Charlie Burrows has spent over two decades at the Minnesota State Fair trying to develop the next corn dog. He searches each year for that special food that will create the same shock and adoration that the Pronto Pup generated when it debuted at the fair in 1947. He started with mac and cheese on a stick. Last year, it was deep-fried ranch. This year, it’s soft-serve beer.
Yes, soft-serve beer. When the Great Minnesota Get-Together opens on August 21, Burrows, along with fellow Lulu’s Public House proprietor Mike Brennan, will sell Soft Serve Royal Raspberry Beer at West End Brews for $11 per six-ounce cone.
Let’s start with the basics: It’s not ice cream. It looks like ice cream, has the texture of ice cream, even has a creamy taste like ice cream—but it isn’t. It’s beer.
“I think the fair is where you like to try new things,” Burrows said. “One of the things that I’m focused on is trying to make sure people understand what it is. I don’t think anybody really knows what we’re up to. I think if I say soft-serve beer, you’re like, What the hell is that?”
It’s somewhat mystical. Basically, it’s a combination of a proprietary mix (read: secret potion) and beer that creates a product that gets just cold enough to hold a soft-serve shape without getting too crystallized or frozen. It’s nothing short of magical.
The idea started a few years ago, when Joe Falkowski, a beer representative who works with Lulu’s, suggested the frozen creation. Burrows did his research before he decided he needed backup. He left a voicemail at the South St. Paul branch of Redco, the food-service equipment distributor that sells Stoelting, a Wisconsin-based brand with a renowned soft-serve machine.
Redco vice president Jarrod Deehr started listening to the voicemail but made it mere seconds into the recording. As soon as he heard Burrows’ name, he cut it off and returned the call. Of course he wanted to work with the state fair’s mad chef. His excitement doubled when he learned what Burrows had in mind.
Deehr, along with Redco president Todd Braun, whom Burrows refers to as “the professor,” developed the stabilizers and additives that would make the frozen libation possible. What followed was a process of trial and error—and of course, lots of taste tests.
“This is just a really unique and fun thing for us to work on,” Deehr said. “These guys keep saying, ‘Oh yeah, we’ve got to come in again, we’re sorry.’ I’m like, ‘Do we do this every day? I’ll start my day at 7:30 here [with] frozen beer.’”
They first tried Grain Belt Blu beer (the one Burrows and Brennan use to make their Blu Frozen Topper) but decided it was too sweet. After a couple others, they landed on Pryes Brewing Company’s Royal Raspberry Sour.
The final product bears a remarkable resemblance to the Pryes brew. It retains the same alcohol content and flavor profile. Though it’s a little less tart, it has the same combination of raspberry and passion fruit that make it the brewing company’s second-most popular beer. And yes, it tastes like beer.
“So, there’s some proprietary controls on [the] equipment and some proprietary additives to the beer mix to obtain that product that I have never done in 20 years,” Braun said. “I have never been able to achieve that, but we were able to do some testing and get this accomplished.”
The machine itself is remarkable, too. Stoelting has manufactured soft-serve equipment for its Minnesota-based pal Dairy Queen since the dawn of the frigid treat more than 75 years ago. Today, their technology is uber adaptable. Burrows will be able to tune the tubes to the humidity at the fair to ensure a consistent product.
Adjustment is critical for Burrows and Brennan. As State Fair veterans, they know just how unpredictable those 12 days can be. They’re already calculating the time it will take to serve each cone, so they can break down how much product they’ll need. They anticipate high demand, so they’ll have three machines on-site, and they’ll offer an express lane just for the soft serve.
All that’s left now is to unleash their newest creation onto the State Fair faithful.
“Sometimes, when I have high expectations, I get low results,” Burrows said. “Sometimes, I’ll have low expectations and have high results. It’s so unpredictable. I do think once people try it, they’ll go, ‘This is neat’…It’s a hot summer day, and you want a beer, right? Have an ice cream cone.”