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Taste of River Lakes Craft Beer and Wine Expo Saturday in Richmond, MN

May 19, 2012
2:00 pmto6:00 pm

On Saturday, May 19th from 2-6 “Taste of River Lakes Craft Beer and Wine Expo” will take place River Lakes Civic Center in Richmond MN. The event advertises over 100 different varieties of craft beers and 30 varieties of wine to sample throughout the afternoon. From what I gather, if you don’t get your fill, the event will continue offsite with special bar tapping at local pubs. Advanced tickets are $25.00 (Cash Wise Liquor) or $30.00 at the door. All proceeds to benefit River Lakes Hockey.

Music by The Hell Country Truckers. Food available from Jimmy’s Pizza, Cold Spring Bakery and others.

WWW.RiverLakesExpo.com

That’s about all I have. Third Street Brewhouse and Cold Spring are sponsors, so no doubt they’ll be present.

Maredsous Beer Dinner at Kip’s

May 21, 2012
5:30 pm

Kip’s Irish Pub in St. Louis Park is holding their first beer dinner on May 21st, featuring beers from Maredsous. $40/person gets you three courses, each paired with a different Maredsous offering. Call or email for reservations, 952.367.5070 and kip@kipspub.com respectively.

Menu/pairings below the fold…

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Granite City Blueberry Ale Release Wednesday

May 16, 2012

A couple of updates from Granite City for American Craft Beer Week… First, they’ll be tapping their Blueberry Ale tomorrow (Wednesday). If I remember correctly, their version reminds me a bit of a very lightly-hopped blonde ale with a very generous addition of blueberry.

Secondly, they’re advertising brewery tours – see manager for details. As you might know, their process is a little different than most brewpubs, with a brewhouse (worthouse, perhaps) in Iowa the produces wort that is then shipped to locations in something not unlike a dairy truck (broken into sections for beer varieties) and then fermented on-site. With the exception of St. Cloud, none of the pubs have a full brewhouse on site. Regardless, it might be interesting to check out. Fill us in if you take a tour!

Finally, they’re offering samplers now. $3.75 gets you 8 small portions of beer.

Session Fest at Pig and Fiddle

May 15, 2012toMay 20, 2012

That’s right! This B-Side festival has made it across the river! The Pig & Fiddle (sister restaurant to the Muddy Pig) is also holding a Session Beer Festival this week. They are offering 12 sessionable beers, all under 5% ABV in flights. Get 3 5oz pours for $8. So, if you’re on the Minneapolis side & don’t want to make the trek all the way to Saint Paul, come check it out!

Summit Sága IPA Release Parties

Here’s a ton of upcoming events to celebrate Summit’s newest beer, Sága IPA. I think it’s a pretty tasty beer! Details below from the Summit crew:

May 15 at 6pm
Uptown Cafeteria, Minneapolis

Sága IPA Release Party & Beer Dinner: Join us for the release of our newest beer, Sága IPA! There will be 6 different taps available, including Summer Ale and Sága IPA. Want to taste the difference from a cask-conditioned ale? We’ll also have 2 firkins available of the Summer Ale and Sága IPA!

Come for the beer, stay for the beer dinner! Each delicious course will be paired with a different Summit beer. Summit representatives and restaurant staff will be on hand to elaborate on the special pairings. Reservations required. Call 612-877-7263 to reserve your spot.

May 16 at 6pm
Sea Salt, Minneapolis

Summer Ale & Sága IPA Release Party: Join us at Sea Salt for the release of our newest beers, Summer Ale and Sága IPA! Enjoy a Summer Ale in front of Minnehaha Falls-the image on the packaging!

May 18 at 4pm
Grumpy’s NE, Minneapolis

Summer Ale Firkin Friday: Stop by Grumpy’s NE and enjoy pints of our cask-conditioned Summer Ale! The firkin will be tapped at 4pm and available until it runs dry. There will also be a special pig roast stuffed with sauerkraut to pair with your Summer Ale!

