Pssst! Surly is having their grand opening in May!

Mark your calanders! Surly is planning on opening to the public for tours (which involve beer tastings) on May 12 & 13. Yes 2006. Look, we have been really busy brewing beer because people keep drinking it. Yes, it took a long time. Look, it’s gonna be cool. Two beers on cask, Bourbun Bender and maybe a dry-hopped cask of Furious. I’m not sure exactly, I’ll have to see what Todd wants to do special for the Grand Opening. Of course we will have Bender and Furious on tap. Our summer beer? Well it may or might not be ready. More details to follow. See you here.

P.S. The April 1st posting about Surly versus Surly was, of course, an April Fool’s joke.

Here’s an update from Mark at the Muddy Pig… they’ll be celebrating Prohibition’s partial repeal tonight (yup, 74 years ago Americans could once again legally buy 3.2 beer!) I thought about going but then decided to meet random friends at Minneapolis Town Hall to celebrate Prohibition’s repeal, my new job and my 31st birthday. Cheers!

Today we celebrate the repeal of Prohibition and our right to enjoy good beer. To mark to occasion our friends at Summit Brewing Company have organized a pub crawl with The Muddy Pig and The Happy Gnome. Pints of Summit beers are just $3 all day at both pubs. Yippee!

The Happy Gnome will be serving up Easter brunch on the 16th from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Reservations are not required but would probably be a good idea.

Summit’s newest beer, Scandia, is their take on a Belgian white ale with a Scandinavian twist. It makes its debut on Thursday, April 20 and will be available at both The Muddy Pig and The Happy Gnome.

On a sad note, the 9th annual “I Love Beer” pub tour will not be happening this spring. Two more pubs dropped out this year because the owners just don’t get it. But I was talking with Pete over at Town Hall (Pete and I set up the first tour in ’98) and we think we can get things back on track this fall with a new and improved list of participants. The tour must go on.

This comes from a recent visitor to MNBeer.com… I really don’t know the answer. Anyone?

I have a buddy who insists that 3.2 beer that you can buy at SA or whatever is the same beer as you can get in the liquor stores. He proports the brewing companies just pay the fine to the state for the alcohol level being incorect. In essence, he says Mn counts on this money from the fines to add to our budget. Is there any truth in that?

Did anyone catch Michael Jackson on Conan last night? Pretty funny… seeing Conan’s eyes after Jackson offered him a taste of DFH’s Golden Shower… classic… I don’t know what was more funny, the beer or the fact that Jackson came on with his fly down!

This comes to us from Don Brewington in Duluth, Minnesota.

Keep Minnesota Brewing

This infighting and name calling makes everyone look bad. I get the feeling that we are being played by some larger power. This is all moot now anyway, no one can win this argument.

Minnesota needs real brewery law reform. We should aim to have laws that mirror Wisconsin. If we organize all the beer lovers in the state and they in turn call and write their legislatures on a weekly basis until the changes are made we will have a real chance. We need to frame those who oppose it as being anti-job, anti-business, anti-Minnesota, as being outsiders trying to control Minnesota.

We need to educate the public. I always explain Minnesota’s beer laws when I give tours at LSB. Ninety percent of the people have no idea, and these are individuals who care enough about Minnesota beer to visit an out of the way brewery.

If any of you support the idea of “Wisconsinfying” the brewery laws of Minnesota please contact me at dbrewing@yahoo.com

This is still a Democracy if we rise up we will win.

Prost!,
Don Brewington
Duluth, MN