Minnesota State Fair 2012 - Suggestions (school, living, horse)

[sondra_finchley]

Forgot about the dairy barn - we spent some time in there too. Really amazing to see such giant animals up close and personal (and I am from the dairy state), but I thought it was interesting how there appeared to be spray cans of sparkle or whatever by some of the chairs and tables the owners had set up - show cow time!

We are going on Saturday morning this year before the crowds, actually pretty excited. Last weekend we were out and about and picked up some sort of free home brew magazine that has a map where all the specialty brews will be around the fair. We did Summit on a Stick last year, so we will give some of these others a try.

[Ghengis]

It appears that the Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild has taken over the wing formerly used by for the wine country exhibit (who have moved to the former Epiphanny Diner). Among the features will be rotating Four-beer flights offerd for sale for $8 (four 5 oz. beers) to highlight different beer styles. Demonstrations will also be provided throughout the day. MNBeer - Craft beer news from the Twin Cities, Minnesota, Minneapolis, St. Paul and beyond

today's (Thursday Aug 23rd) samples...

HOPPY:
Brau Brothers SheepHead Ale
Summit Extra Pale Ale
Lake Superior Black IPA
Steel Toe Size 7 IPA

LIGHT:
Finnegans Blond Ale
Steel Toe Provider
Schell’s Pilsner
Brau Brothers Old 56

BELGIAN STYLE/SWEETER:
Lift Bridge Farm Girl Saison
Boom Island Silvus Pale Ale
Flat Earth Bermuda Triangle
Surly CynicAle

DARK:
Brau Bros Moo Joos Oatmeal Milk Stout
Surly Bender
Mankato Stickum
Schell’s Dark



Minnesota State Fair: Craft beer sampling added to offerings - TwinCities.com

[roselily]

I'm actually really excited about the MN Craft Brewers exhibit. (I'm going to a big beer festival THIS weekend, which is why I can't make it to the fair until next week My better half is a homebrewer)

And $8 is a STEAL. We'll probably get two different flights...probably IPA and dark, unless I can convince him to do the saisons instead of the IPA...



mmm Moo Joos....

[Govie]

You have fun?

[Beenhere4ever]

Did my day at the fair. Quite long because I wanted to see the whole English horse show. That showed me that the event has shrunk radically over the years. As for other things, the Eco Experience wasn't much different from last year. I went through some of the places with vendors. Some of those demonstrator guys must be working on their 50th consecutive year. There seemed to be less politics in the grandstand than before. Given the fact that politics is almost inescapable this year, that was OK. I sat through a good part of a concert in the International Bazarre by The Blue Buccaneers. The audience had fun "talking like pirates", even cheering numbers with "Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!" I wanted to know what happened with the 9pm laser show. I thought it was a nightly thing, replacing fireworks. Rested my legs several times by getting a cup of brew and sitting down. More places to get that than breakfast. Foods: gator sausage, spamburger, poutine (new food), slice pork sandwich with bbq, pepper, and onions. I was kind of steering away from deep fried. One real strong impression. Food has gotten PRICEY! Lost count of the specialties that were selling for $8. Don't think it is an ideal time to raise prices. People will just buy less.

[sondra_finchley]

We did our day last Saturday, which, given the heat this week, I am glad we did!

Worked our way up the north end of the Fair this year and hit up the Crafts building or whatever it was to look at quilts and weaving and all sorts of stuff in that building. Checked out the Giant Sing A Long and the pets building (got some pet food samples and new toys for my cats). Mom looked at some outdoor furniture and small outbuildings for my dad. We looked at tractors. Made our way back down to look at the horse barn, the dairy barn, and the arena, where we watched some cow judging. Unfortunately didn't realize there was a new arena this year where the horse stuff was at. Oh well.

Food wise we shared cheese curds, crab fritters, a pronto pup (one of the nastiest things I've ever eaten - ate half of it), roasted corn (yeah, that was good), Swedish egg coffee, bull bites, coconut macaroons, bacon ice cream, sweet corn ice cream, and some taffy. But, split one portion three ways and spending 6 hours at the Fair walking around well - can't say we were THAT full. I never did get the Sno Cone I wanted, and my mom wanted to get a cone of cotton candy, but it had started to rain and they were going to charge her to put a bag around the cone (and she didn't want a large bag of cotton candy). Oh well.

The craft beer wing was heaving with people so we didn't get to try anything. Wine set up was very nice, but unfortunately the wine wasn't very good!

Going early (8 am) was REALLY worth it, and it took a short time with the crowds around 1 to get fed up and ready to leave.

[Beenhere4ever]

There were several different crab options, but they just wanted too much money! So I stuck with things I know I like and that were more moderately priced. I'm wondering if the fair organization has jacked up the rent or something. You really pay amazing prices for a little food at the fair. Just means you have to pick and choose and not feel you have to try everything. You do get quite a bit of free entertainment and education for the price of your ticket. For example, I stopped by where they had Kias and found out the mileage and suggested retail price. Lots of other things, like scooters and offroad vehicles. Education building contains all sorts of things to look at. And the horse shows are free! Best free thing on the grounds.

[roselily]

The Craft Beer area was awesome but WAY too crowded. Not sure what they expected- it was pretty obviously going to be mobbed! Hopefully they'll get a larger area next year. Or, I'll skip the fair and go to the Autumn Brew Review

Turkey sammich was awesome, alot of the other food was way too expensive.

[Govie]

Originally Posted by Beenhere4ever

There were several different crab options, but they just wanted too much money! So I stuck with things I know I like and that were more moderately priced. I'm wondering if the fair organization has jacked up the rent or something. You really pay amazing prices for a little food at the fair.

That sucks. I reckon the state pulls in a small fortune from it but not sure where it's allocated after the fair.

[sondra_finchley]

They must have to provide upkeep for the grounds. I have been to a few other state fairs and none of them had as many permanent buildings like this one does. Amazing really if you think about how the grounds sit up there off of Snelling and are only used a few times a year.