Yes, it was finally the big night of Winterfest and Nate finally getting to enjoy his Christmas present just over a month after the holiday. It was well worth the wait and the money invested, I have to say that much.
We headed over to the MN History Center which may sound like a strange venue for this kind of event, but it was perfect. The doors were scheduled to open at 7:00 and we made it in by 6:45. Parking was free - total plus and the line wasn't so bad that we were still able to wait inside in the lobby.
We were given a stamp on our hand and a booklet listing what breweries were in attendance and what they were offering, plus a map showing where they were and where the food was on each of the three floors. Omar, the founder of Surly Brewing, gave a very short welcome and then opened the doors, we were led inside by bagpipers. We then stopped to grab our commemorative tasting glass (about 2 oz in size) and to drop off our coats. We then beelined for our favorite brewpub in attendance, Barley Johns, because they listed a beer we had never tried before and we wanted to grab it before it was gone.
After that I let Nate lead the way as this was his evening. We went to Surly next and a couple of smaller breweries before decided we needed to get some food in our stomachs. We made our way through the food line and chowed down on white chicken chili, cornbread, cheese and veggies. Very nice spread of food.
We stopped at several other breweries tables, including a couple of new breweries. I paced myself since I agreed to drive us home. I wanted Nate to experience as much as possible. We hit the food line again and then sampled a few more brews and then were ready to head home as it was a quarter to ten and the event was only lasting another 15 minutes.
It was quite loud - as people drank the noise only grew - but it was fun to be amidst other beer lovers. My favorite brews of the evening were a Blackberry porter from Brau Brothers, something called the Pink Eye from the Town Hall Brewery and Surly's Moe's Bender, kind of a coffee/vanilla tasting beer, not surprising since I love vanilla lattes. The other two were more fruity in nature, something else I'm finding I like in beer.
Below are a couple of pictures from the event. I hope we have an opportunity to go again sometime, it was a lot of fun and probably the highlight of our winter so far!
Nate and I - self portrait 
I think I have MooJoo's Oatmeal Stout by Brau Brothers here
Nate enjoying some type of IPA I believe
2 comments:
Sounds like you guys had a wonderful time!!! Glad Nate enjoyed his gift.
I'm glad you got to go and had such a fun time!
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