2026 Minnesota State Fair Sour Sip List
The Fair always throws more new beers, ciders, and "specialty sips" at you than one person can reasonably get through in a day but I gave it my best shot in the 4 hours we were there. I know I know…not nearly enough time to get to everything on my list, or for any person to fully enjoy their time there, but I did what I could with what I had! Here's where the best-looking options took me this year - sorted into the categories you'd expect, each with a TappedIn Score out of 5.
Best Sour
Strawberry Rhubarb Runway - Pryes Brewing Co. 4.8% ABV / 5 IBU · Fruit Beer
Where to Find it: 📍 The Hangar - NE corner of Underwood St. & Murphy Ave., North End
Hands down my favorite of the whole Fair. Pryes is on a roll this year, and this one topped everything else I tried - I love the rhubarb tartness balanced with a bit of the sweetness of real strawberries, nothing artificial about it.
If you only drink one new Pryes beer this year, I’d recommend you make it this one.
TappedIn Score: 4.8/5
Runner-up mention:
Watermelon Sour - Dangerous Man Brewing 5% ABV / 20 IBU · Fruited Kettle Sour
📍 Where to find it: Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild booth - Agriculture Horticulture Building, west side
The Guild booth has a rotating "Fruity, Spicy, Tart & Funky" flight board, and out of the four that were tapped when I stopped by, this was the only one I actually liked. Real watermelon, kettle-soured the right amount - tart without going too far. Definitely the winner of the flight.
TappedIn Score: 4.3/5
Best Non-Beer Sip
Raspberry Hard Cider - Sociable Cider Werks ~6.4% ABV · Cider
📍Where to find it: Giggles' Campfire Grill - SE corner of Lee Ave. & Cooper St., The North Woods
Sipped this one watching the dog stunt show, which honestly might be the most Minnesota sentence I'll write all year. Not a sour, but it’s tart enough to scratch that itch. Definitely better than a traditional apple-flavored cider like Angry Orchard - more real fruit, less syrup.
TappedIn Score: 4.2/5
Most Minnesota
The Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild flight board
📍Where to find it: Agriculture Horticulture Building, west side
Fifteen-plus Minnesota breweries pouring under one roof, organized onto flavor-profile boards, made the Brewers Guild stop an easy place for both of us to find something to try. The flight offerings change as the taps run out, so you can go back more than once and end up with completely different options
While I gravitated toward the tart side, my husband went with the “Crisp & Clean” lager flight. His favorites were - Bent Paddle’s Light Lager and Broken Clock Brewing Cooperative’s Liquid Fidelity American Lager - both crisp, refreshing and right in his wheelhouse. Bear Cave Brewing’s Shoot to Pils German Pilsner and Fair State’s Foamers didn’t land quite as well for him;, he was picking up more hop character than he prefers. It was a good reminder that even a flight labeled “Crisp & Clean” can cover a surprisingly wide range of flavors.
TappedIn Score: 4.0/5 (for the experience/concept - individual pours scored separately)
Weirdest One I'd Order If I Had To
Rad Bod - Fair State Brewing 4.5% ABV / 0 IBU · Lemon Tea Golden Ale
📍 Where to find it - maybe: Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild booth - Agriculture Horticulture Building, west side
A golden ale styled after lemon tea is a strange enough pitch on its own. It was drinkable - a little too much lemon for my taste - but decent enough that anyone who enjoys a citrus-forward sour, this would probably be an acceptable option.
TappedIn Score: 3/5
Skip It
Force of Nurture - Uncommon Loon Brewing Company 5.2% ABV / 22 IBU · Blood Orange Ale · Award Winner
📍 Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild booth
Side Quest - Ursa Minor Brewing 5.4% ABV / 0 IBU · Hazy Pale Ale
📍 Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild booth
Couldn't finish either one. The Force of Nurture (award badge notwithstanding) was too bitter for a blood orange ale, and Side Quest just had flavors that didn't sit right with my palate. Two misses out of four on the Guild's sour flight.
A bit disappointing for me - though to be fair, they do have them listed as “ales” so they aren’t really a true sour - just happen to get thrown into the same flight category.
TappedIn Score: 2.0/5 (Force of Nurture) · 1.8/5 (Side Quest)
Overall Must-Try
Pink Sour Burst - Pryes Brewing Co. 4.8% ABV · Sour Ale
📍Where to find it: The Blue Barn - West End Market
Strawberry-forward, candy-inspired, tart and fruity, this one was more fun than I expected. It had enough sour to keep the sweetness in check without going too far, so it was definitely an easy-drinking Fair beer.
I liked it - though with a name like Pink Sour Burst, I was really surprised it wasn’t pink.
TappedIn Score: 4.0/5
If I Make It Back
And yes, there's already a running list for round two: the Espressotini from Pryes, the Rare Candy Pink Lemonade Sour from Elm Creek Brewing at the Ball Park Cafe, the whole Pryes soft serve situation I still thoroughly enjoyed last year...four hours clearly wasn't enough! Part of me wants to march right back through the gates and finish the job properly. The other part of me looks at another admission fee and starts doing math I don't love. But the Fair runs through Labor Day - so who knows, stranger things have happened...and if this whole indecisive spiral feels familiar, we have a shirt for that.
When I'm not tracking down new breweries and sour beer options, I'm usually designing slightly old-school things for beer drinkers, dog people and outdoorsy types at Old Fashioned Instinct.
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