Hopped Up Caribou Beer Festival - Saturday Afternoon

Well, I think I've drawn out this Hopped Up Caribou Beer Festival thing for long enough. Wouldn't you agree? I promise this is the final post in the 4-part series. Let's get to it.

Saturday Afternoon

After brunch, we went back up to the lodge room and watched for the clock to read 3:00pm. That was the time the Hopped Up Caribou Beer Garden would open. My buddy had brought his Sega Genesis along, so we had a couple beers and played some classic video games while we waited. Well, it just so happens that the combination of beer and video games makes time fly by pretty quickly. Before we knew it, the journey to the tennis courts was upon us.

As we entered the beer garden, the first thing I noticed was the increased number of people. Compared to the previous two gatherings, this one was much larger. The reason? This Saturday afternoon portion was offered as a separate ticket for people who couldn't attend the entire weekend. Even with this population growth, the beer garden portion was still much smaller than many other beerfests I've attended - which was nice.

All of the brewers were present once again (along with a new one) and were happily pouring samples of their beers. Some had the same offerings, while others had a different selection than Friday. Here are some of the highlights, in no particular order:

• Fitger's - Dave and Frank had tapped three new brews: Apricot Wheat, Starfire Pale Ale, and Timmy's Edelstoff (which was a helles lager). As usual, nothing but good quality from this brewpub. All of them were great.
• South Shore - Bo was also serving a different selection: Nut Brown Ale, Inland Sea Pilsner, Northern Lights Cream Ale, and American Pale Ale. These were all tasty, but the Cream Ale really stood out in my mind. I've never tasted a beer like it. I could swear I detected a coconut flavor in there somewhere...
• Summit - They were serving the same beers as Friday, but the third brewer showed up: Mike Lundell. He was responsible for the Unchained Series Batch 3 (India Style Rye Ale). Many of my friends and I were big fans of this recipe, so I was happy to get an opportunity to chat with the brewer.
• Bell's - Jason added 3 choices: Oatmeal Stout, Oarsman Ale, and Le Contrebassiste. I had been excited to try the Biere de Garde (Le Contrebassiste), and I was not disappointed.
• Dubrue Brewing - This brand new brewery showed up just for the beer garden. Bob Blair, a former brewer for Fitger's, started this new Duluth addition to brewing culture. They brought two beers: Pub Ale and India Black Ale. Both were very good, and Bob was fun to chat with. Keep your eye on the future progress of this brewery, as I foresee them doing well.

As had been the case all weekend, there was delicious food being served while beverage consumption was occurring. This time, the eats were a little more simple, but still mouth-watering: beer-brined smoked turkey legs, beer brats, hot dogs, and juicy hamburgers with all the fixings. Once again, I couldn't help myself. The food beckoned me. I ate a turkey leg, a brat, a burger, and some chips. I was very full, but it was totally worth it...

From 3 - 6 pm, all through the beer garden people were voting on their favorite brew. After the garden closed, they announced the winner: Fitger's Apricot Wheat.

The Hopped Up Caribou Beer Festival was officially over. Or was it? My buddy and I continued to chat with our fellow beer geeks while we shared more tasty brews with each other. As the night came to a close, I couldn't help but ponder over the events of the past couple days. So far, this had been the best beer event that I've ever attended. They're planning it again for next year and have promised to keep it the same size with the same format. All I could think was this: I can't wait to go again.