If you're a true beer geek (and I am) the dabbler is an event not to be missed. On the flip side of…read morethat coin - if you're looking to expand your beer repertoire and try some new brews, the dabbler is the perfect opportunity. After attending the winter dabbler this past year, I knew I couldn't miss the summer dabbler. The local and craft beer scene is booming, and the dabbler showcases just that. We got some great weather this year even though it was a little on the hot side. No worries, there are plenty of beers available to keep cool and the beer booths were under huge tents for shade. The food trucks were a welcome addition, and cranked out a ton of tasty creations for the beer drinkers. My buddy and I actually bumped into actor Josh Hartnett at the Hola Arepa food truck, which we thought was kind of cool. My experience with the dabblers is that you can make them as low key or adventurous as you desire. If you want to simply mosey around and try beers, that's totally cool. Or you can follow the dabbler guide they'll give you upon entry and check off every beer on the tasting list while registering your notes and votes. If you really want to dive in, spend some time talking with those that pour your beers since they generally have quite the appreciation for their product. You can also try the single barrel brew available from the brewery that wins the previous dabblers first place - known as the prestigious "lord dabblers cup ", this is voted on by the festival-goers. Your beers are always served in your very own souvenir two ounce tasting glass, so don't worry about having to stumble home in a beer-buzzed haze. You can take it easy and still enjoy a remarkable assortment of beers. Overall there's a lot to love about the summer beer dabbler/highland fest! Cool scene, tons of craft brews, and everyone is customarily easygoing. The live music and food trucks certainly round out the experience. You can trust me as your Cicerone of all things beer related when I tell you that the Dabbler is definitely a great time. I'll see you there.

I've been to a few events put on by Beer Dabbler and to this event two of the three years it has…read morebeen running - it seems like they've figured out most of the formula for running a successful tasting event: - Staggered entrance times with plenty of volunteers guiding the masses. - Large beer selection (though only a few diamonds in the rough and mostly many of the usual suspects from liquor stores with decent selections and/or other tasting events). - Homebrew competition. - Live music during the entire event. - Food trucks (Chef Shack, Magic Bus, Fork in the Road and Cupcake were all in attendance for 2011's event). - A better showing of brewery and distributor reps that are knowledgeable of their wares. - The grounds at Highland Fest were large and accommodating considering the number of attendees. Other than the grounds being pretty muddy from unseasonable rain the night before and a lack of what I would call an awe-inspiring beer selection, this is definitely one of the better beer tasting events in the Cities for the price.

Gasthof Zur Gemütlichkeit (the restaurant) is now closed permanently. Fulton Brewery has stepped…read moreup at moved the Oktoberfest to the Fulton NE (2540 NE 2nd St) location! The Oktoberfest tent was so fun! Lots of portapotties, so not too much of a line! Great German foods and beers (both Fulton & German). Thank you Fulton! Great live music and dancing and entertainment! Stein holding contests! Remember, the fest is open until 10pm-so get there early! Free entry, street parking, bring your id if you want to drink, no dogs.

Attending Gastof's Oktoberfest tent is a yearly ritual we love doing. This year, we lucked out and…read morethe weather was tropical for the first weekend (September 21st). We like to bring our own beer stein (as we have purchased so many over the years and have a collection). If you don't have one, they are only the price of one token. Tokens = $6 this year and you can use them from year to year. Rumor has it, that you can use for a drink at the downstairs bar year round (if you don't use them all at the tent). Not sure. They have a wide variety of Oktoberfest style beers, local brews, a cider, cocktails and even hard sparkling water. If you get munchie... there is always food for purchase with tokens. Sadly, this year... their was only one large tent vs two. Plus they squished the outdoor area down so they could valet more cars. This made it a tight cluster of people. Can be a good thing and a bad thing. Smoking is allowed outside the tent. By 8:45pm, there was no room to stand inside or out of the tent. Get there early and attempt to find a bench in the tent... good luck this year with half the space and seating. Positive side, it's free to enter and play hammerslaggan (some game with a hammer and nails into wood... perfect for intoxicated people). Haha.

The Landing is a historic and unique, outdoor living history museum that preserves and interprets…read more19th century life in the Minnesota River Valley. Wooded trails stretch along nearly one and a half miles of scenic river valley, which really brings alive the charm and challenges of life in the 1800's. Walking through this village, a person will firsthand witness the early days of the fur trade era. Back in a time when people traveled by footpath and canoes to the bustling village with its shops, homes, church, town hall and railroad depot. Some days there are costumed interpreters who are prepared to spin a tale, demonstrate their craft and explain the daily life of men, women and children. Many days, however, the park is unstaffed so it is primarily a self-guided tour, with occasional informational signs that describe a building's or area's historical significance. No cost of entry or parking, which is great!

The dogs and I have visited the park a number of times and always enjoy our strolls through the…read moregrounds. Lots of parking, many flat trails for easy walking, beautiful spots for photo opportunities, interesting building and history, nice bathrooms hidden in a building that matches the barns. Definitely will be going back.

