Winterfestin'

Well, we made it through last night's Winterfest none the worse for wear. I think the fact that Kris and I were working at the event for the first hour helped us from over-indulging...not that there weren't ample opportunities to do so. I don't know about Kris, but I wasn't able to try everything I wanted to and I inexplicably tried a few I didnt' want to try. *shrugh* Such is life. Part of the problem was I spent a lot of time chatting with an empty glass. It was great seeing and chatting with a lot of old and new friends, but the empty glass in my sticky left hand set a poor example for much of the evening. Oh well. At least, this prevented me from saying anything too stupid to anyone.

So, what were the highlights of the evening, you ask? Hmm, tough to say exactly, but I'll mention a few.

• Great Waters had a great beer line-up. I was able to try the peary Betelgeuse and the passion fruit Pup Tent. I was pleasantly pleased with both. I think Fitgers' El Diablo (strong barley wine) was my favorite for the evening, but I also enjoyed Surly's Three, Lift Bridge's Imperial Stout, Flat Earth's 2008 Winter Warlock and, for a bit of a change-up on the evening, Schell's U-bier. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to try anything from Barley John's or Rock Bottom and I was only able to get the Chipotle Wee Heavy from Town Hall (interesting beer, but not one I can drink more than a sip of). Finally, I was very happy with Brau Bros.' Sheep Head.
• I struggled a bit with the crowd. I much prefer the typically very casual beer fest, but for some reason, Winterfest has turned into a bit of a dressy affair. Damnit, save the make-up, unstained and collared shirts, mousse, and high heels for a night club-hoppin and your fru-fru wine events! I get my fill of over-dressed d-bags at work. Fancy blouses, if very low cut, are still acceptable however...not on dudes though.
  
• Friends, friends, friends! I had a chance to catch up with no less than four Eric(k)s, three Johns, three Ryans, a handful of Steves, a bucketful of Michaels, a smattering of Scotts and a plethora of other folks. Whee!
• And the night ended on a bit of an awkward note as someone, who shall remain nameless, got "into it" with a brewer after the event over a matter of adding a couple of pieces of wood to a fire. I think a few too many beers on both sides of the issue were responsible. Ahh, good times...good times.
  

Why does my doughnut look like...

We’ll get to the doughnut in a minute but first you should probably have some context for that part of the story.

Last night we went over to Moto-I with Kat and Scott for drinks and dinner. Although I have had some sake I liked, beer’s really my thing and they have a pretty good tap beer selection. It’s all Minnesota brews and while I would prefer to see some Flat Earth or Lift Bridge in place of the Premium and Premium Light I get it that they have a wide range of customers, not just beer snobs like me. Last night my favor fell on Surly Furious and Summit Winter.

With the majority of the menu being small plates we ordered quite a few of them for sharing. My favorites were the beef jerky (nicely spiced, meaty and tender) and the bulgogi (excellent flavor although it could have been served with more kimchee). The wings were quite tasty, too, but a bit more of a spicy kick than I had been anticipating. Thank goodness there was beer to help cool things off.

After those and many more shared plates I spied doughnuts on the menu. Doughnuts, for all the evil they represent and for all the distress they may cause later, are hard to pass up. When they came out there was one plate of four very normal, round doughnuts and a second plate containing not only normal ones but one of, well, a different, phallic shape. I don’t know if someone in the kitchen was playing around with shapes or this was a true batter blunder but it no matter, it was still delightful in my mouth.

Chili and beer

They go together like milk and cookies. They go together even better when the beer is on the house.

Sunday I had the opportunity to be one of the 12 judges for Town Hall’s Chili Cook Off and it was a blast. Scott was the only one I really knew but there were a few others I’ve seen before and the whole panel of judges seemed to have a great time. None of us were doing it just for the free beer but it was a nice perk.

There were 21 chilies entered but thankfully we didn’t have to try all of them; that would have been a lot of chili! As it was, each team of 3 judges sampled 5 entries in the first round and advanced their agreed upon top 2 to the semi-finals. There we each tried the additional 6 chilies the other judging groups had chosen.

The cream of the crop was evident so it really just came down to which chili would take the top spot. That honor ended up going to Pete, but since he wasn’t in contention for a prize, second place got the $200 gift certificate. I’m not sure who took home the people’s choice award as I had to leave before the chilies were even opened up to the public for a vote to get ready for a Superbowl party. I'll have to check that out the next time I'm up there.