Brewing TV is getting ready for St. Patrick’s Day with stout on the brain! For the occasion, Jake and Mike brew two beers. One is a Dry Irish Stout on par with the modern Guinness Draught, which we serve on nitrogen through a stout faucet. The other beer is a Single Stout Porter, based on a beer Guinness produced back in the 1880s. We put the beers up against each other in a taste test… and find out the secret to Chip’s Chocolate Stout along the way. Get viewing… and get brewing! (Recipe blog and more here.)

Alongside classes on homebrewing and winemaking, Northern Brewer Minneapolis is hosting several events in February that may interest all craft beer lovers.

Town Hall Brewing Company
Feb. 11th / 1-3 p.m.
Round Table Discussion with Town Hall Brewer Mike Hoops and crew, topics include going professional, Pro Series collaboration, barrel aging.

Briess Malting Company
Feb. 25th / 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Join Penny Pickart of Briess as she talks about the history of Briess, their malting facilities, rye extract collaboration and the Maltster Reserve Series.

Northern Brewer is hosting several events this month that may be of interest to craft beer fans and homebrewers in the Metro area. All events take place at the Northern Brewer Learning Center inside Northern Brewer Minneapolis (6021 S. Lyndale Ave.). These events are free and open to the public.

Fulton Brewing Company
Saturday, January 14th, 2012 / 10:30-11:30 a.m.
Ryan Petz and Brian Hoffman from Fulton Brewing talk about their beers, the path from homebrewing to commercial brewing, and their new brewery location.

Gordon Strong & Nathan Smith
Thursday, January 26th, 2012 / 2-7 p.m.
Join Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) president/author Gordon Strong and award-winning Bay Area homebrewer Nathan Smith. Smith will be brewing a Double IPA and leading a discussion on the style from 2-5 p.m. Strong will be on hand for the brew session taking questions as well and will be signing copies of his book, Brewing Better Beer, from 5-7 p.m.

Wyeast Laboratories
Saturday, January 28th, 2012 / 1:00-3:00 pm
Owen Lingley from Wyeast Laboratories will lead a discussion and Q&A about yeast as it related to home and pro brewery.

Northern Brewer Homebrew Supply hosts a discussion with Jerrod Johnson, brewer at Surly Brewing Company. Brewing TV‘s Jake Keeler moderates the discussion/Q&A in which Johnson talks about how he got into the brewing business, brewing at brewpubs vs production breweries, his role at Surly Brewing Company, and the brewery’s future. And also – red flannels. [Recorded December 3, 2010]

Northern Brewer hosts a discussion with award-winning homebrewer and soon-to-be professional brewer Kristen England. Brewing TV’s Jake Keeler moderates the Q&A in which England talks about his time spent building recipes for Northern Brewer, the origin of Patersbier, considerations to make between extract and all-grain, fine-tuning your palate and your homebrew, going pro, and we get a look at what beers Pour Decisions Brewing Company will be hitting the market with in the first half of 2012. (Shot December 4, 2011 at Northern Brewer Minneapolis)

Look for more special guests and pro brewers to appear at Northern Brewer Minneapolis, most of which will be recorded and posted on Northern Brewer’s “Connect” page and YouTube channel including one from Surly’s Jerrod Johnson in the next week or so.

This is the GABF — Brewing TV style! Jake and Chip head to Denver with a hopparazzi posse for the Great American Beer Festival. Come along as we talk with Charlie Papazian about 30 years of the festival, hit up a few media-only events, visit with some pro brewer buddies, and go wild during the festival sessions.

Wait. Where’s Dawson? We left him in St. Paul for the Even Greater American Beer Festival, the country’s premier one-man beer fest.

Instead of simply celebrating Belgian Independence Day on July 21st, why not celebrate the whole week? There will be multiple events going on all over the cities from July 14th to July 24th. Duvel is releasing their brand new draft product, Duvel Single, Brewery Ommegang will have a special Spiced Saison available in various locations and many bars will be running specials on Belgian & Belgian Style ales during the week. Oh, and not to forget St. Arnoldus Day on July 18th!

Duvel Single Release Parties
The Bulldog – Lyndale – Thursday, July 14th 5:00pm
This is the FIRST tapping of Duvel Single in Minnesota!

The Muddy Pig – Thursday, July 14th 7:30pm

The Bulldog – Lowertown – Monday, July 18th 5:00pm

Acadia  - Tuesday July 19^th 4:00pm

Nomad – Tuesday July 19^th5:00pm

Bryant Lake Bowl – Wednesday, July 20th 6:00pm

Belgian Mussels & Ale Party
Grumpys N.E. - Friday, July 15th 4:00pm

Duvel & Ommegang Samplings
1^st Grand Ave Liquors –  Wednesday July 13th 5:00-7:00pm

France 44 – Friday, July 15th 5:00pm

Four Firkins – Tuesday, July 19th 6:00pm

Heritage Liquor – Thursday, July 21st 5:00pm

Cheers – Chanhassen – Friday, July 22nd 4:00pm

Cheers – Bloomington – Friday, July 22nd 6:30pm

The Beer Dabbler
Highland Fest
Saturday, July 16th 1:00pm
Every hour on the hour at the Duvel & Ommegang table, a bottle of Aphrodite, a raspberry/pear sour, will be opened for your enjoyment.

St. Arnoldus Day & Belg-A-Rama
The Blue Nile – July 18th
Kwak, Tripel Karmeliet, St. Feullien Tripel, Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge, Saison Dupont, St. Bernardus Abt. 12, Duvel Single, Delirium Tremens, McChouffe, Poperings Hommel Bier, Brasserie des Rocs Triple Imperiale, and Kasteel Cuvee de Chateau will all be on tap

Cycle Enthusiast Night w/ Maredsous & Liefmans
The Muddy Pig - Monday, July 18th 6:00pm

LaTrappe Night
The Bulldog Lowertown – Tuesday, July 19th
LaTrappe Quad on draft & Oak Aged LaTrappe Quad Bottles

Chouffe on Tap Night
The Muddy Pig - Tuesday, July 19th 6:00pm

Brewery Ommegang Tap Takeover
The Muddy Pig - Wednesday, July 20th 6:00pm

Belgian Independence Week Party
Busters on 28th -Wednesday, July 20th 8:30pm

Belgian Independence Day
The Muddy Pig - Thursday, July 21st 6:00pm

Belgian Waffle Brunch
The Happy Gnome – Saturday, July 23rd 11:00am

For more Details on the Duvel & Ommegang events visit their Facebook Event Page

Instead of just knocking off those weak brain cells, how ’bout educating some of the hearty that have stuck around? You can do so at the University of Minnesota’s Campus Club this Wednesday.

The Campus Club regularly produces beer themed events for members, including our annual Oktorberfest and our spring Beer Testing. This is our first ‘class’ focused on a specific beer theme. Our presenter is Michael Agnew, Certified Cicerone (the beer equivalent of a Sommelier). His beer column appears each month in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

You will learn a lot about hops: History, Botanical Description, Production, Types, Varieties, Brewing Process, and Vocabulary. You will sample a spectrum of beers to gain a deeper understanding of this essential ingredient in beer.

You must reserve your place(s). $30 which includes light appetizers.

Call 612-626-7788. Non-members are welcome, but you must reserve your place.