May 23 at 7pm
Grumpy’s Downtown, Minneapolis

Drink Sága, Play Sega vs. Summit: Enjoy a few pints of Sága IPA while you take on Summit employees on Sega! Join us for the video games and beer, stay for the open mic comedy!

May 24 at 4pm
Valley Tap House, Apple Valley

Sága IPA Release Party: Head over to the Valley Tap House in Apple Valley and try our newest beer, Sága IPA!

May 25 at noon
Grumpy’s Downtown, Minneapolis

Summer Ale Firkin Friday: Swing by Grumpy’s downtown for a special pint of cask- conditioned Summer Ale! The firkin will be tapped at noon.

May 31 at 5pm
Whistle Binkies on the Lake, Rochester

Sága IPA Release Party: Enjoy $2 pints of our newest release, Sága IPA, at Whistle Binkies Old World Pub! Meet Brewers Damian and Nate from 5-6:30pm!

May 31 at 7pm
Whistle Binkies Old World Pub, Rochester

Sága IPA Release Party: Enjoy $2 pints of our newest release, Sága IPA, at Whistle Binkies Old World Pub! Meet Brewers Damian and Nate from 7-9pm!

ACBW at Bryant Lake Bowl

May 14, 2012
5:00 pm
5:00 pm
May 15, 2012
May 16, 2012

In case you aren’t completely booked up already next week, there are still a few events you should know about! Bryant Lake Bowl will be holding a few good craft beer events during American Craft Beer Week!

Monday, May 14th at 5pm: Tapping a Bell’s Black Note Stout & a Harry Magill’s Spiced Stout

Tuesday, May 15th at ???: Black Keys post-show party featuring an incredibly rare keg of Lagunitas Waldo’s Ale.

Wednesday, May 16th: Fulton tap takeover featuring 7 Fulton beers including The Ringer Pale Ale, Libertine and 2 randallized creations!

They will also be featuring beers of the Upper Midwest throughout the week!

Travel Across the Country during ACBW

May 14, 2012
4:00 pmto7:00 pm
4:00 pmto7:00 pm
May 15, 2012
4:00 pmto7:00 pm
4:00 pmto7:00 pm
May 16, 2012
4:00 pmto7:00 pm
4:00 pmto7:00 pm
May 17, 2012
4:00 pmto7:00 pm
4:00 pmto7:00 pm

Without even leaving Minnesota!!! Four bars will be featuring breweries from different areas of the US all next week. Each day one of the venues will be offering special prices on their beers. On the day listed from 4-7pm the featured beers will be only $4! Here’s who’s doing what:

Muddy Waters on Monday – Beers of the west coast including: Lagunitas, Sierra Nevada, Anchor, Widmer, Alaskan and Stone.

Bryant Lake Bowl on Tuesday – Upper Midwest beers including: Fulton, Rush River, Furthermore, New Holland, Big Sky, Central Waters, Capital Brewery.

Pat’s Tap on Wednesday – Beers of the lower Midwest including:2 Brothers, Boulder, Left Hand, Boulevard, Goose Island, Tallgrass and O’Dells.

The Lowry on Thursday: East Coast beers including: Victory, Southern Tier, Brewery Ommegang, Great Lakes, Weyerbacher and Sam Adams.

Even if you can’t make it to one of these awesome Happy Hours, these locations will be pouring rare and limited release beers from their section of the country all week!

Dinners on the Farms

For those of you that are also foodies, check out this summer’s series of Dinner on the Farm meals. Although not specifically beer dinners, there will be beer from a local brewery at each dinner.

June 3 – Shepherd Song Farm – Boom Island Brewing
June 10 – Garden Farme – Harriet Brewing
June 17 – Living The Dream Farm – TBA
July 22 – Common Harvest – TBA
August 5 – Dave’s BrewFarm
August 12 – Hidden Stream Farm – Fulton
August 19 – Big River Farms – TBA
August 26 – Laughing Loon Farm – TBA
September 9 – Castle Rock Creamery
September 23 – Riverbend Farm – TBA

Founders, Founders & more Founders!

