Is that a pumpkin or a giant orange elephant?

We had a smashing good time at the Stillwater Harvest Fest & Giant Pumpkin Weigh-off. And as the empty glass suggests there was more to do than weigh pumpkins. There was a chili competition. I sampled several yummy kinds of chili. BUT......I had to save alot of room for the beer tasting.

I have some very exciting news. A world record was set at this year's fest. Before this the largest pumpkin weighed in at a measly 1,725 pounds. But a pumpkin from New Richmond tipped the scales at 1,810 pounds! (not pictured) The farmer said that he planted the seeds in April and that the little pumpkin didn't even start growing until June 26th. After that he said you could literally watch it grow. He expects it to take around 12-14 hours to carve by the way.

Huge watermelons and long mystery veggies.

Honey, I made a wrong turn.

A little flooding. All the moisture this year made for record pumpkin growing I guess.

My friend Christina and her husband Travis. They didn't want to miss a moment of the pumpkin kayak race. You heard me.

Our local news personality Eric Perkins was among the 4 pumpkin racers. What a hoot!

This guy just doesn't know how to steer a pumpkin. Can you imagine?

Yes, that's a real deal gondola.

We climbed what seemed like 1,000 steps to take this photograph. I may have burned off 1 sip (among many) of beer. Darn we missed the pumpkin drop. Next year...

Sand Creek Brewing Company

We finally toured the Sand Creek Brewery in Black River Falls, WI. We'd been meaning to take a tour here since we tasted our first Oscar's. And because the brewery is so close to my hometown. Sand creek has been brewing beer since the 1990's. But brewing actually started in this old building around 153 years ago. Ulrich Oderbolz (pictured) and his family opened the brewery in 1856. We learned that after Ulrich and all but one male heir died tragically, the women took over running the brewery. And they were very successful. But for unknown reasons they decided to sell the brewery in the early 1900's.

When prohibition shut down the renamed Badgerland brewery in 1920, the building was used to bottle Coca-Cola, build land mines and raise turkeys.

New labels mingle with a collection of old bottles in the back.

Mash...blah....ferment...blah, blah. The tour was very interesting. But some brewing facts went in one ear and out the other. One thing that did not go unnoticed was that the tour guide was drinking a beer as he gave this very thorough tour. That's cool!

I think we got a little excited to finally sample some beer. I forgot to take a pre-drink photo op. Needless to say we didn't go home empty handed. We bought a case filled with their special reserve Doppelbock, Hard Lemonade and Wild Ride.

So what does this goofy Alpaca I illustrated years ago have to do with the brewery? I posted it in honor of Sand Creek's October fest Saturday, October 2. Along with beer there will be Alpacas of course! For more Lamas and Alpacas visit Lamas on Tuesday at....just kidding.

Ein Prosit der Gemutlichkeit!

The title translates to mean, "A toast to you in friendship!" I lived that saying as me and the hubb's tried 6 different beers at the Schell's Brewing Company in New Ulm, Minnesota. I couldn't resist posting photos of our brewery tour and tasting there. Sea Shells...Schell's Brewery...what a perfect relation to my previous post! I'm still relating my art and photo posts by the way. My last combo was sticks and stones.

But let's get back to the important topic of beer. My favorite was the Stout. It was actually my 7th taste because after tasting 6 you were lucky enough to get a full glass of your favorite. And they didn't have the Stout in the tasting line up.

The Schell brewery has been around for 150 years and is the second oldest brewery in the United States. During the tour we learned that August Schell and his family were very friendly with the Dakota Indians. And because of this, the brewery was untouched during the Dakota conflict in 1862. Meanwhile, the town of New Ulm was burned to the ground. Befriending the Dakota sounds like a good enough reason for me to support the Schell Brewery. Oh, and their beer tastes darn good too. Happy 4th of July to my fellow beer drinking Americans!