The local craft brew scene is, at first glance, a dizzying one. With seven breweries and seven brewpubs right here in the Twin Cities (and another six breweries and eight brewpubs elsewhere in the region), the casual beer drinker can choose from more than 100 Minnesota-made beers any day of the week.

But where does the casual beer drinker begin? All those varieties mean many different flavor profiles, and finding your favorite combination of barley and hops can be a lengthy, disorienting process. Without proper guidance, one could easily wind up lost in a sea of suds, bewildered, perhaps a little soused, wondering, "Is there a difference between porter and stout? What does 'cask-conditioned' mean? Isn't gluten-free beer just a little sacrilegious?"

One place to start getting some answers is the Autumn Brew Review, the annual outdoor beer festival presented this Saturday by the Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild. Colin Mullen, brewmaster at Barley John's Brew Pub in New Brighton and co-organizer of the event, says attendees will be able to sample offerings from 49 beer vendors this year, 21 of them from our great state. If you scored tickets to the Review (sold out since the day they went on sale), you'll be able to chat up the brewers and learn about brewing methods, ingredient characteristics and what makes their beers exceptional. If you didn't get tickets, mark your calendar for Winterfest on Feb. 6. This annual festival features only members of the Brewers Guild, so expect local favorites such as Brau Brothers, Summit and Surly, as well as newcomers such as Flat Earth and Lift Bridge. (Sign up for ticket sales alerts at www.mncraftbrew.org.) An even better option? Head to one of the metro's great brewpubs, beer bars or craft brew-friendly liquor stores, where Brewmasters, bartenders and employees enthusiastically educate on all the local beers they make and sell.

By the way, brewmaster Mullen fills us in: "A porter is generally sweeter and favors the chocolate flavors of the roasted malts; a stout is more akin to coffee and celebrates the roasted notes of the barley. 'Cask-conditioned' means that the beer was packaged in a closed 'bunged' vessel and allowed to carbonate naturally. And gluten-free beer isn't so much sacrilegious as innovative. Granted, it's substituting one of the four main ingredients in beer [usually sorghum for barley] but the net effect brings a quaffable beverage to someone who is not otherwise able to imbibe."

Thanks for clearing that up. Now strap on your beer goggles and let's find out more about local beers.

Autumn Brew Review highlights

Here's the inside scoop on where to start at the Review. For 12 years, the Vine Park Brewing Co. has been a brewery that doesn't sell beer, instead renting out its facilities to anyone who wants to make and bottle their own. Until this year, that is, when the brewery began selling growlers (64-ounce glass jugs) of its rotating small batches. Sample Vine Park's Oktoberfest and Rabid Penguin Porter, then swing by the brewery next week for a growler or two.

In preparation for its 150th birthday in 2010, the August Schell Brewing Co. has started brewing an Anniversary Draft Series. The easy-drinking Bavarian Forest Dampfbier is a unique, all-barley beer with banana notes, a definite sweetness and, of course, a lingering maltiness.

In a town with a population of 220 (it says so right on the bottle) lives a family making some of the state's most popular craft beer. Brau Brothers Brewing Co. of Lucan, Minn., brews a Ring Neck Double Nut Brown Ale that's fruity and nutty with a clean finish. A must-try for nut brown ale fans.

The Twin Cities' newest brewery, Flat Earth Brewing Co., made an inaugural impression last year with its organic Angry Planet Pale Ale. Try the hand-pulled version of Angry Planet, the delicately hoppy Bermuda Triangle Triple Belgian or the yet-unreleased Rode Haring Flanders Ale, a sour red ale that's been blended with Flat Earth's farmhouse-style Ovni Ale.

Where to buy local beer

  • Top Valu Liquor: Both Top Valu stores left behind their dusty strip-mall locations this year for fancy new digs, but beer buffs love the Central Avenue spot for its massive selection and wall-to-wall cooler. (4950 Central Av. NE., Columbia Heights, 763-706-3819.)
  • Blue Max: With a sign boasting 1,100 beers for sale, this destination bottle shop is worth the drive. Tempting brews from every corner of the world guarantee you'll leave with something new every time. (14640 10th Av. S., Burnsville, 952-432-3350.)
  • The Cellars: The Pick Six option on its ever-expanding beer list means you can sample to your heart's content by mixing and matching craft-brew six-packs. (1149 W. Larpenteur Av., Roseville, 651-489-5050.)
  • The Four Firkins: An inconspicuous suburban storefront reveals a tightly packed interior and fixtures lined with more beer than you can shake a stein at. This is where connoisseurs go to talk, shop and talk shop. (8009 Minnetonka Blvd., St. Louis Park, 952-938-2847.)
  • Surdyk's: This store maintains carefully organized and always stocked shelves of only the best brews, so it's no wonder Surdyk's has been the pick of urban beer lovers for decades. (303 E. Hennepin Av., Mpls., 612-379-3232.)

