Beaver Island to release Sister City alt

In 2006, the city of St. Cloud established a sister city relationship with Spalt, Germany.

Now, St. Cloud's newest brewery is honoring that relationship. Beaver Island Brewing Co. is releasing a seasonal alt bier, called Sister City, that uses Spalter hops grown in Spalt.

"We are extremely proud of roots and we wanted to reflect that with this beer," said Beaver Island co-founder Nick Barth. "This area has a large German Catholic community and we are proud to pay homage to that heritage."

Sister City debuts at a pair of tapping parties Wednesday: 5 p.m. at Boulder Tap House, 3950 Second St. S, and at 7 p.m. at the Veranda Lounge, 22 Fifth Ave. S. The beer will be on tap at the Beaver Island taproom at 216 Sixth Ave. S starting at 4 p.m. Thursday.

Barth said his dream is to set up a trade-off where a Spalt brewer makes beer at Beaver Island and vice versa.

Sister City was developed on a pilot system last fall when the brewery was being constructed. The beer will serve as Beaver Island's spring seasonal.

"'Alt' in German refers to 'old' and this is the old style of brewing in Germany before lagers were prevalent," explains Beaver Island brewmaster Chris Laumb.

Sister City uses a German hybrid yeast and production combines ale and lager methods. Primary fermentation is done at warmer temperatures like an ale, but the secondary fermentation is done in colder temperatures like a lager.

The beer also uses a German malt.

"It has a little fruity characteristic from the ale yeast but then is very clean tasting from the cold lagering," Laumb said.

Sister City, which was filtered Monday and kegged on Tuesday, replaces the seasonal robust ale called Union Suit. Barth said Union Suit will return as early as next fall.

"The response to Union Suit was unbelievable. There's going to be some disappointed people in town," Laumb said. "But it will be back."

Follow Jake Laxen on Twitter @jacoblaxen.

Times hosting May 7 pub crawl

Limited tickets remain for the May 7 pub crawl that includes samples from Beaver Island Brewing Co. and Lupine Brewing Co. of St. Cloud, and Third Street Brewhouse of Cold Spring.

The tour includes stops at Beaver Island's taproom, D.B. Searle's and MC's Dugout Bar & Grill.

Tickets for the age 21 and older event are $20 and can be purchased at www.sctimes.com\pubcrawl.