‘Rails & Ales’ Partner Spotlight
Leading up to our 6th Annual Rails & Ales: Light Rail Brewery Crawl, your local gurus at GetKnit will be doing a bi-weekly partner spotlight with the goal of helping you get to know our featured brewery partners that much better. Whether they are your favorite taproom in the Twin Cities or still on your “must hit” list, we hope you find this new article to be informative and entertaining! For our next installment of our partner spotlight we chatted with our friends at Tin Whiskers Brewing Company. Enjoy…
When did you open to the public?
May of 2014. We were the first and only production brewery in Downtown Saint Paul at the time!
Tell us a little bit about your brewery name.
We were founded by three electrical engineers, and they wanted to bring that shared background into the brand. A “tin whisker” is a growth of tin that, because it’s electrically conductive and tin is used frequently in solders, has a tendency to short out circuit boards or other connections.
How do you get inspiration for your beer names?
For a long time, all our beers were named after electrical engineering terms. We’ve since opened that up to embrace our shared geeky sides, bringing in more robot and sci fi references.
What’s your favorite part of Minnesota?
The seasons! It makes it so much easier to brew a huge range of seasonal beer offerings when we actually have all four seasons.
Are you Team St. Paul or Minneapolis and why?
Team Saint Paul forever.
How many years have you participated in Rails and Ales?
We’ve been on every year, so this will be our sixth year!
Any exciting tricks planned up your sleeve this year?
We’re going to release so many wacky beers.
What is the beer that you’ve brewed that you’re the most proud and why?
We’ve been brewing and fine-tuning Wheatstone Bridge – our honey chamomile wheat ale – since the day we opened, so when it won a medal at the Great American Beer Fest in 2018, that was seriously one of the coolest moments we’ve had as a brewery. Otherwise, the Dill Pickle Kolsch we make for Giggles at the State Fair took quite a bit of work to make something that sort of out-there also taste really good. And, of course, the Nut Goodie Porter, our first collaboration with Pearson’s Candy.
What’s your brewery anthem or motto?
Artfully Engineered Beers.
Who at your brewery has the best “brewery beard”?
Our new beertender Dan has a real good beard.
What has been the most surprising thing about running a brewery?
This industry is changing at insanely quick speeds, so trying to keep up with the trends while staying true to who you are can be quite a challenge.
What’s on the horizon for your brewery?
We are just launching our brand new IPA line, which we’re calling Bot IPAs. Every month we’ll release a new Bot IPA featuring new and exciting hop varieties. We’re kicking it off with a string of hazy, juicy IPAs that we think will really impress people.
If your brewery was a celebrity, who would they be?
Probably Bender from Futurama. Nothing better than a robot who loves beer!
If you could only drink one beer for the rest of your life, what would it be?
As a brewery owned by a proud Irishman, we’re legally required to say Guinness.
What’s a fun fact about your head brewer?
He was once in a band that opened for Linken Park and P.O.D.
Does your robot have a name?
We’ll never tell…
If your robot came to life, what do you think they’d be like – personality wise?
We like to think they’d be one of those people that always says yes to helping you move.
What is your favorite beer that is not your own?
So many to think of! Keller Pils and High Sticke Alt from Summit, Cowbell Cream Ale from Urban Growler, Size 7 from Steel Toe, Local 755 from Blackstack, Hop Dish from Lift Bridge, Giantsbane from Fair State, all the lagers that Bad Weather has been making. It’s hard to pick!
Weirdest flavor beer you’ve ever created?
We tried to make a Carrot Cake version of our Schottky Pumpkin Ale that never really turned out well. We made some tequila barrel-aged imperial wheat beers, one margarita-style and one tequila sunrise-style, that were pretty wild. Oh, and a Bloody Mary version of our Wheatstone Bridge!
What special events do you have at your brewery throughout the week? Or anything really exciting coming up you want to share?
So many!
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- Crowler Mondays: $6 off all crowler 3-packs
- Downtown Tuesdays: $2 pints for anyone who lives in Downtown Saint Paul
- Trivia Wednesdays: our weekly trivia night with Trivia Mafia at 7pm
- Thursdays: Two Thursdays per month we host a Pints for a Purpose donation night with local nonprofit organizations
- Feature Friday: We tap a new beer every Friday!
Where can we find you online and stay up to date on events?
You can find us online at twbrewing.com! As for socials, we’re @tinwhiskersbrew all Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram