Autumn Brew Review

2009 Autumn Brew Review, Saturday, September 12

Scott and I arrived to the Historic Grain Belt Complex in NE Minneapolis around 12:45 PM for the 1:00 PM event start time. The line was 3 blocks long and snaking around the corner. Let the people watching begin!

Note the t-shirt in the above photo: "I love my wife" which Scott asked to be added to his Christmas list.

The first brewer we visited was South Shore Brewing Company out of Ashland, WI. I had the Nut Brown Ale (5.0% ABV) and Scott had the Honey Pils (5.5% ABV).

With beer in hand, Scott found his first tchotchke; a bottle opener dog tag necklace.

Next we hit Barley John's because Scott and I met the owner at a MN Craft Brewers Guild event. At that event Scott and I tried a triple fermented wild rice brown ale aged in a bourbon cask for 8 months and it was called Rosies Old Ale. They had it available at the Autumn Brew Review and Scott tried it again but it didn't live up to what he remembered. I tried the Triple Oat Stout (5.5% ABV) and it was quite tasty. Though in hindsight I should have also tried "wild brunette".

Rock Bottom Brewery was the next stop and Scott tried Catcher in the Rye (5.9% ABV) with 25% Rye Malt and hopped with 4 hop varieities. I had Hop Bom Double IPA (9.5% ABV) and it was a bit too much for me. Scott stayed for a second beer at Rock Bottom and tried the Smoked Porter which used cherry wood. He loved the first few sips but couldn't drink the entire 2 oz serving!

Colorado brewer, Left Hand Brewing Company offered me the Milk Stout (5.9% ABV) which had roasted malt and coffee flavors the name stems from the use of milk sugar. Scott had Imperial Stout (10.2% ABV) which he did not like at all. See the below photos for proof.

Scott chose Victory for our next tasting. I opted out while he tasted Wild Devil (6.7% ABV) which is described as "bold, spicy, menacingly delicious HopDevil" which "takes on an entirely new dimension when subjected to a wild yeast fermentation." Next, Scott tried Lagunitas's IPA (5.7% ABV) which has 43 different hops and 65 various malts. Note: When Scott read this blog post, he said "no way did that beer have 43 different hops and 65 different malts, that's impossible". So, I guess Lagunita's lied.

I joined back in when we visited Furthermore Beer which in my opinion wins for best design as I would like to put all of their posters up in my home. I also enjoyed Oscura (4.5% ABV) which is warm-fermented, cold-lagered made with whole coffee beans. Scott tried Three Feet Deep (5.5% ABV) which is a stout with "a wee hint of peated malt". Turns out they are having an event on the 26th of September and I am going to try to talk Scott into going!

Michigan Brewery, Founders Brewing Co., served us Centennial IPA (7.2% ABV) and Cerise (6.5% ABV). Cerise uses fresh Michigan tart cherries which made the beer sour, delicious and pretty in color.

Around 2:30 PM we decided it would be a good idea to grab some lunch. Thankfully, Pizza Luce was serving piping hot slices. Scott waited in the Luce line while I waited in the Surly line for Hell and Darkness (only avaiable at ABR and it is cask conditioned) and met at a high top table for our break. The great thing about beer events is everyone is so friendly and interested in talking beer. A nice guy talked up Vine Park Brewing Company so we went there after our lunch.

For dessert, I had Vine Park's River City Root Beer and Scott had English Premium Bitter which defining characteristic is its malty aroma.

The Town Hall signs caught our attention because of the creative names of the beers. Visit their website- it is quite unique even though it is a bit difficult to navigate. It defintely makes me want to go back for a visit when their expansion is done. Scott had the coconut milk stout (5.9% ABV) in which raw coconut was added into the secondary fermentation. Both of us really liked this beer and Scott plans on using coconut in the future. I had LSD (7.2% ABV) which was an American honey ale brewed with Lavendar, Sunflower honey and dates. LSD was delicious and calming since it had a strong lavendar aroma.

