The Beer In Review: 2014

Well, for the past few years I've been doing a piece I call The Beer In Review.  In this treatise I discuss events and excitement from the previous year as I gear up for another year of the unknown.  Life is a journey and this is the trip so far!  Whether people are reading my blog entries or not, writing this has been a great way for me to chronicle the day to day of my very beer-centric life.

2014 has been a busy one for me and for my wife SJ.  Fairly early in the year we took a trip with four of our friends to Belgium and The Netherlands to discover many amazing sights and even more amazing beers!  This was our second trip with Beertrips.com and did not disappoint.  We met with brewmasters, drank ourselves to oblivion in a Belgian pub's beer cellar, crashed two chaotic Belgian beer festivals and tried over 200 different beers.  Yup it was a good trip!

Sj quit her day job as a librarian to pursue her dream of making jewelry professionally instead of just as a hobby.  She was invited to be a Member Artist at the new Unearthed Arts cooperative/gallery in Waconia and has been having a blast working with them.  I have to say that she couldn't have landed in a more supportive place or with better people!

Just as I was starting to make a small dent in my massive beer cellar, I bought a large quantity of rare beers from a local acquaintance.  This counted as an early 41st Birthday present--but I won't complain since these will last me at least another year!  This did necessitate a total reorganization of my current cellar, and has uncovered some buried treasure in the process.

The craft alcoholic beverage scene is quickly moving into my Far Western Suburbs (that area on the map where the sea monsters and dragons frolic.)  Enki Brewing continues to put out good local brews in close-by Victoria.  Waconia Brewing opened to much fanfare and seem to be doing a great job so far.  Schram Vineyard (also in Waconia) became Minnesota's first Winery/Brewery.  And J. Carver Distillery has started to market their spirits--I hope they manage to eventually serve samples or cocktails at the distillery!  Now I don't have to drive so far for a good craft brew experience.

More breweries pop up all over the Twin Cities area and I find myself having a hard time visiting them all!  To some extent, I leave most of them alone for 3-6 months to "mature" before doing official visits.  This year I checked out the newly branded Bent Brewstillery, Urban Growler, Fair State, Day Block, Freehouse, and finally got to Lucid.  Oh, and the Four Firkins added a second store of beery goodness.

I had many great meals around the Twin Cities including: Butcher & The Boar, many amazing beer dinners at The Happy Gnome, a couple of cool beer dinners at McCoy's (Thanks Nick!) as well as both beer and wine dinners at local eatery Terra Waconia.

We spent another week of crazed theater going interspersed with trips to Town Hall Brewery and Republic during Fringe Festival this summer.  We also went to several great shows for the Twin Cities Horror Festival at the Southern Theater--sure to be even more impressive next year.  We continued our theater going at the Orpheum with possibly too many 80's movie musicals like Sister Act, Flash Dance, and Dirty Dancing.  We also saw the timely White Christmas and the ludicrous and uproarious Book of Mormon.  And of course we hung out with friends at MacKenzie after the shows to take advantage of the great beer selection.

I continue to brew, but not quite as much as I would have liked to this year.  I did get one of my beers into the second round of the National Homebrew competition but didn't make the final cut.  After helping out Steve Piatz with a lecture/class on mead making at the Arboretum I jumped back into mead making whole-hog this past fall.  I'm just starting to test out the fruits of my labors and am pretty happy with them so far!  Oh and I won my first Best Of Show (for Mead/Cider) award at the Hoppy Halloween competition in Fargo!

We traveled to Grand Rapids Michigan for the National Homebrewer's Conference this summer, and visited a ton of great breweries there including Founders, Bell's, Jolly Pumpkin, Perrin, and Dark Horse!  Much beer was had on that trip I tell you!  And I'm ready to go next year to California...

Sj and I took a quick trip up to Duluth for the All Pints North beer festival and had a wonderful time along the North Shore. This has become my favorite beer festival over the past two years.

Sj and I took an anniversary trip to Disneyland in California, spending time with our friends Pete and Genevieve.  I struggled to find beer there, but we were able to visit the nearby craft beer Mecca of The Bruery located in the poorly named town of Placentia.  It was an experience like none other!  We followed up this busy and crowded California visit with a trip to Pittsburgh and rural Pennsylvania to visit friends Andrew and William. Yup, we got to several breweries and even a cidery there.  You know how I am with travel by now!

I got to take a trip to St. Louis with Rob Wengler and Ron Johnson to help film the Limited Release episode on Barrel Aged Abraxas.  Now that was an experience!  An amazing event, brewery, beer, and crew.

