Tonight I had some time to myself, while my wife was out at a get together with friends. Since I was at my Minneapolis office this afternoon, I decided to check out a new Brewery that’s opened up near Loring Park called Lakes and Legends.

Upon arriving, the first thing I noticed was that the taproom space was huge. It was much bigger than most other taprooms I’ve been too, especially ones that have just opened up. I later found out from talking to some of beertenders that they’re planning to put up a stage for music acts, so that will help fill the space a bit more.

They had eight beers on tap, so I decided to get a flight of all 8. I also ordered one of the pretzels that they were selling from, what I believe, was a local bakery. Most of the beers were good, rating a solid 3.5 stars on Untappd from me. In particular the wit was very tasty, as was their silky stout (a regular stout with just a bit of smoothness like a milk stout).

There were two beers out of the eight that struck me, however, for different reasons. The first was their rauch beer. A rauch is a smoked flavored beer that many people feel tastes and smells like bacon or other meats. I’ve never been a huge fan of rauch beers, but I know what they’re supposed to taste like, and can handle a flight size sample of them most of the time. At least that was true until I tasted this particular beer. The aroma was spot on, and the first taste was quite pleasant. However, within 2 seconds of leaving my tongue there was an overpowering chemical taste that was horrid. I told the beertenders, and after tasting it themselves, they agreed that something was wrong with the beer. Hopefully, they can fix this one because the aroma and initial taste was quite good.

The second beer that stood out was their raspberry braggot. A braggot is a honey ale, meaning it contains both regular malt as well as honey. It’s a cross between a mead and an ale. This particular version was amazing. The tart raspberry fruit helped cut down the sweetness of the honey and made for a truly delightful drink. I know a lot of people who would like this one, including maybe even my non-drinking wife.

Considering they had one beer out of eight that was a flop, but another beer that knocked it out of the park, I can certainly recommend hitting Lakes and Legends sometime. Their main course of beers were all good, and the atmosphere in the taproom was pleasant. It’s nice to try yet another great beer hangout in the growing Twin Cities beer market.