Another Wisconsin brewer, Tyranena made the cut because of Scott's interest in trying Scurvy IPA. The name would have prevented me from trying it so I guess Scott is more adventurous. Scurvy is an India Pale Ale (IPA) brewed with Orange Peel which Scott said he couldn't taste then he dumped the rest of the beer. I tried Paradise By The Dash Board Lights Doubly Blessed (AKA Imperial) Cherry Porter which is probably the longest name for a beer at ABR. When Scott took a sip he was equally unimpressed with this one. That being said, Tyranena did inspire him to use orange peel in one of his future brews so all is not lost.

To avoid getting a nasty headache from the combination of beer and sun, we decided to take a break from both by heading to the music tent. We enjoyed the sounds of Roe Family Singers who describe themselves as "good-time, old-time, hillbilly band". Scott and I both enjoyed them and I hope to buy some of their music and see them live again. I was super impressed with Kim Roe as she had her baby, Elspeth on her back while washboarding. So cool! They reminded me of many of the bands who played in the bars in Flagtaff, AZ when I lived there.

At this point in the afternoon my notetaking abilities started lapsing so I am not too sure which brewery we visited next. I know we went back to Surly so that I could have more Hell and Scott could try another beer but I am not even sure what he got. We did meet up with Scott's co-worker, Jason Purtle and his friend, Peter Bulk. We also chatted up a nice University of Minnesota Pre-Med Senior who was "tailgating" for their first game in the new stadium.

Before leaving, Scott tried the Raspberry Ale from Dark Horse Brewing Company.

I enjoyed tasting so many great beers but the people watching was subpurb. Here are some of the highlights...

German Heritage

Irish Heritage

Beer Enthusiasm

Tattoo Enthusiasm

Note: I really liked the flowers on this woman's back.

Crazy Costume

Just Crazy

Looks I Like But Couldn't Pull Off if I Tried

Baby Beer Bjorn

Note to all my new parent friends: There were a lot of babies and toddlers at this event.

Pipe Smokin

All that beer drinking and people watching in the sun made us tired! We left around 4:00 PM to keep in line with my mom's advice which I've been living by lately: Leave while you're still having fun. Fun indeed. To top it off, we went to Izzy's Ice Cream Parlor for "dinner".

Trip down Memory Lane: Sheldon, Iowa

An Overview of our Walk:

Since my parents no longer live in Sheldon, Iowa, the town I called home from the age of three until high school graduation, I tour the town every five years when my classmates get together for reunions. Scott and I arrived in Sheldon around 10:30 AM and we started our walking tour at the Sheldon High School. This is when I discovered the indoor pool (where I swam many laps for summer and winter swim team) had been demolished and replaced with an indoor pool. We then headed over to the high school so I could snap a photo of the front and we noticed a volleyball tournament was happening. Scott happens to have an uncle who lives in Sheldon and we saw a car with her name on it so we went inside to see if we could say hello. Only in a small town would we track down family without a phone call! We talked with Barb and Marisa for a few minutes and I talked with Michelle Hoogers a woman who graduated in '93 and is now the volleyball coach.

After spending time in the high school, we walked one block to my childhood home (604 Union Avenue, the gray home second from the corner pictured below). The new owners have added new siding but I still mourn the loss of the giant picture window in the front of the house because that is where my mom spent hours reading on the couch and watching out for me and my sister. Everything else on my block looks the same. I lived directly across from a Emmanuel Christian Reformed Church (not the church I went to) and East Lawn Cemetery (pictured below).

From Union Avenue, we turned right onto East 6th Street and walked passed several childhood friends' homes. We then turned left onto Washington Avenue (a main thoroughfare in Sheldon) and then right onto 7th Street. I was able to see the green space/parking lot that used to be my Middle School which was torn down shortly after my 10 year reunion. Even though the middle schoolers of today have it much better than I did, I still wish something interesting could have been put into that big old beautiful building. The Emmanuel Bethel Reformed Church (pictured below) is now much more prominent with the school's absence.

