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.

Win Beer Dabbler Showcase Tickets!

Anybody feel like drinking some beer Saturday? We’re giving away a pair of tickets for The Beer Dabbler Showcase on Saturday in St. Paul. Email your name and address to ryan AT mnbeer.com by NOON Tuesday in order to be entered to win. If you don’t win, you won’t hear from us tomorrow. If you do… we’ll e-mail you and send you a pair of tickets ASAP.

On a related note, check out a current (tentative) list of breweries here.

Even if you don’t win, think about joining us Saturday!

Stub & Herb’s Happenings

Just wanted to relay a note that I got from Jon from Stub & Herb’s. It sounds like a lot of fun!

I hope your summer is treating you well.  I wanted to let you know about a few things we have coming up at Stub and Herb’s.  We have been pretty quiet for a few months.  There have been no monthly tastings or other events.  That is due to the fact that we are hard at work preparing for the upcoming school year with a new football stadium located a block away.  We just ordered all new bar stools and are cleaning, painting and trying to spruce the place up a bit.

First, We have been working on making our beer engine a permanent fixture at Stub and Herb’s.  We bought a new cooler to keep behind the bar.  We should be able to keep casks on tap on a permanent basis by the end of the week.  We will tap a cask of Boulder Flashback on Friday of this week.  It will be followed by a cask of Lagunita’s Censored.

Secondly, I am proud to announce that Stub and Herb’s is the closest place to get a beer to the new Gopher football stadium.  I am sure you heard that there will be no beer sold at the new stadium.  In order to try and accommodate the massive crowds coming to our neighborhood, we will be shutting down our parking lot and turning it into a tailgait area.  In our tailgait area we will be featuring only Minnesota Beers!  We finalized things just today.  Surly recently bought a tap trailer that they will park in our lot during all Gopher home football games.  We will also feature the beers of Schell’s in our lot.  I believe that makes us the only place around with an all MN Beer Garden.  I am very proud.  Minnesota Beer and Minnesota Football!!!  I can’t wait for fall.

Third, Stub and Herb’s is turning 70 years old on July 23rd.  I just celebrated my 11th year anniversary of standing behind the bar at Stub’s.  So, I started thinking that we should have a party.  Thursday July 23rd we will be having an official Stub and Herb’s Birthday Party.  The first beer to ever go on tap at Stub’s was Grain Belt Premium.  In order to make a real celebration out of it we will feature happy hour all day long on the 23rd as well as $.70 Grain Belt taps, sliders and orders of fries!  Sounds dangerous.

Last, I wanted to notify you about a little shindig we are planning for the 29th of July.  Our MN Twins take on their bitter rivals the Chicago White Sox at home that evening.  At Stub’s we will be hosting another round of “Beer WarZ”.  We will have a blind taste testing of a few different Minnesota beers vs a few Illinois beers.  Participants will be forced to vote for their favorite before they are told which beers were which.  We will have a few sets of Twins tickets (for a different game) that we will be giving away as well as some other goodies.  As if that were not a good enough reason to come down, we will be testing Surly’s new tap trailer and our new outdoor tailgaiting grill that day.  So, participants will be able to enjoy free burgers and dogs in out outdoor area as well as a few beers pulled directly from Surly’s new toy.  Come down and help us test out our new equipment!!!

Goose Island Fleur Kick-Off

Goose Island is hosting a Kick-off Party at The Happy Gnome on July 16th from 7 – 9pm for their latest draft release from the reserve series called Fleur.  It is a belgian base pale ale that is re-fermented with a hibiscus flowers, sugar and proprietary blend of souring organisms to make a refreshingly tart and fruity beer.  This will be the first time it has been available in MN.

US Open Beer: August Schell

Good job! August Schell Brewing Co. took #4 in the Top Ten Breweries in US Open Beer!

Top Ten Breweries
1. Deschutes Brewing
2. Sprecher Brewing
3. Boston Beer Company
4. August Schell Brewing
5. Maui Brewing
6. Anderson Valley Brewing
7. Terrapin Beer Company
8. Tallgrass Brewing
9. Atlanta Brewing
10. Sweetwater Brewing

2009 United States Open Medal Winners

Stout
SILVER
– August Schell Stout, August Schell Brewing

German Kolsch
GOLD
– Zommerfest, August Schell Brewing

German Hefeweizen
GOLD
– Schell Hefeweizen, August Schell Bewing

Geman Lager / Pilsener
GOLD
– Schell Pilsner, August Schell Brewing

Bock
BRONZE
– Schell Maifest, Schell Brewing

American Cream Ale
GOLD
– Schell’s Deer Brand Original, August Schell Brewing