Getting Surly at Winterfest.

As the temperatures drop and the snow threatens to fly, we’re reminded that in just two short months, Minnesota’s longest-running all-local beer festival will be under way. Will you be there? You’ve got two options.

First, the Seasonal Six Pack program has returned. $300+ ticketing fees gets you a pair of tickets for all three Guild festivals – Winterfest, All Pints North and Autumn Brew Review. Buy your tickets once and forget about camping out in front of the computer for the rest of the year.

Seasonal Six Pack Tickets go on sale on Monday, December 2nd at noon! Tickets are limited.

Second, if you’re more inclined to buy said tickets ala carte, fire up your clicking fingers and get ready to smack the appropriate keys on Monday, December 16th at noon.

Winterfest 2014 – Friday, January 31st, 2014, 7-10pm

All Pints North 2014 – Saturday, July 26th, 2014, 3-7pm

Autumn Brew Review 2014 – Saturday, September 27th, 1-5pm

This is cool. Our friends over at Northbound Smokehouse & Brewpub will appear on Beer Geeks TV on November 9th at 12:30am. Locally, the show is on WFTC/Fox 29. To celebrate, Northbound Smokehouse is hosting a pair of special screenings of the episode on Nov. 9 and Nov. 10.

Stop by Northbound to watch the episode – they’ll be offering an extended late night happy hour with $3 house beers from 10 pm to 2 am. And to honor the collaboration with Indeed Brewing, Northbound will also offer a partial “tap takeover” with several special Indeed Brewing beers along with Northbound’s house beers.

“We’re thrilled to be one of the first Minnesota breweries featured on Beer Geeks TV,” said Northbound Smokehouse Co-Owner and General Manager Amy Johnson. “Having recently celebrated our first birthday, it’s quite an honor to receive national attention. We’re also thrilled to share the spotlight with our good friends at Indeed Brewing.

The episode centers on Hot Box, a collaborative beer created by Northbound Smokehouse and Indeed Brewing Company. To create this Imperial Smoked Porter, Northbound hickory smoked 150 pounds of jalapeño and Fresno peppers and cold-smoked malts. The ingredients were then incorporated into the brewing process at Indeed Brewing Co.’s Northeast Minneapolis brewery.

For those unable to attend the late-night screening, Northbound Smokehouse will host two additional screenings on Nov. 10 at 11:00 am and again at 7:00 pm.

“We truly hope that our loyal customers will join us to watch our television debut with us,” said Johnson. “None of this would be possible without their continued support.”

Congrats to our Minnesota winners at the Great American Beer Festival. All in all, Minnesota breweries took home four medals – twi silver and two bronze medals. The winners:

Silver – Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery – “Twisted Trace” (Wood and Barrel-aged Strong Beer)

Silver – Summit Brewing Co. – “True Brit IPA” (Extra Special Bitter)

Bronze – August Schell Brewing Co. “Oktoberfest” (American-Style Amber Lager)

Bronze – Surly Brewing Co. “Pentagram” (Wood and Barrel-aged Sour Beer)

You can check out the complete list of winners here.

It’s live! Check it out in all of it’s splendid glory. Dammit I’m thirsty now..

I’d be lying if I said that my first visit to Autumn Brew Review seemed like yesterday. I’ve been fortunate to have had the chance to hit most of the Autumn Brew Review events over the years and have had the pleasure of watching it grow from an event that was popular to an event that sells out in seconds flat.

My first visit to Autumn Brew Review, and to any beer festival, for that matter, was at one of the festivals at Peavy Plaza. I remember being overwhelmed with all of the beers to try and truly excited to spend a nice fall day out in the sun, negotiating the various levels at Peavy Plaza to sample different beers. The festivals were busy back in those days, but most of the lines weren’t ridiculous. In fact, I can recall a few occasions when Guild president Dave Berg would ask me to post about ABR again, in hopes of selling a few more tickets. We’ve come a long way!

MNBeer.com had a couple of rather exciting years at ABR as well. One year Jeff (Where the Wild Beers Are) brought a keg of Cantillion to share at the MNBeer tent. Another year, we decided to play “Name that Minnesota Beer” while sampling pale ales for prizes. We also offered up bottle openers in exchange for a cash donation to the Guild.

Now in it’s 13th year, Autumn Brew Review has graduated into being one of the longest-running and most well-regarded beer festival in the upper midwest. It sells out immediately every year and showcases tons of great local beers as well as great beers from out-of-state brewers. Tons of work goes into making this festival happen every year and the Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild deserves a great big hug and a sloppy-hoppy kiss for all of their hard work. Early ABR pioneers such as Dave Berg, Paul Norton, Laura and Colin Mullen and others really shaped the festival into what it is today. Personally, I’m excited as this year the event doesn’t conflict with a yearly work event. I hope to see you there! Stop by the MNBeer tent or find me out sampling! Cheers! Continue on for some old photos!