Brewery Week – Day 5

Perennial Artisan Ales was founded in 2011 as a brewery that focuses on Belgian and farmhouse ales. Although they still maintain this focus, they have also expanded to a line-up that includes stouts, IPAs, sours, and a variety of other styles of beer. Perennial has garnered a lot of attention for their beers, several of which are critically-acclaimed.

Perennial’s brewing facility and tasting room is located in the ground floor of an old brick loft in the Patch neighborhood along the Mississippi River. The brewery began in only a small part of the ground floor, but has since expanded to include the entire floor. The tasting room, however, remains small. The space is industrial, with concrete floors and re-purposed pipes, but is also warm and cozy, with warm paint colors and dark wood tables and chairs. The bar is large, but not overwhelming, adding to the coziness of the space. Perennial is a brewery first, but they do offer a small, rotating food menu with both appetizers and entrees. We have ordered food a handful of times, and each time it has been delicious, utilizing local and artisan ingredients.

While Perennial’s tasting room is enjoyable to visit, the real star is the beer. Perennial has around 10-15 beers available at a time, either in bottles or on tap. Several of these beers are part of Perennial’s regular line-up, but the majority are seasonal or specialty beers. Depending on the night, the brewery will also feature barrel-aged beers for visitors. Every beer from Perennial is delightful, and you can’t go wrong with your order. Their recent batches of IPAs have been particularly flavorful, but our favorite Perennial beers are probably their stouts. Using a thick and decadent base, Perennial offers several versions of this beer by adding various adjunct ingredients–Sump utilizes coffee, and Abraxas uses cacao nibs, ancho chiles, vanilla beans, and cinnamon sticks. Perennial also offers barrel-aged versions of these and other versions. Each of these beers are warm, flavorful, and distinct and are certainly worth a visit (or two, or three) to Perennial. We cannot recommend Perennial highly enough.