.
During a company happy hour, attendees should try a couple different brews. Among the options are Roll Over ESB, Ryesistance Rye Saison, Chocolate Milk Stout and Sunstone American Wheat.
In Bismarck, Laughing Sun Brewing Company has a 65-person pub featuring a stage that supports live music on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and walls covered with works by local artists.
Must-try beers here include Feast Like a Sultan IPA, McKinley Brown Ale and Sinister Pear, which is available seasonally.
Nearby Bismarck, in Mandan, Buffalo Commons Brewing Co. offers tours and tastings of popular brews such as Windblown Wheat, Northern Border Pale Ale and Salem Sue Stout.
On the way to Grand Forks, Rhombus Guys Brewing Co. is expected to open soon in the historic Metropolitan Opera House in downtown Grand Forks, according to Julie Rygg, executive director of the Greater Grand Forks CVB.
The brewery is affiliated with Rhombus Guys Pizza, which has restaurants in Grand Forks, Fargo and Mentor, Minn.
And in Minot, at Souris River Brewing patrons find both delicious beers and food, and a calendar of live music.
The menu here includes locally sourced and fresh ingredients in dishes from elk chili and buffalo balls (a meatball dish), to pierogis and walleye fish and chips. The lineup of beers includes Fools Gold, Passing Through Vanilla Porter, On Top of Oat Smokey, El Hefe, Moon Strangler Rye and the seasonal favorite, Frozen Tundra Spiced Ale.
