Category Archives: Announcements

Important news that we have to share.

Two Brothers Brewing Co Profile

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Two Brothers Brewing Company in Warrenville, Illinois is growing rapidly. Started in 1996 with two donated bulk dairy tanks and a first-year production of 163 barrels, the brewery has expanded into a major regional player with around 20,000 barrels of capacity and current annual production of 12,000 barrels. Owners Jim and Jason Ebel have big things in store, with plans to expand on their already excellent line-up that includes Domaine DuPage, Ebel’s Weiss, Hop Juice, Moaten, and one of my favorite beers Cane & Ebel among many other great beers. A large number of newly purchased oak foudres will be used to develop a new line of sour beers.

Read all about Two Brothers Brewing Co. in the Brewery Profile posted today on the Perfect Pint Website.

Congratulations to the First Master Cicerone

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Cicerone Certification Program

The Cicerone Certification Program™ today announced awarding of the first-ever Master Cicerone™  certification to Andrew Van Til, Account Manager at Elite Brands Michigan, a division of CKL Corporation. Van Til earned the certification through a series of exams culminating with two days of intense written and oral questioning about beer styles, draft systems, beer evaluation, brewing technology, and beer and food pairing.

Van Til becomes the first person to earn the Master Cicerone title—the third and top level of the Cicerone Certification Program. Founded in 2007, the program tests and certifies beer expertise similar to the wine world’s Master Sommelier program. The Master Cicerone exam included 8 hours of written questions, 2 hours of oral questions and 2 hours of beer tasting and evaluation. Candidates needed a score of 85% across all three areas to pass.

The Cicerone Certification Program is a service of the Craft Beer Institute, the Chicago-based beer and brewing education organization.  The program is directed by brewer, author and beer educator Ray Daniels. A variety of breweries, beer distributors and retailers sponsor the program.

To date, the Cicerone Certification Program has given more than 1000 exams across the three levels of the program. Approximately 800 individuals have earned the first level title of Certified Beer Server and about 75 individuals have achieved the title of Certified Cicerone™. Van Til was one of seven beer industry professionals who took the Master Cicerone exam and the only one who passed.

A Perfect Pint’s Michael Agnew was one of the first 17 individuals to achieve the Certified Cicerone™ level.

21st Amendment Beers in MN

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The 21st Amendment Brewpub in San Fransisco is a must-do stop for beer enthusiasts visiting the Bay Area. I’ve been there. They make some pretty decent beers. A while back they started offering two of their beers in cans. As a brewpub, they don’t have the brewery capacity, packaging lines, or storage facilities to produce package beers themselves, so they contracted the canned beers out to Cold Spring Brewing Company about sixty miles up the road from the Twin Cities in Cold Spring, Minnesota. I can’t tell you how frustrated I was to discover this, having shipped cans of Hell or High Watermelon Wheat back from San Fransisco on a visit a year ago. The beer was brewed an hour from my house, but I couldn’t get it…

Well, the 21st Amendment beers become available in the Twin Cities tonight. You can try them out at Grumpy’s NE tonight. You can read my review of Hell or High Watermelon Wheat here.

Rate Beer Hop Press

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Hop Press by RatebeerBeginning this morning, Ratebeer.com is launching a new feature called The Hop Press. The Hop Press brings together a confederation of twelve well-known beer bloggers from around the country and around the world each contributing weekly columns about beer. I am happy to say that I am among them. I’ll be posting every Monday, so please check in regularly to check out my Perfect Pint Hop Press articles.

Every day the Hop Press will feature new articles from one or two of these talented beer writers. You’ll find insightful writing on a range of beer-related topics including vertical tastings of aged beers, homebrewing, beer styles, the beer industry, beer school and much more. I’m excited to start writing with this group of people. Come see what’s happening at the Hop Press.

Celebrating Winter Beers at the Kitchen Window in Uptown

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Holiday BeersWhen: Friday, November 13, 2009 at 6:30 PM
Where: The Kitchen Window in Uptown
Cost: $75
Click here to reserve your spot.

Join chef Ben McCallum and Certified Cicerone™ Michael Agnew at the Kitchen Window in Uptown for an evening of fine food and festive winter beers. Our first course is CARAMELIZED LEEK AND OYSTER GRATIN paired with WEIHENSTEPHANER HEFEWEISSBIER from Germany – a great tasting hefe with characteristic banana and clove flavors. Then we’ll enjoy BEER-ROASTED WHOLE CHICKEN with HAZELNUT MOLE SAUCE paired with ANCHOR CHRISTMAS BEER from San Francisco – every year since 1975 Anchor has brewed distinctive and unique Christmas Ale; the Ale’s recipe is different every year. Next is hearty ALE-BRAISED SHORT RIBS with CHARRED TOMATO BARBECUE SAUCE paired with ST. BERNARDUS CHRISTMAS ALE from Belgium – with aromas of yeast and bread and tastes of spice, raisins, and nutmeg. Ben will also serve FRESH-BAKED BEER BREAD with GORGONZOLA WHIPPED BUTTER. For dessert, we’ll have PORTER-INFUSED CHOCOLATE BROWNIES paired with Cygnus X-1 PORTER from Flat Earth in St. Paul – a nice flavorful punch of citrus hop, balanced by slight caramel sweetness.

Oktoberfest Beer Dinner at the Dining Studio

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A Perfect Pint’s Certified Cicerone™ Michael Agnew will be co-hosting hosting an Oktoberfest beer dinner with the Dining Studio on October 16 at 7 p.m. at. Michael has selected brews from Victory, Ayinger, Surly, Köstritzer, and Wiehenstephan. The food will include Chef Philip Dorwart’s signature soft pretzels, passed hors d’oeuvres, and four courses matched to the beers above. Dorwart takes an original approach to beer dinners and uses very little beer in the actual cooking of paired courses. Instead, he uses more of a wine dinner model by highlighting a flavor in the beer with food. By implementing this practice he is able to offer unique beer to food matching without relying on the “just add some beer” ethos. It’s sure to be a blast. Prost! Reservations are $65 and available at 612-331-3310.

Battle of the Beers VI: The “You Can’t Get This Here” Challenge

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Lost AbbeyMonday, April 27th
8:00 PM
At The Four Firkins
Cost: $15

From across the country they have come, six expertly crafted beers from American breweries of legendary status; Russian River, Port Brewing, Lost Abbey, Allagash, all unavailable to the Minnesota beer drinker. Painstakingly selected by A Perfect Pint, these bodacious brews have come to test their mettle in Firkin Forum. This Battle of the Beers exhibition match pits West Coast Double IPA against West Coast Double IPA, Belgian Style against Belgian Style, and in a final cruel twist of fate two gargantuan black beers from the same brewer will lock hops in an all out struggle for supremacy.

Round One: Russian River Pliny the Elder vs. Port Brewing Hop 15.
Round Two: Russian River Damnation 23 vs. Allagash/DeProef Le Deux Brasseurs.
Round Three: Lost Abbey Serpent Stout vs. Port Brewing Old Viscosity.

The lines have been drawn for an epic battle of the beers; six locally unavailable beers in four styles. Which will emerge victorious from the crucible of Firkin Forum? You will be the judge. Let the “You Can’t Get This Here” Challenge begin!

Limited to 35 attendees.
To register email alvey@thefourfirkins.com with “Can’t Get This Here” in the subject line.
This event is first come, first served. You will be notified by email if you are one of the lucky attendees.