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.

Volunteer at UMMO

By on December 21, 2007in homebrew

It’s that time again… time for the best homebrew contest in the Midwest, the Upper Mississippi Mash-Out. If you’ve never submitted a beer or volunteered at a beer event, this is the one. The clubs do a great job putting on such a huge contest and manage to keep it fun with extras like a great banquet, speakers and lots of extras for volunteers. I hear they have beer, too…

If you’re not a BJCP judge, you can still volunteer to steward. I volunteered as a steward for the first time last year. You follow the instructions, help the judges, check their (sometimes sketchy) math and tabulate score sheets, among other things.

One (of many) cool things with this contest is that they have a “new brewer” category for people who haven’t yet entered a homebrew contest. I got second place last year which brought me a medal and $40 (I think) at Northern Brewer. Not bad.

 I’m writing to invite you to join us for the Mid West’s largest homebrew contest the weekend of January 25-26, 2008 in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The 2007 contest drew nearly 1000 entries from across the country.

In 2008 we’re awarding more medals and also have more events scheduled around a Belgian beer theme. Highlights include:

-Speaker Stan Hieronymous, author of “Brew Like a Monk”
-The Brewer’s Forum – a Q & A and beer tasting with local pro brewers
-The Indoor Pub Crawl – no steenking buses, we bring the beer to you!
-Belgian-themed banquet
-commemorative beer & glass for all judges & stewards
-judging session food for volunteers

Visit our web site for more details and to sign up to judge or steward.

http://www.mnbrewers.com/events/mashout/

Let me know if you have any questions. I hope to see you at UMMO ’08.

—
Steve Fletty
2008 Judge Coordinator

$even Corners Parking Ramp

By on December 20, 2007in misc. mn beer

Maybe I haven’t been paying enough attention, but I noticed that the Seven Corners Parking Ramp (adjacent to Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery) isn’t as cheap as I remember. Dawn and I stopped in for a beer and a growler exchange and ended up paying $5 for about an hour of parking. In the past, we’ve paid a buck or two to park for about an hour. Thankfully, bike parking is still free near TH. 🙂

Fitger’s Vs. Fitger

By on December 20, 2007in breweries

Here’s an interesting article (thanks Mike) from the Duluth News Tribune concerning the Fitger’s trademark

A federal judge has granted Fitger’s On-the-Lake’s request for a preliminary injunction halting a Connecticut company from using the Fitger name or any of its trademarks in the sale and marketing of beer.

Read more…

Onion Homebrew Contest Results

By on December 19, 2007in homebrew

Congrats to Ron Fitch from Eagan for winning the Onion’s homebrew contest. His Russian Imperial Stout won best of show. Enjoy all that beer, Ron.

Runners up include Curt and Kathy Stock (Classic American Pilsner) and Steve Fletty (Saison).

Darkness yanked from eBay

By on December 19, 2007in breweries

Another Darkness post! eBay pulled the plug on 5 out of the 6 auctions for Surly Darkness. One would guess that someone complained that the auction was a violation of eBay’s terms of service and the auctions got yanked. In any case, there’s one left on eBay. If you have some extra coin that you want to throw at charity in exchange for a bottle of Darkness and a great screenprinted poster from Adam Turman, go for it. Much too rich for my blood (and I have three bottles of Darkness at my house anyway), but perhaps it’ll make someone’s day.