Guess what folks, you can now find Surly beer on tap in the Twin Cities.

News flash – Beer on tap at Acadia Cafe and Blue Nile! See the SURLY BARS page on locations and web-sites! Be sure to tell them you wanna Get Surly.

Surly kick-off party this weekend!
Party at Half-Time Rec. in St. Paul, Saturday, Feb 3rd. $2 pints of Bender and your chance to Get Surly. Also, meet the people behind Surly.

-and-

The day we have all been waiting for is finally here. Surly beer is
officially available! You can find both Bender and Furious on tap at Café
Twenty Eight in Linden Hills, and Bender is pouring at Solera in downtown
Minneapolis. As a matter of fact, Surly is pouring for only $2.00 a beer
after 10:00 weekdays at Solera. I know, I just came from there. Prepare for
a night out if you are drinking at Café Twenty Eight, as they are a
restaurant and do not have a stand alone bar. For that matter, a reservation
is a good idea. Surly beers always go well with food. We have bars and
restaurants that are trying to drain a tap line for us over the weekend, so
keep checking the website next week for additional taps as they develop. We
hope to be adding locations fast and Furious.

Anyone want to buy me dinner? Town Hall is having another beer dinner with some guest beers from Fitger’s in Duluth.

We are having another beer dinner- the 3rd annual! This one is extra special. Along with the brilliant fare this dinner welcomes the addition of another brewery to the table. Fitger’s in Duluth will be providing “guest beers” for the event… so here is your chance to sample beers from the brothers Hoops at one sitting. Thanks Fitger’s! And remember to stop and have pint at the Brewhouse on your next visit to the “Great White North” (Well….Duluth used to get snow).
Here are the details-

Tuesday, Feb.21 (first tour 6:30pm, dinner 8pm)
-Includes five course meal each paired with a different seasonal, optional brewery tour led by our brewers, and a souvenir mug filled w/beer.

Apertif/Reception
Fitger’s Apricot Wheat Ale

Amuse
Canape of Stilton Cheese, Caramelized Onion-Apple Relish, & Roasted Walnuts, Mixed Greens, Dried Fig Vinaigrette
–Complemented with Twisted Reality (our Barley Wine)

Soup
Bright Spot Ale Beer Cheese Soup, Dijon-Pretzel Croutons, Crispy Prosciutto, Scallions
–Complemented with our Broken Paddle ESB

Salad
Habanero-Chile Shrimp, Mesclun Greens, Balsamic-Pub Ale Vinaigrette, Red Onion, Avacado, Roasted Red Peppers, Grape Tomatoes
Complemented with Fitger’s 1-year old Farmhouse Ale

Entree
St.Louis-style Pork Ribs, Oatmeal Stout BBQ Sauce, Southernn Red Beans, Sweet Potato Fries, Tillamook Smoked Cheddar Cornbread
–Complemented with our Barrel Aged Smoked Porter

Dessert
Chocolate Brownie, Barrel Aged Coffee Porter Ice Cream, Freash Strawberries, Imperial Stout- Balsamic Syrup, Chopped Hazelnuts
Complemented with Fitger’s Baltic Porter

Doesn’t That Sound Great!? Give us a call and reserve your spot today. The last one sold out very fast…and it seemed to me everyone left with a big smile (and thier top button undone)

All that fun just $60 per person (includes tax). Limited seating- ask your server or bartender to sign you up while you still can…….

I guess I forgot that I was on Great Waters’ mailing list. However, I got a message the other day offering a free pint with a food purchase good for the month of February. I’m not one to turn down good free beer, so I guess I’ll be dining at Great Waters soon.

Aaw, twist my arm…

…not really, but it was certainly less than ideal. I made a higher-gravity hefeweizen , nicknamed “el jefe weizen,” today. I mashed indoors and heated water and boiled the wort out in the garage. My garage is detached and unheated and no thanks too the cold weather, it took me a while to reach a boil. The poor propane tank was cold, and I suspect I was nearing a freeze-up as my usually-noisy burner was relatively quiet, even at full-bore.

The wort reached a boil and I added some hops and decided to stir a bit. A stroke of idiotic genius hit me and I stirred just a bit too deep, dipping a couple of knuckles and the end of my thumb in boiling wort. It was a first, and hopefully a last. Ouch! The beer is presently chilling and my fingers are crossed that nothing else goes wrong… wish me luck!

If you’re heading to the Food and Wine Experience (Feb 24-26) look for
the Minnesota Craft Brewer’s Guild booth. We’ll be the one without any
decorations (you’ll understand what I mean if you go). Planning on
having 6 breweries there each day, serving probably 4 beers each, so
we’ll have a better beer selection in our little booth than most bars in
the state.

The 6th Annual Autumn Brew Review will be Oct 7, 2006. We’re limiting
tickets to 2500 this year, and after the Winterfest experience, I don’t
doubt we’ll hit that. This will probably be the last year at Peavey–we
need more room. We’re kicking around the idea of having a VIP hour for
those of you who are willing to pay a little extra and have a run of the
event without the crowds. I’ll keep you posted.

The 6th Annual Winterfest will be Jan 20, 2007 at the Landmark Center in
St Paul. New digs, more space, should be fun.

Last but not least, I’m putting a PDF on the website
(http://www.mncraftbrew.org) of the
really cool t-shirts we
had printed. Price is $15+ shipping (if I have to send it–I can’t
believe it would cost very much to send a t-shirt). The only sizes we
have now are L and XL. If you need a different size, let me know and
we’ll get one made next order.