Twin Cities Beer Geek

Ms. BeerGeek and I headed to the Twin Cities Food and Wine Experience Saturday. I’ll fess-up: even the BeerGeek drinks wine occasionally. It was our first time and an eye-opening experience.We’d expected a little more discernment and a little less…well…ignorant drunkenness. Let me try to illustrate with an example: we’re at the booth of the North Dakota fruit wine producer Maple River Winery to try some of their apple wines, a particular interest. An obviously inebriated gentleman stumbles up and says, “I like darker reds. Whatdya got?” The woman serving says, “Ah, chokecherry” and pours him. He hobbles away satisfied, as though there’s no real difference between a $15 cabernet and $15 North Dakota chokecherry wine.

(Incidentally, we enjoyed both Maple River’s Honey Apple and Apple Mint wines. In hindsight, we probably should have returned to try more of their offerings.)

There was perhaps a similar level of sophistication at the beer booths. I decided to try Miller Lite Brewers Collection (I couldn’t find a Miller link, so here’s Lew Bryson’s post). Overheard at the booth:

Visitor: “What do you like to drink?”

Server: “Well, you know, I mostly like our Miller Lite. But, sometimes, I want something with, I don’t know, I guess a little more body and…flavor. Then, I try the amber.”

I tried the amber and the wheat. Both were underwhelming - a shock.

I haven’t totally written off the Food and Wine Experience, but my expectations will definitely be adjusted next time. Look for more on what I liked in future posts…