I'm looking to attend a beer fest somewhere in the Midwest this summer, what are some of your favorite ones to attend?
I've always been partial to All Points North. Great beer, good food, live music, right on the water. Plus you can easily make a whole weekend of being in Duluth. For breweries there are Bent Paddle, Castle Danger, Hoops, Thirsty Pagan, and Fitgers, to name a few. Lots of nice beer bars too. Duluth is also just a great place to hang out with all the shops, restaurants, hiking trails, boardwalk, etc. Good times!
Correct answer. Easily the best festival we've ever attended. We've been 10 years running & wouldn't miss it!
Autumn Brew Review in Minneapolis has become my favorite in the Twin Cities. It's always in mid-September, so the weather is usually perfect. It's like the aforementioned All Pints North (ran by the same organization I believe), but in Minneapolis. Of course, you don't get the scenery of Lake Superior via Duluth, but it's still on the Mississippi at the Old Grain Belt Brewery, so there's that.
They sell tickets around Madison at bars (and maybe liquour stores). If you are willing to drive out there and stand in line for a few hours, they aren't too hard to get.
Some years lottery, some years through friends, sometimes standing in line. We've driven down to Madison to buy tickets the last 3 or 4 years. Most of the time you need to be in line by 7AM, give or take depending on the year, to get tickets.
