Author: ryan

Ryan Anderson (that's me!) is the editor & founder of MNBeer. Much has changed since the fall of 2005 and I'm proud to have been a part of it all. Sometime I'll tell you about my grand theory that links craft brewing to punk rock. Just ask.

Black Friday Fun

By on November 28, 2014in beer events

blackfriday

…shouldn’t necessarily involve shopping. Here are a few beery options for Black Friday and American Express Small Business Saturday.

Friday: Tickets for Northern Lights Rare Beer Fest are on sale as of 10am. Not to be missed.

Friday: The Happy Gnome just tapped (11am) a taproom exclusive from Lakefront, Black Friday on, well… Black Friday. Black Friday is a bourbon barrel aged imperial stout that’s never before seen the light of day outside of Lakefront. They’ll also have Fuel Cafe, Imperial Brandy aged Pumpkin Ale, and India Black Ale.

Friday: SW Craft Bar (Senor Wong) is holding their third annual Imperial Black Friday, a celebration of Imperial stouts, food and live music. Beers include 2013 Surly Darkness, Indeed Rum King, 2013 Dark Horse Plead the 5th, Clon Shoes Itasca, Evil Twin Even More Jesus and more! The action starts at noon.

Friday – Sunday: As part of the first-ever European Christmas Market in St. Paul, our friends at Great Waters Brewing Co. are offering up two fun seasonal beers to compliment central European fare.

St. Martin‘s Wit is a cloudy, unfiltered Belgian wheat beer with orange peel, coriander and citrusy noble hopsand hints of spice, vanilla and clove. Yuletide Ale is a robust porter with coffee and toffee flavors and lactose sugar for body. Oh my! Look for mulled wine for the strange folks who don’t want to enjoy these beers as well as traditional sausages, kraut, lebkuchen, marzipan and stollen from other vendors.

Saturday: Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery locations are offering a free Minnesota-made beverage with food purchase when you present a receipt for a Small Business Saturday purchase from a local, small business. If beer isn’t your thing, something may be wrong with you… not that we’re judging. In any case, they’ll also offer Peace Coffee and Minnesota cider/guest beer/liquor selections. After all, it’s all about supporting the local economy.

Fine details: They’ll only accept receipts for purchases made on Small Business Saturday of this year. The customer can bring in the receipt to any Town Hall location throughout the rest of 2014. When they present the receipt, it will get punched so that it cannot be used again.

Black Friday 5ive: Five Bands Named Black… Something or Other

By on November 28, 2014in Friday 5ive

So it’s Black Friday today. And instead of shopping, you’re here… and we’re rocking. Let’s do this:

Black Flag – Rise Above, Damaged. Buy it… (and support MNBeer)

Black Francis – Threshold Apprehension, Bluefinger. Buy it.


Ballerina Black – Microphones in the Mattress, Cattle Arithmetic. Buy it.

Big Black – Bad Penny, Songs about Fucking. Buy it.


Black Sabbath – War Pigs, Paranoid. Buy it.

Surly Doomtree Day Details

By on November 25, 2014in bars/restaurants, Surly Brewing Co.
SURLY-DOOMTREE-SCHEDULE-1
You wanted details on Surly Doomtree Day? You’ve got Surly Doomtree Day info… As you know, Surly Doomtree Day will be a special curated bar crawl around Minneapolis and St. Paul to kickoff the Surly Doomtree collaboration and the release of the draft beer. Your friends from Surly and Doomtree will lead two busses of fans and friends on dueling bar crawls in St. Paul and Minneapolis, ending with a special invite-only Doomtree performance at an undisclosed location.

 

Yes, there will be opportunities to win tickets to that performance.

 

Dedicated Doomtree fans who purchased a full Blowout ticket pack will be joined by Doomtree and the gang from Surly. Didn’t buy tickets? Fear not. You’re encouraged to meet up with the pub crawl at various locations to try the beer and hang out. At each stop, they’ll be giving away a handful of tickets for the exclusive show as well as some of the Blowout shows.

 

…and yes, you can still get on the bus. Of course you’ll need to win those tickets. Keep your eyes on social media over the course of the next week or so for your chance to win.

 

Minneapolis bar crawl:
– 2:30pm, Muddy Waters
– 4:00pm, The Depot Tavern
– 5:30pm, Red Stag Supper Club

 

St. Paul bar crawl:
– 2:30pm, Billy’s on Grand
– 4:00pm, Pizza Luce
– 5:30pm, Grumpy’s Roseville
– 7:00pm, Exclusive Doomtree Show (invite only)

 

…and as a side note, dare I speculate where the show might take place? Perhaps somewhere partway between Minneapolis and St. Paul? Like maybe a destination brewery? Inquiring minds want to know…
So much for that theory. I’ve been told that the brewery definitely won’t host the show. It was a nice thought, anyway…

Junkyard Brewing Taproom Grand Opening Today

By on November 21, 2014in Junkyard Brewery, tap rooms

Our friends from Junkyard Brewing in Moorhead are celebrating tonight from 4pm to midnight. Over the course of about a year, they’ve moved from a tiny brewery in the corner of a woodshop to a brand new brewery and taproom.

Should you find yourself in Moorhead, be sure to stop by. They’ll hold a ribbon-cutting at 5:30 and tap a dry-hopped cask of Hop Habbit. Public tours will follow at 6:30 and 8pm. Later that night they’ll have music from Diane Miller and Mark Reitan.

Check it out!

Photo: Junkyard Brewing

Photo: Junkyard Brewing

Friday 5ive: High School Me Picks Five

By on November 21, 2014in Friday 5ive

I grew up in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and graduated from high school in 1993. I hung out with some of the “weird kids,” kids in accelerated classes and the high school swim team. Though traditional “cool” probably wasn’t seeping out of my pores, I managed to have a good time and had arguably okay taste in music fueled equally by a young uncle, Thrasher skateboard magazine, 120 Minutes, snowboard video soundtracks, KJ104 and the Flipside fanzine.

Today I give you a few selections courtesy of my high school self. I’m giving myself bonus points for including a couple of bands I’d entirely forgotten about (Buffalo Tom and Seaweed). Enjoy!


Buffalo Tom – Birdbrain. I forgot all about this band, but played their first couple of albums pretty heavily in high school. No surprise that J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.) produced this album.


Pixies – Head On. High school friends introduced me to the Pixies and I fell in love. This seems fitting as I didn’t have a girlfriend for the bulk of my high school years. This song is a Jesus and Mary Chain cover… I never cared for Jesus and Mary Chain, but whatever. This is good.


All – She’s My Ex. I’m fairly sure I became familiar with the Descendents offshoot band, ALL, thanks to 1990’s “Snowboarders In Exile.”


Seaweed – Bill. Much like my “discovery” of Sunny Day Real Estate, Seaweed fell into my lap thanks to the fact that they were on Sub Pop records and grunge was huge at the time. I never really thought of the band as a “grunge” band per se… I just thought they rocked out pretty hard.


NOFX – Bob. Again, I have my snowboard days to thank for this one…