Lately it seems like Minneapolis is on a mission to ensure I'm constantly surrounded by two of my favorite things...craft beer and cute dogs. The second the weather heats up, it turns into brewery season for my friends and me, and I couldn't be happier about it.
A few weeks ago, Kelsie organized a fantastic Northeast pub crawl with a bunch of her college friends, and invited me along, obviously. We started the day at Lakes and Legends, the new-to-me hidden gem in the high rise directly behind my apartment. I somehow had never made it over there...I blame their December opening date along with my desire to never be outside when it's below freezing...but now, knowing there's amazing Belgian-style craft beer less than a hundred yards from my apartment door is a bit lethal.
From there, we hopped in an Uber and headed off to Northeast to continue the party at Sociable! (All Snapchat photos are screenshots from Kelsie's Snap Story. Thanks for being the kind of friend who lets me rampantly screenshot EVERYTHING, Kelsizzle, love you!!)
The weather was beautiful, and our crew snagged one of the giant picnic tables outside to soak up as much sunshine as we could. I tried the Bitter Lemon cider and hated it...fortunately Kels is also the kind of friend who will share heavenly lavender-infused cider with the kind of friend who is a dumbass and thinks bitter lemon cider will taste good.
I got really distracted the second these two English black lab pups showed up. Turns out they were siblings, or cousins, or were from two litters at the same breeder, or something...bottom line, they legitimately recognized each other and were adorable and freaking out and being the most precious babies ever. I cooed and petted them and generally made a fool out of myself, and decided an English lab is in my top 3 "Lizzie's Future Dog" breeds. (Rach and Brian's adorable Minnie is also a major contributor to that dream...she's the sweetest dog in the world!)
We took a brief break from beer after Sociable and headed to my all-time favorite place to get my drink on in the entire Twin Cities...Tattersall! Yes, aware that that's high praise...but I absolutely adore Tattersall's innovative, quirky cocktails and the atmosphere couldn't be cooler. Tucked away in a warehouse with a parking lot that will seriously jeopardize the suspension of any car, I love the speakeasy vibe and soaring, light-filled space.
I started with the 18th and Central, my favorite, while EVERYONE else ordered the Humdinger, a basil-strawberry-balsamic dream. The second round, though, I made everyone switch it up...
...Clover Clubs, Negronis, Mules, Manhattans, and Bloodies abounded. My absolute favorite!
Sufficiently tipsy, our next destination was Bauhaus, where the light in the bathroom is perfect for selfies. (Provided you're buzzed and basic enough to think bathroom selfies are a good idea, which we were, obviously.)
Their giant, covered outdoor patio was absolutely rocking. We settled in for a long time, FINALLY getting around to eating courtesy of the My Burger food truck...so good! Those fries were life-saving.
More selfies were taken. Apparently that's all Kels and I do. You can tell how far into the day we are by how squinty my eyes have gotten...unfortunate Schwegfam trait that my dad, brother and I all share is that we suffer from a severe case of "disappearing eyes when we smile."
With food in our stomachs and more beer in our futures, we ended the evening at my favorite brewery, Indeed.
I accidentally ended up double-fisting a Mexican Honey and an L.S.D. when I realized that they had L.S.D. on tap...which goes a long way toward explaining the facial expression below:
The outing ended with an ill-starred attempt to go to the all-night party for Prince, more beer at the Bulldog downtown, and staying up all night being a general idiot. Good times, Kels - let's make it a monthly event!
The very next weekend, my Lakeville crew decided to replicate our bar crawl, having heard how fun it was! I met up with Zach, Kellen, Claire and Mike at Indeed...because when you know where your favorite place is, you don't mess with it. We sat in their new taproom, which is lovely!
Love these guys. Particularly love Zach's "sunglasses indoors" level of cool.
I hit the L.S.D. again...the lavender-sunflower-date brew is only on tap for a couple weeks from late April to mid May, so I always get it when it's there!
We spent several hours at Indeed...I met Claire's favorite partner from the office, we met up with a few new friends, Tom and Samantha, and we mourned the absence of Colleen, who was living it up in Chicago with her family. After finishing up, we strolled the two blocks down the alley to Able Seedhouse, a new-to-me spot with the coolest industrial feel and coasters that made my heart happy.
What REALLY made my heart happy, though, was this love:
No, not Claire...although she makes me happy all the time...
This 7.5-week old pupper, Prince James Murphy aka Murph, was the indisputable highlight of my entire month. All he wanted to do was nose around, meet as many people as possible, and be cuddled and petted. I was all too happy to oblige, and now I follow him on Instagram (@princejamesmurphy) to assuage my sadness that I didn't actually sneak him out with me when I left. PUPPY FEVER YOU GUYS, it's REAL.
Are you thirsty yet? Do you have a tiny and adorable (or adult and adorable) dog that I can come love on? Let's get together, it's brewery season in Minneapolis!