Flyover country is a term Minnesotans despise. East Coast bias is something that you hear a lot of in sports circles. The Red Sox and the Yankees are on Sunday Night Baseball way more than the Minnesota Twins. Look at where all the major late night talk shows are filmed; none of them even think of opening up a studio in the Midwest despite the money they would save on rent. For a lot of the people on the coasts, Minnesota, and maybe more generally, the Midwest is an afterthought. We are the people who extend our vowel sounds like Cialis extends a geriatric man’s playing time in the game of love. However, when it comes to craft beer, Minnesota is starting to become noteworthy and a reason to stay a while.

Fair State’s mixed culture program is in a class by itself in this market. They trailblaze with a robust portfolio of kettle sours and barrel-aged mixed culture beers. When so many breweries focus on their IPAs, Fair State is educating palates with their sour program. I almost hate to use sour program because the term sour is off-putting and doesn’t really encompass all the beers it is meant to describe. So, I am going to refer to them as mixed-culture beers.

Flyover Country

Fair State’s latest mixed culture beer, Flyover Country is a sensory mongoose. My first whiff is slight brininess that you get from sauerkraut or pickles. I immediately got to wondering if I had ham and cream cheese in the fridge. However, as I take my first sip, I am amazed at how delicate the flavors are. Lots of green apple and unripened green grapes are evident in the flavor. There is a medium amount of tartness to Flyover Country, but nothing too crazy. Flyover Country is a 5.2% ABV beer with 25 IBUs.

Visually, this beer is like a glass of champagne with its bubbles jumping off the bottom of the glass like lemmings after using Mapquest to find their next meal. There is a slight haze to this beer and which accentuates the light goldenrod color of the beer. It is stunning in the glass. There is not a ton of head, but that is ok because the color is so awesome.

Who will like this beer? I want to say everyone, but I can’t. I know that I really enjoy this beer, but that is because I like the tartness and some funk. If you have someone in your life who is into a dry cider, this is an excellent choice for them. If someone is scared of mixed-culture beers, this one is a bit of a stretch.

The bottom line is this: try it. I think that Fair State makes some of the best mixed-culture beers in the Twin Cities. There is an artistry and complexity to this beer. A lot of breweries are doing kettle sours and some are good, but many are one-dimensional. The bottles of Flyover Country went on sale at the brewery on March 25th and they should be on liquor store shelves around town. The beer’s name is almost ironic because I never skip over a place where beers like this are available. Maybe the better name for Flyover Country would have been, Another One, Please!

Fair State Brewing Cooperative is located at 2506 Central Ave NE, Minneapolis, MN 55418

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