Category: general beer

The Beer Knight

By on October 24, 2010in general beer

The short story – Lanny Hoff is the reason we have access to a lot of the great Belgian beers we all enjoy. Lanny was recently knighted in Belgium for all of his hard work.

“The Chevalerie du Fourquet des Brasseurs Knights of Honour are chosen for their service to the brewing profession. These are people who have risen to the top of their profession and have attracted attention as selfless defenders of beer. They are not always brewers, as illustrated by the induction of author and Beer Hunter Michael Jackson, or American beer bar owners Dave Alexander and Tom Peters.”

If you’ve never had the pleasure of speaking with Lanny (or just hearing him speak) about beer, make time. Speaking of which, The Heavy Table did just that… give it a read!

Belgian Beer Fest at the Pig

By on October 20, 2010in bars/restaurants, beer events, breweries, general beer, history

So much is happening on the Minnesota beer scene, sometimes things slip through the cracks. The Belgian Beer Fest at the Muddy Pig is one of them, surprisingly since its one of my favorite fests of the year. Even though it started yesterday (Tuesday), it runs through the weekend, so you haven’t missed much. Plus, the seminars don’t gear up until tomorrow, so we’ll all good, right?

The Pig will have on tap 85 different belgian and belgian-style beers served in flights of three 5oz pours. Check out the program, including the beer list, here.

While the tap list is certainly impressive, the seminars are what make this event stand out.  Seminars are $20 each or all three for just $50. Sign up at the bar.

  • Thursday, October 21 @ 6:30pm:  “Attack of the Gopher: Beer Hidden in Holes”. Learn about, and sample, Belgian brown ales.
  • Saturday, October 23 @ Noon:  “Blending Sour Beers”. We will be mixing “New” beer that has not been soured with “Old” beer that is aged for a minimum of 18 months in oak barrels. Much as lambic or Flemish sour ales are made.
  • Sunday, October 24 @ Noon “The Little: The Smallest Big Beers You Have Never Had”. Belgian beers from the smallest, wierdest, most obscure, non robot driven breweries. Little production, rare, hard to find or 100% new to Minnesota.

ABR Tips

By on October 2, 2010in general beer

Autumn Brew Review is today! I’m looking forward to seeing everyone! Stop by the MNBeer tent and say hello, I imagine Eric, Kat, Greg and myself will be there at various times. My swag order got delayed until Monday, so I’ve got a few hundred stickers, etc. versus 2000 to pass out. I’ve also got limited quantities of t-shirts, but if you’re a large or a medium, I’ll have you covered… for a while.

Regardless, come say hello! And…

1. Eat a good base – don’t go to Autumn Brew Review on an empty stomach!

2. Hydrate! (Not just beer!) Drink water!

3. Pace yourself! You don’t need to drink 20 2 oz. samples of Darkness!

4. Grab your beer and step aside! If you want to talk to a brewer or hit on the girl/boy pouring boy, move off to the side to talk. Also, please don’t gather with your silly drunk friends two feet back from the table and drink in a little circle. Step away!

5. Don’t drive. Period. “I’m fine.” Uh, no, trust me, you’re not. “Yesh Iss am.” Ugh.

ABR Program

By on September 30, 2010in general beer

If only I woulda waited an hour to post the last post, I coulda included this. Just tryin to get the info to the people!

[Update: the site was completely updated earlier this evening, so follow the link below to get to the program and everything else! ~ryan]

Linky-link