Northern Brewer Retail E-mail Newsletter

_*Northern Brewer Retail E-Mail Newsletter*_ *MN State Fair - Homebrewed Beer, Mead, and Cider Competition* Good luck to those who entered the competition this year. Information about the competition can be found at http://www.mnbrewers.com/events/mnfair/ Northern Brewer will be donating a 2nd Place Best of Show prize for the competition. **Renaissance Festival - Byggvir's Big Beer Cup** Here ye, here ye. The 2nd annual Byggvir's Big Beer Cup will take place at the MN Renaissance Festival. More information can be found here. http://www.rennfestbeercup.com/ Northern Brewer will be a drop off site for entries and will be donating a prize for the Best Historical Beer style. *Limited Edition Yeast* Just a reminder, Wyeast 3711 French Saison, 3725 Biere de Garde, and 3726 Farmhouse Ale strains will be available through September and then they are gone. Try them before it's too late. More info at http://www.wyeastlab.com/vssprogram.cfm?website=2 *Limited Edition Beer Kits* Also the special, limited beer kits La Saison Noire, Biere de Chute, and Les Saisonniers Saison de Table will be available through September and like the yeast try them before it's too late. More info at http://www.northernbrewer.com/limited-edition-beer-kits **AHA Membership Special** Northern Brewer is running a special on memberships for the American Homebrewers Association. Normal price is $37.99 for a 1-year membership. The promotional price is $32.99. You must mention the email to get the special unadvertised price. Promotion ends August 31st, 2008. AHA membership benefits include... Zymurgy Magazine (6 issues per year) TechTalk Email Forum & Archives Pub Discount Program Brewers Publication Discounts Free AHA Rally Admission Event and Competition Discounts and best of all... 10% discount on all purchases at Northern Brewer (retail store only). More information can be found at http://www.beertown.org **Fresh California Grapes - Preorders end September 5th!** Northern Brewer is once again going to bring in a truckload of grapes from Northern California! Colavita's Northern Special grapes are award-winners and will make the trip in a refrigerated trailer to our warehouse in Roseville, MN. We will house them in a refrigerated space until they can be retrieved by our lucky customers. This year we are offering six delicious varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon ($45) Malbec ($45) Merlot ($45) Petit Sirah ($45) Sangiovese ($45) Zinfandel ($50) Prices are projected and are subject to change based on harvest conditions, although I hope there will be no reason for them to climb. Being an agricultural commodity, the exact arrival date of the grapes is variable as well. Last year they arrived on September 21. Predictions are for ripening to occur roughly a week later this year. If you pre-order these grapes, I would use that weekend as a target, but keep the weekend on either side open in case things change. I think a week of buffer will be adequate. In any case, we will be able to time it so that the grapes are available for pickup on a Saturday from 10am-6pm and Sunday 12pm-4pm. Last year all grapes were picked up on Saturday, which was wonderful for us (and probably for the wine, too!). Once again we will offer ancillary goods and ingredients for purchase as well as a motorized crushing service for $3/lug. If you order a large volume of grapes, we recommend bringing your own heavy-duty vessels for their transport. Plastic garbage pails and Rubbermade containers have worked well in the past. We will start taking pre-orders on July 31st, both in-store and through our website. You will be charged on September 5th to reserve inventory. Make sure to include both an email and a phone number if at all possible while ordering; coordination of pickup will require ongoing communication with us. More information at http://www.northernbrewer.com/grape-lugs.html **Cellar Craft Wine Kits* *In case you haven't heard, Northern Brewer now stocks Cellar Craft Wine Kits. Cellar Craft's most distinctive and unique creations have been selected to carry the Showcase Collection banner. Their distinction may come from breakthrough technology, such as crushed grape packs or a unique two-stage oaking system; best-of-the-vintage Limited Release status; unique regional wines, usually vineyard-designated, reflecting distinctive character; or simply any wine which reflects a new level of excellence or discovery for the wine hobbyist. The demanding criteria for a Showcase wine means that they may be in limited supply or isolated to a specific vintage. The level of excellence may require extra processing steps and, while designed to be bottle-ready in as little as 6 weeks, may require lengthier processing and cellaring time to show at their peak. With vineyard-specific sourcing, Showcase wines will reflect subtle, and not so subtle differences from vintage to vintage. Vintage variations are part of the intrigue and charm of small-lot, estate wines. All Showcase wines are proudly presented as being wines which we believe the most ardent wine enthusiast would be rewarded in discovering. RED SHOWCASE WINES CRUSHED GRAPE PACKS Cellar Craft uses over 12 pounds of virgin, varietal grapes to produce "Crushed Grape Packs" for true, on-the-skins fermentation in its Showcase reds. All of the natural skins and solids from variety-specific grapes are captured for extra extraction of aromatics, flavor, tannin, color, and body during the fermentation stage. Showcase red kits contain 18L; Showcase white kits contain 16L, and both yield 6 gallons of wine. **Autumn Brew Review** Northern Brewer will again be a glass sponsor for the 2008 Autumn Brewer Review this September 27th. Come check out Minnesota's largest craft beer festival. More information can be found at http://www.mncraftbrew.org/abr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&a… <http://www.mncraftbrew.org/abr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=27> Tickets go on sale August 15th. Stop by our booth and say "hello".