Town Hall Barrel Aged Week 2018

Over the years the line has been wildly variable. It seems to have shrunk a bit over the last few years - I have no clue why.

Ditto for when you 'need' to get there. I'd guess by 9AM or slightly earlier, but that, too, has varied quite a bit year over year. If you can't live without that single barrel I'd suggest 8AM, but I'd wager you'll be among the first 8-10 folks there.

People bottle share in line every year, but it's usually a minority of folks. Not I. Happy to do so on D-Day or other places, but I believe the Minneapolis Police Department would take an exceedingly dim view of people drinking on the street if they happened by. If you feel the need, you won't be alone.

 

Perhaps, it's because they now have a BA beer on tap at the brewery year round.

 

Damn, Buffalo Bock does not get released till Friday evening. One of my favorites and I will miss it this year. But I will get E.T. Wee, another favorite, and look forward to trying Vine's Eye and Kentucky Truffle. Maybe some Star Barrel if any is left when I get there. Wish I could visit multiple times during the week.

 

Being from South Minneapolis do they usually do pick up only at the brewery downtown? Not Town Hall Tap?

 

Seven Corners only. (DWTN)

 

Town Hall Tap has their own anniversary week in November where they have a bunch of specialty pours including BA stuff. It's not as over the top as BA Week, but it's something.

 

But no pick up.

 

This.

Due to licensing, only the brewery is allowed to sell beer to go. Every other Town Hall location is on-site tap only.

 

Perhaps. Perhaps it's because the BA beer shows up at other locations now too. One thought is that I see fewer & fewer traders buying lots of growlers. Czar Jack used to be a big deal & others were sought after, not so much any more. Our gain, the rest of the country's loss!

 

I’m not familiar with how their sales work For the week. Are all available 750s pre-sold on Sunday or are any extras released on the respective days? Maybe I’m missing that sort of info on their on their flyer or maybe it’s common knowledge. Don’t think I’ll be able to be there on Sunday definitely not by 10:00. Are the regulars like Twisted Trace and Czar Jack pretty plentiful? I’ve tried them at the brewery and would love to pick up a couple.

 

You pre-buy the bottles on Sunday. In other words, you get a ticket that allows you to pick up the bottles on the day of the week that they actually release.

Twisted Trace and Czar Jack usually last for most of the day, in my experience.

 

I believe last year that the majority of them were sold at the pre-sale. They held back some each day with the addition of anything that was not pre-sold.

At least this is how I remembered it working last year.

 

There were still some tickets available after the initial line made it's way through and everyone was taken care of last year but don't count on there being any extra tickets for the popular ones like Czar Jack. If you plan on going Sunday for tickets plan on at least 2 hours. You're either going to spend that time on the front end waiting outside for sales to start or on the back end waiting on Town Hall to process people as they go through and select and pay for the growlers. I've gone the past couple years and get there around 8:30 - 9:00 and it's been after 11:00 before I walk out of there.

 

This could be another reason it may not seem like the demand is as high now as it used to be. There are so many great BA beers available now at my liquor store that I'm not going to stand outside in line for 2 hours. Central Waters BA beers are still available at many stores for example. I know Town Hall BA beers are extra great & unique and I love them but I'm past the point of standing in any lines. Maybe I'm just getting too old.

 

The last couple years they've still had growlers available during the week for about half of the beers. Czar Jack, ET Wee, Buffalo Bock and Twisted Trace tend to sell out during the presale, but you've got a decent shot at the others if you show up on their first day of release. I usually go Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday for the flights and end up going home with 3-4 growlers by the end of the week. (and there's usually a couple others available that I can't quite justify spending any more money on.)

 

Speaking of beer in general, some beers are great; none are worth standing in line for. Speaking of Town Hall, I've always found the most enjoyment drinking their beers with others at the brewery or the Tap location.

 

Are you saying none are worth standing in line for as far as you are concerned or nobody should stand in line even if they feel it's worth it?

 

None are as far as I'm concerned.