Minneapolis beer, and a beer I had in Minneapolis

I just got back from an amazing conference on web design. Absolute gods of the web Eric Meyer and Jeffrey Zeldman started An Event Apart, and it featured them plus a host of other web design rock stars. It's two days of intense, mind-blowing knowledge about standards-based web design. Can you tell I'm still swooning?
 
Anyway, while I was there, there were several chances to drink beer, thanks to sponsored mixers after all the mind-blowing. At the newish (and very cool) Subo, I chatted with the friendly staff and had a couple beers. First up was a Minnesota beer, Sheephead Ale by Brau Brothers. Subo lists it as a "red ale," and it is a copper color, but it's only called an ale by the brewery. It was very nice, evidently marketed as a pale ale, but the bartender told me it wasn't very hoppy, and he was right. This is a good thing to me, as I'm not a hop-head. Kinda zesty and light. I would have had another, but I saw a familiar label - New Belgium! 
 
I love New Belgium's Fat Tire (a truly amber ale), but can't seem to find it in Florida. This was not a Fat Tire, but their summer beer, Skinny Dip (also the name of an excellent Carl Hiaasen novel that I highly recommend). Turns out this beer is their "mascot for water advocacy," a subject that any brewer should be interested in. One of the specific programs New Belgium supports is Save the Colorado, a river dear to my own heart, thanks to a week of rafting down in it in the Grand Canyon. (If you have any interest in conservation and/or the Colorado river, check that site out - it's lovely.)
 
Where was I? Oh yeah, the beer.
 
It's a blond ale, very light. I would compare it to Sam Adams' summer seasonal, although it has a little less spice and a little more citrus (New Belgium mentions lime leaves). This is a beer, much like Fat Tire, but even more so, that I would urge a Bud Light/Miller Lite/Coors Light drinker to try. It has the summer beer qualities a hot Floridian would want - it's refreshing, it's light - and then adds actual flavor and interest. I think this is what the Beer Advocate forum fellers would call a "session beer" (meaning you could happily drink more than one), although they rate it rather poorly. I don't think I have the same palate as BAers. I would buy this in bulk. Delicious stuff, especially for warm weather.
 

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