As people may have noticed over the year, I finally bought myself a real camera and have been working on learning more about photography and editing.  I hope that people appreciate the better quality of photo I'm bringing to the blog and not annoyed with the divergence from all-beer-all-the-time!  I thought about making a separate blog for photography stuff, but realized that I would have a hard time running both.

So, lots of long and short trips, punctuated by a fair amount of breweries, good friends, and good beers.  Yup, this is pretty much what my ideal life is!  Ok, all those in-between days I'm actually working my rewarding and busy day job...I'm not some man-of-leisure dilettante!  This year I give thanks that I'm still healthy, that I have a wonderful wife who mostly tolerates my crazy notions, and that I'm surrounded by so many great friends and family.  I wish I had more time to visit everyone!

And what would the New Year be without some resolutions?  In addition to the obligatory exercise- more-and-eat-better-so-I-can-fit-my-pants resolution I have a few more fun ones.

1) First off I plan on doing a weekly blog entry called A Whale A Week.  This will be my excuse to crack a rare beer (and hopefully share it with others,) every week to make some headway on my obscene beer cellar.
2) Travel: I plan to go to NHC in California this summer.  Sj and I are still discussing, but we would like to take at least one extended trip in the country--possibly North Carolina due to the incredible brew scene down there.  I'm thinking another overseas Beer Trip in 2016.
3) Continue my weekly photo challenges to force me to learn new techniques and get better.
4) Brew more!  I really didn't do an impressive job this year, and would like to get more batches under my belt.  I want to experiment more with water additions and focus on a few common styles (hoppy) that I haven't had as much luck with.
5) Actually organize some some more Jack Of All Brews club field trips this coming year!
6) Catch up on some cool video games now that I have a PS4.  Dragon Age should take me most of 2015...

Cheers to 2014 and to the upcoming 2015!

JAB Holiday Party Wrap-Up (Unwrap-Up?)

Just a quick review for those were not able to make it!  The Jack Of All Brews Holiday party has been going strong since our first Christmas pot-luck at Brett Schneider's place in Waconia (I think in 2006!)   And yes I will say Holidays, since we have members from different faiths in our mixed group of misfits!  From our very small first gathering we have continued several traditions.  We always encourage spouses to come to the party (and all meetings if they want!) so that we all get to know each other better.  This year Mike and Kristin Lebben were kind enough to invite our rowdy bunch of homebrewers into their basement bar.  Having just finished painting the basement, they improvised an awesome Christmas tree for us to use!

We continued our tradition of pot-luck and this year we had quite the glut of cocktail weenies and different specimens of meatballs!  There was plenty of food to go around as always.

And this wasn't all of it!  MEAT!!!

Of course we raided Mike's amazing kegerator, quickly emptying his stock of Cranberry Cider, Willie Nelson inspired "Always On My Mind Pale Ale," and bourbon barrel aged "Her Majesty's Purr."  We all spent time ogling Mike's Sabco brew system looming in the basement like some shiny religious idol to the gods of brewing.

Many amazing homebrews and commercial beers were cracked and passed around.  I vaguely remember some great Roets Mead and Cider concoctions figuring in there somewhere.  Others I remember are: Sierra Nevada Celebration ale, a disgusting sour travesty of a brown ale, overpriced swill from Guiness called The 1759, Keith Brady's wicked good IPA, Jolly Pumpkin Noel de Calabaza, and Alesmith Wee Heavy...to name a few!

We had door prizes of beers and beer memorabilia to hand out as well!

And of course the crowning glory of the party is the blind gift exchange!  Here everyone who wanted to take part brought a wrapped or bagged beer-related gift to put under the ghetto tree.  Then drawing names everyone got a turn picking out a gift.  We had some pretty impressive rare beers hiding in that pile!  Thanks to all who helped out and all who came for the festivities.  I look forward to doing it all again next year.

Terra Waconia & Waconia Brewing Company Dinner

So our sleepy little town of Waconia now has its second brewery!  Waconia Brewing Company is open for business!  I will be doing a full write-up on them soon, but wanted to do a quick blog post about their first beer dinner that occurred Thursday the 30th at Waconia's own Terra Waconia restaurant.  This is the second time I've been at a beer dinner for Halloween there, and they do a great job of getting you in the mood!

This particular event started right across the road at Waconia Brewing's tasting room.  Several of us dressed up for the event--I as Indiana Jones and Sj as Willie the shrieking maiden from Temple of Doom (complete with bugs in her hair and stuck onto her clothing!)  We were greeted warmly and a large platter of cheese, meats, and olives provided sustenance for us hungry patrons.  Within minutes, Tom the brewer handed me a new hoppy and complex Belgian pale ale made with an experimental hop.  Once most of us had arrived, we got a quick tour of the brewhouse (my first time being in there) and then headed across the street to the restaurant.

