Hammerheart Brewing

Unabashed, inaccessibly accessible, and plain awesome. Where else in this fine country of ours can you go into an establishment and drink Nordic beers while listening to black metal? Where can you do those things with baby boomers in sweatshirts and khakis? Every single beer on the menu is cheap and delicious, the interior and exterior décor is perfect, and it all makes more sense somehow when it’s cold outside. If you have a few hours to drink and chat, please just go. You won’t regret it.

When you drive up you immediately think, huh. Is this it? You pull off onto an overpass and it reminds you of that terrible — albeit frightful! — movie, Cabin in the Woods. And when you walk in, you’re dropped into a different dimension. A mountainside retreat which caters to bikers and has no running water? A Viking watering hole where the guy downs a pint and then clubs his mistress, or manwhore? My thought was, who cares!
All looks aside, the place is utterly cool. There’s antlers and heavy metal, and wood. Everywhere. I don’t know anything about craft brews or beers, but I really enjoyed the Bergtatt, Valkyrie Tears, and Surtyr’s Flame. Many are dark, and rich, and heavy, and malty, and greater than 7% ABV. God bless this joint.
Note that the place can get loud since there seems to be no insulation. When I was taking a leak, I clearly heard conversations from tables. It was the Unilocal table, of course. They can get loud as f*ck. :) —
The place welcomes all types, Viking or not. Well worth the drive out to experience something uniquely Nordic-​esque while downing a few brews.

If Ragnar needs a new gig I think he would fit right in at Hammerheart! Their taproom looks like something straight outta Lord of the Rings or the show Vikings. Lots of tasty, dark, and heavy beer here. Some of the recipes came straight from the old country. They change up their taps every few weeks to keep things fresh. A few of my favorites were the British Invasion, Valkyrie Tears, and Von Winterhertz Verhasst. Don’t ask me how to pronounce that last one but trust me its good. A must go if you are into the Minnesota brewery scene. They also sell mini growlers.

My husband and I stopped here on a whim on our way back to the city from Taylors Falls. If it wasn’t for being in the right place at the right time, we probably wouldn’t have checked it out since we live in Minneapolis. The location is smaller than most of the more centrally local breweries but the style and feel of the place grew on us immediately. They have put together a Viking/​Nordic feel without going overboard. The light fixtures feature deer antlers and there are runes on the door to the restrooms. Many of the beers have an awesome smoke flavor. This is what really caught our interest. We have not yet tried a brew we don’t love. The Valkyrie Tears and Smoked Hefeweizen is our favorite. On our third visit, we made the commitment and grabbed the growler.
We have been here when it is almost empty and when it is standing room only. The atmosphere is always welcoming and we enjoy stopping in to see same three people working behind the bar. This is definitely a bit out of the way from the Cities but worth the drive!

Hammerheart Brewing is adorable! It has a rustic feel. I just loved it! I felt like I was in the back woods of Minnesota. I want to come back here for a private party or an event.
I’m not super knowledgeable about the craft beers scene. Apparently they’re into smokey flavored beers and, as it turns out, we are not into smokey flavored beers. We’ll have to return and hopefully get a flight. Until then, they charmed me with their extra wide, wooden, round top doors.

Hands down the best taproom in the Twin Cities. Not only is the beer the most interesting, varied and unique, but the taproom is a Viking feasting hall. The distance from the metro is a bit of a drag, but it makes a trip up there a special occasion.

Love this place! All the beers are excellent. No indecisive people to be seen. Patient waitstaff, and even musical! All around great night.

My friends and I were thrilled when we figured out there was a brewery in our hometown, just down the road from where we live. We were all in town and decided to check it out! Boy, am I sure glad we did. Their beer was sure tasty. I really liked their darker beer, with my favorite being the Black Cascade. I really like the flight option, since I was able to try four of their beers, for some variety. Each of the glasses for the flight was a pretty substantial portion.
The vibe was very Minnesotan — rustic, wood-​y, outdoorsy, etc. I definitely felt like I was back in the northern ‘burbs of Minneapolis. Seating is a little tight inside when it’s during the rush. You kind of have to stakeout a table and rush to it when people leave. I would highly recommend Hammerheart if you’re a fan of beer!

