8th Annual Beer Dabbler Winter Carnival

I think quite a few of us were burned in (2013? I think?) when it was 4 degrees outside. The lines for beer were routinely 30 deep, they ran out of glasses and left hundreds of people standing out in the cold while they went back for reserves, and most of the keg lines froze within an hour of opening.... Pretty much the worst beer festival experience I've ever had (Shout out to Stone, who sorta saved the day for me, personally).

 

I pretty much swore off Beer Dabbler events after that... so maybe someone else can weigh in on whether or not they stepped up their game in the last few years.

 

Last year was fun, but it's not common for people to bring anything hard to get or sought after. Bent Paddle bringing DSDB was the exception last year.

 

Agreed on 2013. Haven't been back since.

 

yup, my last dabbler event as well. MN Craft Brewers Guild events are way better anyway IMO.

Although was that 2013 or 2014? I thought it was 2014, it was the first year at the fairgrounds right?

 

Last year toppling Goliath brought cans of dorothy's and sue (to give you an idea of the types of offerings, most places just brought their regular stuff, think I spent most of my time with CD fresh hop mosaic); the last hour most places were dipping out or simply just out of beer. Personally, I wouldn't go again.

 

2014 was about the opposite of 2013, at the Fairgrounds. Unseasonably warm, sloppy and muddy everywhere, long long lines of standing in mud, and really nothing special on tap. Yeah I sworn off Dabbler events too.

 

I went to the 2013 Winter Beer Dabbler and really enjoyed it. It was in Lowertown that year, which sounds like a much better setup than the fairgrounds. There were a bunch of fires going and it wasn't too cold. It gets a better brewery turnout than most of the similar caliber beer festivals. It typically doesn't sell out until the week before, so it is worth waiting until you can see an initial weather report.

 

Yes, horrible event. You all should continue to stay home.

Meanwhile, looking forward to another fun winter dabbler. Last 3 have been a blast.

 

That's cool, maybe it got better after that first year at the fairgrounds. Since I haven't been after that one, I wouldn't know. That one though was literally the worst beer fest I've ever been to hands down. I hope they improved it, it's definitely a fun idea.

 

I've been the past 2 years, since I moved to the area, and enjoy the event, though I seem to have been lucky to have missed out on it 3 years ago. There isn't much for real real beers but that's not really the point of the event for me - with so many breweries there's still bound to be plenty I haven't tried that I may want more of on tap or in a liquor store later. The last 2 years have been decent weather for it too, though the mud was a bit annoying, and part of the experience for me is being out in the cold.

I do wish they had more food/the lines for cheese samples weren't so crazy. I went to the Isthmus Beer and Cheese fest once and that was the best - two of my favorite things and the food lines weren't crazy.

 

I flew in from NY to meet my son there and we had a good time, weather wasn't that bad and I had the chance to try a bunch of beer that we do not get back east. I will be there again this year, hoping the weather holds up

 

I really enjoyed the -4 degree year, so to each there own. It's a super unique event to have an outdoor beer festival in January in Minnesota, so cold weather is certainly a risk, but it's also a reward. Had a great time trying the beers that I could and hanging out with people.

Both the winter and summer dabblers are great events.

 

Am I the only one that remembers getting basically unlimited pours of Bourbon County towards the end of the event the year it was insanely cold at the Fairgrounds and half the taps froze up?

 

Probably. Because...who would really remember unlimited pours of BCBS?

 

Well, my memory of it seems to be unlimited. Then again, it was being poured out of bottles into those 2-3 oz glasses. I'm sure the reality of my memory was having the equivalent of 3/4 of a bottle. I was just shocked to find something of that caliber at an event like that, much less at the end of the day.

 

The beer list is posted: https://beerdabbler.com/pages/winter-dabbler-breweries