A block away, on 8th Street, we walked passed Sheldon United Methodist Church, the church I attended with my parents and sister every Sunday morning at 8 AM. I have many fond memories of Sunday School, Vacation Bible School and Youth Group. This is also where I was introduced to puppet ministry which many of my friends from Sheldon didn't know about (and none of my adult friends knew about until recently).

We continued on our walk heading towards downtown. I had to take a photo of the Sheldon Community Building as this was the site of Teen Scene, where I spent many Friday nights talking to my friends about things we thought were important at the time (e.g. boys). I was happy to discover the library was open and even happier to find that it smelled the same. It had a very library smell to it. Besides the addition of wireless internet connections and more computers, the library looked exactly the same to me.

Once we arrived into the heart of downtown, I remembered all of the nights "cruising the loop". I can't believe that was once so entertaining. Even though I saw the big hole that once was Pizza Ranch the last time I was in Sheldon, I can't help but be sad that my first employer burnt down! We stopped in for a treat at the Prairie Queen Bakery and I was had an elephant ear in honor of my mom as it was her favorite when we lived in Sheldon.

We continued our walk downtown via 3rd Avenue and saw that many stores were now closed but Ben Franklin remains! The saddest losses to see were Holly's (which didn't exist growing up but it was a dear friend's gift shop which rivaled most independent stores in Minneapolis) and Pucci's which was a favorite dining spot of my family's.

After looking around downtown, we headed to City Park, which the entire community helped build in 1994, my senior year in high school. I was impressed by the new memorial built to honor all of those who faught in the wars. However, our camera battery was drained so I couldn't capture as much of it as I would have liked.

After we left the park, we walked down 6th Street where I spotted what looked like my old moped! It appears they still travel in packs! In hindsight I wish Scott and I could have rented a couple of mopeds for the day as it was my primary means of transportation from the age of 14 until 16 when I started driving by myself.

After returning to our car at the high school, we drove out by the new Hiway 60 bypass. This is where all of the new restaurants and hotel have been built. As an adult I now couldn't care less about access to McDonald's but I can't even tell you how much I wished we had a McDonald's growing up. Well, Sheldon now has a McDonald's (in a gas station - but still). This is the part of town where Pizza Ranch and Taco John's relocated. While I didn't take a photo, I noticed that Roller Roulette is still up and running. We also drove down Country Club road as many of my childhood friends lived in that area though now it is far more developed with new houses due to the addition of the new middle school.

We discovered that the camera battery was completely drained so we drove back downtown to Radio Shack where we spent at least a half hour trying to figure out if a universal charger would work. Turns out it did and we were on our way to Holly (Hamill) Kamstra's house for an afternoon gathering. Classmates I was able to connect with included Andrew McDowell, Sarah (Popkes) and Hans Wagenaar, Rachel (Wolfswinkel) Matthaei, Kristi (Fedders) Hill, Nate Merrill, Mark Woelber, Kent Magnussen. It was fun to talk with their spouses and meet their children. I wish more people would have come to this part of the reunion because I found it was much easier to talk with people in Holly's backyard than it was later in the evening at the restaurant.

After the gathering at Holly's, we drove around town a little more. We were advised to drive around the section of town where childhood friend, Cindra (Schelling) Kamphoff lived as more new houses have been added. It definitely has changed a lot since I frequented that part of town! A photo oppp of Dairy Dandy was a must. I also noticed that yet another restaurant is in the old Iron Horse space and yet the Iron Horse Inn remains. I also checked out Hills Park (looks the same). We stopped at Pamida because of the number of years I spent helping my dad when his pharmacy was located inside of Pamida. It now appears that the pharmacy is a part of the store rather than its own entity. We then drove passed the golf course since I played on the junior varsity team for a couple of years. We then headed back to the Middle School area and I noted a new park had been developed as well as an assisted living home.

Our Sheldon tour was complete and it was now time to depart for Aston, Iowa the location of Cedar Cabin, the restaurant many of us went to for PROM. Everyone looked great and I wished I would have been able to talk to everyone more than I did. We opted out of returning to Sheldon to go to the bar because we had to drive back to Sioux Falls where my parents now live.