The Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild is bringing beer festivals to a higher level at the Autumn Beer Review this year with new opportunities to learn a bit more about the beverage in your 5oz glass.

Ride the fabled Pedal Pub to and from the brewery and parking lot, join a brewer and a foodie on the Pedal Pub as they present/demonstrate great food & beer pairing, and join Doug Hoverson, Minnesota brewery historian and author of Land of Amber Waters, for a tour of the grounds of the Grain Belt brewery.  Sign-up for these by visiting the Guild Information Booth at the festival. Space is limited for all seminars and tours, which will last approx. 30 minutes each.

More information, including cost and times, is available here.

And you thought you’d *just* be drinking awesome beer with good friends at a great location this year….

Congratulations to the 2009 State Fair Homebrew Contest winners!

Winners report is here.

Up next is Byggvir’s Big Beer Cup, the Minnesota Renaissance Festival’s Home Brew Competition, sponsored by the Minnesota Home Brewers Association. There’s still time to get yer brews in, as entries are accepted until this Monday, August 31st.

…in fact, as of this morning there were only 70 tickets left. If you want to go to Autumn Brew Review, buy your tickets now!

Do you still want to go to Thursday’s beer dinner at the Happy Gnome featuring the new beer that was the result of the collaboration between Two Brothers and Urthel? Then you better get on it–only 10 spots are left!

In addition to the collaborative beer (Moaten, an oak-aged Flander’s Red Ale), Two Bros Cane and Ebel, Urthel Hop-It and Two Bros Domaine duPage will be paired with a coursed meal prepared by Gnome Executive Chef Matthew Hinman. The event runs 6pm – 9pm and will run you $38 (+ tax and tip).

All tickets must be sold by 4pm Wednesday. Email happygnomeevents@gmail.com for more info or to reserve your spot.

Hey, you got your beer in my politics!

Hey, you got your politics in my beer!

Here is an interesting WSJ story on the much-discussed Beer Summit with a craft-beer twist.