This Saturday marks the second Northern Lights Rare Beer Fest at the Minnesota History Center. The event was dreamed up by Juno Choi, Mark Opdahl, and Dan Kearney of Chop Liver Craft Beer Festivals. It was the sort of event that they would want to attend—an intimate setting, that wasn’t overcrowded, with a lineup featuring rare beers. “We're always mindful of the attendee, that's really important to us because we wanted to create a beer fest that we would get excited about attending ourselves,” Juno explains.

The fest itself has a promising cast of breweries, including Evil Twin, Lagunitas, Ballast Point, Surly, Steel Toe, Bent Paddle, and many more. At this event, only rare beers are served, which means you’ll get to sample brews that people usually have to follow delivery trucks or trade for online. Many of these beers will never be made again.

The festival celebrates that exclusivity and the creativity of the brewers themselves. It it is created for attendees who seek out this sort of experience, much like a foodie in search of that rare dish. Juno hopes that this festival provides that and more. “We really hope attendees find some truly wonderful beers they didn't expect and from breweries they didn't expect it from. Sometimes you have these defining moments where your palate or taste changes/develops. We want attendees to experience that,” he says. “Overall, we want them to sample great beers, in a beautiful yet intimate environment, with great food to match the elevated beer, among passionate beer people like themselves.”

That being said, expectations are huge at $100 per ticket and the Chop Liver crew knows this. “The most important part of that [living up to expectations] is providing a wonderful selection of rare and unique beers. We think everyone will enjoy the beers this year and it will only get better in years to come,” says Juno. In addition to covering their costs, a part of the ticket proceeds will be donated to Pints for Prostates — a cause that means a lot to the crew. 100% of the profit from the silent auction will also go the Pints for Prostates organization.

Some of the beers to look forward to are: 2009 Surly Darkness, 2008 Goose Island Bourbon County Stout, Woodford Barrel Aged 1100 Wheat Wine from Figer’s Brewhouse, Sour Wench from Ballast Point, Blood from the Barrel from Steel Toe, 2014 Rum Barrel Aged Elf from Dark Horse Brewing, and Starkeller Peach from Schell’s.

Food and refreshments are complimentary with admission and will feature products made with brewing ingredients such as fried hops and spent grain pretzels. The Zacc Harris Trio (an excellent local jazz group) will be performing their guitar-driven tunes throughout the evening. Event details are below and tickets can be purchased here.

When:

Saturday, March 28th from 7 PM to 10 PM

Where:

Minnesota History Center

345 W Kellogg Blvd

St. Paul, MN 55102

Parking:

$5 at the Minnesota History Center

Cheers!