The small entry way to the restaurant was coated in white plastic with artful bloody hand prints and gore spattered across it.  Once you moved into the building, the windows were blacked out and the place was lit by flickering scattered candelabra and individual candles in wine bottle holders.  Cobwebs with suspended spiders coated the old tin ceiling and many of the walls, grabbing out at passers by.  Creepy horror music led a disturbing tone to the darkened surroundings.  A freakish doll hung from a fan.  Another doll on the bar held half its face and scalp in one hand...  All of my pictures are pretty sad due to the low light, so keep in mind that things looked better than this!

Sj and I got to sit with Dave and Sarah Manley this year and had some great conversations while waiting for each course to arrive.  Strangely much of the talk revolved around Halloween and horror themes...  The kitchen staff were all decked out in bloodstains and gore, working by headlamps so as not to break the mood for us diners.

Our first course was a seafood cake made to look like small bloody brains on a plate.  This was very good, but the texture was as squidgy as the brains it was supposed to be!  The pairing was with Waconia's kolsch and was a good one in my opinion.

Second course was a most disturbing squished and decomposing rat dish!  Made of potato carved into a ribcage, beets, beef, and a beet "blood pool", this was one of the craziest looking dishes I've ever had.  Tasted great!  I believe this was paired with the IPA, nice and refreshing for a palate cleanser after lapping up all that blood...

Did I mention the dead rat being the craziest dish?  Yup, but only until the next plate arrived!  This plate of finely shaved duck in broth, topped with hideously worm shaped gnocchi was my favorite of the evening.  Gotta tell you, it was hard taking that first bite!  Paired with the Waconia Amber, also a good combination.

Last dish was Eyeball Soup.  A melon soup served in a wine glass with floating lychee "eyeballs" with a firm apple pupil inside.  I'm not a melon fan so this was not my favorite of our courses, but still totally fun.  The texture and shape of the lychee was so spot-on for eyeballs that this was tough one to eat!  This was paired with the Waconia Wit, perhaps the only pairing I didn't love.  The beer itself was fine, but the soup and the beer seemed to clash a bit.

After the dinner was served, Chef Craig Sharp came out in his freaky clown mask with a devil doll to give us one last scare!  This was a great dinner, filled with scares, good food, good beers and good friends. 

Byggvir's Big Beer Cup 2014: ITS A TRAP!

Every year I take part in one of the most unique of homebrew competitions: Byggvir's Big Beer Cup.  This competition takes place on site at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, a place I have been visiting since I was a child.  As a result of being on site, Byggvir's has some challenges involved: getting the beers and equipment into the festival grounds, the pervasive odors of food and smoke, loud crowds, strange weather conditions, etc.  But all that makes this such a unique experience that I just have to keep going back!  For the past few years I have helped run the competition, but this year didn't have the time to invest--I still signed up to judge.  Here is how my experience went this year...

Volunteering at the competition gets you into the grounds for free, one of the best perks of the event for many.  On Saturday, very early in the morning, Steven M. picked me up and we took the sun-dappled country roads from Waconia to Shakopee.  This is one of the few homebrew events that is actually out our direction, so we were happy with such a short commute.  We entered through the "back door" off highway 41, to the new Queens Gate parking area.  Over the past several years the rock quarry that surrounds the festival grounds has expanded like some massive progressive sinkhole bent on eventually swallowing the entire festival in one massive final gulp.  The regular parking lot has been almost entirely subsumed by the expanding pit of doom, requiring many people to park some distance from the grounds and get shuttled on old yellow school buses.  Each year we have done this event the cast/will call entrance location and process has been different--last year we were sent to no less than three entrances before eventually giving up and sneaking in a secret way!  This year's was a bit less stressful, but the will-call ticket booth had no list of us.  Luckily they were understanding and let us in with a minimum of fuss.

Entering into the festival grounds a few minutes before the cannons fire is a strange experience.  There is an odd ghost-town effect.  Most of the players are clustered at the main King's Gate to greet the incoming crowds, and the only people around are a few shop keepers frantically attempting to get their places in order before the influx.  Rather than a roaring crowd of costumed folk and patrons there is very little noise at all.  No lewd shouts from the pickle sellers.  No fiddle music drifting across the breeze.  No people being placed in the stocks to be ridiculed.  The experience is akin to seeing a supermodel in scrubby sweatpants without her makeup on.  A strange experience for sure to one who has been going to Fest for so long! 

