Beer Dabbler Showcase at the St. Paul Winter Carnival

It was unseasonably warm at 35 degrees. That doesn’t mean it was warm. The rain fell. It was icy. What a great day for an outdoor beer festival!

Actually it was a good day for an outdoor beer festival. Only in Minnesota…

The Beer Dabbler Showcase
St. Paul Winter Carnival Event
Saturday, January 23^rd, 3:30 – 7:30 PM
Mears Park in St. Paul
$20 ticket when you buy at any of the 8 locations prior to Jan 22nd
$20 plus a service charge of $3 per ticket when you order online anytime
Click here to purchase tickets online
$25 at the door

The Beer Dabbler Showcase is a traveling beer festival that strives to bring a large variety of micro and craft brews to audiences across the Midwest. The brainchild of Minneapolis resident Matt Kenevan, the idea of the Beer Dabbler was to bring beer festivals to the people instead of making people come to the festival. The showcase kicked off last summer with a tour of beer festival events all over Minnesota. Six Showcases have been staged so far.

These are not beer-geeks-only events. According to Kenevan, “The concept behind the Beer Dabbler is to introduce great beer to people who may or may not be familiar with craft and micro brews. It is also intended to be a fun event for people of all levels of beer enthusiasm.  Our guests range from the avid home brewer beer geek to the micro/craft beer newbie just getting started and the goal is to please them both.” The Showcase features a wide selection of local, regional, national, and international brands representing a wide range of styles and tastes. Kenevan adds, “If you can’t find something you like, then you probably just don’t like beer.”

So about this Winter Carnival event…an outdoor beer festival in St. Paul in January? Cold beer on a cold winter’s day? Is he crazy? I asked Matt this very question. “Different, true.  Risky, true.  But very Minnesotan.” was his reply. “The natives love beer and winter.  If they don’t love winter but are here anyway, then this is something much more lively and fun to do than sit inside and wait for summer to come around again.  As long as people dress to be outside, everyone will be comfortable in the space. The 10-day forecast looks quite comfortable for this time of year. Hopefully we’ll have fresh snow and upper 20s to kick off the first annual Saint Paul Winter Carnival Beer Dabbler.” The warming fire pits will help too.

So what should one expect at the Winter Carnival Beer Dabbler?

• Beers from over 40 breweries with 4 hours of tasting.
• Your very own souvenir tasting glass.
• Fire pits.
• A Park plum-full of brilliant lights for ambiance.
• Visit from the St. Paul Mayor.
• Visit from the St. Paul Vulcans.
• Cheeses to pair with the beer.
• Coffee samples from Peace Coffee.
• DJ’d music from Cities 97.
• Food from Barrio.
• Hammerschlagen, the game.
• Demonstration from the St. Paul Bouncing Team.
• The opportunity for a safe ride from “Drink and Drive Intelligently”.

I’ll be there. Will you?