Northside Taproom Opens with a Boom

Shortly after its inception, Boom Island quickly became my favorite beer, and not just because it's brewed right here in north Minneapolis.  Every concoction, from the darker Hoodoo and Brimstone beers to the Silvus pale ale and Witness, have a unique taste and are well worth the price.  The only problem was that the hours at their former digs made it hard to stop in for a growler.  Plenty of local stores carry the beer, but the growler is definitely the economical way to go.

So imagine my disappointment several weeks ago when I pulled up to the old spot, empty growler in hand, only to find that it was closed down.  Not for lack of business; quite the opposite...

The Sting of the Trinidad Scorpion

When your food has to remind you it's edible, that ought to be a warning sign.

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

The fascination with insanely hot peppers (and the beer to wash them down with) continues.  I thought the ghost pepper was the hottest in the world, and although my ghost pepper exploits haven't always been successful, I've got a pretty good handle on the hot stuff.  Then I heard that a newly-discovered strain is even hotter.  The ghost pepper tops out at about 1.1 million Scoville Heat Units, or the ounces of water it takes to displace the capsacin found in each pepper.  That's roughly twice as hot as the habanero.  As shown above, the Trinidad scorpion comes in at 1.4 million, or about 3/4 the heat of a star.  Pop one of these peppers in your mouth, then stand under Niagra Falls for thirty seconds, and the heat just disappears!

The scorpion gets its name from the tip, which curls up like the stinger.  I was told that Harry Singh's restaurant on Nicollet serves food with the Trinidad scorpion, but I've yet to muster the courage to try.  Instead, I ordered both the peppers and a plant online.  When they arrived, I let both sit for a while until I was burning with curiosity about what the scorpion tasted like.

So I cut off the tail of one pepper, placed it on the tip of my tongue...

Oh, I forgot to mention, do NOT handle these with your bare hands.

Boom Island Beer and an Accidental Ghost Pepper

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

Yesterday marked the premiere of Boom Island Brewing's new beer, Brimstone.  The new brew is on tap at Eli's Food and Cocktails.  Unbeknownst to me, Eli's now has two locations, the downtown spot and a new restaurant over in Northeast.  I went downtown, and missed out on the debut of Brimstone on tap.  That turned out to be a fortuitous mistake, because...

I Hereby Declare Boom Island Brewing to be NoMi's Best Beer

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman, video by Hillside Chronicle.

Over on Get to NoMi, we've been promoting local businesses, including the startup Boom Island Brewing.  We've all been promoting the place, but I'm not sure if anyone has actually tried their beer.  So I took it upon myself to do just that.  Such is the sacrifice that I am willing to undertake on behalf of my community.

And make no mistake, this was indeed a sacrifice.  Their beer locator shows that the closest place to buy their beer is in St. Louis Park.  I cannot stand driving to, through or even thinking about St. Louis Park.  Their on-again, off-again freeway exits drive me crazy.  It's like they were built by a civil engineer with commitment issues after an especially traumatic breakup.  Or maybe an overly sarcastic city planner said, "I like St. Paul's practice freeway on 35E, but do you know what would make it even better?  Strip malls."  And then the city council passed the design plan before anyone realized that was a sadistic joke.

Just about the only good thing I can say about the highway and street layout of St. Louis Park is that it finally answers the question, "What if David Bowie's Goblin King from the movie Labyrinth got a master's degree in urban planning?"

"Damn it, Carl!  The GPS says there's a T.G.I. Friday's right around the corner."

So I braved the freeway ramp mazes, found the Four Firkins beer store, and made my way back to NoMi with my newest acquisition.  And that beer tastes...