The 2011 Byggvir’s Big Beer Cup online registration is now open and ready for a massive influx of entries! Registration deadline is coming quickly on September 12th. Check out details of the competition and register at www.rennfestbeercup.com.
This is a limited category competition, so check the accepted categories on the website. We are looking for styles from the British Isles, Belgium, Germany, etc. We also love meads and ciders! There is a special category and $50 gift certificate prize for Historic beers: so put one of them in this year!
Drop off sites are at Northern Brewer (St. Paul, MN,) Midwest Homebrew Supplies (St. Louis Park, MN,) and StillH20 (Stillwater, MN.) This competiton requires 2 brown unlabeled bottles of 12-16 oz. Print out labels with your entries online and affix with a rubber band to each bottle. Payment online via Paypal is recommended.
We also need help with judging and stewarding! If you can help out, please fill out the volunteer section on the website. We will be judging Saturday Sept 24 and Sunday Sept 25 at the MN Renaissance Festival grounds.Volunteering ahead of time will get you free entry to the Festival and a sweet shirt. You may come in costume if you have one, otherwise you need to wear your (Free!) shirt during judging. There will be some Hariet Brewing beers on tap as well as some homebrews, but lunch is not provided (get yourself a turkey leg!) There are several great prizes for entrants and for volunteers thanks to our wonderful sponsors.
This year Jack Of All Brews and the Minnesota Homebrewer’s Association are bringing the fun, and want to see you there. Get registered and we’ll see you at the Festival! Friend us on Facebook too for more pictures and updates.
–Byggvir and his Merry Knaves of Grain
Author: ryan
Ryan Anderson (that's me!) is the editor & founder of MNBeer. Much has changed since the fall of 2005 and I'm proud to have been a part of it all.
Sometime I'll tell you about my grand theory that links craft brewing to punk rock. Just ask.
Surly Darkness Label
Nice catch from Beernews.org:
Heritage Thursday Tastings: Dubbels
Designations like “dubbel” and “tripel” appear on Belgian beers to describe the strength of the beer in relationship to the amount of malt used, which correlates to the alcohol content. Brewers labeled their barrels “X”, “XX”, or “XXX” so they’d remember what was inside. The Belgian style Dubbel was originally created by the Trappist Abbey of Westmalle in 1856 as an alternative to their sweet and light Witbier. They’re essentially strong brown ales, the kind of beer you want to sip slowly, their rich roasted malt and sweet raisiny flavors balanced with a touch of bitterness. This style tends to get overlooked, but we’re going to give it some love this week.
Our Bomber of the Week is Sierra Nevada’s first release in the Ovila series, Dubbel, which will be 20% off. We’ll also crack open some Belgian Dubbels for our Thursday tasting on September 1st from 5-7PM.
On Tap at Fitger’s Brewhouse
Road trip to Duluth? Who’s with me?!
Cask Ale
Tugboat Irish Stout Orange Blossom SpecialEl Nino Double Hopped IPA 7.0%
Big and Bold, copious amounts of 6 hop varieties, matched with a fullbodied pale ale.Starfire Pale Ale 6.1%
North Shore style hoppy pale ale.Witchtree ESB
English style pale ale served on nitrogenBig Boat Oatmeal Stout
Lighthouse Golden
Our lightest colored beer, crisp and clean.Apricot Wheat
A marriage of tangy wheat malt and sweet/tart apricotEl Diablo
Breakwater White
Wildfire Lager
Malty amber lager infused with ample amounts of Hatch chili’s from New Mexico. Aroma’s of peppers with a very warm finish.Lake Michigan Wee Heavy
Dried Cherry Scottish Style Wee Heavy
Summit Unchained 8
The eighth beer in Summit’s Unchained series comes courtesy of Mike Lundell, the brewer also responsible for the third beer in the series, India Rye Ale. This time around, he’s making a Black Ale. Details below:
Black Ale (still awaiting TTB approval on name, so could change)
Brewer: Mike Lundell
Color: 70 degrees Lovibond
IBU: 65
ABV 6.5
Ingredients:
Malt: 2-row Harrington, Torrified Wheat, Cara Wheat, Midnight Wheat, and Carafa III Special
Hops: New Zealand Pacific Jade, Australian Galaxy
Medium bodied ale with a pronounced citrus/passion fruit/mango aroma, slight astringent/burnt character from the black malt. Think black colored hoppy ale.
The beer will be released late October/early November. More definite dates to come once production is scheduled.