May 15, 2008

Greetings fellow Tyranenaeans,

It Is Now Summer! - Declaration #1. Well, almost. We tapped the first keg of Fargo Brothers Hefeweizen yesterday afternoon... much to the enjoyment of those that gathered in our Beer Garden. At the pace it was being consumed... I am not sure how long it will last this year... despite brewing a bit more than in years past.

Minnesota Fun #1: Jessie, Stacey and I enjoyed a "short" drive to St. Paul and went up to the Happy Gnome on Tuesday for a beer dinner that featured our brands. I must say, the meal was absolutely incredible. I am not sure if it was similar to their normal fare, but I highly recommend the meals at the beer dinners. And the bar itself was pretty cool... even nicer to have had 4 Tyranena beers on tap: Bitter Woman IPA, Rocky's Revenge, Devil Over A Barrel, Three Beaches Honey Blonde! They now have 7 beers available... adding Headless Man Amber Alt, Stone Tepee Pale Ale, Pretty Damn Black Stout to those previously listed.... at least until the remaining beer in the kegs from the dinner run out!

Minnesota Fun #2:  It seems to be happening everywhere... distributors buying other distributors... and now our Twin Cities-area distributor has been purchased by another Twin Cities-area distributor.  We are not exactly sure what that means... hopefully Jessie will be learning more this week. Of course, we are now having another Twin Cities-area distributor contact us. It has been about a year since I really read the Minnesota State Statutes relating to beer... but I think a sale of the distributorship is one of the few times in which you can change distributors in that state. I find it quite humorous that we now have the interest of distributors that wanted nothing to do with us less than a year ago!

Beer For The Extra Wheat Malt. There was an overwhelming favorite selection for our next wheat beer amongst those that responded... and that was for an Imperial Black Weizen. Lots of people referenced beers of this style from other breweries (which I had not tried)... and I am not at all sure what that beer style is exactly supposed to taste like. Now I thoroughly enjoy our Hefeweizen... the clove and banana flavors... but a Black Hefeweizen would have those flavors masked by the darker malts... and an Imperial would limit the ability to consume multiple glasses that is so easy with the lighter Hefeweizen. I was thinking people were going to want another summertime beer...  Oh well, we'll probably give it a go in a couple of months.

Tyranena Beer Of The Month At Old-Fashioned In Madison. Yes, you will probably see note every week this month.  Three Beaches Honey Blonde is the Beer of the Month at The Old Fashioned.  That means $2.50 pints. They also have Bitter Woman IPA on tap!

Brewing: Brewing a double batch of Bitter Woman IPA and a single batch of Headless Man Amber Alt this week.

 

Bottling: Bottled 552 cases of Bitter Woman IPA on Monday and 324 cases of Fargo Brothers Hefeweizen on Tuesday.  We had mislabels available for sale... but they are now all gone.

Thursday is Thirsty Thursdays. Thirsty Thirsdays is your opportunity to earn a beer on us. Each time you join us in the Tasting Room on a Thursday night you'll receive one stamp for each tap beer you purchase on your Thirsty Thursday card. Buy yourself a well deserved beer, earn a stamp. Buy someone else a beer, earn another stamp. When the card is full, turn it in for a free pint and be entered in quarterly prize drawing! The drawings will be held at Hopluck Dinners. Participants need not be present to win.

Future musical performances can be found at: www.tyranena.com/events/musicschedule.htm.

Sunday is... the Last Day of the Weekend! Well, Spring is now here.  Time to get outside and enjoy the day down at the brewery.  Join us  between 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. for some camaraderie and good cheer!

A day late and a dollar short.... isn't that the story of my life? I simply can't believe that it's Thursday already. Guess all that time in the Tyranena Van yesterday and Tuesday sucked a whole day out of my life! :)

 

It's a big weekend for Beer Fests... check them all out below.... and we've got some BIG things going on around here too.... GREAT BIG fun coming up this summer! I can hardly wait!

 

Return of Tyranena to the Park formerly known as County Stadium. That's right. We're back. After a whole lot of whining on my end (and some well-placed emails), our beer will make its way back into one of the Beers of the World kiosks at the Miller Park. Mainly because we informed the stadium's beer guy that we wouldn't be bringing a loud, drunken group of Tyranena fans back to one of their games without our beer being present. Apparently that was actually of value to them, as they conceded... in a small way... by allowing the beer back into a kiosk near where we purchase our group tickets for the Tyranena Brewers Game Outing. (Though I think there may have been some sort of caviat about NOT allowing our Beer Ambassador to attend the game.... hee, hee, hee....).

 

A small step, yes, but a victory nonetheless! PLEASE go buy yourself a Rocky's Revenge at the kiosk nearest section 230 in the Loge Outfield at 3rd base.... It would help our cause out tremendously! And if there's beer back at the "Stadium" then why don't we have a....

