_*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. 