The look: 3 Squares has three styles. You’ve got the chummy bar, the casual family dining area, and the breezy patio. The bar and dining room are sparsely decorated but lined with a tastefully deep shade of red. The patio is likewise a simple affair, but it is a wide, south-facing swath of seating that will be drenched in summer during the upcoming spring and summer months.
The crowd: From buddies catching playoff hockey to families getting some grub before taking in a movie, 3 Squares was full of people looking for a low-key place to spend their Thursday night. The majority of the crowd, however, was boisterous and forty-something, in search of some socialization with a little spark.
The drinks: I arrived at 3 Squares thinking that I was there to get a sneak preview of Summit Brewing Company’s newest addition, Horizon Red Ale. So I was a little confused when I found the entire staff wearing T-shirts with the logo for Bell’s beer and Bell’s Oberon balloons all over the restaurant. Luckily, I was in the right place. Summit’s new Horizon Red Ale was indeed featured on tap a week before its official release. But, on that particular evening, there was also a celebration for the release of this year’s Oberon Ale, the Spring/Summer seasonal brew from Michigan’s popular Bell’s Brewery.
In the name of sticking with the plan, I ordered the Summit Horizon first. For as long as I’ve been a beer drinker in the Twin Cities I have had a tenuous relationship with Summit. They are, of course, one of the first microbrews I ever tried and they have been a staple of my beer consumption for well over a decade. But I am still waiting to be wowed. I am still waiting for Summit to produce something that stands out from the crowd. Their beer is brewed with admirable consistency and, as a drinking partner, it is as dependable as your favorite dog. But you can’t teach this dog new tricks. Summit Horizon is a good red ale, but unremarkable. It is a rusty amber color with an earthy, malty flavor that finishes with bracing bitterness. But the Horizon it tastes too much like the Summit EPA. The only difference between the EPA and the Horizon is that the Horizon has a lighter body (when it should be heavier) and lacks the piquant hop profile of the EPA. I wouldn’t say I was disappointed, just a little bored.
Bell’s Brewery takes adventurous approach to their beer. In addition to the seven year-round beers that they offer, they brew nearly a dozen seasonal beers and frequently come out with other small-batch specialty beers. Their seasonal beers often vary in their consistency, but instead of being frustrating to their consumers it creates buzz and anticipation with the changing seasons. The Oberon Ale is Bell’s most popular seasonal beer, a hybrid between a hefeweizen (wheat beer) and an ale. It has the cloudy, golden appearance of a hefeweizen, but the fruity, banana-like tastes often associated with wheat beers are charged with the bright, effervescent hop accents of an ale. The combination makes Oberon appealing to two different audiences that are usually polarized by summer beer styles. Over the past ten years Oberon, along with Summit Hefeweizen and Leinie’s Honeyweiss, has become one of the Midwest’s favorite warm weather beers. This year’s Oberon is surprisingly light and smooth. The fruitiness from the wheat is vague and inconspicuous, as are the hops. It’s good and very refreshing, but muted. It tastes like someone told Oberon to keep a low profile this summer. I prefer the audacious version, but people that like a beer that goes down easy will be very pleased with Oberon 2009.
The food: As the name suggests, 3 Squares subscribes to the attitude that people need a hearty, balanced diet. Although their menu offers more “hearty” than “balanced,” they do take a fun, contemporary approach to the classic meat and potatoes style.
The verdict: 3 Squares was just fine. It was a fitting place to sample two beers that were pretty good, but nothing special. I got what I wanted, my needs were taken care of, and I left without complaint. Good enough, but unremarkable.
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