So much beer, so little time

Published on 3/28/2013 at 11:30 PM

THURSDAY:

Hit Pairings Food & Wine Market at 630p for a multi-course, multi-beer feast featuring Lucid, Bad Weather, and Badger Hill. $60 for tons of grub and three breweries worth of awesome? Go to there. _{Photo: Lucid Brewing}

Or head downtown to FireLake at 530p for a five-course, five-Lift Bridge beer meal for only $55. Peep the menu and reserve your seat at FireLakeRestaurant.com _{Photo: FireLake}

FRIDAY:

Comedian W. Kamau Bell and Brendan Benson, the not-Jack White half of the Raconteurs, invade MPR's Wits. Show's at 8p and there're still a few tix left

SATURDAY:

Explore some super kitchsy Swedish tree-trunk art at the opening of the American Swedish Institute's newest exhibit. Get the backstory at ASIMN.com _{Photos: ASI}

Celebrate having just done something vaguely cultural by hitting the Happy Gnome's Firkin Fest, where there'll be more than 70 total firkins from 40-plus breweries. Buy your 12-6p, all-you-can-firking-drink ticket here _{Photo: Happy Gnome}

MONDAY:

The folks at Mississippi Market are bringing their cheese to Vine Park Brewery for a totally free craft beer/ craft cheese tasting. See what Vine Park's all about _{Photo: Vine Park}

Catch even more cheese at the Pourhouse's monthly variety show "April Fools' At The Blind Tiger". $35 tix! Get your $35 tix here!

SATURDAY 4/6:

Drive to the faraway land of ~~Gitchee Gumee~~ Superior, WI (editor's note: it's not actually that far) for the Duluth-area's premiere sudsapalooza, the Gitchee Gumee Beer Fest. Buy your tix in advance, though

Or just stay in town and hit Nordeast for the second-annual Spring Ale Fest at Uppercut Boxing Gym, which'll have more than 12 hyper local craft breweries. Tix are just $40 _{Photo: Spring Ale Fest}