Brewery Review: HammerHeart Brewing Co.

This past weekend, my wife and I went camping with two of our good friends just North of the Twin Cities in Lino Lakes, MN. Sunday was pretty wet and cloudy so instead of drinking beer at camp we went straight to the source and visited the closest taproom, HammerHeart Brewing Co. They are the first and only brewery in Lino Lakes and they now hold the spot of my favorite brewery.

In the ever-growing taproom market of the Twin Cities, I feel like you need to do one of two things really well to succeed. One of those would be constructing an awesome taproom by creating an environment that provides a one of a kind experience (i.e. Surly Brewing). The other would be to focus on brewing a line-up of consistently good beer. HammerHeart has nailed both of these.

The taproom makes me think of the Prancing Pony, the pub from the Lord of the Rings. The whole place is covered in carved wood and Nordic inspired decorations and above the front door is a menacing sea serpent figurehead from a viking longboat. You can enjoy their brew outside on their small pine-covered patio or you can saddle up to one of their bourbon barrel table tops.

Source

The people that work there also contribute to the unique experience. Nathaniel Chapman and his brother-in-law Austin Lunn who own the brewery happened to both be there during our visit, which is apparently a rare occasion. These guys are exactly what you would picture the owners of a Nordic and heavy metal inspired brewery to look like. Long beards, long hair, tattoos, and leather vests. Basically they look like the guys from ZZ Top. Despite their intimidating bad ass appearance, they were both super welcoming and overall nice guys. Chapman came to our table and talked to us about the place, their history, and what was next for the brewery. Austin, the head brewer, made himself available to a group to talk about how his experiences in Norway inspired his beer's profile.

Head brewer Austin Lunn

Most of the new small craft breweries that I have visited only feature around five taps at one time. They may have one or two flagships with a couple other rotating taps. HammerHeart has a shocking twelve taps that are all rotating. I made sure to sample all of them and I can confidently say that all of them are worth the purchase of a full pint, though none of them were below 6.5% so pace yourself. Half of their beers feature beach or cherry wood smoke malts which provide a nice twist on some of your favorite styles. I was also really excited to hear that they have a couple sour ales fermenting right now that may be available this fall.



While it may be a bit of a hike from Northeast Minneapolis, HammerHeart is definitely worth making the trip for a growler or two of their delicious product. They are open 2PM-10PM Tues-Sat and noon-8PM on Sundays. You can also find them on tap at various bars across Minnesota and at a few places in Chicago and Louisville.

Skål!