Now in its 10th year of "braaaiins"-chanting and beer-chugging, the Zombie Pub Crawl spreads to the Warehouse District, where drunken zombies already roam the streets.
Over its decade of tall boys and fake flesh wounds, the zombie party that could has morphed from a 150-person bar crawl into a sprawling bizarre and bibulous rager drawing 30,000, and spawning a sister event in Kansas City.
Saturday's ZPC X spans about 15 bars and clubs, plus three outdoor stages, and organizers haven't lost their penchant for booking eyebrow-raising acts. Entertainment includes Billy Corgan's Resistance Pro Wrestling (at Mill City Nights), Flavor Flav & the Flavortronz — a cover band fronted by the Public Enemy hype man (at the Fine Line) — and one-hit wonder Sugar Ray and a brains-eating contest featuring pro stomach stretcher Takeru Kobayashi (both on the Red Stage).
Meanwhile, cake-tossing EDM star Steve Aoki headlines the Red Stage, while Juicy J of post-Three 6 Mafia fame and local crowd-amping rapper Prof top the Blue Stage, and influential dubstep producer Rusko closes at the Skyway Theatre.
6 p.m. Sat. • 1st Av. N., Mpls. • $20-$66.60 • zombiepubcrawl.com
MN beers win in Colorado
Last weekend brewers, drinkers and suds scribes convened in Denver for the Great American Beer Festival — the country's most celebrated beer festival/competition. Of the 5,507 beers submitted, six Minnesota-made brews landed medals in their style categories. Town Hall's Buffalo Bock, Bent Paddle's 14° ESB and Summit's Extra Pale Ale each won bronzes, while Indeed's Mexican Honey Imperial Lager snagged silver. Steel Toe snared gold with its Wee Heavy Scottish ale, and Badger Hill's White IPA took top honors in the American-Belgo-Style Ale category. Among all 50 states, Minnesota tied for 11th in the medal count.
Rum runners
Minnesotans love their rum. But few of them are making it. However, Bob McManus and Lee Egbert of St. Paul's 11 Wells distillery are rolling out their Maelstrom rum this week. Rather than producing a more common molasses-based rum, the duo has created a fragrant spirit more akin to a rhum agricole, which is distilled from sugar-cane juice. Billed as a "Minnesota agricole," Maelstrom is decidedly funkier and more robust than the standard silver rum.
NorthGate opening
So much for summer vacation. After announcing an expansion in January, NorthGate Brewing spent its beach season moving into its new northeast Minneapolis home. After unpacking their boxes and brewhouse, the British-style ale slingers are ready to show off the place, which is quadruple the size of their tiny Nordeast starter home. NorthGate christens its new taproom with a grand opening party Friday, featuring live music, Tiki Tim's food truck and T-shirt screen printing. Pretty sure they'll have beer, too.
