Hop Passport: Pryes Brewing Company

This year I am partnering with Hop Passport to get out and explore like never before. The Hop Passport is the gateway to great beer in 11 different states. The 2019 Hop Passport enables holders to BOGO beer from some of their favorite brewers. The Minnesota passport features 68 breweries across the state, plus a few guest breweries from other states to make the total 78 breweries. I was thrilled when looking through my passport and saw a page for the Islamorada Beer Company since I will be in the area for spring break. You will be able to get a 2 for 1 beer special at each brewery featured in the passport, which comes out to over $450 worth of free beer. Since passports are good from January 1st – December 31st, 2019 brewsplorers have 365 days to try even more brews for their buck, while visiting new places and exploring the state’s great brewing scene.

I have been itching to break out my passport and start exploring and the opportunity finally presented itself last Friday. My friends Lauren and Meg joined me for a night out to test out two breweries from my passport list. This week I will be talking about our first stop, Pryes Brewing Company.

The Pryes Brewery taproom is located just across the river from Northeast Minneapolis, making brew hopping easy since this area is is widely known as a beer destination. With a dog-friendly patio overlooking the Mississippi offering guests riverside views where they can share a pint with friends, family, and furbabies. When its too chilly to enjoy the great outdoors guests can head inside to take part in a friendly game of feather bowling, don’t worry I didn’t know what it was either. Apparently, this game is similar to bocce, but with heavy wooden balls shaped like wheels of cheese, and Pryes offers a beautiful court right inside their taproom. Or perhaps try a bite off the menu which features a chef-in-residence model of food service. While the brewery holds a restaurant license, it will not have a restaurant of its own, instead, the kitchen will be offered to local chefs as a temporary operation.

During our visit, Lauren tried the Bohemian Blonde Ale which is Pryes version of a traditional blond ale made with a blend of Eastern European Pilsner malts, featuring lemon, floral and dry flavors. Meg tried the Main Squeeze, a citrus blonde ale with sunny, crisp and lemon-lime flavors. For two beers that seemed so similar in their description on the menu, they tasted drastically different and both were thrilled with their choices. I gave the Barrel-Aged Barleywine which is crafted with 100% malt, and Pryes Gold Medal winning Barleywine aged in Brandy barrels, for a very strong flavor-filled punch to the mouth that Lauren ended up loving much more than I did.

With an amazing staff and industrial chic atmosphere its easy to see why locals flock to Pryes Brewery to kick back with friends and enjoy some food and brews after a long work week. I can not wait to go back and try my hand at feather bowling while introducing more of my friends to this great local hot spot.

For more information on the Hop Passport you can check out their website, or follow them on Facebook and Instagram. Want to more about Pryes? You can find more on their website or follow them on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.