I can see the pub ahead, standing tall against the backdrop of the sea and the evening sky. By themselves, they're just small moments in and around beer. The whole incident put him in the mood to watch tractors, so we sat down to a YouTube video of a tractor festival in the Czech town of Nedvz and I cracked open a bottle of Trappistes Rochefort 8, their muddy brown, Dark Strong Ale of 9.2% ABV, which was originally known as Spcial when it was released in the mid-1950s. My recollection is hazy. This time, there was less talk of radical plans for the land that Jester King sits on and more quiet, joyful moments of communion among baby goats, with a cup of Saison in hand. 
Why are people in Minnesota clutching on to these antiquated laws? Schmitty asked me, rhetorically. The construction work next to my apartment shows no sign of ending and, now that I work remotely, raucous noises have become the unwanted soundtrack to my day. 57 pages of notes, over 30,000 words processed down into a spiraling feature that barely begins to capture the fight of shipbuilders like LTD.
A few of the other young goats showed off expert-level tree-climbing skills, even though they were only days old. Later, after spending the afternoon out in the autumn sun, Im ready for a beer. I dont really stop moving after that. I crave the fresh air and salty breeze, the smell of the water as it bubbles up on the shore, the foodeven those damn seagulls. Recently, on my first trip back to Texas since moving to Seattleand since COVID-19 took over our livesI trekked out to see Peppy and the goats he tends. Hes spent much of Thanksgiving weekend out in that drafty, half-finished garage, serving everyone in the Lexington-Hamline South neighborhood of St. Paul a pint of Union Lager. LTD was stoking mutiny, as breweries around the state mounted a campaign, for the third year in a row, to legalize Sunday liquor store sales. Together, they're the culture we love. Together, they're the culture we love. More of us, myself included, should try that philosophy on for size. By themselves, they're just small moments in and around beer. Tractor! It goes beyond beer.
All the hiccups. Minnesota Beer Activists is dormant, having won its push for Sunday sales years ago. Fuck your lawn. A couple years ago, Sean Peppy Meyerthe farmer at Jester King Brewery, just outside of Austinhit me with this simple statement. All of it. But the beer was a picket sign, more than anything. The apartment beside mine is being renovated. With a pint of Harveys Sussex Best Bitter in hand, I take a seat just a stones throw from the water. All the good. 
Ive spent the last two years studying Minnesotas path to modernization, interviewing more lawyers and senators than I ever thought necessary. Its a bready conversation starter, opening up channels with the new neighbors. LTD is still in Hokins, but a wave has crested over all of this. Before I know it, Ive drunk my beer and Im back on my feet and headed to the bar for another. But it wasnt until I went to LTD Brewing Co. to write about Sunday Sales Pale Ale that I realized they were building a ship in a bottle. At the time I wrote it, it was a refreshing spring ale, which sounds right. Union Lager was just released in 12-packs, but you gotta know someone to get a backyard keg like Bloomquists. By the end of the day, I will have logged about 15 miles of walking between set-up, break-down, and everything in between. Together, they're the culture we love.
By themselves, they're just small moments in and around beer. But what brought me the most contentment that day was that, despite all the nonsense weve had to live through, Peppy hasnt lost the hope and empathy for the land that makes his, and by extension Jester Kings, agricultural endeavor so unique.
Two weeks after Burial Beer Co. opened its doors in June of 2013, co-owners Jess and Doug Reiser welcomed their second son, Axel, into the world. We live in one of those tall skinny terraced Flemish houses on a road out of the village that heads north into the countryside. Drinking with me was Andrew SchmittSchmittythe forthright founder of Minnesota Beer Activists. Together, they're the culture we love. The expansion will add a 20-BBL brewhouse to their current 10-BBL system, giving their 1,600-BBL yearly output room to grow into an eventual 16,000-BBL annual capacity. Brewed as a collaboration between Fair State and August Schell Brewing Company, Minnesotas only other union brewery, it symbolizes the Fair State Co-op Workers Unions commitment to upholding a standard of fair treatment and high-quality beer. Production of Burial mainstays like Skillet Donut Stout and Scythe Rye IPA will transition to the new digs along with all clean beer production. I plop onto the worn, faux leather seat and text Day Bracey that Im ready in the lobby. Its 7:05 in the morning, and Ive come to Pittsburgh for the Barrel and Flow Fest. Together, they're the culture we love. The event is a celebration of Black arts and culture, and includes but is not limited to beer, music, and small businesses. Its been only a week, and Anders Bloomquist and Lauren Nielsen havent quite settled into their new home. Now, as both boy and brewery look toward their third birthdays, Jess, Doug, and head brewer/co-owner Tim Gorley are getting ready to open Burials second location across town in Biltmore Village.
