Doug Hoverson’s “Land of Amber Waters” was featured in a brief story this evening on the Star Tribune’s website at http://www.startribune.com/people/story/1569454.html.
Month: November 2007
Tambourine free zones…
Friends and I met early for drinks at the Happy Gnome last night. The service was excellent, as was the food (Duck Bruschetta… mmm!) and the beer (and I resisted anything from outside of our fair state, sans a pour of Rodenbach). Catching up with friends is always a good thing, and the addition of good beer and good food didn’t hurt anything.
The bar was a little busy (after all, it’s Saturday night) and people were having a difficult time finding a place to sit. There were more than a few people standing around waiting for a table in the bar. Suddenly a black party bus pulls up, and probably twenty people file out. Probably not the best choice on their part, but I guess I can’t blame someone for wanting a drink at the ‘Gnome. Of course I can, and will blame them with some sort of crime for bringing a tambourine into the bar. It would seem that no one told them that the ‘Gnome is obviously a tambourine-free zone. Duh.
The party bus (and it’s tambourine) left after a drink and a photo with a gnome. Thank God. Oddly enough, the bathroom signs disappeared at the same time as well. I had waited for the crowd to clear before navigating my way to the restroom and had to do a double-take when I found only double-sided tape on the bathroom doors. Thanks assholes.
If there any gnomes missing from said bar, one can only guess that they’d be found in a black party bus. Ugh.
MPR “A shortage of hops has beer makers and beer drinkers worried”
Read and listen here (or catch it the old-fashioned way at 91.9 FM in the Twin Cities)
Tim Post spoke with Chris Laumb from McCann’s in St. Cloud, Dustin from Brau Brothers and me about the current state of beer, hops and barley prices.
Ryan Anderson, who runs the blog MN Beer, says the increase isn’t likely to keep beer lovers from buying a six-pack of their favorite.
“That’s just something that, as fans and advocates of craft beer, we’re just going to have to absorb and continue to enjoy our beer,” Anderson says.
What beer connoisseurs like Anderson fear is that the shortage of hops and barley could force some small breweries out of business.
In hindsight, I’m not sure I love the sentence that I formulated there and probably would have asked for a do-over, but overall, I think that this is the best piece I’ve seen on the ordeal.
Darkness Glass Give Away
Got plans for Friday night? In addition to the Cask Bender being tapped at Cafe Twenty Eight on Friday, check this out:
On Friday November 23rd we will give away three sets of two official brewery Darkness glasses at our Cask Bender tapping. The tapping starts at 9:00 PM. Any Surly purchase gets your name in the hat for the drawing (limit one entry per person). The drawing will be at 10:45PM Need not be present to win, but if your not you will have to come back and pick them up.
Please note that these are not the evil Darkness goblets that Todd does. We only part with those for our favorite charity The Wildcat Sanctuary. Look for another charity event for them sometime this winter.
Town Hall vs. Barley John’s…A Newer, Tastier Cold War?
This evening Town Hall released their Piledriver double IPA…we were there. Last Thursday we were at Barley John’s to try out their double IPA. Is there some kind of weird arms race going on between brewpubs or are we just lucky? Next thing you know, we’re going to be forced to sample someone’s triple IPA. What kind of cruel world do we live in where beer lovers are forced to visit their favorite brewpubs frequently to share in the delicious one-upmanship? In any event, I think you’ll find both double IPA’s wonderful, so make an effort to stop in before these two great offerings run out.