If you're wanting to taste and sample complex and/or obscure beers, you will be disappointed by…read morethis beer festival. That said, there are still many redeeming qualities that make this an enjoyable event: GOOD - Efficient entry process - Plenty of port-o-johns - Lots of eye candy - Live music - Mixed crowd (though generally a bit younger than you'd find at similar events) - Good location MEH - Pretty mediocre beer selection - Not many brewery reps on-site - Beer lines can get a bit long This is more of a social event than a beer tasting, but there's nothing wrong with that.

This was the second time I have been to this festival, I was also here in 2012. While the first…read moreexperience was great it was raining and storming this year which made it much less enjoyable. Pros -Beer -Fun people watching -Music and games (beer pong and bags) Cons - Selection is not great and seems even worse than it was when I went 2 years ago. There were multiple tables of stuff like mikes hard lemonade, come on, it's a beer festival! - Expensive: make sure to find a deal, they always sell tickets on sale, we did the city pages daily deal and got 4 tickets for $45 vs the $35 normal price her ticket - Food: in the past they had a few different food trucks, this time they made the parking lot smaller and only had 1 truck, one mobile pizza oven and one burger stand, it wasn't very exciting If you live close and get a good deal it's a fun way to spend a Saturday evening. If you are a beer aficionado and are looking to expand your knowledge, stay away, you won't be happy.

My girlfriend and I drove to St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN to hear the SPSQC. We visited…read moreScandia for an John Hopkins/Penn alumni event so figured to swing by here. It was worth the trip to be able to hear such great youth ensembles. Free event which is nicely organized with minimum interruptions. By the end, it was sad to see some ensembles lose to others but the judges were fairly consistent to my own judgement/taste. This only happens once a year so be sure to mark your calendar. Friday was tough to attend so we just went to the finals on Saturday.

High school string quartets are given an incredible opportunity to compete against their peers…read more This safe and supportive environment strengthens the chamber music community and in turn enlightens each young person's commitment to their craft. Keep up the good work!

Unseasonably warm weather and fewer ticket sales did wonders for Firkin Fest this year…read more To offset making 30% fewer tickets available this year, the organizers increased the ticket price to $50 for regular admission and $75 for VIP, which is a fairly steep increase from previous years, but well worth it to have some additional breathing room. For the most part, the all-firkin beer lineup did not disappoint (though it does feel like a few breweries were phoning it in this year). One of the best parts of the event are all the brewery reps that show up to serve, discuss and enjoy their creations (most of which you won't be able to find at your local liquor store since most beers are made unique for this event). Hooray beer.

dont get me wrong it was fun, but Im pretty sure with enough beer I could have fun locked in a…read morecloset. The VIP tickets are the only way to go, the rest of us stood in line for over an hour (even though we were in line before 1pm, they didnt let us in until after 2pm). It basically felt like a frat party with older people. They oversold the shit out of the event.

I have been to both the dabblers this year, winter and highland. This was larger in size, but a…read morelittle poorer planned in my opinion which is why it did not get 4 or 5 stars. The pros - huge area: they did a great job with the locatation. There was lots of room so even though there were a lot of people it didn't feel too congested. The beer tents were spread out nicely helping to keep the lines down. - quick entry lines - divided up international regions - Large beer selection from MN brewers, micro, domestic, and foreign. Similar to the dabblers, but a little more selection. Although I am not a big Sam's guy, kudos to them for bringing a new beer not available locally to the beerfests. In this case it was the Hallerteu IPA. - Good live music throughout. - Lots of parking options in the area Cons - What you think you need for bathrooms double it and add 50% more!!!!! It was terrible. The wait was easily 15 minutes plus. Our group left at 8:15 because we didn't want to have to wait in line again, even though we all would have like to stay for a bit longer. Hopefully they learn from this blunder like the dabbler did after the winter fest. - More food carts. For the number of people there was too few food selections. The Chef Shack is great (love the pork tacos and bacon brats) but the line was constantly long. Same with Buffalo Wild Wings. - I think it is absurd DD's have to pay, but at least you should have some beverage options for them. I felt so bad for our DD. No free pop options we were able to find, only saw 1 non alcoholic beer (may have been more). Respect the DD's a bit more. Overall it was a fun time on a nice fall night. Hopefully they have it again next year and make a few improvements.

The Minneapolis Beer Fest is a bit different than a few of the other beer festivals in the Cities,…read morewhich is pretty noticeable when you look at the list of participating breweries (i.e., many macros, a few regionals and the occasional local brewery). In other words, it's not a place that you're likely to find many diamonds in the rough, but it's still enjoyable when appreciated for what it is. For the event's first year they were actually pretty well organized, with the one exception being the long lines for restrooms (which is a common ailment at such events). The presence of a number of food trucks was a great idea; any time I can get a lobster roll from Smack Shack will always make for a good evening. They also had live music throughout the duration of the event with solid local bands. All-in-all a good event for the non-die hard beer drinker and those looking for a fun night out during the fleeting days of fall in the Twin Cities (though Four Loko should never be present during a beer tasting).

I was here last night and it was decent. A little smaller than others I've been to but it seemed…read morelike everyone was having a good time. I would say the highlight would be when I bought my plastic "das boot" and was drinking out of that for the rest of the night. I will also say the band they had playing while I was there was a great polka band and really added quite a bit to the whole experience.