Easily some of the best tasting beer I’ve ever had. Sure the beers tend to lean to the darker side, but they are not all heavy like one thinks when getting a darker beer (ie: Guiness). Most of the malts are roasted (maybe all?) on site and that is what makes it so amazing.
Since the beers are ever changing, I’m not gonna even try to recommend a beer as they were all tasty but if you ever see anything that is peat smoked or barrel aged, get it.
There is no food on site but there are a couple of pizza places nearby that deliver (review to follow).

Their beers were completely my taste but the atmosphere of this place is pretty spot on. Went in for their 2^nd Anniversary celebration and was very satisfied. The parking lot was small but we still managed to snag parking. They had this food truck outside that sold the most amazing pies! Their beers are at a great price and they have a decent selection. Loved when they started playing the bagpipes, it made the experience fun!
Staff was super nice and quick when it came to service, not one issue at all!
I am not a fan of the beers, but the service would have me coming back easily :)

Interesting vibe. Kind of a Nordic heavy metal hipster vibe. Great beer. Not for the weak pallete though. Everything is strong and packed with flavor. Kind of tough to find from the road.

Heavy metal, amazing craft brews, vikings and food trucks!!! How in the world could this go wrong? Well it doesnt. It’s perfect. The craft scene is booming and HammerHeart is stepping out in front with metal horns in the air and an amazing brew in the other! Our first visit we tried all 11 beers that were available. I love the smoked brews! And even the Peat Ale was awesome and I hate Peat!!! We drove 45 minutes to get here and it was well worth it. I have a feeling we will make this drive often. Skol!!!

Their beers can do no wrong.
Seriously, every beer here is packed with flavor. These guys know their shizz. Cute space, people were having a birthday party here. Adorable décor.
Other things to note: Small space, loud death metal, super pricey on the beers. Flights were like $ 14 and it didn’t come with much.
But its really worth a stop, especially since they don’t bottle anything.

2 buddies and I went for a trip to Stilllwater first to have some amazing BBQ at Smalley’s and then we took the drive to a tap room I have just recently heard of Hammerheart in Lino Lakes.
It is pretty small, but has a cool rustic cabin feel to it.
They open at 2 on Saturday, which I felt was a little late, but it gave us time to go from Stillwater to there and make it into the packed room in time. Behind the bar is a working brewery, that looks pretty expansive. They only had about 4 or five fermenters from what I could see, but they had about 12 beers on tap, so it must keep up with demand.
The beers are $ 5 a piece and many are pretty BIG beers, so they pour a lot of 12 oz pours.
Each beer I had, 4 of them, were really tasty and complex. There was a spicy IPA I really enjoyed.
My buddies split s few flights of beer and they seemed to really enjoy them. Flights of 4 beers were $ 11.
The staff was super cool and even though the place was packed, you could usually get a beer within minutes.
I love this new Minneapolis Craft Beer scene, there are a ton of guys and gals out there making really good beer.
It was time for a nap on the drive home as the 7% beers took a hold of my eyelids.
I would have liked to get a beanie hat there, but alas, they didn’t sell them, but they did have about 4 different shirts of sale.
Great little tap room!

This place is all wood and metal décor/​atmosphere. It’s not all that big inside, but they did a pretty good job making barrel tables and chairs throughout. I did appreciate that there was a section at the end of the bar to specifically go up to ask questions and order your beer. It sucks when you have to stand and wait in some imaginary line, hoping your turn is next to get a drink!
It’s always smart to first give the flight a try. I ended up ordering a Hail to the Dark Gourd beer. I never really had a smoky beer before, but I decided to give it a try since it was an ale with pumpkin. I was pleasantly surprised. This is a heavy, dark and very smoky beer. I really didn’t think I could drink more than 1, but did enjoy this unique brew.
I think this might also feel like a whole new place if I came here in the summer. The patio seemed to be big enough for large groups of people.

