Congrats to Cory, Joe and Christopher… your shirts will be in the mail soon… you’ll either get a lovely t-shirt from MNBeer or one from our friends at the PedalPub.
Yesterday was truly a blur… I had my first sample at about 11:30am (Coffee Bender… heavy on the coffee… mmm…) and proceeded to touch base with many old and new friends. I met a number of people for the first time and was truly humbled by all of the nice things people had to say about the site. It was a good day… one of jokes and insults and many, many good beers. Many thanks to Laura and the entire Minnesota Craft Brewer’s Guild for putting the event together and putting up with my stupid questions. Thanks to the new MNBeer contributors, the people who filled my tasting glass while I wanted in line for another beer and the people who saved a spot for me near the front of the line in too many of the “special releases.” Thanks to Jeff for rolling out with some spectacular non-Minnesota beer even with a kid in the hospital. Thanks everyone, really…
I’ll go through the program again later and reflect on a few of my favorites from the day and provide a little feedback on what I thought went well, what I thought didn’t work and where there might be room for improvement. I have a few pictures, too, though the rain kept me from going too crazy. Overall, like many an Autumn Brew Review, I had a great time and look forward to the next big beer event in Minnesota.
Yeah… but who won?
To clarify, I should have asked who won the best brew at ABR?
I guess it was D.K from Barley Johns…..
Nice. That’s the one I voted for. It was a really tough call. It’s crazy, too–Barley Johns won Winterfest this last year as well. Good for them.
The Dark Knight is really a hard beer to beat. Pricey as hell, but it has a great base, it’s easy on the mouth, and given a little time to mellow (which if mem serves, this was the 2006 vintage)..well, it’s just fantastic.
If it had been a hotter day, I’ve a sense that something else might have won. DK warms your bones on a rainy day.
Personally, I thought South Shore’s BB Coffee Mint Stout and Summit’s Bret Oatmeal were the standouts.
That said, I’m really looking forward to having Tyranena here in the Cities. Bitter Woman’s one of my favorite IPAs.
Argh! I totally forgot to vote!
I woulda thrown mine in either for the Dark Knight or Mango Mama. I’m generally not a fan of fruit beers, but it was so well balanced and refreshing–and different from almost everything at the review. Of course it was the 2nd beer I had, so my choice may have been different at the end of the day when by taste buds (and brain) were ruined.
Hey, how about that Surly line? Ten minute line for the tasty, even when one of the special pourings weren’t on line.
As forward as I was looking to trying the new Darkness (and missing it), we found ourselves grateful that so many people were in that line so that there were few lines in other places.
And many thanks to Halvo of the Imbiber, who brought a keg of single-year lambic from Cantillon.
How was the Double Bender?
I agree about the SS BB Coffee Mint Stout, surprisingly dry and not sticky sweet. My fav also.
A big Thanks to Jeff for busting out the Cantillon, what an absolute treat !
Yeah big ups to Jeff for the Cantillon. Next to the tea-bagged Furious, it was my favorite.
i thought the tea bagged furious wasn’t there. didnt they serve the 07 darkness in its place?
I can’t remember for sure, but I think that the oak-aged Furious was the one that had 07 Darkness in its place.
right. the program lists “oak aged tea bagged cask furious” as the final beer surly served, but it was in fact 07 darkness.
Yup. I can’t remember for sure, but I seem to recall Todd mentioning some cask tea bagged furious as well… I can’t really remember though. Crazy day.
Did anyone end up with a small box of MNBeer stickers and PedalPub brochures? If so, please share them with others! 🙂
i dont recall a lot after about 4pm….
Drew if you would have been at Barley John’s on Sunday for the going away party you could have had any beer for $3 including Dark Knight and Rosies. I can’t even recall how many Oktoberfests and Dark Knights I had. Free food too.
The going away party? Um. Shit. Do tell.