Assassin/KBBS day 2017...

Another Decorah area local/longtime lurker here.

Lots of good suggestions in lightupgold's previous post, but I'd add a couple other things.

There's a BA Burrito now open between TG and Pulpit. Perfect drunk food/sponge if Mabe's gets overrun and has ridiculous wait times (which wouldn't surprise me at all). It's a block from TG. Also close to TG is Good Time's, which makes awesome bar food. Better than T-Bock's downtown, IMO (but T-Bock's has better atmosphere).

LaRana is a great little bistro downtown. Smaller menu than Rubiayat, and less beer selection, but IMO it's slightly higher quality. Both are great options though.

If you're hungover on Saturday, I'd recommend breakfast and a Bloody Mary at the Haymarket. Your Place has the best Bloody in the Iowa Driftless, but they don't have breakfast.

If you don't go to Pulpit Rock, you're crazy. Their beer is frequently on par with TG, and it seems like they always have something awesome on big TG release days. They do limited crowler sales and are a little more liberal with growler availability than TG tends to be (good luck getting anything other than Dorothy's, Sue, or Rover Truck in a growler).

Hope everyone has safe travels and seriously, if you're just coming to grab a bottle and then leave right away, you're doing it wrong. Stay in Decorah, soak up the scene. TG bottle releases and the corresponding C&C bottle shares (Nathan's the man!) are a god damned blast. It blows my mind to have watched my little Cheers-esque local brewery grow into what it's become, and the way it's completely opened our isolated little corner of the world to the world of craft beer and put NE IA on the map.

 

is there any place to eat that is open after 11pm?

 

That is unfortunately something we lack. I kinda thought BA might, given their proximity to the college and the breweries.

McDonalds and Kwik Star are about it, and I wouldn't bother with either unless you have a sober driver. Not real foot traffic friendly locations.

 

How does the bottle share at C&C work? Does everybody put their bottles on their own tables or is it a buffet type setup? Doe people pour their own drinks? I wasn't able to stick around for last years MD bottle share.

 

At MD '15, you just showed up with bottles, paid your cover, and got your drink ticket. People just struck up conversations, shared what they had, etc.

However, that was in August so the whole patio was in play. It will be a little tighter quarters on the 13th.

 

Thanks for the recs, DriftlessFarmer!

Drink ticket for what? Something at the bar? MD?

 

That day got a little fuzzy, but I think it was for bar drafts. I don't think they actually had kegs of MD away from the tap room.

Not 100% on that, and I'm not sure that this event will be the same. I'd check with the C&C.

 

So it seems like nothing extra special goes on till Friday morning when C&C opens up early? Time is going to be against me so I'm trying to plan my trip carefully.

 

Unless you wanna get in on a hotel share the night before. From what I've heard, they've been pretty fun in previous years.

 

Great points DriftlessFarmer. La Rana definitely has the best food but has limited seating, if you care about getting a high quality meal and can get a table they are the way to go.

Re: late night food - T Bocks is open until midnight, not sure what time the kitchen closes though. Standard bar fare with a couple options for vegetarians. Might not be a bad idea to stop at the food co-op downtown to make sure you've got some snacks on hand for late night.

Good rec on the Hay Market as well. Another good option for breakfast is Restauration (inside Hotel Winneshiek downtown on water st) they have a good menu.

I know CnC will be the place to be due to bottle shares and lodging but I highly recommend getting out to see Decorah if you've never been, even if it's the dead of winter. IMO Toppling Goliath represents the Decorah vibe very well. It's a very unassuming place.

 

Interested in having a couple more people for the bottle share. I have a VRBO place right in downtown Thurs-Fri night.

Looking at bottle share Thursday night. Posted in the Google Doc as well. I'm on line 5

 

Anybody have any additional recommendations for Rochester outside of Forager? (breweries or restaurants)

 

Cool, I'll still do that then. Thanks!

 

Per TG's Facebook, Assassin will be tapped at The Courtyard & Cellar, RUBAIYAT, T-Bock's Sports Bar & Grill and Safe House Saloon (Lansing) on January 13th.

 

LTS (Life's Too Short - NW Rochester) makes very solid beer. A little different focus than Forager, but similar level of quality and worth a stop. Whistle Binkie's (2 locations one north, one south) has a great Minnesota-forward tap list (Surly, Schell's, Castle Danger, Liftbridge, etc) really solid reasonably priced bar food, and insanely good Bloody Mary specials on the weekend. It's probably my favorite place in Rochester. The Taphouse downtown has the most extensive tap list in town, but the vibe can be a little stuffy for my tastes.

For the love of all that is holy, avoid Kinney Creek. Maybe things have changed, but in my experiences their beer has been garbage. Haven't stopped in a few years.

 

FYI:

 

Thanks for the recommendations!

 

Can anyone help me out here. I have the 2-345pm slot. I'm trying to potentially make it back to Minneapolis for either a 6:05 or 6:30 pm flight with having to return a rental. If I show up a few minutes early like 1:45pm will they let me in to get the bottles? Anyone know how quickly you'll be able to pick up and leave? I really don't want to have to stay another night in the area and it's literally like the latest reasonably priced flight i could find. It's showing about. 2:45 hr travel to Minneapolis, I know it's tight timing with any traffic, just wanted someone to shed light on speed of bottle pickup etc. thanks

 

No prob cannot pick up early and prob no idea how long it will take. Never done a release like this before.

 

Have you also factored in the possibility of a snow storm slowing your travel time? I see that you're from Florida, so I just wanted to make you aware of that.