tsmckenney
Mick
This event was so spectacular, I had to take a moment to share. For starters, Minnesota has two notable beer events: Autumn Beer Review and Winter Beer Fest. I've now attended one of each and can say that I will be attending both religiously from here on out, or for at least as long as God wills my existence in this fine state. The location was the old Grain Belt Brewery in Northeast Minneapolis. A neighborhood known for some of the best bars in the state. The lineup of craft breweries was long, sixty to be precise. This list included Bells, Boulevard, Founders, Rush River, Tyranena, Surly, Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery, Boulder Beer Co., Breckinridge, Dark Horse, Left Hand, Flying Dog, on and on. The beers being poured ranged from many of the bottled varieties you can actually purchase, many of which were from casks, to seasonals and one-time releases specially brewed for this event. An example I'll give is Surly's lineup for the day: Bender, Furious, Cynic, Coffee Bender, Surly Fest, Jesus Juice, Three, Smoked Porter, Hell, Bret, Bitter Brewer, Darkness and Tea-Bagged Furious. I still think Tea-Bagged Furious is the best beer made.
Some of the beers I sampled that I recall being stand-out were: Bell's Rye Stout, Breckenridge's Small Batch Mighty Brown, Crispin Cider's Original (if you like a cider, man, was this good), Flying Dog's Double Pale Ale, Founders' Breakfast Stout, Lagunita's Little Sumpin' Sumpin' Extra, Liftbridge's Chai Girl (yes, a chai beer; of which I was the only one who didn't care for this, but everyone else thought it was great), Mpls Town Hall Brewery's Petunia's Pumpkin Ale, Tyranena's Scurvy IPA, their Hopwhore Imperial IPA, and their Rocky's Revenge brown ale.
Some up and coming breweries are Wisconsin's Tyranena and Furthermore breweries. Not to mention Rush River (also Wisconsin). So, one could easily say some of the nation's best beers are coming out of the cheese state.
The group did decide on it's best beer, quite easily: Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery's Coconut Milk Stout. This is a milk stout that has raw coconut added to its secondary fermentation. The coconut is heavily present and unless you have a thing against coconut, or stouts for that matter, this was a beer that put a big smile on your face. Everyone I talked with was diggin' that beer heavy.
It was a great, great time. All 3000 attendees were completely drunk by the end of the afternoon, no problems whatsoever. Just an orgasmic experience. As I mentioned in the 'What are you drinking?' thread, sometimes life can be a blowjob. This was it. The whole event for me was topped off by three things. One, being with good friends. Two, having a great time with the wife. Three, spending some quality time with Todd Haug, Surly's Master Brewer, talking about beer and World music. Apparently, he has great taste beyond just beer. The guy is the most modest genius you'll ever meet.
Here's a few snaps:
The Crew.
The Wife and I.
The Paulaner Girls (not sure why they were there, but whatever, it's eye candy)
Todd Haug and I (as he wonders why this beautiful Mexican lady is taking his picture)
Some of the beers I sampled that I recall being stand-out were: Bell's Rye Stout, Breckenridge's Small Batch Mighty Brown, Crispin Cider's Original (if you like a cider, man, was this good), Flying Dog's Double Pale Ale, Founders' Breakfast Stout, Lagunita's Little Sumpin' Sumpin' Extra, Liftbridge's Chai Girl (yes, a chai beer; of which I was the only one who didn't care for this, but everyone else thought it was great), Mpls Town Hall Brewery's Petunia's Pumpkin Ale, Tyranena's Scurvy IPA, their Hopwhore Imperial IPA, and their Rocky's Revenge brown ale.
Some up and coming breweries are Wisconsin's Tyranena and Furthermore breweries. Not to mention Rush River (also Wisconsin). So, one could easily say some of the nation's best beers are coming out of the cheese state.
The group did decide on it's best beer, quite easily: Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery's Coconut Milk Stout. This is a milk stout that has raw coconut added to its secondary fermentation. The coconut is heavily present and unless you have a thing against coconut, or stouts for that matter, this was a beer that put a big smile on your face. Everyone I talked with was diggin' that beer heavy.
It was a great, great time. All 3000 attendees were completely drunk by the end of the afternoon, no problems whatsoever. Just an orgasmic experience. As I mentioned in the 'What are you drinking?' thread, sometimes life can be a blowjob. This was it. The whole event for me was topped off by three things. One, being with good friends. Two, having a great time with the wife. Three, spending some quality time with Todd Haug, Surly's Master Brewer, talking about beer and World music. Apparently, he has great taste beyond just beer. The guy is the most modest genius you'll ever meet.
Here's a few snaps:
The Crew.
The Wife and I.
The Paulaner Girls (not sure why they were there, but whatever, it's eye candy)
Todd Haug and I (as he wonders why this beautiful Mexican lady is taking his picture)
