- The BIG news this week is the release of Summit Unchained #9 Dunkel Weizen, below are release parties:

* Thursday, March 8: The Hole Sports Lounge in Minneapolis, 7-9 p.m.
* Friday, March 9: Burger Jones in Burnsville, 3-4:30 p.m.
* Friday, March 9: Carbone’s in Lakeville, 5-7 p.m.
* Thursday, March 15: Ngon Vietnamese Bistro in St. Paul, 4-6 p.m.
* Friday, March 16: The Cellars in Roseville, 4-7 p.m.

Other places around town that currently have this beer on tap are:

* Stout’s Pub
* Campus Pizza & Pasta
* Hell’s Kitchen

A few liquor stores currently are offering this beer:

* Zipp’s Liquors
* Marshall Liquors
* The Ale Jail

Unchained #9 Dunkel Weizen will be widely released on March 19th, look for it on your local liquor store shelves that week!

- Today at The Muddy Pig they will be tapping an Oaked Fulton Worthy Adversary cask at 11:30 this morning. Free up your afternoon and get there and get some of this beer. Also, the Fulton crew will be around this evening.

- Tonight at The Blue Nile they will be celebrating a Day of Surly from 4:00-10:00. They will be offering 6 Surly brews: Abrasive Ale, Smoke, Mild Ale, Furious, Cynic, and Bender. The special is 2 for 1 on four of these selections and they will be serving 3-4 ounce flights for $7.

- Another upcoming event at The Blue Nile, on March 10th from 4:00-9:00 they will feature Imperial March. Which is heavy beers from 12 different breweries; 4 Imperial Stouts, 4 Double IPA’s, 4 Barley Wines. No word on which products will be featured, but I will update you on Friday. Once again, they will be serving 3-4 ounce flights for $7.

- Thursday March 8th, The Groveland Tap will be holding a release party for Odell Footprint RegionAle from 7:00-Close. I have written about this beer previously, it is a beer brewed with ingredients from the 10 states that make up Odell’s distribution footprint, including Minnesota wild rice.

- One of the newest beers to the metro area is Lucette Brewing Company, brewed in the home of my Alma Mater, Menomonie, Wisconsin. They have a tap at Groveland Tap and now will be having taps at The Public House on Thursday March 8th. They will be celebrating a release party for their Farmer’s Daughter tomorrow from 7:30-9:00 and will feature Farmer’s Daughter and Easy Rider Pale Ale. They will also be offering FREE samples of these beers from 7:00-7:30!

- Another newer local brewery, Lucid Brewing, is now on tap at Williams Uptown, Common Roots, 3 Squares, Groveland Tap and Chatterbox. They will also be tapping Lucid Air at the Sunshine Factory tomorrow, Thursday March 8th from 7:00-9:00. Lucid Air also will be available March 14th from 5:00-8:00 for Happy Hour Specials at Lone Spur Grill.

- Upcoming samplings at The Ale Jail in St. Paul:
* Friday March 9th from 5:00-7:00 they will be welcoming Rob from Tallgrass Brewing. He will be pouring cans of Tallgrass 8-Bit Pale Ale as well as other Tallgrass beers.
* Tuesday March 13th they are celebrating the release of Alaskan Brewing’s Birch Bock with Shawn from Alaskan Brewing Company. Shawn will be pouring samples of this unique beer made from glacier-fed water, a blend of Pacific Northwest hop varieties, premium two-row and specialty malts and birch syrup from the Alaska Birch Syrup Company and Kahiltna Birchworks. No Info on the time for this event, I will update you as soon as I hear, check the Beer North Facebook page.

- Tickets are going fast, as of last night there were less than 100 remaining for the Lift Bridge Irish Coffee Release Party Saturday March 10th from 4:00-8:00. In addition to the beer the ticket will get you a glass and you can enjoy fine Irish music. More info can be found on their blog, CLICK HERE.

- Another event that you need to plan ahead for and be sure to get tickets is, Firkin Fest at the Happy Gnome on Saturday March 24th from 1:00-5:00. Click HERE for more info and to purchase tickets.

- Pracna on Main will be having a KBS Release Party for Founders KBS (Kentucky Breakfast Stout) on Thursday March 15th at 6:00.

- An update from Leech Lake Brewing Company, they have gotten label approval for their Loon Eye Red and started brewing it yesterday, look for it in about a month.

- Another charitable Minnesota brewer, Staples Mill Brewing Company has announced that all profits from the sale of their limited release Doppelbock will go to Valley Outreach. Valley Outreach is a community based, community-supported, privately funded non-profit organization serving our St. Croix Valley neighbors in need of food, clothing, household essentials, and emergency financial assistance. Please look for this beer during the month of March at your local watering holes or go to the brewery and purchase a few bottles! Click HERE for locations.

- The final news story for today is that Mark Stutrud, Summit founder, has been named the Honorary Irish Person 2012 by St. Paul’s St. Patrick’s Association.

Before I go today, I need some feedback from you. I hope you had a chance to read yesterday’s post about how I want to structure this site. What I need from you is any suggestions you may have to help me become better so that I can serve YOU to the best of my ability. A friend of mine and of the site communicated to me that he didn’t care what this prominent businessman said about the site and that I should continue to offer my personal opinions about the beer I taste. I told him that because I do not have the education I really can’t offer my opinion and that I don’t want this to become a “review” site. My ultimate goal for this site is to make YOU aware of what beers are available and beer related events. I want to partner with local businesses to promote their products and services to help them be more successful. However, I, like most of you don’t taste the underlying flavors and we know what we like and can’t exactly explain why. Possibly, as a compromise I may unveil a subjective rating system that is based on my feelings about a particular beer. This subjective rating system will be based on a 3 Pint scale. One Pint is a beer that is OK and I would drink when nothing better is available. Two Pints is a beer I enjoyed and would feature in my refrigerator. Three Pints is a beer that I go out of my way to find and make sure I get more before it disappears and I highly recommend. Along with these ratings I will share what beers are similar(If you like this beer you’ll like this one). I will not attempt to describe the beers flavors, colors, etc. for this I will defer to the brewery descriptions and allow you to see what you find. I appreciate any help you can offer me, thanks in advance.

CHEERS!