I flew in the afternoon before, and whats keeping me going are some incredible beers (like, for actual caloric intake) and peoples good spirits. Together, they're the culture we love. As I look out at the lingering haze on the horizon, I take a deep breath in and the maritime air fills my lungs. When the tractor finally made it out of its hole, my son and I both cheered, and I decided to celebrate by opening another bottle of Rochefort. Once youve drunk a few beers with him, all it takes is a quick Ill be in town next week text to elicit a Hell yeah in response. Everything was so new, which is usually the case when baptisms take place. One tractor got stuck in a muddy crater and we both willed it on from the sofa as it revved and spluttered and chugged in its attempts to get out. By themselves, they're just small moments in and around beer. The paper where I told their story is gone, effaced from the internet. Later, we drive up to the barricade by one of the three stages, and I help him, his partner Cat, and his daughter unload everything we had stuffed into Days car like Tetris pieces.
Hes elsewhere now, cultivating community hop gardens. Despite the potentially polarizing stance, Peppy is the kind of person whos easy to know. Today, though, Im off to the sea. He just gives a shit, ya know? One moment, theyre talking about the 1914 craftsmans former owners; the next, the benefits of collective bargaining. The Fair State Brewing Cooperative packaging tech and union steward is around back, pumping a keg propped up on two-by-fours in his garage. The sun disappears early, and the wind is picking up, so I eventually retreat to my apartment rental. Im poring through my hard drive trying to piece together this day. Hopkins, Minnesota, May 2016 feels like a different epoch; the Pale Ale in my glass, a phantom in my memory. Especially during a pandemic. It was backed up to a trailer into which spent grains were being dumped from the brewhouse I had just visited, a beautiful tiled room from days gone by with shining copper brewing vessels.I showed the photo of the Rochefort tractor to my son. No, I dont remember the flavor. And its even harder when the festival includes collaboration beers, a digital component, conference panels, live music, and honestly anything you can think of.
My sons second birthday party took place in lockdown this past February. Day, the team, and I have spent the past several sleepless nights trying to get things in place. went to LTD Brewing Co. to write about Sunday Sales Pale Ale. Agricultural traffic is abundant. I feel my eyes grow heavy, and I have no intention of fighting the urge to sleep. By themselves, they're just small moments in and around beer. It was a Ford 4600, a 60 horsepower utility tractor first released in 1981 with a 3.3 L diesel 3 cylinder engine.
But theres also the box spring on the three-season porch and the stack of beer books in the dining room, topped with an old edition of The Homebrewers Garden. Even in escape, its hard to ever get away. No wonder they lovingly refer to this place as their third child. Call it benefits of membership. By themselves, they're just small moments in and around beer. Its 8:20 a.m., and Im woken by the shattering sound of someone repeatedly slamming a small dumpster back and forth until it empties its contents into another. (Thats him pictured in his miniature brewing boots.) Bloomquist is hopeful itll become a core brand for the countrys smallest union brewery, and that his yard will become a convivial gathering spot worthy of the beer.
Sometimes the tractor drivers bamp their horns when we wave at them.My son likes to watch a lot of tractor videos on YouTube, too. Its not easy to throw a beer festival. When I arrive in Whitstable, a small town on the southeast coast of England, I immediately head to the shore.
New mother Corn Dog had two boys that were damn near as old as the hangover I was nursing while on the farm. Five years later, yes I am. Yes, they have the Christmas decorations up, complete with little stuffed nisses and a garland of Danish flags wrapped around the tree. Together, they're the culture we love. Their current spot will be transformed into a 100% sour and farmhouse facility. But, in what feels like no time at all, it is morning and I am woken to familiar despair: Workers are shouting over each other as they cut through wood and hammer against the wall behind me. In a rare moment of stillness, thoughand as I look back later over Fervent Few member Nick Narettos photo series from the eventI can see, through the fray, how Days vision carries through every interaction, every moving part. Are you trying to be backwards?". Tractor, he shouted.
It was a small outdoor affair during which his auntie gifted him a Claas model tractor and trailer from Dickies Toys, green trim with black tires and red alloys.Since then, my son makes me stand out in front of our house watching for large farm machinery that might pass by. I look back on Schmitty, beaming with energy. And the breeze kept blowing, forcing that familiar, rejuvenating Hill Country air into my lungs.
By themselves, they're just small moments in and around beer. My son also likes to watch a nine-minute video from the Indian farm vlogging channel, Pramods Life, in which Pramod Prajapati and his friends drive three tractors into a nearby river to have them washed.On a recent reporting trip to the Trappist brewery at the Abbaye Notre Dame de Saint-Remy in Rochefort, I noticed a tractor parked outside their brewhouse. I come here when Im feeling drained or burned out, which I have been lately. At the time, they were operating on a 1 BBL pilot system at their location in Ashevilles South Slope neighborhood. Id only been in Minnesota 18 months, and Id somehow found myself, a Massachusetts transplant, covering the states burgeoning beer scene.
One of his favorites is a highlights reel from a tractor show in the Czech town of Horn Plan where the 2,000 inhabitants come together to watch their sons and daughters navigate a range of muddy obstacles in tractors of varying sizes and abilities. Most guests dont come in the house, though.
The beer is as much a manifesto as it is a Dortmunder-style Lager.