Anticipating ABR

For better or worse, wetter or drier Mag and I are heading over to the Autumn Brew Review today. Hopefully it won't be a wash out like the City Pages beer fest was earlier this year however I've planned better this time in case we do get drenched. It'll be interesting to see how the new venue works out, especially in terms of how crowded it will feel. I was pleased to see the Craft Brewers decided to limit the number of tickets sold and even more please to see earlier this week it had sold out. This is the best festival within a two hour drive of the metro and I can't wait for it to begin!

Town Hall brews...mmmmmmm

Town Hall makes great beer. Really. And no, I didn’t just realize this, I’m just restating what we’ve come to take for granted. Last night for pre-dinner club drinks we braved the tornado sirens and hail, ducking into Town Hall just as it really started coming down. Surprisingly for me my first beer was their Smoked Hefe. Normally I steer pretty clear of hefes although I’m always willing to try a sip of whoever has some. This time between the intrigue of a smoked beer and Scott’s glowing recommendation I startled myself and ordered it. I couldn’t have been more pleased with this beer. The smokiness was subtle enough to avoid being overwhelming while at the same time provided enough of a cover to the wheatiness to produce a very drinkable beer. Another interesting looking beer on their menu was MN Harvest. This was described as a lighter beer made with maple syrup and wild rice. Gene graciously offered to let me try some of his and although I don’t think I would have enjoyed a full pint of it, it was certainly worth trying. It was lighter than I was in the mood for but had a very pleasant, nutty finish. Next up was their cask IPA. I’m a sucker for cask beers in general and can say I’ve never had one I didn’t enjoy. This was no exception and I thoroughly enjoyed all the hops it had to offer. Before heading off to dinner at Kafe 421 I decided that with the great impression the Smoked Hefe had made on me that Mag would probably enjoy it as well and exchanged my empty growler for one of the hefe.

All-American Grill & Brewhouse

There's a new brewpub going up in Waverly, MN called All-American Grill & Brewhouse and they'll be featuring beers by Ugly Tree Brewing Company. Waverly's probably a good 40 minute drive from our joint in Eagan. Sounds like an opportunity for a road trip to me. They are opening their doors sometime in Sept. Part of me doesn't want to go until after they've been open a while so that I don't have to experience any of the newly-opened-restaurant-oopsies like we've seen at Buster's, but then again, I'm much too antsy about everything I do to bother waiting. Besides, it's nice to see the evolution of a restaurant from the very teen-like gangly, pimply awkwardness to...well, uh...a restaurant with a big rack and tight jeans??? Anywho...

Our annual Ren Fest outing

Labor Day weekend might mean the last chance to visit the Great Minnesota Get Together for many and more power to those folks. For us it meant a chance to head out to the Ren Fest while the crowds were manageable. Sunday was a near perfect day to be outside, gnawing on a hunk of meat, drinking and being as bawdy as one cared to be. We found an added bonus within the first few minutes of being in the doors. While standing in line to get our first beers of the morning we noticed Flat Earth’s logo on the program. The stand we were at didn’t happen to have a tap for Flat Earth but the server was happy to point us in the direction of one that did. That stand turned out to be just around the corner and from there on out it was Flat Earth all the way for me (at least until it was time to add some mead into the mix). As usual it turned out to be a long, hot, very pleasant day of drinking. Looking for a break in the afternoon we headed over to the hookah bar. We met some interesting characters there and probably would have stayed much longer except for the fact that we had to get up when we needed beer. Thanks to the King’s decree of 1 beer per person that meant we couldn’t send one person to get beers for the group. Two of the day’s highlights: Mag got called up to take part in the Ded Bob Sho and Kat nearly had it out with a grumpy old lady at a Drunk & Disorderly performance. However possibly the best was Scott’s farewell greeting to a family in the parking lot, “Happy for coming!”