This Saturday I was actually supposed to be spending the morning wandering the Fest with Sj, but she was sick and stayed home to wallow in her illness.  Steven's family ended up coming in the front entrance shortly after cannon fire announced the official start of Fest, so I hung out with them for a bit before striking out on my own.  I got my obligatory Scotch egg and glass of mead.  I had my camera, so took some pictures of the strange environs (and denizens.)  I had a great time trying to catch good shots of the camera-shy reptiles at the Royal Herpetological (not an STD) Society Cabin.  An essential part of any trip to Fest for me is to see The Dregs--a hilarious "Irish" band that sings songs of love, sea shanties, death, and zombies.  Check out their website here and see them in person!  Eventually, a smile on my face and an Enki beer in hand I headed back for judging.



Steven and I reconvened at the Blue Lion Tent for our afternoon of beer judging.  I've said this before and I'll say it again to anyone who will listen:  Byggvir is the most fun you will ever have judging beer.  When we arrived, the early shift was over and Todd was working on a demo brew for the spectators.  This year they have added a portable beer serving station at the tent, so we had to fight for space a bit with the beer swilling, turkey leg gnawing rabble!  I was judging Belgian strong ales, a great category that I have a fair amount of experience with.  I got to sample a good mix of Belgian pale ales, dubbels, tripels, and dark Belgian strongs.  Aroma was quite difficult to deal with between the strong smells of boiling wort, turkey smoking, cigarette and cigar smoking, privies, and spilled beer--but hey that is part of the fun!  Just like learning to blind-fight in martial arts, one must learn to accurately judge beers under the most extreme of circumstances!  I think the overall quality of entries was much better this year, perhaps a sign of improving homebrew information out there.

At the tail end of judging Ye Olde Cell Phone and darkening skies warned us of an impending cataclysmic rainstorm.  Steven and I high-tailed it back to his car and piled in just as the bottom dropped out.  The rain almost instantly turned to a deluge, dumping tons of cold water on the rapidly exiting crowds of festival goers.  We made it about 10 car lengths from our parking spot by the entrance before we hit a stop in traffic.  With the encroachment of The Pit, there is really only one main exit from the festival grounds.  The literal Perfect Storm of rapid patron exodus, limited traffic control options, torrential downpour, and apparently three accidents caused converged to trap hundreds if not thousands of people in a traffic line OF DOOM!  Festival goers streamed out past us on foot, soaked to the bone.  The fine red dirt and clay of the lot rapidly turned to a thick muddy morass that sucked shoes right off of running pedestrians and made the whole place turn into a wickedly messy Slip-N-Slide. 

Shuttle buses were trapped right with us so all of those who were parked a mile away were either stuck in a children's school bus or walking through the rain and mud back to their cars.  We were actually stopped on the firmer dirt roadway, but many cars became stuck in the mud pit that surrounded our high ground, blocking more traffic and necessitating tow trucks to navigate the chaos.  After about 45 minutes the rain slowed and eventually blew over, but the damage had been done. 



After the storm

A hint of blue sky peaked out from the retreating Doom Clouds but night was approaching quickly.  We were now camping, but at least we were in the relative comfort of Steven's car, listening to music on the radio and watching the **&^%-Show Nightmare that surrounded us.  Not knowing about the accidents near the exit, none of us had any idea what was going on or how long this might last.  Quickly the thin veneer of humanity dropped from us and we began to discuss cannibalism options...luckily we had a nut roll and hunk of beef jerky in the car to hold us over for the first hour or so.  As time went on we started to People began to exit their cars, smoking, raiding coolers, talking with "neighbors".  Regretting the beer and mead I had partaken of earlier, I began to think seriously about making the small Barley Johns growler I had won during judging into an upscale trucker-bomb. 

The truck in front of us died a slow death of battery drain.  The car next to us in the muddy ditch had jumper cables, but they had to get another car that was closer to the front to actually jump the truck's heart back to life.  Minutes later the car next to us went dead, requiring another car to jump them!  Darkness came upon us at this time, dropping like a thick veil over the muddy and bedraggled crowd that was trapped.  Now the red tail lights put a devilish crimson glow over everything.  Screaming infants, exhausted and hungry, wailed through open windows, adding to the bedlam that surrounded us.  Like a scene from a futuristic Hieronymus Bosch painting, the costumed fiends cavorted about in the dim bloody lights, awaiting their escape from this endless purgatory. 

We had entered our car at 5 PM.  When the traffic began to move again it was after 8 PM.  Tired, dehydrated, sweaty, and needing desperately to void my bladder, I staggered into my home at 9 PM.  Migraine ensued. 

And flip to 7 AM the next morning!  Dragging my still flimsy carcass out of bed, I donned my vest, pantaloons, and boots, ready to face the music again.  Strapping on my sword and leather mug, I headed out for another fine day of judging beer at the Renaissance Festival! 

