Photo by Tom Wallace

By Tom Horgen

Starting this weekend, the Blue Nile will celebrate its 20th anniversary with a month of beer events. The Ethiopian restaurant has long been a haven for beer geeks, thanks to bartender Al McCarty's exceptional tastes (that's him in the photo). McCarty has cooked up four weekends of beer-drinking fun.

This Fri.-Sun.: He'll replace the Blue Nile's taps with all Minnesota beers, including Surly, Flat Earth, Summit and more. He'll also have a firkin of Summit Oatmeal Stout.

Oct. 16-19: "Battle of the Belg Part 2." All Belgian styles on tap.

Oct. 23-25: "Hop Heads Only Redux." All IPAs and hoppy beers on tap.

Oct. 30-Nov. 1: "Stouts and Porters Fest." All stouts and porters on tap, including Darkness 2008 and 2009 (!).

Cheers!

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