Forager Brewing, Rochester MN
17 September 2025
Forager has a fascinating interior and will soon be sharing space with Parlor Doughnuts (opening soon, and you walk through the doughnut shop to get to the brewpub). Here are several photos of the interior, including a partial view of the penny-covered tabletop that spells out “Forager.”
They have 16 taps and do a mean pizza, so here we go! You can have any number in a flight as all the beers are available in 4, 8, 12, and 16 oz pours; I chose four that I’ll describe left-to-right:
Czech Yo’Self – Czech Pilsner, 4.4% – It had a wonderful floral taste just as I’d expected, but finished exceptionally dry. I enjoyed it a lot more once the pizza arrived!
Fest – Festbier, 5.8% – This was clean and refreshing and I also had a pint of it once the flight was finished. It was a good anytime beer.
Starry Eyed Blonde – Belgian Blonde Ale, 6.1% – I usually don’t enjoy this style for more than a couple of sips because brewers often make this as too “in your face” Belgian. This brew, on the other hand, was just perfect and honestly, it was practically a coin flip between this and the Fest for the followup pint.
Wet & Sassy – Hazy IPA, 6% – I’m still coming to terms on this trip with hazy IPAs that aren’t NEIPAs, but I’m getting there. This beer had a clean taste with just a mild bitterness which was very refreshing. It’s made with locally-grown Cascade hops that are picked at sunrise and in the kettle within six hours — they don’t get much fresher than that!
I was too full to begin with to eat much of this 10″ pizza, but it was so good that I finished it anyway! The crust is one of the best I’ve had — I think they brush olive oil to the edge and sprinkle herbs and garlic so that the edges taste like crusty garlic bread. It was stunningly good!
By now, I was overstuffed and happy but I had dessert anyway, a Beer Bruleé and an 8oz pour of this:
Ocarina of Hops – Triple IPA, 9.8% – This was the only one of the beers I had here that I found mildly disappointing. The flavor was complex and interesting, which I loved, but the alcohol came through very distinctly and I prefer a TIPA that hides the alcohol.
All in all, this was a very enjoyable visit and while I probably won’t return to Rochester, I’ll certainly stop in here again if I do.