Luckily the Sunday session was much less dramatic!  Driving in, I did have a little PTSD flashback to the night before as I passed stalled out or stuck cars still entrenched in the surrounding fields.  This cool morning I helped set up things for judging and then started out with Specialty Ciders for a nice liquid breakfast!  I was pretty impressed with them overall and we had a difficult time coming up with our overall winners.  After a eating a massive and drippy turkey leg, I judged Strong Ales for the afternoon session.  Again, a good set of beers! 

Despite the insane events of the previous night, the Sunday visit was much more reasonable.  As always, the competition and locale has left me with stories to tell!  What could possibly happen next year?  Check back here again and I'll surely have more tales!

Steve Piatz Mead Talk

Ok, I know the blog has been a little light on beer stuff recently, so here is a little write-up on the meadmaking class that Steve Piatz gave at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum last weekend.  I actually hadn't realized that the Arboretum had so many adult education classes, but since Sj joined up this summer I've learned a lot more about them.  I have also been taking little field trips out to take pictures (as anyone who has been watching my 30 Word Thursday posts will know!) 



Found this busy guy in the gardens at the Arboretum...

For those who don't know who Steve is, he is a highly educated and intelligent retired engineer who just happens to be one of the foremost authorities on making mead.  He is one of the highest ranked BJCP judges in the world and in 2008 was awarded Meadmaker of the Year at NHC.  So this guy knows his stuff!  Oh, and he's also a really nice guy who is willing to share his expertise with others.

This fine morning we met at the Arboretum Learning Center early in the morning to set up everything for the talk.  There were two levels of the class: those who learned and tasted meads, and those who also got to make their own 1 gallon mead recipe to take home. 

Once folks arrived, Steve jumped into a great lecture on the history of mead.  Many people in the class were homebrewers and others were beekeepers looking into another use for their honey.  Every 15 minutes or so Mike B., Paul D., and myself would pour commercial and homemade meads to the group.  I have to say that Steve's meads were better than all of the commercial examples!  We tried traditional meads, fruit meads, metheglins (spiced meads), Pyments (grape meads), and even a fantastic fortified port-like mead from White Winter called Black Harbor.  While people were sipping on their newest mead, Steve would continue with the talk and also give a quick explanation of each mead we were tasting. 

Commercial meads

Eventually we moved into the hands-on part of the class.  This got a little chaotic between continued mead tasting, talk, and actually making of the mead.  Luckily the fine spouses of Mike, Paul, and Steve all jumped in to help out and we were able to handle everything well.  Special thanks should also go to Midwest Homebrewing Supplies for helping out with ingredients and equipment. 

Steve Piatz waxes poetic about his passion: mead!

By the end of the lecture more than half the group had a gallon bucket of mead to take home, and everyone was quite happy having tried a great grouping of meads.  I'm glad that I was invited to help out because I learned quite a bit during the talk!  I've made some meads myself, but am looking to up my game, and I think this will help.  I have already invested in a couple big gallon jugs of honey and have started a one gallon batch of cranberry blossom honey from the local Minnesota Honey Company in Minneapolis.

A quick plug for Steve's new book:  I bought a copy and am about half way through it.  Lots of good info in here and very useful recipes and techniques...not the usual vague stuff that is in many of the older mead books.  Buy one from Amazon here. 

Limited Release Episode 12: Barrel Aged Abraxas!

Yay!  The newest episode of Limited Release is up.  For those who haven't seen the show before: Old school mates of mine from Hopkins, Ron Johnson and Rob Wengler, travel the country in search of special beer releases.  They wait in the long lines so you don't have to!  This particular episode is special to me because I was there!  We took a long weekend trip to St. Louis for the release of Barrel Aged Abraxas at Perennial Artisan Ales, also stopping in at 4 Hands and Civil Life. 

Since I was reading Hunter S. Thompson on the trip I wrote up two blog posts about the trip in gonzo style.  You can read Beer & Loathing in St. Louis  here and here...

Watch the episode for a good run-down of the St. Louis beer scene, brewer interviews, and lots of Hodor.  Share it with others so all that hard work (drinking, traveling, editing, animating, etc) will be worth it!  Also watch the old episodes if you haven't seen them yet.  I'm in most of them as designated beer taster and judge. 

Northbound Smokehouse Tour 2014

This past weekend, my wife and I were lucky enough to be invited along with several members of the Primary Fermenters Homebrew Club for a tour of Northbound Smokehouse.  I have been there twice before, but the last time was over a year ago, so it was time to go back and see how things were going. 

The brewpub is going on its second year now, and seems to be going strong, often struggling to keep up with demand for their beers.  That problem is both good (they are selling lots) but also bad (people can't always get the beer they want!)  Located in a quiet neighborhood of Minneapolis, the brewery takes up the corner of an old brick building.  There is a pleasant and sunny outdoor patio surrounded by colorful plants, flowers and several appropriate hop bines.

