Phallic symbols are funny, but then again, I'm a juvenile. Naming your brewery Big Wood is probably an homage to the mighty schlong, but you could try to get away saying it is about lumberjacks or something, though no guy would believe you. I think they did call it Big Wood because it was funny and it took big wood to launch a brewery and do it their way. If you have a rager for craft beer and want to sell a lot of merch, it goes hand in hand. When you call your first beer, Morning Wood Coffee Stout, there is no doubt it was the culmination of a wet dream for Big Wood.
Let's not dick around. I went there because I had seen this brewery when scouting Minnesota for breweries in the Twin Cities, but I had not gotten there for having a lack of time on more than one occasion. I found myself very close, by chance, and said, today's the day. I'm glad I did. They just happened to be doing their Bierstacheln event and the weather was great to be outside. Normally, at this time in March, the weather is pretty stiff, but not today. If you don't know what Bierstacheln is, you're in for a treat. Also, called beer-poking, its traditions go back at least 500 years to Germany when, in the winter, someone had the bright idea to put a red hot steel poker into very cold beer to warm it up. Of course, no refrigeration back then had beer being stored in a cellar to keep it cool, but sometimes it got too cold. Beers are mostly drank at room temperature in Germany, so this made sense. This Bierstacheln, or beer sting, as it translates from German became quite popular. It instantly carmalizes the sugars in the beer and creates a large frothy head. You should drink about a third of your beer first and then do it, to keep it from over-flowing. It brings out the malt flavor and gives the beer a toasty, roast marshmallow taste. Schells Brewery in New Ulm, Minnesota gets credit for being the first in the US to do this, but it has taken off a bit. You want to do it with dark, toasty beers, like stouts, porters and brown and creme ales, to get the best results. I couldn't resist. I chose their Brown Chicken Brown Cow Brown Ale. Which is an English ale, and my fav. The beer is good by itself, with an IBU of 23 and had a chocolatey, toasty expression anyways, but the poke really added some flair. The flavor exploded and it was kind of marshmallowy. It, of course, warms the beer and the frothy head ran down the side, but it was great and had me standing at attention. If I hadn't left my kid sitting at the bar enjoying a root beer float, I might have pitched my tent and stayed a long time out there chatting with the patrons. If felt bad, so I went back and finished my beer inside and then had a Little Red Riding Wood to finish off my trip to Big Wood. Riding Wood is a red beer of course. This beer was good, but lacked the poke and was a little less impressive as a result, but that isn't fair to the beer. A nice deep copper color, it has spicy notes of caramel. It finished light, but first sip and smell were good.
I asked both of my brothers if they had tried a beer poke before and much to my chagrin, they both said they had. Liars. Now, the history of putting hot rocks in beer wort has been around since the middle ages. It does the same thing as the poke, but is done on a large scale rather than one beer at a time. The rocks are heated until they are red and they boil the wort almost immediately. Also, to be traditional, the vat needs to be made of wood. Necessity is the mother of invention, they say, as the beer technology we take for granted today did not exist then. It creates a smoky flavor and is very unique. It is called Steinbier, which translate from German as stone beer. If you have a chance to try a Steinbier or Bierstacheln, I recommend it.
Big Wood has a good stable of other beers and not all have erections in their name, though it would be funny if they did. Jack Savage is their Pale Ale you might have heard of. Revelry is a Winter IPA, Cocoa-Vanilla Creme Ale sounds delicious and is a creme ale. Of course it is, you nob. Black Anvil is an Imperial Stout and one I really like that wasn't on tap is Stormin' Da Castle, an English style IPA. There are others and the bar is a big square in the middle with chairs all around and more seating along the walls. I do recommend this brewery and will go back again. They have a big outdoors area too, along with pizzas, pretzels and T-Rex cookies. Getting a beer poke at Big Wood, c'mon, that's funny.
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