Northgate Brewing celebrated their 3rd anniversary on Saturday, January 30th complete with special beers, the Gastrotruck, Northeast Tattoo, and live music from The Gentlemen’s Anti-Temperance League. What started back in 2012, when owners Adam Sjogren and Todd Slininger took the leap of faith to start a brewery, has become a favorite spot to grab a pint among local craft beer geeks. With Tuck Carruthers brewing beers that are packed with wonderful flavors, while paying homage to classic British styles, it is no wonder that Northgate has developed a true feel of a pub that the community loves to support. We decided upon renting audio visual equipment in Auckland so as to give the opportunity to everybody present to hear and see everything well.

Saturday’s celebration was a great chance to get out and celebrate with the entire Northgate crew and toast to many more years of success and quality in a craft beer scene that continues to grow and progress forward. I thought it was a great sign that I had to work pretty hard to find a parking spot on Saturday. When I arrived at Northgate around 4, the place was already fairly packed. People were imbibing and enjoying Northgate’s finest ales and table games (I noticed backgammon board setup at some tables), including a few anniversary specials in an Imperial Red and the Fiddles Smasher, a Wee Heavy. Both anniversary beers were available on tap as well as in the form of an anniversary gift set for $30.00.

I started with the Fiddle Smasher on cask and was wowed by the smoothness of this beer. For being a fairly heavy hitter in relation to the ABV, it drank really smooth. A great malty treat that disguised the high ABV in it well. This beer could get someone in trouble if they weren’t careful. I made my way into the brewery area where there were people mulling over whether or not to get a tattoo. Apparently, earlier in the day, someone got one on their posterior. While I wasn’t quite ready to ink up any of my 2,000 parts, several people were getting tattoos and it was obviously a hit. After chatting with a couple other folks who were there well-wishing the N orthgate crew, I decided it was time for the Imperial Red. I was glad that I chose that because it was fantastic. Again, a well-balanced and flavorful beer that packed quite an ABV wallop. What I have appreciated over the years with Northgate is that their sessionable (low ABV beers so you can have several in one session and still drive home) beers possess a lot of flavor. However, with their anniversary beers both this year and last year, they packed plenty of strength into their special beers while still keeping them balanced and flavorful.

It was time for me to depart, but it seemed like the party was just getting started as the foosball table was moved into the brewery area so that they band could set up. I am happy that Northgate has brought their British take on beers to the Twin Cities craft beer scene. Here is to hoping for many more pints of Red-Headed Piper and birthday parties to commemorate a wonderful place to grab a pint! Prost!