I’m a well respected citizen in the forest lake /​Lino lakes area and brought my Girlfriend and her son here for his 30^th birthday and was asked to leave because I was indecisive when ordering. WTF
I can only suggest that if your going out for the evening socializing you really want to give this place a second thought!!! Its Operated by a bunch of incompetent young adults that don’t have a clue.
Also this establishment is just down the road from Lino Lakes PD and your drinking 10% plus beer… You Know what they say About Lino Lakes PD!!!

If you enjoy strong bourbon aged ales you will like this place, don’t waste your time on the 11.00 flight. Go for the two for one beers which are buy one get one free for 5.00, they don’t have to be the same and you have a choice of three to four beers to choose from. This is a brewery that if Slayer and Game of Thrones had a child it would produce this which is crazy and cool at the same time. Music was at first I could tell was some medieval tunes then turned into metal as the evening approached. A lot of cool décor and seating inside and out.

Yeah, it’s time for me to update and upgrade.
5-​stars. Hands down. My last review was the first time I’d ever been to Hammerheard (it was also on a random Tuesday). Since then, I’ve been back two more times, both during the weekend, and lemme tell ya — this place is great. GREAT.
That’s saying a lot, especially since I don’t even drink beer. Seriously, the ONLY time I drink beer is at Hammerheart Brewing (I’m more of a diehard whiskey/​sake drinker).
So why do I drink their beer?
Because they are AMAZING. They’ve got a nice range, from lighter blondes to DEEP DARK ABYSS OF MY SOUL. Yeah, they get pretty dark. The Brandy Barrel Aged Midvinter Øl stout brought images of sailing through the dark icey winter fjords of Norway, en route to pillage and burn a village, and perhaps make a sacrifice to mighty Odin in Valhalla… it was that dark. GOOD, but definitely a slow sipper.
Favorite: Dublin Raid Bourbon Barrel… ohhh yes. Spicy, complex, with that lovely bourbon aroma I know and love. And not too dark/​intense! A sipper but not a super duper sipper. I just **hope** (nudge nudge, wink wink?) they will carry it again someday. It seems like a lot of their brews are limited run, so enjoy them while they last.
Also, in my last review, I complained about lack of snacks. Scratch that. Seriously. You don’t need snacks. For one, their beers are filling, and snacks might just needlessly fill me up. Another reason is because usually on weekends, they get AMAZING food trucks, like Cajun 2 Geaux (which was a lovely added bonus because I hadn’t had their food before).
I really appreciate this business. Yeah they’re kinda far away and it’s sort of a pain, but honestly, if you really want their beer, you’ll make the effort… and in a weird sort of way, that kind of keeps the more obnoxious customers (nice way of putting it) away.
And they have growlers again! Yay!

The beer was killer.
Heavy Metal? Not for me.
Kind of in the sticks.
One of the first things I noticed walking in was a sign behind the bar that said something like «racism, sexism and homophobia of any type will not be tolerated.» Does any establishment really need a sign saying this in 2014? Shouldn’t that just be the standard norm that goes without saying?
Most of the beers here are manly beers. Dark stuff brewed with other types of booze and high ABV’s. $ 5.00 for a full pint or $ 2.00 for sampler sizes. Got one full pint of their Northern IPA and a couple sampler sizes of their dark brews made with whiskey and bourbon. This beer will put hair on your chest!
Downsides? Blaring Orchestral Heavy Metal the entire time. Also, no other entertainment options like shuffleboard, cards, bar games, etc. I made a special trip up just to check this place out. If it was on my way home, I would be a semi-​regular. Hope to hit up again some time this summer in connection with a Running Aces pit stop.

It is with a Hammer Heart that I review this brewery. Here’s a new brewery in the north metro that is capable of producing a lot of good varieties of beer. When I went they didn’t have flights going, so I managed to try two brews, the Hostol Harvest Ale & the British Invasion Pale. Both were delightful beers to drink in a setting that is characteristic of a viking tavern. All they need to add are large steins overflowing with beer!
While I wasn’t satisfied with just 2 decent brews, I wanted to gamble a little and grabbed a growler of the Badetiss Blonde. I figured you can’t really go wrong with a blonde. It ended up being a smooth beer to drink with a smoky after taste. That was the surprise with the blonde I guess.
Overall, I will be coming back to try more of their beers. I think they have a bit of work to do still on the establishment and the beers will only get better with time.