We met at the brewpub at 11:00 and killed some time waiting for our entire party by trying out some beers.  I tried my previous favorite--the Smokehouse Porter.  This beer was better than I remember it, with just a hint of smokiness and an off-sweet finish.  Inside the brewpub is dark, but open and comfortable.  A small bar hosts house and guest taps with a limited selection of liquors and wines as well.  The beer serving tanks are visible through glass behind the bar--a nice touch.

Once we had all gathered (Beau, Mark, Pat, Shannon, Sj, and I) we got to business!  Joel, (one of the brewers), took us on an informative tour of the small brewery.  We started out by heading down a wide stairway into the cool basement.  Surrounded by bags of BSG malt that has to be hand-hauled down those stairs, we spent quite a bit of time talking to Joel.  Since all of us were seasoned homebrewers, he was able to forgo the usual "This is how beer is made..." lecture and focus on nerdy brewer details for us!  It was very interesting to get his take on things like hops and grain shortages, brewery politics, and of course recipe development and brewing techniques. 

We next checked out the tiny grain mill room followed by a short jaunt into the cold room filled with storage tanks and wonderfully aromatic hops.

Lastly we spent some time in the actual brewery area, under the shadow of full stainless steel conical fermenters.  I really appreciate the time that Joel spent with our small group, and I had a very informative time of it!  I feel slightly bad that I badgered him about not having enough smoked beers on tap (it is a Smokehouse!)

Joel talks brewing tips with avid homebrewers!

After our tour we had worked up an appetite.  Smelling the aroma of smoked meat permeating the restaurant had not helped with this!  We ended up sitting outside on the sunny patio on the picnic tables there.  I tried the Wild Rice Amber which was well fermented and subtle.  We also shared a few Pale Ales and IPA's amongst us.  I enjoyed the Exile quite a bit--bursting with catty Simcoe hops!  The food I had was excellent!  The Buffalo wings were divine: smoked before given the Buffalo treatment, these were the most tender and flavorful I've had in years!  The Porketta sandwich was a huge mound of smoked meat topped with smoked Swiss cheese and BBQ sauce.  Yum! 

Overall I have a lot of respect for what the guys at Northbound are doing.  The beers have improved greatly since my last visit and the food is great.  Thanks to Joel for the tour, and to the Beau for inviting us along!

Outside the brewpub!

Fringe Again!

Alright, back to my epic attempt to see as many shows in the Minnesota Fringe Festival as I can this year!  So far we are up to about 24 shows and the shenanigans continue through this coming Sunday.  I'm finding that writing short reviews of the shows makes me think a bit more critically about them, so I'll continue doing that. 


Oh, and Town Hall released one of my favorite beers: Thunderstorm yesterday!  We had to take a late night stop there yesterday to partake.  Honey, lemongrass!  Yum!

There has been an interesting conversation going on in the Ultra-Passer's private Facebook group about rating scales for the Fringe shows. 
My own personal scale is this this:
1 star = Utter crap, why did I not walk out of this? Don't see this!
2 star = Not very good, some sort of fatal flaw, not recommended.
3 star = A decent middle of the road show with some redeeming qualities.  Worth a shot if you need to fill a slot in the schedule.
4 star = Really good
5 star = Top of the line, really do not miss this!

I've been finding that many of my ideal ratings would put me at half stars (mainly 3.5) but the official Fringe site doesn't let you use halves.  I tend to round up in those cases. 

1) Kafka Nuts.  Up front, I really like these guys, in fact some of my all time favorite Fringe shows have been from them.  Having seen them at their best, I felt a bit disappointed in this show.  Bits were funny, and it had lots of puns and one-liners, but lacked the total over-the-top action that the description of the show in the program described.  This is family friendly, and I appreciate the modern nod to the old Vaudeville styles.  I have to give it a 3 (good but not great.)

2) The Tiger in the Room.  This is the third show we have seen this Fringe with Natalie Wass in a main role and she continues to impress.  This show was a bit more cerebral than some, spending a lot of time on different memories and relationships of varying types.  Well written, well acted, at times quite poignant.  I recommend this as a good psychological drama. 4 of 5.

 

 

3) The Death of Brian: A Zombie Odyssey.  I had heard mixed reviews of this show, but decided to take a risk.  I was pleasantly surprised!  Ricky Coates really takes risks with this dark and often disturbing show, pushing himself and the audience to the edge of what they can take.  True live horror with impressive physicality.  I'm a horror fan and this "Did It" for me.  My only real gripe with the show was that the audio clips that the actor "interacts" with were very loud compared to his own performance. 