The best beer bars

  • Acadia Café: Acadia nestled right into its new digs on the West Bank, drawing in the U of M crowd with a full bar, expanded menu and a beer list topping out around 30 taps and 40 bottles. Check out the nightly specials, such as Wednesdays when every bottle of beer and wine in the house is half-price.
  • Buster's on 28th: South Minneapolis cried out for a better beer bar, and these guys answered the call. Yeah, it's a nondescript neighborhood bar with a shoebox kitchen, but the extensive taps and bottles list set it apart.
  • The Bulldog N.E.: No beer snobs allowed at this laid-back establishment, despite the rotating list of top-shelf world craft brews. Bar games and shuffleboard keep customers busy when they're not chowing down on a hot Bavarian pretzel, Polish on a bun or gourmet French fries done four ways.
  • The Happy Gnome: Forty-four taps, 180 bottles and three gluten-free selections keep even the most regular regulars from getting burned out. The Gnome is a true "gastropub," with menu selections such as Ace Pear cider-steamed mussels and the local game burger available till midnight on weekends.
  • The Muddy Pig: A casual retreat for the serious foamhead, where servers and bartenders spout endless beer knowledge and patrons steal sips from each other's mugs. Beer-friendly food choices accompany a Belgian-heavy brew list.

Brewpubs

  • The Herkimer: Uptown's own brewpub specializes in German-style lagers, two of which have taken home the gold from the Great American Beer Festival. Head brewmaster Gustavo de Toledo Vale is a recent addition, coming from a four-year apprenticeship to the brewmaster at the Paulaner brewery in Munich, Germany. Happy hour is hard to beat: Two-for-one beers daily from 3 to 6 p.m.
  • Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery: Arguably the Twin Cities' comfiest brewpub, with ample seats in two rooms and cozy sofas overlooking the brew kettles. A constant rotation of seasonal beers and cask selections keeps the connoisseurs coming back, craving some of the metro's most unusual combinations, such as mango-infused American IPA.
  • Rock Bottom Brewery: Don't discount Rock Bottom just because it's a chain. Each location has its own brewmaster with his or her own recipes, so we've got exclusive drinking rights on Bryon Tonnis' Itasca EPA and North Star Premium Lager. Try one of the cask-conditioned versions, or the just-tapped Rocktoberfest, a traditional red Marzen Bier.
  • Great Waters Brewing Co.: St. Paul's only brewpub is also home to the city's greatest happy hours. Specials vary daily, but Tuesdays are especially awesome: From 3 to 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. to close, half-pints are just 99 cents, meaning you can sample to your heart's content without agitating your liver. Great Waters has three or four cask-conditioned beers handy at all times, making this technique its unofficial specialty.

Local beer talk online

  • MNBeer (www.mnbeer.com) is a little hard to explain without using the word "every." The site has listings for every brewery, every brewpub, every homebrew supply shop, every bar and liquor store with a decent beer selection and every single beer event in Minnesota. There's even a forum where members can ask questions, make recommendations and chat about everything going on in the land of local brews. Is there anything MNBeer.com doesn't keep tabs on? "The countless tastings," says Ryan Anderson, founder and editor of the site. "Stores sample so many beers every day."
  • Brew52's (www.brew52.com) beer of the week might be anything from a Summit Winter that you've had 50 times to a Brewers Cave Golden Caramel Lager that you practically need a treasure map to find. One thing is for sure: All the beers on this online tasting festival are from Minnesota. Users can create an account and review the site's pick of the week at their leisure. Members can join anytime, and occasional brewpub meetups provide good ol' fashioned face-to-face interaction.

Party Like It's 1810: Oktoberfests

  • The Black Forest Inn promises a different "Deutsch-tastic celebration" each day of its Oktoberfest, kicking off with the ceremonial keg tapping at 7:30 p.m. this Friday and ending 10 days later with a grand-prize drawing for a bike from Spaten, brewer of the world's first Oktoberfest beer. Don't miss Home Brew Night on Tuesday, when members of the Minnesota Home Brewers Association serve up a specially made batch, and the return of David Hasselhoff Night on Oct. 3, which needs no further explanation. (Fri.-Oct. 5.)
  • Like a beacon, the giant Oktoberfest tent outside Gasthof zur Gemütlichkeit (or just "Gasthof's" is fine) draws beer lovers from all over the Midwest. Clink mugs with and spill beer on friendly strangers under the tent until 11 p.m. Bring the party inside to Mario's Keller Bar in the basement and dance off your budding beer gut until 2 a.m. Polka optional. (Fri.-Sat. through Oct. 11.)