On Wednesday, August Schell Brewing Company will roll out their millionth case of beer the old fashioned way, via horses and a beer wagon.
Also of note is that the company plans to have a series of special German-style beers leading up to the 150th anniversary, available only in kegs.
We’ll see you all at the brewery at 4:30am, right? Yikes! Come join us in line on Saturday for Darkness at Surly! At least some of the MNBeer crew will be on hand to join in on the festivities, drink your spare beers and of course get our grubby little hands on some Darkness.
Dare I ask when you all are planning to arrive? If they start checking IDs at 9am and start selling Darkness at 2pm, what shall we do to entertain ourselves?
Tip of the day from MNBeer… dress warm! Cotton kills! SmartWool is my favorite choice for keeping your feet warm and dry in cold weather. It’s not cheap, but it’s warm, super-soft and doesn’t stink!
Good morning Surly Nation. You’ve been having fun all weekend and its time to get back to work… great job, it’s not even 9:00 and you’re thinking about beer.
D-Day (Darkness Day) commeth! This Saturday, December 15th. Since people have promised insanity, we present the following ground rules.
Surly will open the gates to the brewery at 9:00 A.M. At that point we will start checking IDs. Individuals can not “hold” places in line for others, and we will not save bottles for people. 480 bottles will be available, thus after 240 people have queued up, will we let people know that we are sold out. As soon as we know, we will change the message our phone message and this web-site.
There will be access to a restroom before 9am. We will start selling Darkness 750’s at 2:00PM. 2 bottles max per person, $15 each (plus tax). To help speed things along, we are taking CASH ONLY. The total will be $33 for 2 bottles, including tax.
If you have more than $33 burning a hole in your pocket, good news! We will have warm food available for purchase at the brewery. Uncle Frankies will be selling Hot Dogs during the day. We will also be selling growlers and merch from our regular hours of noon-2:00. Individuals waiting for Darkness will be able to purchase merchandise and growlers of Bender and Furious during that time – you won’t lose your place in line. If we are sold out of Darkness, you can still come on in and purchase growlers of Bender and Furious to get a Surly fix.
The Darkness sale will happen at a different location in the brewery than normal, so we can keep things moving quickly.
And for those who just can’t join us, there will be 6 individual bottles of Darkness sold on Ebay to raise money for EnergyCents, a Minnesota non-profit group that works to keep the lights and power on for folks that are having trouble with their utility bills. There will be a link on this page when the sale starts, December 16th.
Being that it is a Surly event, there are some surprises, and it should be fun for everybody.
One more thing… numerous people have asked when they should show up to guarantee that they get Darkness. We’ll soon be able to tell you when to get there in 2008, but 2007’s start time is anyone’s guess….
Smoke has been released and delivered to the following bars:Mill City Café, Washington Square Grill, Mad Cappers, Stub & Herbs, Pracna, Busters, Blue Nile, Café twenty-eight, Acadia, Grumpy’s NE, Muddy Pig, Happy Gnome and Mackenzies.
We will be having a cask event at Groveland Tap next week and the two release party will happen in January at the new Acadia Café. What is two you ask, it’s our second anniversary dark ale brewed with over 40 pounds of cranberries per barrel!
Omar,
See you drinking.
www.surlybrewing.com
So having missed the Muddy Pig Smoke release party, I was wondering what other bars had it on tap, when I get an email from Linda Haug at Café Twenty Eight (in Minneapolis, not Chicago):
Just sitting here drinking the last of the Darkness, so the Darkness is gone and Smoke is on. Serving it in the Darkness goblet (great tasting glass) so 10 ounces $5.95. Should have it until the New Year. Thanks, have a great holiday season. L.
It’s a little late in being posted, but still relevant. If you didn’t have a chance to try Brau Brothers’ Ring Neck, then you missed out on a very flavorful brown (or Braun) ale. Goes good w/ Guitar Hero and drunk friends. The new offering, Frame Straightener, is a Belgian Pale Ale. I’m looking forward to a head to head comparison w/ Flat Earth (…read as, I’ve got an excuse for some two-fistin’).
Excerpts from the Brau. Bros. Brewer’s Log…
Nov 22, 2007 …Let the Countdown Begin!
The date is set; Frame Straightener will release on Saturday, January 12. This is the latest in our Single Batch Series of limited release beers. Click here to view the description and profile. We’ve brewed a little bit more than the last SBS, as the Ring Neck sold out in about 11 days. We’re currently taking ideas for the next SBS beer. (big dry Irish Stout?) Things are really busy here at the brewery. We are finalizing plans for the hopyard; I wish we would have planted two years ago! We have adopted a new Brau Brother – Zach Brown (from now on, Braun) has joined the crew and will direct sales in the Eastern District. Welcome aboard, Zach! Finally, listen for Dustin on MPR’s story Friday morning concerning the hop shortage. If possible, we will add a link here.
Take Care!
*PSST! Word on the street is that these tickets are selling fast today and are on target to sell out SOON! As of 12:52 PM, Monday, Ticketworks.com reports this event as “SOLD OUT.”
Monday, December 3rd, noon. Ticketworks.
If you want tickets, buy them quickly, as there are only 550. Two years ago, the event sold out in less than fifteen minutes. Last year, more tickets were available, so it took a bit longer to sell out. Regardless, I suggest you buy your tickets quickly! Don’t miss out.