 



More Fringe 2014 Reviews

Ok, so I posted some proper beer stuff yesterday to appease my beer-folk.  Now, back to my coverage of Fringe Festival 2014! 

No travelogue today, just a bunch of reviews!  There is still plenty of time to check out some of these shows since Fringe goes through Sunday the 10th of August. 

Old school Fringe show advertising!  Who needs the Internet?

1) Green T's 2001: A Space Odyssey.  I'm not going to lie, I'm a big Science Fiction geek.  The movie 2001 was one of the first legitimate serious Sci-Fi movies made and holds a special place in my heart.  But it was cerebral, slow, and frankly sometimes a bit boring.  This production is somewhere between a play and dance--using human bodies as props and showcasing some really interesting movement.  The ability of the cast to simulate weightlessness on stage was impressive!  These folks managed to consolidate the lengthy movie/book into a pretty good version that actually made more sense to me than the source material.  Thank you voice-over exposition!  I'd rate this a 3.5 on my own scale but the official Fringe site only lets you use whole stars...I'll round up to 4!

2) Failure: A Love Story.  Frankly, this show was going to be just a gamble/slot filler, but both my wife and I quickly realized we had found one of our favorite shows of the day!  This story of lost love in the 1920's was at times funny, ridiculous, and truly heartfelt.  Difficult to describe, but the show really stuck with both of us, returning to our Fringe conversations all day.  Fine acting, use of movement, and ukulele that I actually didn't hate!

3) Jumpin' Jack Kerouac.  I'm not a huge fan of dance, but I like a lot of the authors involved in this performance--so I sucked it up and gave the show a chance.  The premise is taking authors (many of whom have never danced) and using their written input and Windy Bowlsby's choreography in a synergy of styles.  I was impressed.  Since my biggest nightmare is having to speak or dance on stage, seeing some of these folks go with it and risk humiliation was impressive.  One piece having to do with fathers was particularly well done to great emotional impact!  Keeping in mind the amateur nature of the dancers, this show really worked for me.

4) Austen-tacious!  I do not like Jane Austen.  At all.  But we needed to fill a spot and my wife does.  Trying not to think of the source material, this modern retelling of Emma was enjoyable.  The dating scenes were funny and some short musical numbers were well done.  Acted well, but at times overdone.

5) Uptown Bank Heist.  This was an entertaining heist play, but lacked polish.  Some of the character interaction was done well, but some of the dialogue just seemed forced and unnatural.  Plot lines got too convoluted at times and characters seemed to change personalities at times as well.  Entertaining way to spend a hour, but could be trimmed and straightened up into something better.

6) Everyday Hustle.  Since seeing one of Erin Sheppard's other dance pieces a few years ago I have become a huge fan.  This is from someone who really doesn't understand or enjoy most dance.  A great use of music, motion, and story.  In between numbers the hilarious Shannon Custer did readings from Sam L. Landman that were over the top comedy goodness.  It looks like there is a guest reader on different days and it would be interesting to see the differences...  This was a great show all around and I highly recommend it.  I'm looking forward to Erin's next crack at the Twin Cities Horror Festival!

7) Waitrix: Dominatrix Waitress.  I wasn't sure what to think about this going in and I'm still kind of in the same place after seeing it.  I enjoyed the show overall and it certainly had laugh-out-loud moments, but parts of it seemed a bit off to me.  Is this part really happening?  Is this a weird dream sequence?  I think that the actors did a good job with it, the restaurant critic was perfect, stealing the show for me.  I would rate this a 3.5 of 5.

8) Kitty Kitty Kitty.  We saw this one purely because Sam Landman was in it.  This is probably the most "Fringy" of the shows we've seen this season.  I'm honestly not sure if that is a good or bad thing! I'm left with plenty to think about…some things I wish I could stop thinking about!  But well acted and taken to the limit for sure.  We took some friends to this one, and I'm thinking they may not let us choose future shows for a while.  Still because of the unique factor I'm going with a 4.  Later that night at Fringe Central they did an Improv skit with Sam doing a scene from the show and another actress improving lines to fill the gaps--Almost better than the real thing!

9) Human-Nature.  Straight up, I'm not knowledgeable about dance, and do not search it out with any frequency.  This was a set of dance pieces, some linked and some not, that seemed a bit scattered for me.  Some of the pieces also just seemed to go on too long.  One set near the middle was obviously a tribute to a dance teacher and I actually connected to that one, but the others just didn't do it  for me.  I've seen other dance shows this Fringe that I enjoyed more.  Kudos for the hard work it must take to perform this type of show.

Fringe Festival Day 3!

Day 3 of the Fringe!  Saturdays are a busy one, with the first show starting at 1:00 in the afternoon.  Our first stop this fine day was to the Theater in the Round (just down the street from Town Hall and Republic 7 Corners) for a showing of The Tourist Trap.

