While my social media accounts are being flooded with deep fried fare, I’m tucked safely at home with a non-expandable waistline feeling smug. I’m getting my State Fair pre-game on by contemplating a beer. The folks at Lift Bridge Brewery offered me a complimentary growler of mini-donut flavored brew and I’m never one to turn down a drink. That said, I’ve never quaffed a pint and thought, “You know what this needs? Cinnamon sugar.”
It was not without some hesitation that I dug that frosty glass into the crunch of a cinnamon sugar ring, but I am so very glad that I did.
Lift Bridge Brewery is brewed in Stillwater, Minnesota and known for their sunshine flavored Farm Girl Saison and the toasty Chestnut Hill, they have a full line of brews and special releases including a Biscotti that I’m now eyeballing.
The mini-donut beer debuted at last year’s Minnesota State Fair and they’ve brought it back for this year. The only place you and find it (outside of my refrigerator for a very limited time) is inside the Ball Park Cafe. The brew is a rich burnt sienna color meant to mimic the exterior of the wee fried dough rings. There’s a malty flavor, reminiscent of the faint yeasty flavor of the namesake sweet. Oddly, that subtle cinnamon sugar enhances the caramelly flavor notes. There’s a faint effervescence and that might be my only wish—for a few more bubbles.
This beverage captures all that is decadent, wonderful and fried at the Great Minnesota Get Together and would pair wonderfully with a bucket of French fries and a tiny paper boat of cheese curds.