May 14, 2012
5:00 pm
May 16, 2012
6:00 pm
May 18, 2012
3:30 pm

American Craft Beer Week is just around the corner and I bet you’d all like to know where to find all the awesome Founders Beer that is going to be poured during the week!

Starting on Tuesday, May 15th at 5:00pm Buster’s on 28th will be pouring FIVE tasty Founders brews inluding: KBS, Curmudgeon, Curmudgeon’s Better Half, Dirty Bastard and Centennial IPA.

Then on Wednesday, May 16th head down to the West Bank and check out The Nomad World Pub at 5:00pm. They will be tapping a KBS keg and running a special: $10.00 for a KBS, bacon and a chocolate truffle. Yum!

But, you’re not done there yet… At 6:00pm Acadia Cafe will be tapping a keg of Curmudgeon so you can mosey on down and have one.

And finally on Friday, May 18th Blackbird Cafe will be tapping a keg of Curmudgeon at 3:30pm to end the week with a bang!

So much Founders, so little time!

Photos of Redwood Falls Going Dry, 1912

Jace Marti over at August Schell Brewing Co., passed along a few photos Redwood Falls on April 22nd, 1912 when the city went dry. The sherrif is shown in front of The Blind Pig dumping cases of Schell’s down the drain. What a bad day!

Foodies on Foot Progressive Beer Dinner with Lift Bridge

May 16, 2012
6:30 pm

Foodies On Foot and  Lift Bridge doing a progressive craft beer on May 16th, starting at 6:30pm. The event starts at Lift Bridge for a tour and meet and greet with the brewers. That will be followed by a shuttled visit to three restaurants. Each will feature a course paired with Lift Bridge beers. The dinner will end at the brewery for dessert from Rustic Pies of Stillwater and paired with Lift Bridge Milk Stout. Sounds fun!

Tickets available at FoodiesOnFootMN.com Reservations required.

Boulder Mojo Nitro Mustache Contest

May 14, 2012
2:00 pmto5:00 pm
May 15, 2012
2:00 pmto5:00 pm

Join Blackbird Cafe Monday and Tuesday, May 14th &15th, during Happy Hour (2-5pm) and enter the Boulder Mojo Nitro Mustache contest! All you have to do is show up, order a Mojo Nitro, give yourself a wicked “Beer-Stache” & have your polaroid taken by one of the highly trained polaroid photographers to enter. Voting will take place through Friday at Blackbird and the winner will take home a pretty sweet Boulder Beer Gift Basket.

Bell’s Black Note Tappings

May 16, 2012

During American Craft Beer Week there will be a couple of special Bell’s tappings around the cities. Two of which include Black Note Stout: Black Note Stout blends the complex aromatics of Expedition Stout with the velvety smooth texture of Double Cream Stout and ages the combination in freshly retired oak bourbon barrels for months. Here are two places you’ll find it!

Wednesday, May 16th at 4:00pm at Bulldog Lowertown

&

Wednesday, May 16th at 5:00pm at Buster’s on 28th

ACBW at Butcher and the Boar

May 14, 2012
5:00 pm
May 17, 2012
5:00 pm

Kick off American Craft Beer Week at Butcher and the Boar this year! On Monday, May 14th they will be featuring Great Lakes Brewing Company by pouring three of their very awesome beers. The brews include Rallydrum Red (Brewed in Honor of the Cleveland Indians, who are in town playing the Twins on Monday), Holy Moses White Ale, and a VERY limited Bourbon Barrel Aged Black Out Stout.

Then on Thursday, May 17th Butcher and the Boar will be featuring Fulton! They will have four varieties of Fulton beer available including Sweet Child of Vine IPA, The Lonely Blonde, The Ringer Pale Ale & a Cask of Worthy Adversary. They also feature Fulton Fries on their menu, that go great with the brews! However, the Fulton Fries are not available in their beer garden, only in the restaurant.

Congrats to Summit

Last night the winners in the 95 categories at the 2012 World Beer Cup were announced. Congratulations to all of the winners, but especially to Summit Brewing for taking the silver in Category 67: Classic English-Style Pale Ale with their Extra Pale Ale.

A complete list of winners can be found here.