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It's 3:29 p.m., and the beer drinkers are getting restless -- even a little surly.

"Not yet!" yells Omar Ansari, founder of Surly Brewing Co., holding up a large digital clock to prove his point to the droves lined up behind his beer stand. As the digits reach the 50-second mark, a 10-9-8 countdown erupts loud enough to rival Kennedy Space Center ground control.

Finally, we reach blastoff. The special-edition keg of Barrel-Aged Darkness is tapped right on schedule, 3:30, and it comes out as expected: sludgy and potent enough to fuel a rocket. Ah, what joy.

The enthusiasm for beer was as palpable as the alcohol content of the Darkness two weekends ago at the seventh annual Autumn Brew Review. Held on the riverfront grounds of the old Grain Belt Brewery in northeast Minneapolis, the event was brewed up seven years ago by the Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild. It's been a big hit ever since.

This year's Brew Review sold out days in advance, with around 2,000 attendees taking in samples of more than 150 beers made by 40 microbrewers from throughout the country (mostly the Upper Midwest).

Here are the highlights for one beer nut -- not an expert nor a snob, but someone who knows an IBU from an ABV (International Bitterness Unit and alcohol by volume, for those who don't). At least during the first hour or two of sampling.

Star brewers

Surly Brewing Co.: It's not just local favoritism that has local beer lovers gushing over this Brooklyn Center-based microbrewery, which is in its second year of business. Its woodsy and cocoa-ish Bender ale and especially the hop-drenched Furious are two of the most savory beers on tap around town.

At the Brew Review, the Surly guys showcased newer and even more daring recipes. The Darkness, which arrives close to Halloween, is a Russian Imperial stout that will put hair on your chest with its thickness and chocolatey head. But it came in second behind a brand-new brew called -- get this -- Dahmer. Now that's a different take on what made Milwaukee famous. The 9.5 percent-alcohol smoked Baltic porter with a dark-as-coal body truly tasted deadly. Look for its release in November (probably under a different name).

Tyranena Brewing Co.: Making its first appearance at the Brew Review, this 1999-founded microbrewery from Lake Mills, Wis., near Madison, had the biggest buzz (no pun) of the event. It started early with its special-edition Hop Whore, a wonderfully pungent Imperial India pale ale that ran out an hour into the day. Later that afternoon, brewmaster Rob Larsen tapped a sinister oatmeal porter called the Devil Made Me Do It, which was deftly spiked with Sumatra and Costa Rican coffee beans. Tyranena's full-time beers, the Three Beaches Honey Blonde and the Bitter Woman IPA, were solid if fairly standard.

For the hops lovers

Beer's aroma-defining ingredient was ablaze at the Brew Review. In addition to the aforementioned Hop Whore and Surly Furious, most of the brewpubs in attendance had a killer hop-headed concoction. One of the best was the Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery's Fresh Hop 2007, loaded with "wet" hops (fresh from the vine) and a piney spice. Duluth's Fitgers Brewhouse continued to impress hops fans with its citrusy Starfire Pale Ale. The most unique of the bunch, though, was the Mad Hatter from Colorado brewer New Holland, whose tap line was funneled through a big hull of a filter loaded with big, chunky hops. That's almost cheating.

The fruity stuff

Fruit beers are growing out of their girly-beer reputation, just as more women are becoming beer connoisseurs (at least judging by the Brew Review's Porta-John lines). One welcome far-off brewer was Abita Brewing Co. from near New Orleans, which survived Katrina to give us its lovely raspberry-tinged wheat, Purple Haze. The Town Hall Brewery also made good with its tart Raspberry Scotch Ale. And best of all, Fitger's put a terrific spin on its Breakwater Belgian White with the sweet Breakwater Blue (blueberries), but really deserved a blue ribbon with its Fitger's Apricot Wheat, offering a perfect balance of fruitiness and dryness.

Dark highlights

Aside from Surly's dark offerings, there were many other black-tinged standouts. Barley John's Brew Pub, whose suburban New Brighton location belies its ambitious approach, won the Best Beer of the Fest award (voted on by attendees) with its aptly named Dark Knight, a double-fermented porter aged in bourbon barrels. Barley John's smoky and chocolatey Old 8 Porter is a real winner, too.

Some bottled darks: Flat Earth Brewing Co., a new St. Paul microbrewery with a terrific organic pale ale (Angry Planet), fell flat with its weirdly sweet Canadian porter brand, Cygnus X-1. Another letdown was the Dallas, Wis.-based Viking Brewing Company's overly bold and boozy-tasting flagship, Big Swede, an Imperial stout. But Duluth's Lake Superior Brewing Co. showed superior quality with its smooth, English-styled Sir Duluth Oatmeal Stout.

Oddball delights

Even those of us who think wild rice is an overrated Minnesota commodity can enjoy the taste of it in Barley John's Wild Brunette, a nut-brown ale that's truly nutty. Perhaps the craziest brew at the Review, though, was the Bourbon Barrel Coffee Mint Stout from the South Shore Brewery in Ashland, Wis., which (unlike the bottle-marketed Herbal Cream Ale) is only available at the brewpub, where they also serve it as a float with ice cream. Anybody up for an Ashland road trip?

Old-world treasures

German beer lovers will savor the coppery Alt Bier served by Minneapolis' Herkimer, with its perfumey aroma and smooth, lightly sweet flavor. R.T. Ryebock, from another Minneapolis brewpub, Rock Bottom, came on strong but petered out flavor-wise (please hold the mayor jokes). St. Paul's Great Waters Brewing Co. fared better, putting some new twists on old flavors with its orange- and coriander-tinged Janet Wiesse Dunkel Wit and its hoppy and nicely light ESB brand, the Knights Who Say Nee ESB (named for "Spamalot's" run at the Ordway). Flat Earth also served a nicely bitter and potent Belgian triple beer, the Bermuda Triangle.

And since it was the Autumn Brew Review, Colorado's Avery Brewing Co. deserves special props for capturing the flavor of fall in its Kaiser Imperial Oktoberfest, a 9.3 percent-alcohol brew that was brown-leaf crisp and tasted like gold.

Chris Riemenschneider • 612-673-4658

Chris Riemenschneider • chrisr@startribune.com