Northern Ale Guide, Stop 1 - Angry Inch Brewing

Stamp number 1: Angry Inch Brewing, 20841 Holyoke Ave., Lakeville, MN

Passport stamp, shown with Daddy's
Honey Pot. Pic: Nicci

In January, one day after I had ... um ... a minor procedure, Nicci and I decided to start our tour of the breweries in the Passport by heading down to Angry Inch in Lakeville. I had never been to downtown Lakeville before - in fact, I didn't know Lakeville had a downtown.

As we walked in, we smelled something absolutely wonderful cooking from the area, and I was going to be pleasantly surprised that this place sold food. But they don't. They're right next door to the Heavy Metal Grill, though, which lists "pretzels" as the only item on its dessert menu and includes chocolate milk as one of its "backstage beverages." We did not go there, but they seem nice.

Anyway, we had the kids with us, and we immediately parked on a corner table so as to be out of the way. It turned out that wasn't necessary, as there were more groups there there that had kids than groups that didn't. They had the typical taproom stuff of a bunch of games in a corner cabinet, but, more importantly, they had long, low tables, which was perfect for kids with wiggly little bodies. And it was a fairly small space - I didn't see a capacity sign or count the tables, but I guessed that a crowd of 50 people there would make it seem crowded. Which means there was no fear of the kids running off and getting lost.

I had the Samoan Kisses milk stout, because a big heavy beer is apparently what I thought I wanted after having my ... minor procedure. I don't remember much about the taste of it - aren't I a great taproom reviewer? Nicci had the Daddy's Honey Pot honey saison, a name that makes me feel kind of dirty typing (which is probably the point), and that beer got rave reviews (Nicci here - not sure I'd give it RAVE reviews, but I did enjoy it and would drink it again! Fun side note: apparently the owners are friends with a friend's husband, which makes me cool by association!).

Note locations of Angry Inch Brewing, the Heavy Metal Grill,
and the Lakeville Brewing Company. I do not remember a creek
running through the parking lot, though.

We only had one beer each at Angry Inch because as we were parking, we noticed that the place shared a parking lot with the Lakeville Brewing Company, and we knew they had food, so we wandered over there next.

I had the pork tacos, Nicci had fried chicken benedict, and the food was so good that I honestly don't remember what kind of beer I had (My beer was good; it was their American Light Lager. They describe it as "nothing fancy, just beer" which is exactly what it was). Lakeville Brewing isn't in the Passport, but that's probably just as best - it's a straight-up restaurant. I'm sure they'll serve you only beer, but if you go there, you should go there expecting to order food. The kids menu was exactly what you'd expect to see if you've ever taken kids out to dinner with the exception of tortellini, which I had never seen in a kids menu before. The kids liked the food, and everybody left happy and full.

So, if you're wondering if it's worth it to go to Lakeville specifically for these two breweries, it absolutely is. Having them right next to each other is brilliant planning, since we didn't have to move the car. I'm sure they'd be even better to visit in the summer when you can walk between them without freezing your ass off, but it was January when we went, so we decided to skip the patio scene this time.

For our next brewery stop, we went to Northeast Minneapolis, which could be considered the epicenter of the Twin Cities taproom scene...