Coffee and beer go together like a Dylan and the Dead concert. Independent of each other, they are outstanding and have millions of fans. Put them together, and you’ll get a magical mixture of mind-blowing magnificence. Two local businesses have been hip to this fact for a couple of years and are partnered up with Peace Coffee to create their own delicious concoctions of coffee porters and stouts: Midwest Brewing Supply and Town Hall Brewery. 

Since 1995, Midwest Brewing Supply (MBS) has been the largest homebrewing and wine-making supplier in Minnesota. They are the inventers of the “Peace Coffee Java Stout” brewing kit. A brewing kit is a pre-packaged homebrew supply kit. Everything is pre-weighed and laid out in easy to read directions. You will need a few pieces of special equipment to brew the beer, but you can find everything you need at MBS. According to their website, “Combine your favorite beverages and have this one Sunday morning with the paper! The key to a great Java stout is great coffee, so we selected to use 4 oz. of Whole bean Nicaraguan full city roast that can be percolated, or if possible, cold pressed, then added to the secondary fermenter. Our ingredients for this recipe include 6 lbs. Dark Malt Extract, nearly 2 lbs. of assorted roasted grains, 2 oz. hops, priming sugar and muslin bag.” Roastmeister T.J. Semanchin brewed this up one time and enjoyed it very much. MBS offers an attractive full-color catalog that can be downloaded from their web site so take a look!

On December 29th, Town Hall re-released their coveted Peace Coffee porter, aptly named, “Black Snow”. The event was hugely popular, probably due in large part to the fact that the beer tastes like the nectar of the gods, or was it the $1 pints from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.? It may also have been due to the presence of local bluegrass/old time music pickers, “Pert’ner Sandstone”, who wowed the thirsty crowd with their energetic hillbilly grooves. “Black Snow” is the cousin of another famous (in local terms) Town Hall coffee beer creation called “Midnight Howler”. Both are seasonal beers so they aren’t on tap year ‘round. Maybe that’s why they sold 10 out of 17 kegs of the “Black Snow” on opening night? I like to think it’s because the coffee they use is so dang good. As of January 6th, they had one keg left. Town Hall is located at 1340 Washington Ave. S. in Minneapolis, near the West Bank of the U. 

Our heartfelt thanks go out to the creative folks at Midwest Brewing Supply and Town Hall Brewery for creating such delicious coffee brews. What could better in the winter?

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