 

Tyranena Brewers Game Outing 2008! Normally I have a sign up sheet out for our Brewers Game Outing in February (for our outing date in June), so May is DEFINITELY a late start! We pushed our game date to Sunday, July 13. Same deal as in years past: $45 gets you a ticket, tailgating and transportation. And I'm 99% sure this will be the inaugural run of our Tyranena bus! SIGN UP ASAP!! We only picked up 50 tickets to start; I'll grab up more if the need is there but the longer we wait, the less chance that the next batch of tickets will be near the first. If you've got questions, let me know. Sign up in the bar or mail a check to the brewery. (Um, if you mail a check, send a note with it too, telling me what it's for.... I'm awesome, but not psychic.) Sorry no credit cards/phone orders for special event purchases. (If you are meeting us in Milwaukee and not riding the bus, subtract $10 from the package price.)

 

Baseball IS the Official Summer Pasttime.... And it sounds like Tyranena might be on tap at the Madison Mallards Duck Pond this summer as well! Woohooo! (In case you don't know, the Mallards are part of the Northwoods League; a sanctioned summer baseball league comprised of teams of top college players. All players in the league must have NCAA eligibility remaining in order to participate. Players are not paid. Each team is operated similar to a professional minor league team, providing players an opportunity to play under the same conditions using wooden bats, minor league specification baseballs, experiencing overnight road trips, and playing nightly before fans in a stadium.) We're still tyring to work out the details with the General Manager, Vern.... Feel free to let him know how you feel about our beer being offered! If things go well, the stars are alligned and Rob gives us the nod, we'll be planning an INCREDIBLE party at the Duck Pond very soon!

 

Creepy, Crawlies on Order. We are officially less than ONE MONTH away from our annual crawfish boil during the June Hopluck dinner on Thursday, June 12. I placed the order last week for 60 pounds of Louisiana's finest mud bugs. Get the date on your calendar and make sure to bring a dish to pass using our beer as one of the ingredients. No reservations necessary; no fee to attend.

 

Wet T-shirt Contest on Sunday, June 29. Well, not exactly. But there WILL be a number of wet t-shirts here on Sunday, June 29 during our annual Tyranena Dog Wash. And it got your attention, didn't it?!?! Anyway, I'm soliciting volunteers to suds up pups from Noon to 4 pm. Commit at least two hours to washing dirty dogs and earn yourself a t-shirt and a couple free beers. Let me know if we can count on your help! All proceeds from the event will go to the Humane Society of Jefferson County. If you've got a dirty dog that needs washing or a nail trim, get both for just $20.00! A bargain at twice the price! And think of all the furry, fuzzy and otherwise adorable animals you'll be helping in the process....

May 16, 2008 - Beer Tasting at France 44 in Minneapolis, MN, from 4 to 7 pm.
Located at 4351 France Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN - 612-925-3252.

 

May 21, 2008 - Beer Tasting at the Eau Claire Golf & Country Club from 4:30 to 6:30 pm.
Located at 828 Clubview Lane, Altoona - 715-836-8420.

May 15, 2008 - Taste of Elk River at Lions Park in Elk River, MN. 5:00 to 9:00 pm. 1000 attendees anticipated. $25 per person; benefiting the Elk River Rotary. Get tickets online or by contacting Elk River Rotarians Lynn Caswell at 763-441-2072 or Alissa Peichel at 763-441-8973. Guests will receive unlimited sampling and live entertainment.

 

May 16, 2008 - Madison's Bike to Work Week Final Fiesta. Open to those registered for Madison's Bike to Work Week, come celebrate with the brewery from 4 to 7 pm tomorrow evening at Vilas Park! For more information, check out the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin website at www.bfw.org.         

                        

May 17, 2008 - Black River Falls Great Tastes Festival at Jackson County Fairgrounds. 1:00 to 5:00 pm. $25-$30 per person; benefiting the Black River Falls Booster Club. Get tickets at online or at the Buzz & Brew Shop or Sand Creek Brewery in Black River Falls. Guests will receive unlimited sampling and live entertainment.

          

May 18, 2008 - Wisconsin Micro-Brewers Beer Festival at the Calumet County Fair Grounds in Chilton. 1:00 to 6:00 pm. 2000 attendees anticipated. $30 per person; get tickets by contacting the Rowland's Calumet Brewery at 920 849-2534. Guests will receive unlimited sampling and live entertainment.

               

May 20, 2008 - Chicone's Beer Dinner at Idaho Chuck's in Hudson. 7:30 to 10:00 pm. 30 seats available. Cost is $49.99 per person; make your reservation by contacting Idaho Chuck's at 715-381-0099. Guests will receive a sample of a Tyranena beer paired with each course of the meal.

                   

May 26, 2008 - Swine & Swill at Native Bay Restaurant in Chippewa Falls. Noon to 5:00 pm. 300 attendees anticipated. $30-$35 per person; get tickets by contacting the Native Bay Restaurant at 715-726-0434. Guests will receive unlimited sampling, food and live entertainment.

 

June 12, 2008 - June Hopluck Dinner featuring Patricia's 6th Annual Crawfish Boil.