Need some bloomers?

The Tourist Trap was a really well done production and quite creepy and disturbing, differing from the glut of comedies I've been seeing.  This one would have fit in just fine to the Twin Cities Horror Festival.  Full of disturbing twists, I would recommend this if you like serial killers, gore, and great acting!

Our second show was in the same venue, so we filed out, got in line for our tickets and then back into line for seating.  This time we were seeing Mainly Me Productions' Our American Assassin; or You Can't Handle the Booth!  I've loved every production these guys have done, and this is no exception.  Bordering on the ridiculous at times, this show covers the assassination of Abraham Lincoln from the point of view of the actors in the play he was seeing at the time.  Some great music cues as well.  Silly, funny, an all-around great comedy!

Sj entering the massive eyesore that is the Rarig Center!

Next we trucked it over to the Rarig Center to catch a showing of CIRCULATE.  Last year we saw CLOCKED by this group and found it to be one of the best dance pieces we had ever seen so we tried them out again this year.  Circulate is a bit less about dance and more about movement and physicality. A mix of skits and dance, the show focusses on the news in all its forms, with some excellent improv thrown in as well.  Worth a viewing!

Back to the Theater in the Round!  This time to see Fifth Planet.  I wasn't sure what to expect from this show but had seen actor Edwin Strout and Director/Producer Jean Wolff in my favorite Fringe show of all time The Friar and the Nurse, so I took a chance.  A slow burn of a show, starting quietly and slowly, but building up to a fine and rewarding end.  Both of the actors did an amazing job of handling this understated but very real story of friendships, astronomy, and love.  Great sound and lighting as well.  See it.  Seriously.

Back to the Rarig for Stuck on a Truck: A Hooch Crixby Mystery.  This was a bit of a wild card show for us, filling a blank spot on our well-planned schedule.  Both my wife and I enjoyed the show, but it isn't in our top list.  A fun red-neck murder mystery but not incredibly deep.  There were a few missed cues in our showing, but overall still a decent show.

Yes at this point we actually ate dinner.  A great duck burger at Republic paired with a Founders Devil Dancer for me and I was ready for one last show!

Our final show was The Sex (ED) Show!  By the Dirty Curls.  Banjo toting Courtney McLean fronts this band of ladies (and one guy on bass) who teach us all about sex in song, dance, and storytelling.  Funny doesn't begin to cover what these gals do.  I had tears of laughter draining out of the corners of my eyes through much of the show.  At one point Courtney's banjo strap broke but she went with it-- playing her banjo balanced on one leg like Ian Anderson in Jethro Tull!  Crass, dirty, an occasional boob, this one is not for kids!  In the smallest stage in Rarig, so I would pre-order tickets if you plan on seeing them--they are likely to sell out!

Minnesota Fringe Festival Day 2

Continuing my slipshod coverage of this year's Fringe Festival.  Please check out yesterday's entry for more info on the fest!

Escaping from work early on Friday we beat some of the traffic (but not much…) from Waconia to the 7 Corners area near the University of Minnesota.  This area was to be our base of operations this fine but hot summer evening.

Our first show was at the Rarig Thrust theater, one of the largest venues at the Fringe, and just one of 4 different theater spaces in the Rarig building.  We ended up seeing Fotis Canyon, a one man storytelling show by Fringe favorite comedian Mike Fotis.  I've loved his humor and spontaneity in the past, so we always try to get to his shows early in the festival so we don't miss them.  This year's show was a little less wacky than some of his works, but was also much more introspective and rewarding.  This is a well known comedian starting out with humorous but realistic stories of his past, but moves toward a surprisingly emotional and heartfelt end.  This is the best thing Fotis has done in my opinion!

From the raring we booked it over to the Southern Theater to see a terribly named show called Marie-Jeanne Valet Who Defeated La Bete du Gevaudan.  Both my wife and I put this on our question-mark lists, but went ahead and took a chance since the timing worked.  We were both very pleasantly surprised with the result.  A moody quasi-historic tale of a giant wolf terrorizing a famine-ridden town in France, this had some very good acting, especially from the two main characters.  There were a few areas of silliness that I think detracted a bit from the overall vibe, but the show was well worth the time.

Our final show of the night (because we are weak and actually take time out to have dinners) was at the Mixed Blood Theater.  Real Dead Ghosts was a very well acted show featuring a couple staying in a dark cabin in the woods.  The emotion in this piece was impressive and both actors did an impressive job of getting me emotionally invested in such a short time.  One of the best shows I've seen so far this Fringe!

From here we had a very late night dinner at Town Hall Brewery, and of course a great couple of beers!  That Citra Mania is wonderful!