Tastings and Events
I not only like to make beer, I also like to, um, drink it. But more than that, I like to smell, taste, judge, and appreciate it, and encourage others to do the same. Whenever there's a chance to taste a wide variety of beers, I'm there. I also hold tastings at my house where 6-12 people will gather and perform the dirty job of tasting and evaluating many commercial and homebrewed beers.
September 8, 2001. Bryan and Adam joined me at the inaugural Autumn Brew Review, held each fall in downtown Minneapolis.
Don at the first Autumn Brew Review.
September 7, 2002. At the second ABR, our group grew. From left, Jeff, Adam, Bruce, Brian, Rob, and Bruce. I was taking the picture.
September 6, 2003. The third annual Autumn Brew Review crew was our biggest group yet. From left, James, Bruce, Jeff, Eric and Robert.
"Are you going to take the picture or what? There's beer drinking to be done." -Don
The other end of the table at the 2003 ABR: from left, Mike, Don, Kevin, and Adam.
The tastings I hold at my house have been named B.A.T.E. (either Beer Appreciation Tasting Event, or Bad-Ass Tasting Event). Above you see BATE #2 held January 19, 2003. Jeff, Pete, Jamie (on couch), Mike, and James.
(BATE #1 was a Belgian Tasting night. No pictures or records from that night exist. We've only the memories!)
BATE #2. James, Don, Bruce, Bruce, Jeff, Pete.
BATE #3 was held March 21, 2003 and was the largest group yet. Two card tables were employed to accommodate all of us. Pete, Heather, Mike, Jonathan, Peter, Abby and Andy (hard to see those last 2).
BATE #3: Abby, Andy, Peter, Bruce, James.
BATE #3 the rest: James, Kristina, Don, Pete, Heather, Mike.
BATE #4 was held June 7, 2003. James, Mike, Peter, Robert. I took the picture.
BATE #5 was held November 15, 2003. Above you see Robert, Tom, Chris, Pete, and the great food spread.
Mike, James, Peter, Don, Mike.
James, (Peter), Don, Mike, Robert, Tom, Chris.
Things got a little out of hand. We ended up trying 40 different drinks. Above is a picture of the table as the night went on, with the caps piling up, written list of sampled beers growing, and the bottles accumulating.
The bottle toll the morning after, and some of them had gone home with the owners (empty homebrew bottles are a valuable commodity in some circles). Many bottles in the picture are 22 oz bombers.
January 17, 2004 - Winterfest held in the Hamm building in downtown St. Paul. Above you see Don and Bruce.
Winterfest 2004. James and Mike.
Glowing samples at Winterfest 2004.
Learn about the Autumn Brew Review and Winterfest here -> MN Craft Brewer's Guild homepage.
Gitchee Gumee brewfest was held April 3, 2004. Here you see a panoramic shot of the arena.
Don and Pete at Gitchee Gumee.
Mike and Jerry at Gitchee Gumee.
Summit tapped a cask brown ale for the event.
HERE is a video clip (4.2 MB) of the yell that goes up when someone drops a glass at the GG Brewfest.
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